Going it alone with development means the publisher avoids having to work with a partner who might possibly quibble with the content Dark Horse and its creators have chosen to publish.

"Some people want to edit digital material," Richardson said. "We're very pro-creator rights and anti-censorship."

At launch, Dark Horse's store will feature more than 150 series, such as by Mike Mignola, and by Joss Whedon, Felicia Day's , and the latest adaptation of Robert E. Howard's .

That list points out that many of Dark Horse's comics are licensed properties, and licensors have been much more skittish than publishers about embracing the digital-comics movement.

"The dust really hasn't settled yet," Richardson said. "Some licensors get it, and some don't understand... This is where our publishing business is going." Richardson said it's an ongoing process of working with licensors to show them how vital it is that digital comics be part of the comics-publishing mix.