Dark Horse digital is shutting down. Image Comics joins Sweet Shop app. Marvel brings on the bad guys in new event.
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Episode Transcript:
Dark Horse digital shutting down.
Image Comics joins Sweet Shop app.
Marvel to bring on the bad guys.
This is Comic Book Club News for February 27, 2025.
Dark Horse Digital Shuts Down:
Dark Horse Digital has shut down, as of February 24. The surprise news was posted on the publisher’s website, noting that sales are no longer offered through the website, and support will end for both the Dark Horse Comics and Plants vs. Zombies Comics apps as of March 31.
The publisher also urged users to download any books bought by March 30. While the comics may or may not be readable after that point, Dark Horse does not guarantee them being available.
A look at the FAQ for the publisher dives down on the tricky nature of purchasing books in the digital age. Under the question “Do I own the comics in my bookshelf?” Dark Horse writes, “Technically, you do not. As with Kindle, Nook, and other e-book companies, you license the right to read the book on supported and authorized devices.”
While Dark Horse will still release digital comics through other services, if you currently purchase books through Dark Horse, you can get a refund on any 2025 transactions made on the website by April 30 — but not in the apps. The website will still be around until a TBA date during the summer.
Image Comics Joins Sweet Shop App:
As one digital publisher falls, another rises. Image Comics will join the Sweet Shop app, which is set to launch later this Summer. On launch, nearly 400 Image Comics titles will be available on the app.
Those include highly-anticipated new books like James Tynion IV and Michael Walsh’s Exquisite Corpses and Matthew Rosenberg and Stefano Landini’s We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us, as well as best-sellers like Transformers, Spawn, Ghost Machine comics, Invincible, and The Walking Dead.
While Image will still be available on other digital retailers, Sweet Shop will allow browsing and buying in-app or as a DRM-free download, with a few exceptions TBA. It will also feature both vertical scrolling and right-to-left and left-to-right reading for relevant titles.
More on Sweet Shop as we get closer to launch.
Marvel’s Bring On The Bad Guys Event Focuses On Villains:
Marvel is celebrating 50 years of the classic Bring on the Bad Guys event with a new event titled Bring on the Bad Guys. Not at all related to the upcoming movie The Bad Guys 2, the seven one-shots will focus on — you’re not going to believe this — the bad guys of the Marvel Universe.
Spearheaded by Marc Guggenheim, the books will include Doctor Doom, Green Goblin, Abomination, Loki, Red Skull, Dormammu, and end with Mephisto. While each book will have a different creative team, Guggenheim will provide a backup story about Mephisto’s overall plot, and the origin of a new villain named Sister Sorrow.
The first issue will go on sale on June 5, with three issues debuting in July, and the final three issues in August.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And you technically don’t own this podcast, so I highly recommend printing every episode out.
Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.
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