He also said he’s encountered readers who actually buy both forms - for example if they buy the single issues digitally but want to own a physical copy of the collection, or if they treat their physical copies as collector’s items while actually reading the digital issues. The data seems to back up a claim that Kanalz was making a year ago, that digital sales should expand the audience rather than lure readers away from comic book stores. (The data points from last year include the launch of the New 52, so the company says it’s even doing well compared to the initial boost from its revamped titles.) At the same time, Kanalz said that growth hasn’t come at the cost of print, where sales grew 12 percent over the same period. The growth on that front isn’t too surprising, since the company only fully embraced the “day-and-date” model (where comics are released on the same date in both physical and digital stores) in September 2011, tying in with its “New 52” initiative, which saw all of its titles reset to No. It says that for the year to date, digital comic sales are up 197 percent year-over-year. The comics publishers have also been pretty cagey about their digital sales numbers, but DC is releasing a few data points today.

He added that by integrating with the big e-bookstores, DC is allowing fans to “watch their movies, read their prose and their comics all in one device, in one library.” Hank Kanalz, DC’s senior vice president of digital, told me that he wants comics to be available on any platform where readers want to find them. However, if you wanted the newest content, delivered on a monthly basis, just as you would find in a comic book store, you had to turn to ComiXology - either the ComiXology app or the official DC app, which the Time Warner-owned publisher created in partnership with ComiXology.

The company wasn’t exactly missing from those stores before, because it was already selling graphic novels. DC Comics is announcing the next big step in its digital plans today, saying it will sell monthly comics in the Kindle Store, iBookstore, and Nook Book Store.

Comixology dc sale