Heavy Ink: Social Networking For Comics Fans

Let's face it--the Web is replete with social networks. But in the States, the space is largely dominated by two or three names. The key to launching a reasonably successful social network the last couple of years is finding an effective niche. Take comics: The topic makes perfect sense.

Most comic readers are also big Internet readers. A few sites have already latched onto this concept, the most notable of which is ComicSpace. This social network has managed a reasonable amount of success, recently merging with another comics site and picking up investment capital in the process.






In fact, I'd suggest that the site's owner, Josh Roberts, didn't foresee the amount of steam the site would pick up. It wasn't initially designed to deal with a huge amount of traffic, it seems; if you've ever felt yourself frustrated by MySpace, you'll almost certainly find ComicSpace's UI downright maddening.

Still in beta, Heavy Ink has design working in its favor right out of the gate. The site is actually a storefront first--and though, so far as I can tell, it doesn't appear to offer anything that you can't already find on Amazon, Heavy Ink is currently offering all merch for 20 percent off and eschewing the shipping costs on any size order.

When you sign up for an account, you automatically join the social network. You can friend other users, share ratings, and leave comments on other profiles--pretty standard social-networking fare.

The other key difference between Heavy Ink and ComicSpace is that, at least in my experience, the latter is largely driven by independent fans and creators. Although Heavy Ink does stock works by large indie publishers such as Fantagraphics and Top Shelf, the site seems largely targeted at mainstream fans--folks who follow Batman, The X-Men, et al, admittedly a far more lucrative market than the underground stuff.

Of course, with the site still in beta, it's nearly impossible to tell where it'll be in a couple of months. Still, the early results are promising. And of course, a link from Boing Boing doesn't hurt either.