Dive Brief:
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Amazon has bought ComiXology, the leading cloud-based digital comics platform that sells some 50,000 titles, in a sale expected to close in Q2 2014.
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Many details are unknown, including what will become of the ComiXology’s self-publishing platform, Submit, and how the deal will affect the platform’s relationship with Apple and publishers like Marvel and DC Entertainment.
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The publishers, when reached by Wired magazine, said they expect no change except perhaps an enhancement to their digital publishing business.
Dive Insight:
Some enterprises acquired by Apple have remained strong brands on their own, like Zappos, while other have disappeared into Amazon’s own universe, like CDNow. It remains to be seen what ComiXology’s ultimate fate will be: Bam! Pow! or Bif.