Once upon a time, I used to be an avid fan of Comixology, which is considered the best online retailer of digital comics. I loved its great selection of almost any comic that I can think of because all of its offerings can be accessed right within the app. I not only found it convenient to buy such a great range of comics within the app, but it was a fun way to discover new titles and talent. All of that changed, however, in 2014 after Amazon acquired Comixology. A short time after the acquisition, Comixology killed off its in-app purchasing of digital comics, which forced comics fans to go to the website to buy the comics, then read them on the app. This situation has remained unchanged and other comics apps don’t have quite the range of selection that Comixology has. I want to do something about this. I want to restore the same great experience that I and so many others had before the acquisition. In short, I wish to start an online store for digital comics that would place the comics fan first and foremost, both as a website and an mobile app that would have all its selection in-app. But my dream is to go beyond this by offering more to the comics fan. I envision a mobile store that will offer the digital films and television shows that feature everyone’s favourite superheroes from their favourite comics. However, developing a website and mobile app is not cheap by any means. I estimate that it would take anywhere between US$500 000 to US$2 million to build the online store that I envision. So I wish to start small by developing that the website first. The mobile app will follow shortly once the website has been launched. So I need your help to make this happen for all of us.

As mentioned before, the cost to develop such an ambitious app will be very considerable indeed. I need funds to finance the development of the website and the app. I intend to engage a professional website and mobile app development company to develop the website and app. This will take up a significant amount of the budget. I estimate that the cost of website development will be about US$350 000 and the cost of mobile app development to be around US$200 000, for a total estimated cost of US$550 000. There are also other costs to consider such as website and app maintenance, which may cost about US$4 000. There is also the cost of ecommerce solutions which may cost about US$3 000. There is also the cost of licensing digital comics from suppliers such as DC Comics and Marvel Comics. All the funds will only be used to develop the website and app for digital comics and to obtain as a large a selection of digital comics for now. However, other digital media related to comics such as films and television shows will be added at a later time once Comikscity has launched and there is substantial support for it. Once I have received the funds, the very first thing to do is to have the website developed and secure licenses to digital comics from a few major publishers. Once the website is launched, then the next phase is to secure additional funds in order to develop the mobile app and get licenses from additional publishers for digital comics.

There are a number of obstacles that are in the way of launching Comikscity. Perhaps the most glaring is simply funding. It would take a very significant amount of funding to develop the technology and to acquire the necessary license for digital comics and other digital media. Also when it comes to obtaining the necessary licenses I anticipate that it may be difficult for a brand-new online store to convince the likes of DC and Marvel to partner with it. Besides funding, in order to overcome the obstacles, a great team will be assembled to make sure that the new store will prove itself to everyone that it can be the great store that every digital comics fan will love.