It looks as though Boom! Studios’ “North Wind” experiment was a success - the first issue was released simultaneously online for free, shipped with a modest overprint to stores and has sold out prompting a reprint. Not too shabby! Of course, the economics are different than those of Marvel, DC or Dark Horse, but the basic concept remains the same - many people use the internet as a sampler bar in order to decide what they want to spend their hard earned cash on, and if your product is good enough, they will reward you with their money. What a concept!

Note: I read the first issue online and while I did not rush to my local comic shop to buy a copy, it was solid enough that if I like the second issue (which I’m assuming will also be available online), I’m pretty likely to buy the inevitable collection when it drops.

Full press release available after the jump, if you wanna read it.

NORTH WIND #1 GETS SECOND PRINTING
Historic Simultaneous Release by BOOM! Studios and MySpace Comic Books Drives Demand

LOS ANGELES- January 15th, 2008 - BOOM! Studios announced today that NORTH WIND #1 will receive a second printing. Hitting the market simultaneously in stores and online at MySpace Comic Books , the first printing of NORTH WIND sold out in only ten days. The second print will have a slightly altered cover to distinguish itself from the first printing.

Diamond Comics Distributors will make the second printing of NORTH WIND #1 available on January 23rd, at that time the second printing’s code will open for orders, and a Diamond Daily article will also run that day alerting retailers to its availability. BOOM! Studios is also offering retailers an additional 3% reorder incentive on all issues that have been solicited and remain in print.

In addition to the release of the NORTH WIND online to over 145,000 friends at MySpace Comic Books, BOOM! Studios commissioned a trailer for NORTH WIND that was featured on MySpaceTV and on the log-in page for MySpace. The trailer received 10,000 views in ten days and can seen here: http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=25270023

While the simultaneous release of NORTH WIND has its critics, BOOM! Studios has received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from retailers across the nation.

“BOOM!’s decision to make NORTH WIND available on MySpace was an innovative and brave decision that has paid off immensely. Readers who tried it online wanted to get a permanent copy they could hold in their hands, and wound up, in most cases, looking for more. Any gateway we can find to introduce non-traditional readers to comics is what this industry needs. Congrats, BOOM!” Said Mike Malve, owner of the Atomic Comics chain, a chain that includes four retail stores, including a mobile store housed in a van, all located in and around the greater Phoenix, Arizona area.

“The MySpace promotion has brought attention to BOOM!’S new title NORTH WIND in a very big way. Regulars who ONLY get Marvel and DC are asking for it, and we sold out of all of our shelf copies the day it came out, and even had a waiting list for our reorders. We have since sold out of two reorders and the overship copies that came in. Our stores only had three people on the pull list before the book came out, but we have since sold almost as many copies of NORTH WIND #1 as we have any BOOM! book so far, including TALENT. It is easily one of the best new reads I have picked up in a while, and the exposure on MySpace will help drive people not only for this book (as people will want a copy to collect) but also for other BOOM! books as well.” Said Jon Newman, owner of the Ultimate Comics chain, comprised of three stores, in the Raliegh-Durham-Chapel Hill research triangle area of North Carolina.

NORTH WIND, written by David DiGilio, best known for writing the film EIGHT BELOW and creating the ABC TV show TRAVELER, is a five issue mini-series set in a future Los Angeles after a new ice age has covered the earth. NORTH WIND chronicles the rise of a new hero in a dystopian world where people burn books for fuel, and Skinrunners trade valuable pelts for rations and warmth. The first issue features a cover by Andrew Huerta with interior artwork by newcomer and soon to be fan-favorite, Alex Cal.

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