While 2025 is turning into a year of change for manga distribution, other businesses are springing up. Kenny Meyers is a software developer and comics enthusiast who previously worked on the digital comics app Omnibus. However, since that app was shut down, he has been launching new comic products as a stable of clips, including Bindings, a comic marketing app for creators.
This week he got two new apps. Find Sweet Shop, a new digital comic sales platform launching later this year, and Comic Store, a new digital platform. Men are busy! All three are products of Sweet, a high-tech company founded by Meyers, Ben Carr and Tom Carmony. We are three tech veterans with extensive experience at Shopify, Adobe, Airbnb, and Reddit. Their announced goal: to make everything a little less crappy for comic book people.
Sweet Shop First: The app will roll out for Android, iOS, and Web this year. Features include:
In-app purchases: Purchase comics in the app itself. I don’t go to the website. Don’t sign up for a subscription. Read lists, wishlists, and reviews: curate your collection. Select your next purchase. Please share your thoughts. Day & Date Release: Get the manga when it comes out. Something rare these days! International and all ages: Parent controls allow you to add children and share comics. Age Gating Proper Comics DRM Free Backup: Account Lockin We want our readers to enjoy our experience and not get trapped in retailer affiliate programs: Shipment not coming? From comics? Send people our way and we will share in the loot.
Details are a bit sparse, and we’ve seen a number of digital comic platforms come and go on the beat. We asked Myers a few questions. He was out of the comics, but now he seems to have pulled himself back together. Why? “There were definitely brief moments where I was like, ‘What the hell should I do?'” he told Us. “I looked into other hobbies like gaming. Then I sent the creators I loved an email thanking them for their support. That led to Bindings (http://bindings.app) and Then we became more ambitious.
“Everyone has been great. We’re all here for the love of it. I love this community. I have great partners in Sweet. I work in comics and run a comic book store. I feel insanely lucky to do that.
And of course, what about Sweet App’s publisher? Who do they carry?
“Cream of the crop! We’re looking for the top 20: manga, YA, and everything,” says Myers. “Then we expand and add more and more. There’s the publisher’s first approach. It’s a real struggle to get comics dated and to make sure readers can get their hands on the books.” That said, if you have a beautiful and compelling book of any size, we’d love to chat.
And then another hat is thrown into the fray.
To find your comic store, it was announced on Bluesky with some screenshots:
Sweet is very excited to launch our new comic shop locator. findyourcomic.store. FYCS works everywhere around the world and even right behind you. It’s community-driven. In other words, please report bad listings and contact us for new ones. Lately I’ve been looking at the pace of reviews like Seattle.
FYCS allows owners to claim their store if they want to gas it up a little with photos, events, and maybe other cool stuff.
You can really embellish this thing, shop owners (I used my local favorite store @OutsiderComics.com as an example)
Of course, there’s already an app to find the venerable comic shop locator service run by Soooooooooo run by Diamond. CSL was originally a free number, but I couldn’t find it in a crappy Google search, so this may no longer exist. Obviously, no one is going to find out anything by calling a phone number, but CSL exists as a website and includes a URL when they want to help new comics readers find where to buy their comics. I am.
We gave FYCS a test run and it certainly spit out an almost complete list of my locals. But it got the Manhattan thing right and included places like Book Off, which sold a lot of comics but wasn’t exactly a comic shop, and looked great doing it.
I also gave CSL a test. It offered a more heavily localized list of stores, but hit the high points. Both apps also include extras such as social media feeds for your shop.
Comic shop locator services are true comic book stalwarts, and now we’ve discovered that comic shops are joining the chat.
Obviously, there’s a lot going on with Sweet…and we’re hearing that it could possibly be coming from the company soon.
Something like this:
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