Did You Hear? is a weekly examination of headlines in the entertainment industry and a take on what they could mean for the future of the industry and (often), the little geeky bubble that we occupy!
Is Amazon Coming for Webtoons?
Not to get into the click bait of it all, but TL;DR MAYBE!?
Amazon, of course, has made several forrays into the world of comic book and comic book-adjacent media over their years besides simply selling comic books and graphic novels through their storefront. I remember learning from The Major Spoilers Podcast about Amazon’s acquisition of Comixology and then living through the subsequent changes to the digital reading experience. Since the debut of Amazon Prime and Amazon Studios many properties sprung from the pages of graphic novels have graced the streaming service – I won’t specify which due to the rules of the SAG-AFTRA strike, but I know you know the ones I am referring to.
This week it appears Webtoons is in the corporate giant’s crosshairs:
Have you heard about Fliptoons?
Fliptoons launched via Amazon Japan and features the vertical scrolling webcomic style many readers have come to associate with Webtoons over the past decade.
What I, personally, find fascinating about Fliptoons is its launch in utter absence of Comixology. This is a completely stand alone entity (under the Amazon umbrella, of course), meant to operate autonomously, one assumes. Why would Amazon not have thought to integrate the digital comic book company they already want with a vertical scrolling platform?
Here is the part where I admit that I am not a tech-savvy person and there could very well be back-end or integration reasons to build a completely different platform.
However, from a brand standpoint, Fliptoons is something new – and, in my opinion, is a name which in no way implies the service offers – whereas Comixology has powerful brand recognition in the Western comic book market. If nothing else it has the word “comix” in the name.
Is Apple ALSO Coming for Webtoons?
At the risk of repeating myself: TL;DR MAYBE!?
The tech giant launched their own vertical scrolling online comics according to Goodereader.com.
Apple Japan announced the launch of a dedicated “Vertical Reading Manga” page on Apple Books, featuring exclusive manga content created in collaboration with various creators, AppleWorld.Today reported
In the same way the App Store and Comixology had a messy parting when Amazon acquired Comixology it will be interesting to see if either the Kindle App or the Amazon App may not be long for this world.
Per Goodereader:
According to Apple, the company will focus on developing vertical reading comics content through its Apple Books platform. Apple Books is dedicated to providing vertical reading manga content, with over 180 creators collaborating to produce nearly 100 manga series annually. KENAZ, a Korean-based studio, produces the manga selection exclusively for distribution in Japan through Apple Books. These comics cover a wide range of genres, including popular ones such as romance, fantasy, and action, as well as less common genres like suspense, horror, otherworldly, and science fiction.
With more and more Webtoons getting the adaptation and big screen/small screen treatment it appears
both Apple and Amazon are keen to dip their toes in a digital reading format which is being treated as something new, but has, in fact, simply become mainstream.
What this could mean for the future of Webtoons appears to be nothing for the moment. They have a solid corner on the market and partnership in place with other major media companies. They have the market cornered. Their user interface is simple and straightforward. They have gigantic booths and presences at major conventions all over the world.
Webcomics have had a compelling and diverse impact on the comic book industry from the minute they happened and this story is only going to keep evolving and be a topic to write and discourse about for the very near future.
