Last week, Amazon struck a deal with DC Comics to have 100 graphic novels released exclusively on the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet. As you would’ve guessed, not everybody was too pleased with the idea, chiefly one of Amazon’s biggest rivals: Barnes & Noble. Especially since DC Comics has been reluctant to release any of their graphic novels on B&N’s own tablet in the past.
In retaliation to the partnership, Barnes & Noble has issued instructions for its retail outlets to pull the 100 graphic novels off from their shelves, saying that if they can’t sell them digitally – they won’t sell them physically either. Amongst the 100 Kindle-exclusive novels are titles like Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Sandman, Fables, Blackest Night, All Star Superman, Y The Last Man, and V For Vendetta: all top sellers for the company.
Copies of the book can still be ordered from B&N’s website and from the counter – as long as they’re delivered directly to your home. No good will probably come out of this decision as most people are seeing it as a rash decision by the company. B&N could have retaliated by trying to secure an exclusive deal with Marvel or another publisher, but instead it hard to resort to this. After all, unlike regular eBooks, a lot of people prefer having physical comics over digital ones. What do you think about this recent move?
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