CHRISTOPHER CARTER and WILL GRAVES of GLOBALCOMIX welcome IDW into the fold

Interviews Editor, Andrew Irvin, welcomes Will Graves, Head of Content, and Christopher Carter, CEO, of GlobalComix to discuss digital distribution and a new partnership with IDW.

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COMIC BOOK YETI: Will and Christopher, thanks for stepping into the Yeti Cave today. How are things going in the GlobalComix office?

WILL GRAVES: Things are pretty good! We have an exciting rest of the year lined-up - I think GlobalComix readers will be really happy with what's coming next. 

CHRISTOPHER CARTER: Pretty amazing to be quite honest, though our “office” is all virtual, so I’m working remotely, writing this to you from a warm place with water and sand!

CBY: ...All the world is an office now, isn't it? I’m sure things are busy with the new IDW partnership. From July 9th, “new IDW releases will be available day-and-date on GlobalComix, giving fans instant access the same day books hit comic shops.” How did this partnership come together?

WG: We first launched the IDW partnership back in March by bringing hundreds of their back-catalog titles into our Gold Membership. BUT as of July 9th, our partnership with IDW has grown even stronger! All GlobalComix Gold Members have unlimited access to ALL IDW titles from their back catalog, but also are able to read new IDW titles on the same day they’re available in shops. This is a HUGE win for IDW fans, who get to read EVERYTHING for a low monthly ($6.99) or annual ($69.99) cost.

CC: Honestly, I’ve been a lifelong fan of Turtles, and I think it was back in 2024 that I had reached out to Davidi (Jonas, Executive Chairman of IDW) together with Eric (Tapper, GlobalComix co-founder) since we were all in the same place for once. A trip over the river into NJ and a twohour chat over lunch in his remote co-working space revealed that we all shared similar sensibilities for the comics industry, and the partnership evolved naturally from there! I’m very grateful for all the really cool people I’ve had a chance to meet over the course of the years, and Davidi is one of them!

CBY: With the increase in digital readership, GlobalComix has grown to become a cornerstone platform for readers to access thousands of titles from a variety of publishers. Can you reflect on how what went into getting the company launched back in 2017, and what sort of goals you have for further growth and development before you close your first decade of operation?

CC: When we launched the early beta of GlobalComix in August of 2017, it was still a side project of mine. I was still working at Shapeways full time, and GlobalComix had been born through three years of pure passion learning how to code. At the time, I really just thought that there was a gaping hole in the platforms available to people - from narrow content focus to bad interfaces and product experiences.

I think Comixology, for me, was the absolute worst when it came to usability - especially for creators/publishers, but also on the reader discovery side. So I remember setting out to solve those problems specifically…

CBY: I looked up Shapeways, and based upon its bespoke design model, it makes sense that you'd move toward filling a more specific market gap in alignment with your personal interests. I know GlobalComix is a Series A Company, having raised millions in venture capital finance. IDW is a publicly traded company with a market cap of similar scale. How do both companies handle their messaging differently to shareholders, and what goes into communicating the benefits of partnerships like this and deliberating on terms before they’re finalized? 

CC: I can’t speak on behalf of IDW as the workings of a public company are very different from ours, but on our side, for the most part, the terms of partnerships usually tend to just make sense for both sides with little to no downside involved. Where we try to tailor contracts more closely is how we work together in the partnership beyond pure access to, or sales of, comic books. Even then, we are all coming at it from the same perspective most often!

CBY: Whatever model for partnership you've developed, it clearly involves mutually beneficial terms solid enough to attract partnerships with a non-trivial portion of the English language comic publishing market. You’ve got partnerships for digital access to titles from BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse, DC, Dynamite, Image, Oni Press, Vault, and more publishers. You also host myriad independent creator-owned titles. How do services differ on the GlobalComix platform for independent creators compared to the publisher-backed releases?

WG: We really pride ourselves on having both major publisher partners and up-and-coming indie creators on the platform. There’s really something for everyone depending on what you enjoy. We do offer our publisher partners some premium services that we do not offer to all creators. This includes; applying PanelFlow panel-to-panel reading to publisher catalogs, dedicated publisher channels, dedicated promotions, and more. However, we try to curate and promote indie creator titles as much as possible to give them the exposure they deserve - Each user actually sees different comics in their feeds based on their interests, too. For creators wanting to optimize their comics for mobile reading, they can use PanelFlow on their own creations.

CC: From a product perspective, publishers have exactly the same tools and functionality as creators do, and no special treatment preference in algorithms. Where it differs, is primarily in our managing of their catalog and ingestion of backlog content. Creators are both capable of, and prefer to, manage their own publishing, but publishers with large catalogs need help getting everything set up. We are also better equipped to merge publisher metadata into our (expanded ontology) system to help discovery.

We also offer a wider range of payout services beyond just Paypal (or Stripe) to publishers that meet a certain monthly minimum to make sure we simplify the finances for larger entities that have stricter requirements or more rigid processes for handling “vendor” payments.

CBY: So it's mostly an issue of offering support with catalogs with legacies beyond the scope of individual management, is it? On the note of management, the comics community has seen its share of tumultuous turnover in corporate leadership over the decades. What principles underpin GlobalComix business practices? What long-term strategies and vision do you expect to carry the company through an always-volatile market to reliably provide comics to a growing global audience? 

WG: GlobalComix is the third comic related company I’ve worked for, so I know firsthand how quickly things can change… GlobalComix has a very talented team and we all trust each other to do our jobs well, and bring our own expertise to the table. I think we all believe in the same goals, which is a big factor with how our team builds towards the future of comics. 

CC: The strategy that will win is actually solving customer problems (consumer, creator, publisher, etc), and thus bringing high quality content and experiences to all our partners. We don’t chase shiny objects or tech for tech’s sake (as you saw with our complete avoidance with NFTs and GenAI hype wave). We are just simply focused on solving real problems for real people and being great partners in the process so that everyone wins.

CBY: I'm glad you've dodged the grift-addled avenues down which many in the market have ventured (and I will never understand how the NFT market got hyped in the first place, nor do I understand how GenAI "business" is being undertaken at all when it's almost entirely predicated on IP theft). Regarding my effort to better understand your customer-focused business practices, I’ve signed up for a GlobalComix account, but given my interview coverage, my comics reading mostly entails trying to keep pace with preview copies. For readers looking to engage with the GlobalComix platform, what do they need to know about signing up, accessing comics, and the various subscription options and services?

WG: Creating an account on GlobalComix is totally free! You can enjoy thousands of FREE titles from indie creators around the world. To access titles that are monetized in our membership, you can pay a monthly membership of $6.99 or annually at $69.99. We also are starting to roll out our A La Carte offering with various publishers, where you can unlock super premium and new day-and-date titles.

CC: What Will said! 👍

CBY: I'm a bit curious about how the membership revenue is then reapportioned to creators based upon page visits and viewer readership. For comic creators looking to build their audience base distributing their work digitally through GlobalComix, what advice can you provide around the best way to start publishing and building their audience on the platform?

WG: If you’re looking to release your comic and build your audience digitally, I’d start right away by creating a creator account on GlobalComix and starting to upload your comics. You can schedule the release of your comics for when you’re ready to launch. Build awareness through content on social media - Create Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, Youtube etc… to let the world outside of GlobalComix know about your comic. You can also look for opportunities to be interviewed to promote your work. Reach out to your favorite creators who talk about comics - I think you’ll be surprised with how many people will be willing to help! Once you have a launch date in-mind, reach out to GlobalComix (contact@globalcomix.com), and we’ll do our best to promote the release with you. 

CC: Will’s got this!

CBY: Sound advice, indeed, Will, based upon how others go about popularizing their work. For those among our readers looking to get involved in publishing comics beyond their creator-owned work, what does GlobalComix look for in its partnerships? How do you work to maximize benefits for all partners involved in building up the library of titles available through GlobalComix?

CC: While anyone can publish and get into the system completely free, there’s very different requirements for us to get involved (financially) with creation and publishing. This simply needs to be a business equation that both parties benefit from and feel good about.

CBY: I notice you can search through titles sorted by language on GlobalComix; what sort of efforts are undertaken within the company to broaden the library across the global market and truly realize the worldwide representation of artists inherent to the company name?

WG: There’s a huge growth opportunity with making comics and manga available in languages that they’re currently not available in. I think you’ll see our global content offering grow as we grow as a company and uncover new partnerships. Also, we recently added a new feature on the GlobalComix website called Pulse, where users can see what is being read around the globe.

CC: Personally I want every comic in every language. And as you can imagine, that’s not a small undertaking, so we have to plot a roadmap against such an eventuality.

I think you’ll start to see more focus on multi-language publishing over the next 18 months. ;-)

CBY: I'll definitely take a look at the Pulse function, and it will be of interest to see how you share this statistical information with users so they can more effectively find the best-suited audience for their work. Usually, we extend an opportunity to creators to share some of the work they’ve been most excited by lately that has nothing to do with their own creations. Since you’re in the business of platforming comic creators, what standout comics, film, music, literature, art, etc. should our readers give check out once they see IDW’s latest on GlobalComix?

WG: I’ve been really enjoying w0rldtr33 from James Tynion. Music wise, check out Fontaines D.C., Oso Oso, Alex G - all of them have released great new albums this year. 

CC: I’ve got a big love for Witchblade and The Darkness on the publisher side (now also available as a vertical scroll experience), and Waldin or Falling Awake on the creator side!

CBY: Will and Christopher, thank you for stopping by the Yeti Cave today. If you have any portfolio, publication, and social media links you’d like to share, now is the time and place! 

WG: You can find me on Linkedin (@wg27), Twitter (@GC_graves), and of course GlobalComix (@Graves).

CC: I’m @nimlothcq on twitter/instagram and @nimlothgc on linkedin :-) You can also find me as @cc.globalcomix.com on bluesky! And like will.. On GC I’m @christopher or @nimloth 

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