Europe Comics, which offers customers digital copies of European comics in English in addition to selling rights to publishers, said last week that it is discontinuing its direct to consumer activities. EC will continue to publish a few books digitally each month, which will be available through various digital comics merchants such as Amazon’s Comixology market and Izneo, a European digital comics service.

Izneo, the comiXology of Europe, has also announced the discontinuation of its English-language service. Purchased comics will remain available, but beginning of February 1, only the French-language website will be available. Izneo is the place to go for all Franco-Belgian comics needs. 

Europe Comics debuted in 2015 as part of an initiative by European comics publishers to attract a larger audience among English-language comics buyers. Europe Comics, like Izneo, is a collaboration of 13 European comics publishers, overseen by French publisher Mediatoon. Publishers from Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and other countries took part.

Storefronts in the Netherlands and Germany closed late last year. Over the course of its existence, Europe Comics funded author tours and convention appearances in North America by comics writers such as Fabien Nury, Jean-Marc Rochette, and Zep. Overall, Europe Comics’ efforts dramatically extended American comics readers’ knowledge of and access to the Franco-Belgian comics market, which is one of the world’s largest, with 900 million euros in graphic novel and manga sales in 2021.

Europe Comics is releasing six volumes this month, according to Amazon, but there are no listings beyond that. Cinebook, a UK-based publisher that licenses Franco-Belgian literature in English, will continue to publish books digitally on Izneo, but US titles will no longer be available.

This news comes as Amazon has laid off thousands of their ComiXology staff amidst problems with the U.S. digital comics service.