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damn. i'm remembering when KB toys wouldn't stock the Saturn because of a similar exclusive deal when it first dropped, bish likely recalls the details better.

 

the move ended up hurting Sega more than KB, but the former's still around and i dont think the latter is, at least locally? speaking of: how is barnes & nobles doing? with borders gone, i thought they were logically next, but id like to hear that's not the case.

 

anyway, shit. not how i wouldve handled it (past the first moments of HNNNNNNGGGH) but it still feels less stupid than the exclusive deal, for me.

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In another move seemingly to prove that the world does indeed revolve around Hondos, I noticed all of my Comixology Marvel books are now available on my phone.

I dont know the details, but damn smart move on their part. Im sure DC is generating a ton of new traffic for the service. Piggyback on that shit.

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The Walking Dead is half off on Comixology for today only! Trades for $4.99, issues for .99.

 

You can get the entire series, all the way up to the current issue, for something like $75. IS GOOD DEAL!

Someone needs to tell Panch. Poor bastard had to sell off his entire run of the series last year...

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The Walking Dead is half off on Comixology for today only! Trades for $4.99, issues for .99.

 

You can get the entire series, all the way up to the current issue, for something like $75. IS GOOD DEAL!

 

Saw this. Awesome deal! I'm so poor that I canz barely afford my Grape Kool-Aid tho. And I'm building up my Y-Last Man collection first.

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So yesterday when Walking Dead was on sale, I bought the rest of the run. It spent a super long time on the loading screen after the purchase and when it finally resolved I didn't have all the books.

 

What follows are the emails to and from Comixology and then a brief description of my emotional state at the time, using the universal language: rage faces.

 

09:45 am

Hello,

My account name is Thrizzle, I recently purchased walking dead volume 14, 4 issues of the Survivor's Guide and the remaining issues and was charged the entire $13.90 (50% today, this has already shown up on my bank statement), but I do not have every book available.

 

All I got was survivor's guide #4 and issues 87-89. If you look at your records, it will be clear that I purchased quite a bit more than this.

 

It's kinda messsing up my day, I really wanted to sit here and read the books I purchased, but I certainly don't want to buy them twice. I've recently become a big fan of your service and this is the first problem I've encountered. There doesn't seem to be any contact information of any kind in your "help" tab, so I'm hoping this will do the trick.

 

Thanks for taking care of the situation promptly,

Logan ****** (thrizzle)

I4iK3.png

 

 

 

 

 

Next I replied directly to the address that sent my receipt.

 

10:30am

Re: Iconology, Inc Customer Receipt/Purchase Confirmation

TO: 1 recipient

Show Details

I have only received some of these books, I sent an an email to the info@ address already, but I really would like this taken care of. Clearly I purchased them, and I have been charged in full.

It's upsetting that there seems to be no simple contact information for issues like this available on the "help" tab.

Thanks for clearing this up promptly.

I4iK3.png

 

I give it some time. I go out and do some dad stuff, I come back late in the evening. No response. No change. I want to read my comics.

Then I found a 'report bug/error' link and used it.

 

 

OCT 17, 2011 | 02:50AM UTC

Original message

I purchased Walking Dead #79-89 and 1-4 of the survivor's guide 12 hours ago. I still have not received issued 79-86 or survivor's guide 1-3.

I have already received a confirmation email which lists all of the books I purchased and I have been charged in full.

I have already sent several emails and have received absolutely no response.

I have spent several hundred dollars on your service over the last few months, but I'm growing incredibly dissatisfied with the complete lack of customer service here.

Please add the comics in question to my library or issue me a refund, it's unacceptable to steal from your customers.

Thanks.

 

- Logan ******

 

bOpdp.png

 

Well, that gets somebody's attention. Unfortunately, it was Mandy.

 

comiXology Support

OCT 17, 2011 | 03:14AM UTC

Hi Logan,

Very sorry to hear this.

 

If those books don't show after hitting the Restore button, and you have the iTunes receipts since you purchased using the same Apple ID, you can find those books inside of the Store and hit the price. At that point, you can confirm the price, and iTunes will tell you that you can download those books again at no charge. Much like redownloading an app.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

-Mandy

comiXology Support

 

6uUx6.png

 

04:00am

No Mandy, I didn't use itunes, I'm on the PC. I should have specified. I don't think any of that is applicable. Here's the receipt though.

Nothing has changed, if I attempt to add them to cart and check out it prompts me to enter my security code and still shows a price, which leads me to believe I will be charged again.

Merchant: Iconology, Inc

Description: comiXology

Customer ID: *******

 

Billing Information

Logan ******

**********@yahoo.com

Shipping Information

Item Description Qty Taxable Unit Price Item Total

MAR110603 Comics by comiXology 1 Y US $0.99 US $0.99

The Walking Dead #85

FEB110398 Comics by comiXology 1 Y US $0.99 US $0.99

The Walking Dead Survivors' Guide #1 (of 4)

APR110444 Comics by comiXology 1 Y US $4.99 US $4.99

The Walking Dead Vol. 14: No Way Out

MAR110604 Comics by comiXology 1 Y US $0.99 US $0.99

The Walking Dead Survivors' Guide #2 (of 4)

APR110530 Comics by comiXology 1 Y US $0.99 US $0.99

The Walking Dead Survivors' Guide #3 (of 4)

APR110524 Comics by comiXology 1 Y US $0.99 US $0.99

The Walking Dead #86

MAY110535 Comics by comiXology 1 Y US $0.99 US $0.99

The Walking Dead Survivors' Guide #4 (of 4)

MAY110534 Comics by comiXology 1 Y US $0.99 US $0.99

The Walking Dead #87

JUL110554 Comics by comiXology 1 Y US $0.99 US $0.99

The Walking Dead #89

JUN110562 Comics by comiXology 1 Y US $0.99 US $0.99

The Walking Dead #88

Total:

US $13.90

 

ZO3Km.png

 

03:00 pm

comiXology Support | OCT 17, 2011 03:00PM UTC

>

>

>Logan,

>

>Thanks for your patience. I'm only seeing Walking Dead starting at #85 in that transaction receipt. Would that have been under a separate transaction? I was able to get those other missing books added to your account.

>

>

>

>

>- Matt

 

G7omt.png

 

Volume 14 was the issues in question before #85, but those are now available. The only ones I'm still missing are issues 85 and 86. Almost there Matt! Thanks for your help.

5aklw.png

 

OCT 17, 2011 | 05:27PM UTC

No problem!

 

Those should be appearing now in your account. I also feel we owe you a sincere apology for your experience, and we really hope it doesn't sour you to our service.

 

I've issued you a full refund of your last purchase. In addition, the next ten comics under $3.99 that you add to your cart will be free of charge.

 

Sorry once again for the inconvenience. Have a great day!

 

 

 

- Matt

 

 

U1xk8.png

 

 

Thanks Matt, you're a peach.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Heyyyl yeah.

 

I've reached the point now where I buy all of my Marvel/DC/Image stuff from them. Seriously, if Fantagraphics (the best comic book publisher) and Drawn & Quarterly would get on board, I wouldn't even need to go to the shop.

 

It works out a lot better for me. Instead of buying a big stack and then trying to make the time to read them all before the next month, I just buy single issues at a time and read at my leisure. When I finish something, grab the next thing I want to read. Something that would be REALLY fucking inconvenient to do with a physical shop.

Some months this means I don't buy much, some months the opposite, but it always ensures I get exactly as much as I can easily consume. And there's none of that "ZOMG I HAVE TO BUY THIS NOW BECAUSE THE ALTERNATE COVER WILL BE OUT OF PRINT SOON" bullshit.

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Now I'm just deciding what I wanna start reading first. Animal Man is good yeah? Also looking at Powers which I've heard good things about. There's some I know I want physical copies of that I'll want later down the road that I prolly won't bother with unless I really really have to read em. Basically just perusing the threads here for ideas.

Edited by axel_napalm
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They have both volumes of Animal Man up, the new one is pretty damn good. They get you up to speed in a single, brilliant page. You won't feel left out.

The old one is worth reading someday (and it's available IRL way cheaper than 99 cents a pop), but it's almost overwhelming with the late 80s-early 90s Captain Planet propaganda. I thought it was awesome when I was a kid, but i guess that's because everything was like that. I barely noticed. When I re-read it, it was like Widget the World Watcher , except occasionally something incredibly violent happens or he does hallucinogenic drugs or something.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good book. Better than a lot. But it's been reprinted to hell and back. Skip it on digital.

 

A few random things I've downloaded from there recently and ended up really enjoying:

Green Wake

Morning Glories

Spaceman

Sweet Tooth

Witch Doctor

 

Always check around for free first issues too, they hide them. They don't always show up in the "free" tab. It's a great way to see if you're going to like something.

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Anyone else having problems with comixology? I'm suspecting it's a my card thing, but has anyone tried buying anything today and it not working? I'll get to "complete checkout", click it, then it just goes back to screen with my card info without any explanation (no error tags or anything). Thinking my card may be getting rejected for whatever reason, but I'm not sure. Thanks in advance :)

Edited by axel_napalm
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Ok so I dunno what happened, but it wouldn't let me just buy 1 comic. $3.00- not worth letting me have it apparently. $15? Here you go! Meh, gave me an excuse to buy some more comics, but still annoying, if in fact that is what it was.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm pinning this, because I get tired of looking or it.

 

Comixology got a makeover, right after the announcement that they reached 50 million downloads.

I'm still coming to grips with the changes. I really can't complain, it seems much more streamlined, it's just usual issues with adjusting to change.

 

They FINALLY added the much requested feature of being able to delete comics from your collection. Or "archive" them, but whatever. I just don't want to look at them.

So go eat a dick Re-Evolution and Earthbuilders. You were unreadable pieces of shit, and even though you were free I still felt entitled to a refund. I hated sharing my account and having to add "Don't read these books, they're awful and I'm sorry they're there, don't judge me".

 

There's a button for going to a series in the store from an issue you own, which is convenient and should have been there in the first place. Actually, there's a lot of "should have been there in the first place" things, but they're new to this.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Fifth Color | My public apology to digital comics

 

 

 

Dear digital comics,

 

I’m sorry. I’m sorry I considered you gimmicky and fake. I’m sorry I thought that you were unwieldy on my computer screen and that your pictures were badly scanned. I’m sorry I spurned your free codes, and I looked down my nose at your formatting and strange reading interactions. Most of all, I’m sorry that, deep down in a small corner of my heart, I thought you were going to take away my job. I’ve been working at my local comic shop for more than 10 years, so that’s a long time to get set in your ways and feel that any new idea might threaten your way of life.

 

For a long time, I’ve really felt there was an either-or issue between print comics and digital comics. I tend to be a very partisan kind of person (Go Marvel!), so it’s not a surprise that I weighed the merits of both, made my choice and then dug in my heels. Digital comics, I felt, required so much of me technologically (a computer, a good monitor, access to the internet in some cases, etc.) that I didn’t think about all the requirements that print comics ask of readers as well (a healthy income, access to a good comic book shop, some research into what exactly was on the shelves, etc.). The way that comics are read on a screen was just going to be inherently different than the way they’re read in print and that, in a direct transfer, we were just going to lose something in the translation. Besides, there have been years and years to make the returns on print comics better than a digital file; personally, I grew up tracing the heroes in my comics to learn how to draw. You can trade them, give them away, share them with friends and some days, just put them all in a big pile and roll around like a chinchilla (not recommended). I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the big advantage that print comics have over digital: selling them. It would seem in the great debate that paper just covers digital comics for the win.

 

Last week, I traveled to a soggy WonderCon in Anaheim, Calif. for a weekend of cosplay snaps and panels. Fresh off their big debut at South by Southwest, Marvel held a “House of Ideas” panel the first day that told us all about the ideas our favorite House had dreamed up. Marvel’s Arune Singh led a rousing explanation of all the myriad of things that Marvel had planned for getting their message as omnipresent as they can. From being able to buy tickets to the Avengers movie on Facebook to the digital subscriptions service at Marvel.com (kind of like a Netflix for comics and far better than it was at its inception) to coupons for print comics on the digital app and codes for free digital comics in print, our pals at Marvel are trying so many new ideas to make sure that wherever you’re at, you can get at least something from them at every turn. Nearly everything they spoke of was free–free apps, free downloads, free access–as Marvel was committed to seeing how all this stuck with their audience. Singh was incredibly open with Twitter accounts, names and faces of who was working on these projects and how they wanted feedback on where and when you wanted to see Marvel next.

 

Singh was also very clear in how this new initiative was not out to “kill retailers” and that all of this should web together, bringing customers into comic shops to buy two types of comics to suit their needs. In line for a different panel, I got to talking about the digital movement to the guys in line ahead of me. One worked in a call center and was grateful to read as many comics as he wanted on his phone during his downtime, but that didn’t mean he didn’t read regular comics as well. This is what I had to learn, both as a longtime retailer fearing what the future may bring for my job, and as a reader who was too stuck in my ways to bother with an entirely new format. The idea that these two worlds could coexist didn’t seem possible, and I fully admit my bullheaded-ness on that.

 

Because, my friends, I have seen the new Marvel Infinite Comic. Tom Brevoort, Mark Waid, Arune Singh, heck everyone seemed so committed to getting people’s hands on this new format that calling fans up to the panel didn’t stop through the whole convention. They were excited about this new way to have digital comics interact with the reader like a print book, but with all the crisp clarity and artistic value of a digital comic. I tapped and turned pages, information rising up from the screen to meet me to bring a whole level of interaction to reading a simple comic. Look, I should let Mark Waid tell you the details himself, but from a singular reader’s view, someone who was admittedly afraid of the future and who had dug in her heels at every opportunity, I can tell you that the new Infinite Comic is pretty much the future of digital comics, in the same way that digital comics were the future of print. No one discredits the other, but each provide their own unique view of a medium we all love so dearly.

 

I thanked Mark Waid for letting me come up and see the new Infinite Comic. What I didn’t say was how this was the final piece I needed to see how everything can work in concert with one another, that this doesn’t have to close down comic shops but can actually accentuate them if we all just play our cards right, pitch in and give the future a chance. I just said thank you and that it was amazing. He, in turn, told me to tell the world.

 

So here I am. Digital comics? I’m sorry I excluded you and I now offer my hand in friendship. I promise that I will set aside my differences and work with you to make more Marvel and, whether you fail or you’re heralded as the future of the industry, I’ll give you the best chance I got.

 

yj8vb.jpg

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