VeVe Digital Collectibles is about to ink yet another major milestone in the modernization of the comic book industry, with the pending launch of its brand new COMIC CURATOR TOOL within the VeVe Comics web app!
WHAT THIS MEANS
This new platform empowers independent artists and content creators to produce and distribute their own comic titles directly through VeVe’s platform, possibly sidestepping the need for traditional publishing gatekeepers. This democratization of content creation lowers the barriers to entry for new talent, fostering a more diverse and vibrant comic landscape.
For creators, the advantages are clear. Independent artists can showcase their unique visions, experimenting with storylines, artwork, and innovative formats in ways that might not be possible within traditional, print-based frameworks. By bypassing more traditional publishing hurdles, they can retain full creative control while gaining the opportunity to monetize their work through VeVe’s digital collectible platform. Today's digital ownership verification capabilities now allow for even greater opportunity - built in verifiable scarcity, where buyers will know exactly how many issues exist globally, their specific mint number, and abilities to hold or resell.
For sellers, this likely means RECURRING REVENUE. The way VeVe's system is set up on the Ethereum blockchain, means each sale is verified on that digital ledger. When a comic or collectible 'drops' on the app (is released for sale) and is sold, VeVe retains a small commission, but so too does the licensor or artist. Then, on every subsequent sale through the VeVe marketplace, those commissions carry forward. Forever. That is a very, very enticing factor to artists who typically fell out of value once the first asset was sold...
And of BIG VALUE of course, is the fact this comes with built-in, direct access to a massive, pre-existing and growing audience of over 1/4 of a Million active, GLOBAL users - a potential game changer for emerging creators, offering unparalleled visibility to massive markets, quickly, which has the potential to help springboard brands into mainstream status.
For those of you who prefer seeing video announcements, here is a great overview by COLLECTORS GONE DIGITAL on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_EcvFneHM4
In a recent podcast by Comics & Crypto with the owners of 24/7 Comics, who recently released their ZERO GHOST & EVERMIND first appearances on VeVe, this point was hammered home at roughly the 7:00 minute mark of the show. How often do comic shops welcome a first print run title, only to turn away its second or third editions based on poor sales or market timing? Digital assets can be released, tested, marketed and timed for better response, helping ensure continuing editions perform, driven through digital’s ability to reach wide audiences faster, though possibly with less cost. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXUhArNTu3U&t=15s
Let’s not pretend this is a brand new concept.
How often do you reach for a print phone book these days? Still have that over-priced newspaper subscription? Magazines on your coffee table when guests comes over? Hmmm...Look, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is at risk as the fact is people just use the Web more. Blame GENE RODDENBURY for his flip phone & teleprompter concepts…he’s the one that gave the scientists all their ideas!
All I’m saying is this move was somewhat inevitable the day VeVe opened its doors. Working at Canada’s largest daily newspaper back in the mid 2000’s, I saw this audience shift almost daily in lost subscribers, which directly impacted print ad sales revenues, which directly impacted the ability to pay journalists and reporters, which lost more subscribers, which lost more advertisers…Google? Yeah…kind of changed the game overnight for printed phone books…
So what happened? THEY WENT DIGITAL.
Yeah, it was easier to produce, didn’t require massive printing presses, saved probably billions of trees and dinosaur bones by not having to deliver the damned things, which make the Eco Lovers rather pleased, but it also led to layoffs, retirements and increased mobile device sales LoL. Yet, more importantly, it also led to breakthroughs in creator tools. Website content became BETTER, independent writers, journalists, artists, webmasters, graphic designers, digital sales people and more flourished. You’re reading a blog on an Internet page, not a print page…right?
YEAH...YOUR PRINT COMIC TREASURES WILL BE JUST FINE!
PLEASE KNOW, before any sighs or gamma attacks get going, I am NOT stating our beloved print titles are going the way of phone books. You see, as much as we needed yellow pages to find that pizza joint’s phone number, we didn’t really want them. Like that awesome line from Nanny McPhee? “When you need me, but don’t want me, I’ll be here. When you want me, but don’t need me, I’ll be gone.” We WANT our comics. We LOVE our comics. We KEEP our comics (well, many of us at least). Not many people are getting a 9.8 CGC Verizon yellow pages returned or cased now, are they? As things do shift digital in this space though, which they are, those good old fashioned printed books we cherish will only INCREASE in value and nostalgic connections for most collectors.
For the Comic Industry though, VeVe's Curator Tool arrives at a Crucial Moment.
With digital comics becoming increasingly popular, the industry is evolving rapidly, with growing demand for fresh, QUALITY and compelling content. VeVe’s robust infrastructure not only meets that demand, but also creates a space for creative innovation. The platform’s digital asset format will ultimately enhance engagement, allow more people to experience the joy of comic book reading and collecting, while offering fans a new way to connect with comics through digital, verified and Licensed ownership.
SWAGGLEHAUS SAW THIS.
Live at NYCC 2024, 247 Comic’s own Mickey (who started his YouTube channel during Covid, covering comic news with a collecting slant), was there to drop their first issue of Sanity, Rise of the Occult on VeVe. Note - this is PAIRED with the physical versions, which a Kickstarter campaign helped fund. Thanks to comic collector GaryO for snapping & sharing this photo of Swagglehaus signing Gary's physical version, which he too paired by buying more digital assets from VeVe.
If you haven’t seen this video yet, DO - what Mickey says is compelling, which I’ll transcribe here for you:
“VeVe - my comic SANITY, dropped and within an hour had sold over 1,500 copies. That’s crazy - do you know how many books that is? They sold digitally! That’s more people who bought the digital book than were considered backing the kickstarter…what does that say? VeVe is important. Digital is important. Things are changing. Comic reading & buying behaviour is changing.”
Here is the link on Twitter / X where he posted his own report: https://x.com/Officialemojii/status/1849100898003198212
On October 25th 2024, Swagglehaus attended a live YouTube stream with members of VeVe's team, reviewing the great time that was New York ComicCon 2024. In addition to his earlier YouTube above, he had the following to say about VeVe’s new comic curator tool:
The opportunity to reach VeVe’s mass audience is big, as they too are big supporters of the artists found on the app
Where Digital Comics lacked collectibility (think Marvel Unlimited), VeVe’s “Digital Ownership” fixed that. You can sell these!
Where Digital Comics first lacked community, VeVe fixed that. The community is a huge part of the experience - visit their X Page!
So offering a curating platform for creators to jump in is a tool I am very, very excited about as its such a big benefit to artists
VeVe put out a full recap of the 2024 NYCC experience, where Swagglehaus was a featured guest. Check the video out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CNsai1GjxM
Of course, VeVe itself stands to benefit significantly from this tool, and I’m not just talking about revenue. Sure, I really hope they do well as it's GOOD for the industry, it’s good for artists, hell…it’s good to get people reading more! I’m referring to nurturing a growing ecosystem of creators, which would thus attract even more users, reach markets never before all that open to comics (yes - there are MANY countries where accessing them are difficult at best), deepen community engagement, and expand its brand as a hub for both established and indie comics.
RISKY BUSINESS?
Are there risks? Of course! This is still a very new industry, with VeVe only just four years old as of 2024. This article is also written before we know how VeVe will be vetting the potential surge of creators who may access the curator tool. How will they police story or artwork quality, language, and so forth…we’re not sure what costs may be involved to the artists or how the compensation percentages work, and likely many more things I haven’t thought of yet.
However, for the independent artists alone (outside Marvel, DC, Disney, Edgar Rice Burroughs already selling on the app) such as 247 Comics, ZQ Studios (The Addiction), Ron English, VIZ Media and Dynamite Comics, their decisions to include VeVe, right along with their print assets, have been rewarding. The fact these new assets carry digital ownership means years upon years of recurring revenue on each drop and resale made, changing the very nature of those rewards through technological advances.
MARVEL themselves first partnered with VeVe to release their most prized titles as digital assets, fully ownership-verifiable on digital contract blockchains, which themselves are true firsts, and then more recently partnered again with VeVe’s launch of the VeVe Comics website, releasing new modern titles (just slightly before) as SAME DAY drops as their print titles.
At the end of the book, these bold moves are absolutely helping invigorate the comic publishing space, both digital and physical. With more than 200 brands and growing, it's worth having a look at www.VeVe.me, whether you are reader, collector, trader or now...artist! As more details come out, we'll be sure to update.
Thanks for Reading!
