The innovative platform debuts an invite-only beta simultaneously on Android and iOS, making life sweet for comic and manga readers everywhere
Sweet Shop is one step closer to becoming the premier destination for comics and manga readers of all ages and interests. The company launched an invite-only beta today, with apps pending approval in app stores, featuring a diverse selection of titles from 24 leading publishers across the industry.
There’s a comic book for everyone and Sweet is focused on giving readers all the tools they need to find it. Features available at launch include in-app purchases, offline reading, and the ability to download DRM-free PDFs, among others.
Soon users will also have the ability to give and receive recommendations, access sales & bundles, create reading lists, and more. Sweet Shop did it without venture capital money.
“I've been looking for a digital comic company that looks at what makes Steam and Letterbox work and working out how to do it for comics, so I'm excited to see Sweet Shop land,” said Kieron Gillen, bestselling comic book writer of The Power Fantasy, X-Men, and Young Avengers.
Sweet Shop is uniting a diverse coalition of distinguished publishers across the comics industry. At the forefront is Image Comics, the groundbreaking, creator-owned powerhouse known for such bestsellers as Spawn, The Walking Dead, Invincible, Saga, Monstress, Deadly Class, Chew, Criminal, The Department of Truth, W0rldtr33, Geiger, Descender, Gideon Falls, and more. Flanking them are popular indie publishers like Kodansha, Fantagraphics, Dark Horse, and IDW, alongside exciting up-and-comers like Manga Mavericks, Ignition Press, and Panick. Together they are shaping a premier digital reading experience designed for comic fans. To mark the beta launch, the platform proudly debuts with none other than Image Comics, the trailblazers who redefined what comics could be and continue to push the envelope in every way.
Author of the FML and Bitch Planet series, Kelly Sue DeConnick, is another member of the industry excited to see the new platform. "The Sweet, um, suite (sorry!) is the first real, executable vision for a connected comics ecosystem I’ve seen that honors creators, readers, and—vitally—the brick-and-mortar stores who make our community possible,” she said. “Sweet Shop feels like it was built for us, not off us. I don’t have a lot of faith in tech these days, so I’m trying not to get ahead of myself, but… honestly? The Sweet folks have demonstrated to me personally that they’ve got hearts as powerful as their big ole brains. I’m borderline feral waiting for the beta.”
“Everyone at Image is so incredibly thrilled to be working with Sweet to meet comics readers where they are—literally and meaningfully," said Lorelei Bunjes, VP of Digital Strategy at Image Comics. "Not only will anyone in the world be able to access our titles, but also the discovery tools within Sweet will offer readers the ability to explore and discover new titles that they’ll love. We can’t wait for readers to check out all the comics adventures we have in store for them!”
As part of their commitment to the hard work of creators and publishers, Sweet Shop does not accept AI comics.
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Starting today, creators, publishers, journalists, and comics fans can register for their username and join the waitlist at https://sweetshop.app, invites will roll out periodically as publisher catalogs grow and new features become available. Full publisher list is available at Sweet Shop.
ABOUT SWEET
Sweet Shop is part of Sweet’s singular goal to make things less s****y for people in comics. With Bindings for creator marketing, Find Your Comic Store (FYCS) for finding your new favorite comic shop, “Sweet” is tackling all it can with technology to help grow comic sales and readership everywhere. TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook.
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