Comics Crux

     

This has been an exciting week for fans of Los Bros Hernandez’s Love and Rockets series, and Fantagraphics and comiXology just made it a lot more exciting.

Earlier yesterday, at a SDCC panel celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first publication of Love and Rockets, Fantagraphics announced their jump into digital distribution through their newly penned agreement with comiXology; the digital comics giant who reported 12 million digital downloads between May and June of 2012.

As if the possibility of reading Fantagraphics’ extensive back catalog digitally wasn’t enough, they upped the ante with announcing that all 4 volumes of Love and Rockets: New Stories would be immediately available for download via comiXology and that volume 5 would be available same day as print, in September. 

“We’ve been exploring our digital options for a few years now, and the more I learned, the more I kept coming back to ComiXology,” said Eric Reynolds, Fantagraphics Books Associate Publisher. “Seeing these first four issues of Love and Rockets: New Stories in comiXology’s Guided View is exciting.”

Considering comiXology’s more the impressive growth since their debut in 2007 and their most recent update to CDX-HD format for readers on the new iPad, it’s no surprise that this is where Fantagraphics landed with their lengthy decision. 

“Fantagraphics Books is one of the longest running, independent comic publishers around with an incredible array of titles. I’ve been chasing them for three years to be a part of our platform and am thrilled not only to bring their books to the digital world, but also to be a part of celebrating the 30th anniversary of Love and Rockets,” said comiXology co-founder and CEO David Steinberger. “I’ve long been a fan of Hernandez Brothers’ work, and couldn’t think of a better way to kick off our new relationship with Fantagraphics. There are many happy people in the comiXology offices today.”

As of now, Love and Rockets: New Stories are the only titles the publisher has on their comiXology page, but given the popularity of the publisher and the distributor, that’s sure to change.

(Source: fantagraphics.com)