comiXology Top 25 Digital Comics for 7/25/10

As you will see, this week's list of Top 25 series/comics on comiXology's iPhone/iPad app looks radically different from that of the previous week.

Most notable? Barely any traditional superhero genre comics on the list. Fluke? Or augur of the future?

#1: Planetary/Batman: Night On Earth (DC)
#2: Lionsgate Films' Leprechaun (Bluewater)
#3: Bloodrayne: Plague of Dreams (Digital Webbing)
#4: 45 (Com.x)
#5: Airboy 1942: Best of Enemies (Moonstone)
#6: Elephantmen: The Pilot (Image)
#7: Mort Grim (AdHouse)
#8: The Resistance (Creator Owned, Justin Gray)
#9: I Sell The Dead (Image)
#10: Origin of Green Lantern (DC)
#11: Superman (DC)
#12: Super Hero Squad (Marvel)
#13: FCHS (AdHouse)
#14: Birth (Alterna Comics)
#15: Abiding Perdition (Arcana)
#16: Avengers Spotlight (Marvel)
#17: Captain Blood: Odyssey (SLG)
#18: Planetary/JLA: Terra Occulta (DC)
#19: Hack/Slash: Girls Gone Dead (Devil's Due)
#20: Wildstorm Universe (Wildstorm)
#21: Dante's Inferno (Wildstorm)
#22: Dust (Image)
#23: Hack/Slash: Comic Book Carnage (Devil's Due)
#24: Helix (Studio 407)
#25: Dark Mists (Markosia)

Analysis:

• 6 are DC/Wildstorm, 2 are Marvel, 3 are Image, 2 are Devil's Due, and 2 are AdHouse.
• 10 are free, or offer free issues/previews.
• Only 7 out of the 25 are "traditional" superhero comics (though that includes Planetary & the all-ages Super Hero Squad).
• Many titles like Hack/Slash, Airboy, and Elephantmen are "paid" comics that offer more pages than a traditional comic book. For example, Hack/Slash offers 41 pages for $1.99.

Questions & commentary:

1. Does the overwhelming variety in both content and publishers on this list reflect a) users downloading their DC & Marvel content on the publishers' separate apps instead of comiXology's, b) the more expansive tastes of the mass-market, or c) a little bit of both?

2. What does it say that the #1 comics on both the comiXology and DC apps are Planetary? Certainly, there are "superheroey" elements to Planetary, but it's not what would be considered a traditional comic.

3. If you look at the top 25 DC comics downloaded from both the DC and comiXology app, there is a heavy presence of non-superhero titles. The fact that only 3 out of the 9 issues offered in DC's recent free SDCC digital sampler were traditional superhero titles is also very striking. It almost seems as if DC itself realizes that in order to compete in the iPhone/iPad space, offering nothing but superhero fare isn't going to cut it.

Tentative Conclusion: in the digital comics marketplace, variety might be the spice of life (rather than a detriment).