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Brian K. Vaughan, Marcos Martin and friends made a big splash with their digital-first, pay-what-you-want series The Private Eye. But they always intended for the publisher they created, Panel Syndicate, to house more than just their stories. The first and to date the only other work to appear on Panel Syndicate is Universe! from cartoonist […]

Panel Syndicate quietly releases new series 'Barrier" from Vaughan, Martin, and Vicente and you should pick it up!

With The Private Eye by Brian K. Vaughan, Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente concluded after ten installments, fans are likely wondering what’s next for both Martin and Panel Syndicate, the publisher of the title. Panel Syndicate’s first original title was The Private Eye, released digitally in a pay what you want model. Today, the same creators […]

Today, digital publisher Panel Syndicate released the second and final volume of writer Brian K. Vaughn’s (Saga, Y: The Last Man) and artist Marcos Martin’s (The Amazing Spider-Man, Batgirl: Year One) webcomic, The Private Eye.  Collecting issues 6-10 of the series, The Private Eye continues to follow the story of Patrick Immelman, a private investigator working in 2076 after every luddite’s worst fear is realized and The Cloud is compromised, leaving many identities exposed, the internet in shambles, and people incredibly guarded over their personal information.

The series has been released on a pay-what-you-want basis from issue to issue, meaning that you could read the series for free or donate several billion dollars per issue if you felt like Vaughn and Martin deserved personal islands.  Panel Syndicate was founded by Martin in 2013 and when the first issue of The Private Eye was released in March of that year, the company received a great deal of critical acclaim for providing high pedigree content to the public on an egalitarian pricing scale.  At the time, pay-what-you-want was a relatively new idea in mainstream media, but since then studies have shown that PWYW can cause the average price paid for a product to drop or can even shame consumers out of purchasing a product altogether.

ding.

Given The Private Eye‘s unique standing in the comics industry, it would be interesting to see what the sales data looks like for the series.  Vaughn and Martin are currently working on a new project for Panel Syndicate, so even if they aren’t making a profit off of this book, it’s great to see that they believe in the concept and community enough to continue to support their progressive ideals.  Perhaps they deserve those islands after all.

Brian K Vaughan writes to inform us of some Panel Syndicate related business:

Hot on the heels of the release of our new series UNIVERSE! from creator Albert Monteys (which we’re proud to share has been a phenomenal global success so far), Marcos and I are pleased to announce the imminent arrival of THE PRIVATE EYE #9, the penultimate issue of our sci-fi fable about privacy in America’s future.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Marcos’ ultra-phallic cover.  And for our European readers, Marcos, Muntsa and I look forward to seeing you at this week’s Portugal Comic-Con in sunny Porto!

Enjoy.

by Zachary Clemente

Well, this is a wonderful surprise! Panel Syndicate announced today that a new digital comic by Albert Monteys (of El Jueves fame) is being hosted on their platform. Panel Syndicate, launched by Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin with the purpose of hosting their spectacular 10-issue series The Private Eye with colorist Muntsa Vicente, is holding true to their word and opening up the publishing platform up to other creators.

The reason this is super-noteworthy (other than gracing us with more of Montey’s wonderful work) is what makes Panel Syndicate’s platform so unique. Their comics are digital-only, DRM-free, widescreen-oriented, and available in multiple file formats costing as much as you’re willing to pay. This digital pay-what-you-want method, while undoubtedly around previously, was popularized when UK music group Radiohead released their acclaimed In Rainbows album in 2007 self-produced on their website.

For me, Panel Syndicate’s method is one of the best available – for those willing to take the risk. If you receive enough purchases from readers, there is literally nothing standing between you and the full payment other than the costs of hosting and the time spent making the work. It goes without saying that The Private Eye has been a smash hit as it was launched soon after it became clear that Saga was well on its way to becoming the titan it is today, but I’m thrilled that we’re getting work from a creator who is less known in the United States. I didn’t consider the possibility of a place like Panel Syndicate being leverages as a way to expose the US audience to comics from other countries, but it makes so much damned sense. If Monteys wants Universe! available in Spanish, Catalan, and English; that’s an easy option, no second printing needed. It’s ultimate control for the creator with nothing but gain for the reader, so long as we have an open heart and open mind when choosing what we buy.

You can find the first issue of Universe! and all released issues (8 0f 10) of The Private Eye at Panel Syndicate.

The good news is that a new issue of THE PRIVATE EYE is available. This webcomcis by Brian K. Vaughan, Marcos Martin and Munsta Vicente posits a world where an eruption in the cloud has made privacy the most valued social element.

Oh did you say “torn from today’s headlines”? When this started running last year it seemed a little farfetechd but after the burst cloud hgas spilled all of our secrets, BKV looks prescient again.

THE PRIVATE EYE is run on a “pay what you want” DRM-free download scheme, and it seems that readers want to pay quite a bit. Vaughan announced that the book has already sold more than six figures in both issues and in dollars:

Even though readers can still pay whatever they want for our DRM-free files (including nothing!), artist Marcos Martin, colorist Muntsa Vicente and I are proud to reveal that The Private Eye is already well into the six figures for both issues downloaded AND dollars earned… and that’s without advertising, corporate backers, Comixology-like distributors, or even a Kickstarter campaign. It’s all because of small contributions from readers around the world, so sincere thanks again for your coverage of our ongoing experiment.

Given that there are NO MIDDLE men for The Private Eye, that’s six figures of pure profit for well deserving creators.

Vaughan has been teasing an expansion of the Panel Syndicate tem for a while, and in his email he nopted:

And we’re also excited to say that we’ve just received the first issue of our NEXT new series at Panel Syndicate, by a very surprising creator we’ll be announcing soon. Stay tuned.  

For now, please enjoy Marcos’ striking cover for #8, featuring Gramps, an elderly Millennial struggling to make sense of the year 2076…