No NFTs For DSTLRY, They Promise, Honest

Earlier today, Bleeding Cool ran a piece on the new comic book publisher from the ashes of ComiXology, DSTLRY, which will publish creator-owned comics from the founders (Bleeding Cool debuted the full list of names) in oversized print and then publish digitally for a limited time, before allowing people to trade digital copies of a comic, with a percentage of the trade going back to the creators.

Some folk thought that this sounded suspiciously like blockchain cryptocurrency NFT nonsense. Co-founder Ram V was keen to do his best Scarlet Wiitch impression saying “No NFTs.”

Talking to Forbes, co-founder and DSTLRY co-founder Chip Mosher stated that first that the oversized format means that the comics carry a higher price than typical comics which gives retailers an incentive to stock and promote them. “A higher price means higher margins for the stores,” he explained.

But also that digital issues, limited in distribution for only a week, issues will be fully owned and resellable on DSTLRY’s “trusted digital platform,” which the co-founders say does not involve a blockchain component. “We want to avoid all the scams and issues associated with crypto, so there are no wallets, no NFTs, no cryptocurrency components,” said Steinberger. “At the same time, we recognize that collectability is a fundamental part of the comics community. When we did straight digital distribution, we were only able to get about 15% of the total market. With DSTLRY, rather than fighting against the collector aspect, we are playing into it.” Mosher calls it a “StubHub for digital comics” with added benefits like discounts, drops and meetups for loyal fans.

But also that trade editions of the comics will also be available more traditionally, both digitally and in print several months after the series wraps up.

They also name investors in DSTLRY including the US wing of Japanese publisher Kodansha and French publisher Groupe Delcourt, as well as video game industry figure John Schappert, tech strategist Mike Vorhaus, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who make up DSTLRY’s Advisory Board and they state “We’ve worked out deals with creators to participate on media that are very equitable for all parties, but we’re focused on making money on publishing and digital.”