"After hearing their plans to continue driving new customers into our shops, I see no reason that this trend will not continue," Scott said.
CrossGen's marketing team initially shared concern over the impact of Web comics on print comics sold at the retail level, but decided to move forward in order to expose comics to as many new readers as possible.
"Since Day One of the launch of CrossGen's Comics on the Web, there has been a concern that the very existence of Comics on the Web was going to hurt back issue and frontlist sales," said Tony Panaccio, CrossGen's VP of Product Development. "Having said that, and those were not easy words, we've been gratified by the fact that sales almost instantly increased after the launch of Comics on the Web. We would be lying if we said that we were absolutely certain that Comics on the Web was going to move more comics at the retail level, but we also were faced with voluminous research and interviews with dozens and dozens of retailers who all felt strongly that the Web would do more to increase the comics audience base and enhance sales than hurt them. When faced with the fact that the mass consumer population can rent DVDs for $3, yet continue to buy them for $20 by the millions, we knew that Comics on the Web with it's $1 per month point of entry could definitely work in the same manner. When faced with an imploding retailer base, we felt it was worth the initial risk to test those waters. Now we know, and we will continue to fine-tune our presentation of Comics on the Web to spark even more sales as we move forward."
About Comics on the Web
For the subscription price of only $1 per month to start, users will be presented with Web comics in an easy to read format accessible in seconds from even the slowest dial-up connection. They read just like a printed comic, but with a rich set of features developed in Flash by one of the medium's most renowned programmers, Gabo Mendoza of Gabocorp Studios.
Initially launched with more than 50 CrossGen issues available, accounting for more than 1,100 pages, the library will grow to more than 160 issues and 4,400 pages by the end of 2002, rising at a steady pace to nearly 20,000 pages and more than 800 issues by 2005. The number of issues available, when calculated against the $1 per month base, brings the cost per comic down to about 3 cents at launch time, and reduces it to about half a penny by the end of 2002.
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