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If you’ve been reading the Beat regularly – and I know you have – you may have noticed that Dynamite is the King of Bundling – that is, the kind of pay-what-you-want services such as Humble Bundle that give consumer vast access to digital comics for a pretty low fee. Dynamite has two notable recent bundles, the  “Bundle […]

Garth Ennis is  having his moment with the debut of the AMC tv series based on Preacher coming on this Sunday, May 22 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on AMC. YOu can catch the man himself in converstion with producer Seth Rogen and the stars Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga and Joseph Gilgun tonight at the 92nd Street Y […]

Humble Bundle has crafted a deal highlighting science fiction classics. It will be available from now until March 1.

Three charities have been named as the beneficiaries of this venture. Customers can choose to have their money go to one of the following organizations: the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA), the Challenger Learning Center for Space Science Education, and Extra Life (Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals).

Here’s more from the press release: “Readers can pay what they want for The Last Defender of Camelot, Dragonworld, The Deceivers, Wild Cards Deuces Down, Roger Zelazny’s The Dawn of Amber Book 1, and Damnation Alley. Those who pay more than the average price will also receive The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth; Eye of Cat; The Computer Connection; Wild Cards Death Draws Five; Roger Zelazny’s Chaos in Amber Book 2; Roger Zelazny’s To Rule in Amber Book 3; and Robot Visions. In addition, readers who pay $15 more will receive all of that plus Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime 1, The Demolished Man, Roger Zelazny’s Shadows of Amber Book 4, Robot Dreams, and The Stars My Destination.”

Dynamite Entertainment has established a new partnership with Humble Bundle. The two collaborators will offer a deal called the “Best-Selling Authors Bundle.”

Customers can choose between the publisher or a non-profit as the recipient of their money. They will have three charity options: the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Doctors Without Borders (a.k.a. Médecins Sans Frontières), and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Here’s more from the press release: “The ‘pay what you want’ model offers readers the chance to unlock over 120 comics, and over 3,500 pages of content. This will give graphic lit fans access to: Charlaine Harris’ Grave Sight Part 1 by Charlaine Harris, The Shadow Vol 1: Fire of Creation by Garth Ennis and Aaron Campbell, Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thomson: Hopcross Jilly by Patricia Briggs, The Complete Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Leah Moore, and John Reppion, Sherlock Holmes: Year One by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Scott Beatty, The Spider Vol. 1: Terror of the Zombie Queen by David Liss and Francesco Francavilla, and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Echoes by Tom Clancy. As the bundle progresses, there will be a running average.”

BOOM! will celebrate its 10-year anniversary with a Humble Bundle deal. The two collaborators have crafted a digital comics package that is worth $759.

Customers can choose between the publisher or a non-profit as the recipient of their money. They have two options: the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and Choose Your Own Charity (a selection of 30,000 charities).

Here’s more from the press release: “Customers can pay what they want for Irredeemable Vol. 1 – 2, Bee and Puppycat Vol. 1, Steed and Mrs. Peel: A Very Civil Armageddon Vol. 1, RoboCop Vol. 1, Sons of Anarchy Vol. 1, Bravest Warriors Vol. 1 + 2, Bill & Ted’s Most Triumphant Return #1 – 6, Hacktivist Vol. 1, Lumberjanes Vol. 1, and Clive Barker’s Hellraiser Masterpieces Vol. 1. Those who pay more than the average price will also receive Steed and Mrs. Peel: We’re Needed #1 – 3, Steed and Mrs. Peel Vol. 2 – 3, RoboCop Vol. 2 + 3, Sons of Anarchy Vol. 2 + 3, Bravest Warriors Vol. 3 – 5, Hacktivist Vol. 2, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser Masterpieces Vol. 2, Bee and Puppycat #5 – 9,RoboCop: Dead or Alive Vol. 1, and Lumberjanes Vol. 2. In addition, customers who pay $15 or more receive all of the above plus RoboCop: Dead or Alive #5 – 12, RoboCop: The Human Element, Sons of Anarchy #15 – 25, Irredeemable Vol. 3 – 7, Bravest Warriors #21 – 36, Lumberjanes #9 – 20, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Omnibus (#1 – 24).”

IDW Publishing has established a new partnership with Humble Bundle. The two collaborators have crafted an X-Files themed comics package.

Customers can choose between the publisher or a non-profit as the recipient of their money. They have two options: the Traveling Stories organization and Choose Your Own Charity (a selection of 30,000 charities). It will be available until Dec. 02, 2015 at 11 a.m. Pacific Time.

Here’s more from the press release: “Customers can name their price for: The X-Files Classics Vol. 1, The X-Files: Season 10, Vol. 1 (#1 – 5), The X-Files: Season 10, Vol. 2 (#6 – 10), The X-Files Classics: Season One, Vol. 1, and The X-Files: Year Zero (#1 – 5). Those who pay more than the average price will also receive: The X-Files Classics Vol. 2, The X-Files Classics Vol. 3, The X-Files: Season 10, Vol. 3 (#11 – 15), The X-Files: Season 10, Vol. 4 (#16 – 20), The X-Files Classics: Season One, Vol. 2, The X-Files Annual 2014, The X-Files Archives, Vol. 1: Whirlwind & Ruins, The X-Files Annual 2015, and The X-Files Classics Vol. 4. Customers who pay $15 or more will receive all of the above plus: The X-Files: Season 11 #1, The X-Files: Season 11 #2, The X-Files: Season 11 #3, The X-Files: Season 10, Vol. 5 (#21 – 25), The X-Files Classics: Ground Zero, and The X-Files: Trust No One.”

BOOM! Studios and Fantagraphics Books have established a new partnership with Humble Bundle. The three collaborators have crafted a Peanuts-themed comics package.

Customers can choose between the publisher or a charity as the recipient of their money. Two nonprofit organizations will benefit from this venture: the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the Freedom of the Press Foundation. It will be available until Nov. 18, 2015 at 11 a.m. Pacific Time.

Here’s more from the press release: Customers can name their price for: ‘Peanuts: Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown,’ ‘Batter Up, Charlie Brown!,’ and ‘Peanuts Vol. 1-3.’ Those who pay more than the average price will also receive: ‘Peanuts Vol. 4-6,’ ‘Waiting for the Great Pumpkin,’ ‘Peanuts: The Beagle Has Landed, Charlie Brown,’ and ‘Snoopy’s Thanksgiving.’ Customers who pay $15 or more will receive all of the above plus: ‘The Complete Peanuts 1950-1952 Vol. 1,’ ‘Peanuts: Where Beagles Dare!,’ and ‘Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron.'”

  You’ve got your mimosas.  You’ve got your fine leather goods.  How about your rare, never-before-released Neil Gaiman Stories? The American Gods and Sandman author has teamed up with The Moth, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) and Humble Bundle to present the Humble Book Bundle: Neil Gaiman Rarities.  For the next two weeks, users can pay as […]

Dark Horse Comics has formed a partnership with Humble Bundle. The two organizations have crafted a digital comics package tailored for video games fans.

Here’s more from the press release: “Customers can name their price for Fallout: New Vegas, Plants vs. Zombies: Lawnmageddon, EVE: True Stories, Tomb Raider: The Beginning, and The Art of Remember Me. Those who pay more than the average price will also receive The Guild Volume 1, Halo: Initiation, The Art of Bioshock Infinite, and Valve Presents Vol. 1: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories. Customers who pay above the average price by $5 or more will receive all of the above plus Mass Effect: Foundation Volume 1 and Dragon Age Volume 1: The Silent Grove.”

More titles will be added to the package on July 8. This Humble Bundle deal will be made available until July 15. Readers can choose between two recipients for their money; either the publishing house or the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

By Bruce Lidl

Following immediately on the conclusion of the second Image Comics Humble Bundle, Archie Comics has joined the Humble Bundle comics movement with its first release. Humble Bundles are curated collections of digital comics available under a “pay what you want” revenue model. Customers can choose their payment amount for the basic pack, or spend extra money for additional content. Customers can also choose what percentage of their payment goes to the publisher, to the Humble Bundle company and to a charity picked for the bundle, in this case either the Hero Initiative or the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Also, all Humble Bundle comic collections are sold in variety of formats, with absolutely no DRM restrictions embedded in them.

Past digital comics Humble Bundles have proven very popular and generated considerable revenue for publishers and charities. The first Image Humble Bundle in April 2014 received almost $400,000 in payments, while the just completed Image bundle got over $450,000, and appears to have been the highest grossing comics bundle so far.

Today’s Archie bundle contains Afterlife With Archie Magazine #1, The Fox: Freak Magnet, Sonic/Mega Man: Worlds Collide Vol. 1, and The Best of Archie Book One. Customers that pay more than the going average price also get The Death of Archie, Archie Meets KISS, The Best of Archie Book Two, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1, and Sonic/Mega Man: Worlds Collide Vol. 2., while those who pay $15 or more will receive all of the above plus Afterlife With Archie Vol. 1: Escape From Riverdale, Archie Comics Spectacular: Party Time, Archie: The Married Life Vol. 1, and Sonic/Mega Man: Worlds Collide Vol. 3. Other incentive titles will likely get added over the course of the bundle’s two week run.

At this point, the sole remaining publisher holdouts from Humble Bundle appear to be Marvel and DC. While initially designed for independent video gaming publishers, even rather large gaming companies have used Humble Bundle since its inception in 2010, including EA and THQ. Interestingly, Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment participated in a gaming Humble Bundle in November 2013 that included comics themed games Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, distributed through the Steam gaming platform. Whether that might indicate a broader Warner Brothers/DC openness to the Humble Bundle philosophy remains to be seen.

By Bruce Lidl

Lost somewhat in the initial burst of news from last week’s ImageExpo was the announcement of a new Image Humble Bundle offering, beginning that morning and lasting until January 21. The “Humble Image Comics Bundle 2: Image Firsts” is a massive collection of digital comics that can be purchased for whatever price the consumer chooses. Included in the basic bundle are the beginning issues of a number of recent series, including Alex + Ada, Deadly Class, C.O.W.L., Elephantmen 2260 Book One, Minimum Wage, God Hates Astronauts, Genius, and Satellite Sam. Paying at least $15 also gets you the slightly higher profile titles The Manhattan Projects, The Wicked + The Divine, The Fuse, Velvet, Sex Criminals, Wytches, The Walking Dead Vol. 22: A New Beginning (#127-132), The Fade Out #1, Nailbiter, Stray Bullets, Southern Bastards, and Shutter. And finally, a stretch price of $18 brings The Walking Dead Compendium One (#1-48), East of West: The World, and Saga Book One (#1-18). For anybody at all interested in Image brand comics, the price truly cannot be beat, especially as the retail price of the comics would be over $300 according to Humble Bundle. Also, purchasers are strongly encouraged to mark a portion of their price paid towards charity, in this case the comics creator focused Hero Initiative. As of this evening, the Image bundle has generated almost $318,000, with over five days left to go.

The current offering is the third Humble Bundle to include Image titles. The first time Humble Bundle included any digital comics was the Image bundle in April 2014 that generated almost $400,000 revenue in two weeks, with titles including Saga, Walking Dead, Fatale, Invincible and Chew. Image imprint Skybound also did a special Comic-Con Humble Bundle in July 2014 as well, which was almost entirely Kirkman based titles such as The Walking Dead, Invincible, Thief of Thieves, and Super Dinosaur. That bundle alone generated $232,000.

Other comic publishers that have released Humble Bundles since April include Dark Horse, Oni, Dynamite, BOOM!, IDW, Top Shelf and Valiant. According to Kelley Allen, Director of Books for Humble Bundle, comics publishers are eager to work with them, and she has a number of ebook and comics bundles planned in 2015 alongside Humble Bundle’s traditional gaming focused offerings. The average revenue number for the comics based bundles so far has been $288,000 for the 14 day period. According to Allen, non-gaming bundles allow Humble to “break out from their core gaming audience” but from the comics perspective, they can also create “enormous crossover” by getting great comics in front of the very large Humble Bundle community. With a very clearly defined, and devoted, young male demographic, Humble Bundle chooses comics with both a logical appeal, like Transformers, Star Wars and The Walking Dead, but Allen also curates high quality titles that may stretch demographic borders. She “pushed very hard” to include titles like Sex Criminals in the latest Image bundle, trusting the Humble Bundle audience to appreciate an outstanding title, even without prior awareness.

While the Humble Bundles may help expand the reach of digital comics, they are also helping to encourage comics publishers to feel comfortable with forgoing DRM protections for their products. Humble Bundles, regardless of content, gaming or ebooks, do not use Digital Rights Management anti-copying technologies, both for philosophical reasons and from a practical standpoint. As Allen pointed out, why use DRM when the consumer could theoretically decide to purchase the content for one cent in any case? Even Dark Horse, which has been very reluctant to forgo DRM generally, was convinced to try not using it for their big Star Wars themed Humble Bundle in October and was rewarded with sales over $375,000 for the two week offering.

Fundamentally, the Humble Bundle “pay what you want” approach reflects exactly the insights independent game developers have learned over the years in regards to digital sales. Since their products are almost universally available to be pirated, often in formats that are actually *more* user friendly than the official versions, game creators have learned to embrace the concept of giving customers compelling reasons to purchase, in the recognition that they do not have to anymore. Distribution options like Steam and Humble Bundle provide explicit value beyond what a pirated version can give, whether through ease of use, personal connection to the creators, community recognition, charitable giving, etc. The Humble Bundle experiment really leverages the unique potential of digital distribution, as the pay what you want model could not really scale in a system that necessitated fulfillment and postage charges. With this almost “donation” type model there is no extra expense for the seller after the first sale, everything after that is essentially “profit.” And the possibility that the new readers exposed to the material may become fans, and go on to make further purchases, even print purchases in local comic books stores, only heightens the value of the Humble Bundle offering. We are likely to see a number of interesting comics based bundles in 2015 and we will learn if this kind of non-traditional sales can become a significant portion of publishers’ revenue, in much the same way digital has already established itself recently.

By Bruce Lidl

As has become a tradition at Image Comic’s semi-annual event, the announcements of upcoming titles came fast and furious today at ImageExpo. After a suitably rousing “state of the company” presentation by Image publisher Eric Stephenson, the stage at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center saw a procession of comic luminaries hyping new titles they promise will appear in 2015. On the evidence, Image will likely continue to rise in sales and market share, although the central roles of The Walking Dead and Saga in propelling those gaudy numbers remained an unspoken undercurrent to the show.

Stephenson trumpeted Image’s 2014 performance, which included “double digit year over year growth from 2013” (33% improvement in revenue, 25% in units), a 10.41% market share in the comics direct market and 16.48% market share for graphic novels in the book market. One area of somewhat smaller growth was digital, which Stephenson mentioned in passing and with a graphic that lacked scale or numbers. Despite its vagueness, the digital sales chart seemed to indicate roughly 10-15% growth from 2013. Surprisingly, however, the graph showed a slight dip in digital sales from 2012 to 2013, that was not commented on in the keynote, but Image’s Ron Richards told me outside the talk that it was merely a reflection of “The Walking Dead on TV” phenomenon, and not the natural growth of the category. To keep the digital sales momentum going into 2015, the second Image Humble Bundle was released prior to the opening of the ImageExpo, with a ton of Image backlist titles available digitally in the “pay what you want model.” In fact, Humble Bundle co-sponsored the ImageExpo this year, and has very high hopes for the bundle, particularly after it generated almost $90,000 in the first eight hours of the offer.

The new book announcements included original Image founder Todd MacFarlane’s Spawn books #250 and #251, with Spawn Resurrection #1 sandwiched in between. Declaring himself a “proud papa” of what Image had grown into over the last 23 years, MacFarlane refused to cede all the creative acclaim to his younger Image colleagues. He teased Savior, a a new title depicting the arrival of a Christ-like figure in today’s world. Recognizing a reputation for erratic release schedules, MacFarlane flashed an slide with eight issues worth of pages already completed.

James Robinson made a cameo appearance to announce his title Heaven and to reassure that Airboy is still on the way. Brandon Graham and Emma Rios told the audience about a couple of their collaborations, including 8house and Island, the later a large format “heavy metal” anthology that will include a number of rotating contributors. Emma Rios also brought out Kelly Sue DeConnick to update their plans for Pretty Deadly’s second arc which takes the title’s setting from the American West to the battlefields of World War I, and is expected to arrive in September.

Unlike last year’s event, ImageExpo 2015 highlighted a number of female creators, with Emi Lenox following Rios and DeConnick on stage to announce her autobiographical project, Tadaima, about her visit to her mother’s Japan. Lenox also talked about her collaboration with Jeff Lemire, Plutona, a Stand By Me influenced book about children discovering the corpse of a super-hero, . Other female creators announcing new books at ImageExpo included Marjorie Liu with Monstress and Alex De Campi with No Mercy, the latter scheduled for April.

Jeff Lemire returned to discuss his new book with Scott Snyder, AD: After Death which takes a deep, conceptual look at what the world would be like when “death is cured” and people can live forever. Brian Buccellato intrigued with his Kickstarter-originated Son of the Devil, an exploration of deadly cults and their legacies, and Eric Canete and Jonathan Tsuei discussed Run Love Kill, a project that started over a decade ago, but will now arrive with “robots, dinosaurs and ass-kicking.” The dynamic British duo of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie will be continuing their successful Wicked+Divine series into a third arc with a number of guest artists, and they promised Phonogram 3 for August 2015. Gillen will also be writing The Ludocrats, with art by David LaFuente for Image this year. Chip Zdarsky “crashed” the proceedings in an unannounced surprise appearance to hype his Howard the Duck title (for Marvel), but really to announce Katara, a sci-fi comedy title done with Kagan McLeod, and just to generally lighten up the festivities in his inimitable Zdarsky-style.

Another surprise appearance proved impossible for Darwyn Cooke to arrange, but he announced via audio message his first wholly creator owned title, Revengeance, a crime thriller with Mickey Spillane influences set in the 1980s. Following the Cooke audio portion, Skottie Young spoke of his new title, I Hate Fairyland, about a girl trapped in a fantasy wonderland for thirty years. The tone of the title is probably best expressed by its original working title, Fuck Fairyland.

While last year’s ImageExpo felt somewhat like the Robert Kirkman show, the explosive success of Saga in 2014 made Brian K. Vaughn’s appearance a natural highlight of this year’s event. In addition to that book, Vaughn will be producing two more books in 2015 for Image, the first entitled We Stand on Guard, a limited series positing a US invasion of Canada with giant robots, drawn by Steve Skroce, and Paper Girls, an on-going series with young newspaper deliverers as the protagonists, drawn by Cliff Chiang, and referred to by Vaughn as “his most personal and weird writing.”

It’s Image Expo day so expect a ton of news rolling out as we get going. But first, the new Image comics Humble Bundle is up and it’s a great jumping on point with digital editions of the Image Expo 2015 Preview Book, Alex + Ada Vol. 1 (#1-5), Deadly Class Vol. 1 (#1-6), C.O.W.L. Vol. 1 (#1-5), Elephantmen 2260 Book One (#51-55), Minimum Wage Vol. 1 (#1-6), God Hates Astronauts Vol. 1, Genius (#1-5), and Satellite Sam Vol. 1 (#1-5). If you pay more than the average price, you also get The Manhattan Projects Book One (#1-10), The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 1 (#1-5), The Fuse Vol. 1 (#1-6), Velvet Vol. 1 (#1-5), Sex Criminals Vol. 1 (#1-5), Wytches #1, The Walking Dead Vol. 22: A New Beginning (#127-132), and The Fade Out #1. If you pay $18 or more, you’ll receive all of the above plus The Walking Dead Compendium One (#1-48), East of West: The World, and Saga Book One (#1-18).

Free comics will be available every day, and proceed benefit The Hero Initiative. So get on over!

The whole Humble Bundle move to selling comics and e-books worked very well, Calvin Reid reports:

In its first year offering e-books and digital comics, Humble Bundle, the promotional site that lets readers pay what they wish for bundles of DRM-free content, released 18 e-book bundles that generated $4.75 million in revenue. Of that revenue, $3 million was generated by comics alone.

Out of the 18 DRM-free e-book bundles released by the site in 2014, 10 bundles were made up entirely of comics. The average bundle, according to Humble Bundle, generated $265,000.

Humble Bundle director of e-books Kelley Allen called the site’s first year offering bundles of prose e-books and digital comics, a rousing success; she expects to release two more bundles by year’s end.

The current bundle offers a ton of Dynamite comics and it’s a good deal — for only $15 you can get American Flagg, The Boys, Red Sonja and lots more. Now if only I had an iPAd big enough to hold all this stuff.

It’s the final Humble Bundle of the year and it’s $555 worth of Dynamite Comics for a pay what you want model. THIS IS A GOOD DEAL. It includes the much buzzed Shaft #1 by David Walker, Bilquis Evely, and Daniela Miwa, the best selling Bob’s Burgers, the Django/Zorro crossover and many other fine comics by Mark Waid, Darick Robertson, Garth Ennis, Gail Simone, Kevin Smith, Alex Ross, J. Michael Straczynski, David Mack, Howard Chaykin, Bill Willingham, Sean Phillips, Tim Seeley, Chuck Dixon, Andy Diggle, Duane Swierczynski, Joshua Hale Fialkov and many more. ALl for pay what you want—but you’ll want to pay at least $15 to get extra bonus books! In addition there are free comics being given away every day.

Humble Bundle jumped into the comics/ebook market this year after a very successful run with mostly video games. The publishing program has been equally successful with over $1 million raised this year. It’s not only a surprisingly effective revenue stream for publishers, but a big help for the charities benefited, including the CBLDF, Doctors without Borders and more. I’m told the biggest comics related Humble Bundle of all was the Doctor Who bundle—oddly the Humble Bundle wikipedia page doesn’t list comics proceeds, but The Beat managed to catch the numbers and it was more than half a million dollars. Not very humble, is it.

Here’s more info on the Dynamite bundle, which ends Christmas Eve at 2 pm.

Fans who choose to pay what they want for the Dynamite Bundle will receive 56 comics with a value of over $200 which includes Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet #1,Dead Irons #1-4, Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 1, Devilers #1-2, Hack/Slash/Eva: Monster’s Ball #1-4, Doodle Jump #1, Alice Cooper #1, Mark Waid’s The Green Hornet #1-3, Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! #1-6, Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword #0-6, Chaos! #2-3,Legenderry #4-5, Pathfinder Vol. 2: Of Tooth and Claw, Dark Shadows: Year One #1-6, Queen Sonja #1-2, The Warriors #1-4, and Ex-Con #1.

Fans who beat the average price will also receive 105 comics total with a combined value of over $380 including Living Corpse Omnibus, Doodle Jump #2, Dean Koontz: Frankenstein – Prodigal Son, Curse of the Wendigo, Monster War #1-4, Devilers #3-4, Twilight Zone #1-4, Uncanny #1, Alice Cooper #2, Mark Waid’s Green Hornet #4-6, Red Sonja Vol. 2, Pathfinder Vol. 2: Tooth and Claw, Kirby Genesis #0-8, Shaft #1, and Jim Butcher: Dresden War Cry #1-3.

Super fans who support Dynamite’s comics and creators by spending $15 or more will receive 143 comics total with a combined value of over $600 will receive all of the above, PLUS Zorro Vol. 1, The Complete Dracula, The Romita Legacy, The Boys: Definitive Edition Vol. 1, and The Heart of the Beast Graphic Novel 20th Anniversary Edition. 

Customers who buy the bundle will receive the first three issues of Bob’s Burgers and can share the first issue with a friend, by utilizing Humble Bundle’s gifting promotion. Those who refer this bundle to a friend will be rewarded with a copy of the first issue of the Django/Zorro crossover.  The gifting promotion is a great way to share a best-selling Dynamite title, while receiving a best-selling title for your own collection as a reward.  Dynamite is the premiere comics publisher to launch such a program with Humble Bundle.

In addition, for those who wish to sample Dynamite’s diverse line, every day at 2:00pm EST throughout the promotion, a digital comic book will be made available as a free download to fans, kicking off with a free digital copy of Red Sonja #7 written by fan-favorite author Gail Simone (of Batgirl and Wonder Woman fame).  That’s just for starters with additional titles to be unveiled mid-promotion.

“Humble Bundle allows us a venue to reward our existing fans, and also an entry level to bring in new readers,” said Dynamite Publisher and CEO Nick Barrucci.  “We were truly humbled by the response to our first partnership earlier this year and really wanted to bring the biggest bundle possible for the grand finale of our 10^th Anniversary celebration! We’ve now exceed the number of issues of our first bundle to over 3,500 pages of comics to read and enjoy from Dynamite’s best-selling and award-winning creators. This Humble Bundle event gives fans a lot of books to read over the holidays. It’s the perfect gift to treat yourself during the holidays while also supporting several great causes.”

As with all Humble Bundles, customers can choose how their purchase dollars are allocated, between the publisher and charity. The Humble Dynamite MEGA Holidays Bundle supports Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, Make-A-Wish, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund which defends first amendment rights of comic book professionals nationwide.To date Humble Bundle has raised over 49 million dollars for charities around the world. With Dynamite’s help last summer they were able to give over $100,000.00 during The Humble Dynamite 10^th Anniversary Bundle in July. 

 The Humble Dynamite MEGA Holidays Bundle runs for two weeks and ends Wednesday, December 24, 2014 at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Fans should follow on Dynamite on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram for the latest updates as new offerings become available. 

Timing is everything, and Humble Bundle has just launched a horror themed bundle with many comics including Shadowman, afterlife with Archie, Buffy and prose works by Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Joss Whedon, Joe Hill, Max Brooks and many more.

Customers can name their price for Shadowman Vol. 4: Fear, Blood, and Shadows, Song of Kali, The Mocking Dead #1, Houses of the Holy, The Last Zombie, Zombies: The Recent Dead, plus two songs by band-on-the-rise, A Sound of Thunder. Those who pay more than the average price will also receive Buffy Omnibus Vol. 1, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: The Dark Watch Vol. 1 & 2, Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer, Swan Song and Knights of Sidonia, Humble Bundle’s first ever manga title. Customers who pay $15 or more will receive all of the above, plus Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror, the Eisner award-winning Locke & Key Vol 1: Welcome To Lovecraft and the first two issues of the acclaimed series Afterlife with Archie.

“Humble Bundle is proud to include so many quality horror titles in one place,” said Humble Bundle’s Director of Books Kelley Allen. “From vampires to witches plus a horde of zombies, this bundle has everything a horror reader could want by some of the genre’s biggest names.”

This time the Bundle charity  is  the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, the nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization AND  Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Two great causes.

PS: did anyone catch how much the Star Wars bundle made?

Look at the size of this thing! There are so many puns to be made and this Humble Bundle pr makes the most of them. And while Marvel may be publishing Star Wars now, Dark Horse has a mighty backlist of Star Wars classics. Sp get in on this pay what you want download. ALSO for the first time, Dark Horse is offering DRM-free downloads.

Oni’s Humble Bundle just ended with $149,733.13 and 13,023 purchases, BTW.

These are the comics you’re looking for. Humble Bundle and Dark Horse Comics have teamed up to launch the Humble Star Wars Comics Bundle today. Starting at 11 a.m. PDT, fans of the epic sci-fi franchise can pay what they want for up to $190 worth of digital comics, all while supporting a great cause.

Customers can pay what they want for Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago… Volume 1, Star Wars: Empire Volume 1 – Betrayal, Star Wars: Jedi Volume 1 – The Dark Side, Star Wars: Crimson Empire Volume 1, Star Wars: Darth Maul Death Sentence and Star Wars: Blood Ties – Jango and Boba Fett. Those who pay more than the average price will also unlock Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command, Star Wars: The Old Republic Volume 1 – Blood of the Empire, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Volume 1 – Commencement, Star Wars: Legacy Volume 1 – Broken and Star Wars: Dark Times Volume 1 – The Path to Nowhere. Hardcore fans who pay $15 or more will receive all of the above, plus Star Wars Volume 1: In the Shadow of Yavin, bringing this bundle to a total of 89 issues of Star Wars comics.

As with all Humble Bundles, customers can choose how their purchase dollars are allocated, between the comic creators and charity. The Humble Star Wars Comics Bundle defies the dark side and supports the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the First Amendment rights of the comics medium. Thanks to the generosity of the Humble Bundle community, more than $47 million has been contributed to more than 30 different causes to date.

The Humble Star Wars Comics Bundle runs for two weeks and ends on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 at 11 a.m. PDT. For more information, please visit https://www.humblebundle.com/books

And as Valiant ended, Oni has taken up the Humble Bundle comics slot. $360 worth of comics including The Sixth Gun, Letter 44 and more. And you benefit the charity Direct Relief. Here’s more:

These comics-based Humble Bundle’s continue to do very well. a Boom! bundle is wrapping up a few hours from when you read this already having raised more than $242,898.07 with 23,784 purchases. Charity proceeds benefit the CBLDF. Hurry up and you can still get all the following:

After initially offering over 90 issues of a wide variety of comics when it launched on August 6,BOOM! Studios added an additional tier of titles on August 13 to help boost interest in the raise. Titles that were added include:
Fairy Quest: Outlaws (collects the complete miniseries)
Written by Paul Jenkins
Illustrated by Humberto Ramos
In Fablewood, where all fairy tales live side-by-side, Red Riding Hood and Wolf risk everything so that they can remain friends.
Polarity TP (collects the complete miniseries)
Written by Max Bemis
Illustrated by Jorge Coelho
From the mind of Say Anything frontman Max Bemis comes a story about a man with bipolar disorder who discovers his meds have been, in fact, suppressing his super powers.

Suicide Risk Vol. 1 TP (issues #1-4)
Suicide Risk  Vol. 2 TP (issues #5-9)
Written by Mike Carey
Illustrated by Elena Casagrande
This smart deconstruction of the superhero genre tells of a beat cop, who, after watching too many of his friends die at the hands of super-powered villains, decides to take a risk by artificially unlocking his own abilities.

Protocol: Orphans #1-4 (collects the complete miniseries)
Written by Peter Facinelli, Rob DeFranco, and Michael Alan Nelson
Illustrated by Mariano Navarro
Grabbed up by the United States government and thrown into training camps, orphans around the country have been raised to become America’s next generation of super spies. Now, as adults, they live amongst us, ready for “the family” to call them back into action.

The initial campaign contained:

Curse #1-4 (collects the complete miniseries)
Written by Tim Daniel and Michael Moreci
Illustrated by Colin Lorimer and Riley Rossmo
To pay for his son’s medical treatment, a man sets out to earn the bounty on a killer who has been terrorizing his small town, only to discover the murderer is a werewolf.
Day Men #1-3
Written by Matt Gagnon and Michael Alan Nelson
Illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze
To protect their vampire employers during the daytime, a select group of humans are trained to serve as their fixers, problem-solvers, and protectors.
Dead Letters #1-4
Written by Christopher Sebela
Illustrated by Chris Visions
A man wakes up with no memory of how he got where he is and will have to use every trick from his forgotten repertoire to outrun and outsmart his way through a hardboiled wonderland of gang wars, femme fatales, and big secrets.
Evil Empire #1-3
Written by Max Bemis
Illustrated by Ransom Getty and Andrea Mutti
Say Anything frontman Max Bemis’ gripping story explores a scenario in which we watch modern society gradually evolve (or is it devolve?) into an evil empire.
Hit #1-4 (collects the complete miniseries)
Written by Bryce Carlson
Illustrated by Vanesa R. Del Rey
In 1955 Los Angeles, while infamous gangster Mickey Cohen rots in a prison cell, clandestine groups of LAPD detectives moonlight as sanctioned hitmen knows as “Hit Squads.”
Imagine Agents #1-4 (collects the complete miniseries)
Written by Brian Joines
Illustrated by Bachan
An agency responsible for keeping kids’ imaginary friends in line is confronted by a plot by an evil faction to become real.
RoboCop: Last Stand Part 1 TP (4 issues)
Written by Frank Miller and Steven Grant
Illustrated by Korkut Öztekin
Based on Frank Miller’s unused screenplay for the RoboCop 3 film, RoboCop takes a last stand against OCP to protect the citizens of Detroit.
RoboCop (2014) #1-2
Written by Joshua Williamson
Illustrated by Carlos Magno
Picking up right after the end of the first film, a deadly and charismatic criminal is released from jail and instantly targets RoboCop for destruction.
Sons of Anarchy #1-11
Written by Christopher Golden and Ed Brisson
Illustrated by Damian Couceiro
Based on the hit FX Network TV show. The only people standing between the daughter of an old SAMCRO member and certain death are the Sons of Anarchy.
Those who pay more than the average price will also receive:
Hacktivist #1-4 (collects the complete miniseries)                                                    
Created by Alyssa Milano
Written Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing
Illustrated by Marcus To and Ian Herring
The owners of the largest social media company in the world moonlight as do-gooder hackers, but are compromised when the US government moves in.
Mouse Guard: The Black Axe #1-6 (collects the complete miniseries)
Written by David Petersen
Illustrated by David Petersen
This is the third collected volume in the continuing saga of the Eisner Award-winning and critically acclaimed fantasy comic series about an elite group of warriors charged with protecting the mouse territories.
Planet of the Apes Vols. 1-4 (16 issues)
Written by Daryl Gregory
Illustrated by Carlos Magno
Find out what happens 1,300 years before the arrival of Colonel George Taylor from the original 1968 Planet of the Apes movie! Ape and Human societies have reached a new golden age, but peace never lasts for long.
Six-Gun Gorilla TP (6 issues) (collects the complete miniseries)
Written by Simon Spurrier
Illustrated by Jeff Stokely
On another world in the 22nd century, a rogue gorilla gunslinger and his companion wander across a wilderness in the grips of a civil war, encountering lawlessness, natives, and perversions of civilization in a world at the crossroads between the past and the future.
Translucid #1-3
Written by Claudio Sanchez and Chondra Echert
Illustrated by Daniel Bayliss
From the mind of Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez and his wife/writing partner Chondra Echert, this is the superhero story you’ve wanted but never thought you’d see, exploring the thin line between heroes and villains, and the space between childhood hope and loss.
The Woods #1-3
Written by James Tynion IV
Illustrated by Michael Dialynas
An entire high school is transported to a strange, primordial wilderness and confronted with trying to survive.
Readers who pay $15 or more will receive all of the above, plus:
Bee and PuppyCat #1-2
Written by Natasha Allegri and Garrett Jackson
Illustrated by Natasha Allegri
Based on the popular web series, it’s a quirky new take on the magical girl genre with Bee, the forever unemployed main character who can’t seem to figure out life, and the mysterious PuppyCat, a stray…whatever it is…that she stumbled across who has a powerful secret.
Bravest Warriors Vol. 1 (4 issues)
Written by Joey Comeau
Illustrated by Mike Holmes
Based on the hit animated series! Join Chris, Wallow, Beth and Danny, four 16-year-old heroes-for-hire, as they warp from galaxy to galaxy, saving alien races with the power of their…emotions.
Lumberjanes #1-4
Written by Grace Ellis and Noelle Stevenson
Illustrated by Brooke Allen
Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five best pals determined to have an awesome summer together…and they’re not gonna let any insane quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way!
The Midas Flesh #1-8 (collects the complete miniseries)
Written by Ryan North
Illustrated by Braden Lamb and Shelli Paroline
The space crew of Joey, Fatima and Cooper have decided to return to Earth—a planet completely sectioned off, abandoned, and covered in gold—to find out exactly what happened to this once thriving planet and see if they can use that knowledge against the evil empire that’s tracking them down. As luck would have it, they just landed the most powerful weapon in the universe: some ancient dead guy’s body.
As with all Humble Bundles, customers can choose how their purchase dollars are allocated, between the publisher, Humble Bundle, and the determined charity (CBLDF).

The Apollo XI moon landing celebrated its 45th anniversary this past Sunday. First Book is celebrating this momentous event with some of our favorite space-inspired books:

 1. Almost Astronauts: Thirteen Women Who Dared to Dream
What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, top physical shape–any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a man. Here is the tale of thirteen women who proved that they were not only as tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government. They were blocked by prejudice, jealousy, and the scrawled note of one of the most powerful men in Washington. But even though the Mercury 13 women did not make it into space, they did not lose, for their example empowered young women to take their place in the sky, piloting jets and commanding space capsules. ALMOST ASTRONAUTS is the story of thirteen true pioneers of the space age.

2. Discover Science: Solar System
Solar System is the perfect introduction for young readers to the endlessly fascinating topic of space and the vast, mysterious worlds that make up our solar system. Discover the activity of the flaming prominences of the sun and the bubbling volcanoes of Venus. Examine the apparently lifeless craters on the moon, Saturn’s swirling rings, and giant Jupiter’s great red spot. Marvel at space travelers such as the comet Halle-Bopp, mighty meteorites, and the Spirit and Viking space probes on their missions to Mars. Budding astronomers will be intrigued and enthralled by the strange and diverse worlds that make up our solar system.

3. Out of This World: Poems and Facts about Space
The mysteries of the universe and the science of space exploration are perennially popular subjects, and Out of This World is a wonderful introduction. Amy Sklansky has written evocative poems about planets and stars and rockets and moon landings and satellites. Each poem is supported by additional facts and explanations in the margins. Stacey Schuett brings it all to life with color-soaked skies and beautiful perspectives in her fabulous paintings.

4. Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #6: Space: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #8: Midnight on the Moon
How did the universe begin? How hot is the sun? How long does it take to get to the moon? Find out the answers to these questions and more in Magic Tree House Research Guide: Space, Jack and Annie’s very own guide to the secrets of the universe. Including information on stars, planets, space travel, life on other planets, and much more!

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin and the Apollo 11 crew inspired a generation to reach new heights. Now Buzz is  inspiring readers – young and old. Check out his new science fiction book, “Encounter with Tiber” in this week’s Humble Book Bundle. Special thanks to Buzz Aldrin, Humble Bundle and Open Road Media for their support of First Book.

The post Out-of-This-World Books! appeared first on First Book Blog.

The entire comics industry wants to go humble! Humble Bundle that is! Yet another publisher has signed up for this service which allows readers to pay what they wish to download a bunch of ebooks, while supporting charity, This time the publishers is Dynamite, and they have over 120 books up for grabs—the biggest comics bundle ever—and daily free comics including, today Red Sonja #1 by Gail Simone. It’s all to celebrate their 10th anniversary as a publisher.

While I’ve been writing this story I’ve been watching the ticker go upwards — more than 300 just in the 10 minutes it took to type and check for typos. (HA) Already more than 2000 bundles have been downloaded. In keeping with the tradition of promotions hosted and arranged by Humble Bundle, Dynamite will contribute a portion of the proceeds to three important charitable organizations, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

More deets:

Dynamite is proud to announce that, through the Humble Bundle, the following titles will be available to purchasers at a price they personally determine.  While full descriptions can be found at the Humble Bundle website, it’s noteworthy to point out the high caliber of contributing authors in this assortment:  Warren Ellis (Planetary, Moon Knight), Grant Morrison (Batman, Happy!), Tim Seeley (Batman: Eternal), Fred Van Lente (Incredible Hulk), Mark Millar (Kick Ass, Ultimates), Amanda Hocking (of the paranormal Hollowland series), Bryan Johnson and Walter Flanagan (stars of AMC TV’s Comic Book Men show), and much more.

• Amanda Hocking’s The Hollows: A Hollowland Graphic Novel (Multiple Issues)
• Chaos #1
• Cryptozoic Man (Multiple Issues)
• The Mocking Dead Vol. 1 (Multiple Issues)
• My Little Phony: A Brony Adventure
• Project Superpowers Vol. 1 (Multiple Issues)
• Sherlock Holmes Vol. 1: The Trial of Sherlock Holmes (Multiple Issues)
• Vampirella Masters Series Vol. 1: Grant Morrison & Mark Millar (Multiple Issues)
• Vampirella Masters Series Vol. 2: Warren Ellis (Multiple Issues)
• Vampirella Vs. Fluffy

• George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards: The Hard Call (Multiple Issues)
• Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files: War Cry #1
• Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet Vol. 1 (Multiple Issues)
• Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet Vol. 2 (Multiple Issues)
• Legenderry: A Steampunk Adventure (Multiple Issues)
• Pathfinder Vol. 1: Dark Waters Rising (Multiple Issues)
• Red Sonja Vol. 1: Queen of Plagues (Multiple Issues)
• Vampirella Masters Series Vol. 4: Alan Moore (Multiple Issues)

AND to those who exceed a a fixed pricing threshold, you get over 1000 pages of beautiful art with

• The Dynamite Art of Alex Ross
• Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Complete Series (35 Issues)

Let’s see how big this one gets, shall we?