BOOM! Studios launched its free Webcomic site at www.boom-studios.com on Monday. They offer “online access to select BOOM! titles for free. BOOM! Studios will be releasing a page a day from six different series,” with an initial several pages available for each of the six titles.
The first six comics with free content available are:
2 Guns written by Steven Grant, art by Mat Santolouco
Cthuluhu Tales Volume 1, written by Michael Alan Nelson, art by Andrew Ritchie
Hero Squared written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, art by Joe Abraham
Ninja Tales written by Henry Alonso Myers, art by Sunder Raj
Shmobots written by Adam Rifkin, art by Les Toil
Zombie Tales Volume 1, wirten by Keith Giffen, John Rogers, Michael Alan Nelson, Johanna Stokes, and Andrew Cosby
They expect to feature different series as the program continues. “This is a great way to get the word out about BOOM! titles,” said Marketing and Sales Director Chip Mosher. “When people come to the site for free comics, they’ll be able to take a look at the other quality books we’re putting out. The interface ties all the parts of our website—the store, current titles, free stuff—into one beautiful package. New fans who might be stopping by for cool zombie or Cthulhu content can get turned on to what BOOM!’s doing across the board and check out the print editions in local comic book shops or at Amazon.com and mass market bookstores via our distribution deal with Perseus Books. We expect that people who aren’t BOOM! fans will discover our series and titles and be excited to own print copies.”
BOOM!’s earlier attempt at offering their comics online for free, via MySpace, saw North Wind issues being offered the same day the comics hit the stores. Issue #1 sold out and went to second printing, and there was a 30% increase in orders from issue #3 to issue #4.
“We’re seeing a greater demand for digital comics, whether it be from casual readers or hardcore fans,” said Editor-in-Chief Mark Waid. “Partnering with MySpace showed us that releasing our books for free online actually helped our sales. After sampling BOOM! comics electronically, readers went out to buy physical copies. The BOOM! Webcomic site will continue spearheading this game-changing initiative.”