AUSTIN, Texas -- Following a catastrophic server crash that occurred hours after Marvel Comics and Comixology announced a massive giveaway, Comixology has suspended the promotion.
Comixology CEO David Steinberger acknowledged that his company had "let down" customers. Previous orders under the "Marvel Comics #1" promotional, time-limited giveaway would be honored, he said, and he asked fans to fill out a form so they could be alerted when the promotion returns
Because of Comixology's unique place in the digital comic-book distribution business as an iTunes-style marketplace with few, if any, direct competitors, other publishers' sales were likely impacted by the server crash.
When asked to comment on that aspect of the story, Comixology representative Chip Mosher said in an e-mail that he could not comment further at this time.
One comics publisher, which spoke to CNET on the condition of anonymity to protect its relationship with Comixology, confirmed that the server crash has prevented digital sales through its Comixology-powered app. At the time of writing, the servers still were not functional -- nearly 24 hours after the servers went down.
To our customers:
It’s been a whirlwind weekend, and we’re fresh from SXSW where Marvel Comics launched their Marvel #1 promotion featuring over 700 free comics distributed via our platform.
We expected a high degree of excitement for the Marvel initiative – and had believed ourselves prepared – but unfortunately we became overwhelmed by the immense response. We’re still struggling to keep our systems up.
The result is that you aren’t getting your comics when and where you want.
We don’t like letting you down. Our teams are working around the clock to resolve these issues so that you can have the experience you’ve come to expect.
To that end, we’re pausing the Marvel Comics #1 promotion for the time being. For those of you that want to take advantage of the offer – you will get your comics! Until we are able to reinstate this program in our systems, please click here and fill out this simple form, so you can be informed as soon as there is an update.
We’ll be communicating with you as often as we can and deeply appreciate the outpouring of support we’ve seen from our customers while we right the ship.
David Steinberger
CEO and co-founder
comiXology
Image Comics, best known for The Walking Dead comics, confirmed to Comic Book Resources that it was also unable to sell its digital books through Comixology. A "significant part" of daily digital sales comes via the Comixology-run app, said an Image Comic representative.