hoopla digital Finalizes Deal, Adds Titles from Dark Horse Comics

Category-creating digital service expands catalog with iconic graphic novel titles including 'Hellboy,' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' 'Sin City,' 'B.P.R.D' and more

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hoopla digital

Sep 30, 2015, 10:22 ET

HOLLAND, Ohio, Sept. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- hoopla digital (hoopladigital.com), the category-creating mobile and online service for public libraries, today announced a new deal with Dark Horse Comics, publisher of best-selling creator-owned properties. With the agreement, hoopla digital's app and online service adds iconic titles including Mike Mignola's demon action-thriller, Hellboy and fictional government intelligence saga, B.P.R.D.; Joss Whedon's supernatural vampire drama, Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and Frank Miller's neo-noir suspense, Sin City.

Dark Horse Comics now available on hoopla digital.

Dark Horse Comics titles and more are now available for patrons to access instantly on hoopla digital's app and online service via their smartphones, tablets and computers.

The addition of Dark Horse Comics titles broadens hoopla digital's catalog of more than 380,000 movies, TV shows, music albums, eBooks, audiobooks and comics. hoopla digital partners with public libraries across North America to provide patrons with online and mobile access to dynamic digital content. The service's catalogue includes titles from DC Comics, Image Comics, and BOOM! Comics, to name a few.

"We are thrilled to partner with Dark Horse Comics to bring Hellboy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other iconic titles to patrons of participating libraries anytime, without any holds or waits," said Jeff Jankowski, founder and owner of hoopla digital. "We developed hoopla's Action View technology especially for comic book fans to enjoy the artistry of these stories on a mobile device."

hoopla digital's innovative Action View creates one-of-a-kind immersive digital reading by allowing for full page and panel-by-panel views of comics and illustrations.

"Many of our biggest fans grew up reading comics they found at the public library," said Mark Bernardi, Dark Horse Comics' Director of Digital Publishing. "Our partnership with hoopla digital not only enables us to offer comics digitally to a new generation of library patrons, but to showcase the artistry of our comics through technology that makes the experience just as captivating and intimate as reading a physical comic book."

There is no waiting to borrow titles on hoopla digital since on-demand content can be enjoyed by multiple patrons simultaneously. Patrons who use hoopla digital also avoid library late fees as digital content borrowing periods simply expire without charges.

"With our partner libraries growing across North America, we're constantly looking for new ways to evolve and expand our content offerings and comic books are high on that list," continued Jankowski. "Patron reception to our new comics offering has been overwhelmingly positive, with thousands of titles being circulated every week, and we want to continue to offer dynamic content when and how patrons want it."

hoopla digital has partnerships with more than 800 public library systems across North America including St. Louis Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library, Boston Public Library, Edmonton Public Library and Houston Public Library.

To begin enjoying comics on hoopla digital, library-card holders can download the free hoopla digital mobile app on their Android or IOS device or visit hoopladigital.com. New comic books will be added to the service weekly. The service is available only to patrons of participating public libraries.

About hoopla digital
hoopla digital is a category-creating service that partners with public libraries across North America to provide online and mobile access to thousands of Movies, TV Shows, Music, eBooks, Audiobooks and Comics. With hoopla digital, patrons can borrow, instantly stream and download dynamic content with a valid library card. All content is accessible via hoopla digital's mobile app and online at www.hoopladigital.com. hoopla digital is a service of Midwest Tape – a trusted partner to public libraries for over 25 years.

For more information, please contact 800-875-2785 (US) or 866-698-2231 (Canada).

About Dark Horse Comics
Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent such as Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Geof Darrow, Brian Wood, Gail Simone, Stan Sakai, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Milo Manara, Kazuo Koike, Neil Gaiman, and Frank Miller, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, X, and Barb Wire. Its successful line of comics, manga, and products based on popular properties includes Dragon Age, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Tomb Raider, Halo, The Witcher, Serenity, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world's leading entertainment publishers.