Amazon buys digital comics platform ComiXology - will make it a subsidiary

Amazon has announced that it will acquire ComiXology, a popular digital comic platform and the reading engine behind major comic book publishers in the US.

ComiXology is a cloud-based digital comics platform that launched in 2007 as a website. Apart from online, it is now available on Android, iOS, Kindle, and Windows. The platform offers millions of comic downloads, including comic books and graphic novels, from more than 75 publishers, and it holds exclusive rights on iOS to DC Comics.

“Amazon and ComiXology share a passion for reinventing reading in a digital world,” said David Naggar, vice president of content acquisition at Amazon, in a release. “We look forward to investing in the business, growing the team, and together, bringing comics and graphic novels to even more readers.”

ComiXology also offers a reading technology called Guided View. Not only does Guided View power ComiXology-branded apps, but it's also used by comic book publishers such as Marvel and DC Comics for their own digital services. It is expected that Guided View will continue to power these digital services, but we've contacted Amazon for more details.

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David Steinberger, co-founder and CEO of ComiXology, wrote in a post on ComiXology's website that his company will retain its identity as an Amazon subsidiary. Amazon meanwhile has said that ComiXology’s headquarters will remain in New York after the buyout finalises.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

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