The iPad version of Digicomix had arrived. The fully operational x-code based application is finished. Each comic book converted into the Digicomix format will be available for sale in the iTunes store. The iPad is a perfect book reader for comic books, and is the way of the future. Each down-loadable comic book is it’s own application. The Digicomix application will allow you to see each page full screen, or zoom in to the page and you can drag your finger to where you want to look and read.
There will be several different series and styles of comic books all developed and published by Digicomix. A exclusive kids oriented section will feature Andy the Lion and Friends, a new family friendly series.
We are not leaving out the grown ups as we are also developing several 3D rendered comic book series that will look very realistic.
The Past
Well I originally introduced the world to Digicomix back in 1997 with two different down-loadable PC readers built in Macromedia Authorware and Director. They were the interactive tools of the 90′s and were used in CBT (Computer based training) development. I attended some Sci-Fi conventions and various comic book shows, and no one seemed very interested. Money spent on trying to convenience people that digital comic books was the future was difficult. My main marketing graphic was “The Future of Comics!”. No one was buying it. Also I found that if I sold a comic book to someone on the internet they could put it on the internet to share with all their friends, losing potential sales. Using copy protection technology back then was non-existent, ask the music industry!
The Dot Com Era
I was approached by a group of potential investors, and accountants from a firm who wanted to build a DOT COM based on the Digicomix brand, and they believed we could raise millions of dollars. It was what I had wanted to do, build a giant multi-million dollar multimedia company, it was my dream. In 1998 I decided to help market the concept of digital comic books I would make some photo based comics featuring Sci-Fi actors and digitally created backgrounds. So in 1999 Chase Masterson of Star Trek DS9 fame came on board for a Digicomix exclusive comic book.
Either unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I decided to crunch the numbers. There was no way I could find that we could make in money in 5-10 years. An accountant told me, “You don’t have to make money to make a big dot com, it’s the image that sells. We will get lots of investments and then go public, then cash out.” After all that’s what the new Dot Com era was all about, fluff without real sales. I explained to everyone that I decided not to work with them or anyone else to do this. What good was millions of shares of stock in a company that I thought would collapse fairly quickly. Also how could I in good faith look at an investor and lie to them, and tell them we would make money, when I knew it was not going to happen. We were too far ahead of the curve, it was too soon for the digital comic book industry. I was right about what would happen. The Dot Com era collapsed, lots of investors lost their money. I felt good about the fact that I did not become one of those guys whose bubble burst leaving him with nothing but a bad reputation. Now I do miss all the enthusiasm from that time when everyone was so excited about the future of technology, and the idea of building a company from scratch. Entrepreneur spirit is inside me, but unfortunately my timing was always off, I could see the future, but the consumers were not ready to join me. In 1993 I built interactive advertising kiosks that would go in the malls with expensive touch screens, and laser disc videos, and computers connected to servers via modems and analog phone lines. That kiosk business failed because I was too far ahead of the consumers.
Now I believe the consumers have caught up with the world that could be, and the time is now for a resurgence of ideas. Now is the time for Digicomix to return.
So I bring you the new Digicomix era on the Apple iPad in 2011.