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WOWIO
Company typePublic
IndustryBooks, Comics
FoundedAugust 2006
FounderWilliam Lidwell
Defunct2018
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Brian Altounian
ProductsE-books
ServicesPublishing, Merchandising, Restaurants, Hospitality, Homebuilding
Owner(2009–2015): Brian Altounian / Alliance Acquisitions, LLC
Parent(from May 2014): Studio W
DivisionsWEvolt
DrunkDuck.com (TheDuckWebcomics.com)
@Brand
Pop Galaxy
Websitewww.wowio.com[dead link]

WOWIO, Inc. was a Los Angeles–based digital media company founded in 2006 that offered ad-supported Ebooks and later expanded into webcomics communities and electronic publishing platforms (including WEvolt, Drunk Duck, and Pop Galaxy). After a series of acquisitions and ownership changes, the company shifted its focus in 2017 toward investments in real estate, hospitality, and entertainment ventures. As of 2018, WOWIO had deregistered its common stock and become largely inactive.[1][2]

History

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Founding and early model

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WOWIO was founded in 2006 in Los Angeles[3] by author and entrepreneur William Lidwell.[4] Its original goal was to provide readers with free, downloadable Ebooks in exchange for embedded advertisements.[4] Initial offerings in the WOWIO catalogue included public domain titles like Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, and comic book titles such as the Tenth Muse series.

In April 2008, the company announced a partnership with Fangoria Comics / The Scream Factory to host a selection of the two companies' horror titles on WOWIO for free (for a limited time).[5]

In June 2008, Platinum Studios announced that it had begun talks to acquire WOWIO, hoping to make it a "major cornerstone" of "a global digital publishing distribution initiative."[6] The companies projected that the acquisition would be concluded early in the third quarter of 2008,[6] but issues related to WOWIO's non-payment of quarterly earnings delayed the sale.[7][a]

Acquisition by Brian Altounian; expansion

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In June 2009, WOWIO was purchased outright by Brian Altounian, a former Time Warner executive, founder of Alliance Acquisitions,[9] and at the time a board member of Platinum Studios.[3][10][11] (Altounian served as a Platinum Studios board member from 2005 to 2011.) Alliance Acquisitions, LLC, became a minority owner of WOWIO along with a group of investors; Platinum Studios no longer had any ownership stake.[3]

In June 2010, WOWIO raised $1.7 million and purchased the online community WEvolt.[12] WEvolt, created by comic artist Jason Badower and Matt Jacobs, enabled artists to create, share, and monetize their work through ad sales and merchandising opportunities. Users could distribute their original content or use the site as an aggregator of online media.

By 2013, WOWIO distributed content across five proprietary websites,[13] including:

  • WOWIO.com
  • DrunkDuck.com (later to become TheDuckWebcomics.com)
  • WEvolt.com
  • PopGalaxy.com (distributed on YouTube)

In May 2014, the parent company rebranded itself as Studio W, focused on digital publishing and media distribution, and launched a new corporate website, StudioWDigital.com. Simultaneously, the company launched a new mobile eBook app featuring over 350,000 titles from Ingram Books, available on Android and later other platforms, as part of its expansion into mobile digital publishing and ad-supported eBooks.[14]

The Drunk Duck / The Duck Webcomics

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In June 2010, a week after its purchase of WEvolt, WOWIO acquired DrunkDuck.com from Platinum Studios.[15][16] Drunk Duck, launched in 2001 by Dylan Squires, was a webcomics community of mostly amateur creators. It had been acquired by Platinum Studios in September 2006; the company planned to use Drunk Duck as its primary online platform, publishing all of Platinum's comics on the site before print and treating it as the first step in his "full-circle commercialization" model.[17] At the time of its acquisition by WOWIO, however, Drunk Duck featured only a handful of Platinum Studios-owned titles[17] along with a community of 95,000 subscribed users.[15]

In mid-August 2013, the Drunk Duck site went offline. After repeated delays, it briefly returned in September 2013, only to go down again. On October 10, 2013, the site was relaunched as TheDuckWebcomics.com.[18][19]

In 2015, management of The Duck Webcomics platform transitioned to members of its own user community,[20] and the platform has continued to operate independently. As of the 2020s, The Duck Webcomics remains an active hub for webcomic creators, hosting thousands of titles and maintaining a user-driven forum and publishing tools.

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Starting in 2014, most of the company's platforms became inactive within the next few years. For example, the PopGalaxy YouTube channel ceased posting new content in 2014 (as of 2025 it has 140 subscribers).[21]

In January 2015, the State of California issued a desist and refrain order against Altounian and Alliance Acquisitions, citing that between 2008 and 2011 they had offered or sold securities through untrue or misleading statements.[22]

Altounian served as WOWIO CEO until September 2015.[11] During his last months as CEO, WOWIO went public with an initial share price over $1; within months, the share price fell below $0.01.[23] Robert H. Estareja, President of WOWIO since February 2015, replaced Altounian as CEO in September 2015.[24]

Shift to real estate; deregistration

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In 2017, Estareja was replaced as CEO by Tony Anish, who announced the new strategic direction for the company.[2] New management acknowledged that "the Company has been dormant due to a lack of funding and the inability to take the products they have been working on to market,"[2] and changed its strategic direction. The company announced plans to operate as a holding company supporting investments in entertainment, restaurants, tourism, and real estate, including housing projects in Northern California and Arizona.[2] Announced ventures included Castlerock Bar and Grill, Canyon Café, and Wishing Well restaurant in Arizona; Lodgenuity, a hospitality consulting and management company;[25] and land in Avenal, California, for low-income housing.[26]

The company deregistered its common stock in July 2018;[1] the Lodgenuity purchase was canceled in 2019.[27]

Comics titles hosted on WOWIO (selected)

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Notes

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  1. ^ Third quarter earnings for 2008 — calculated on a new formula more favorable to WOWIO — were eventually paid.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Bloomberg Company Overview of Wowio, Inc". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "WOWIO, INC. Issues Information letter to Shareholders". Nov 29, 2017 – via GlobeNewswire.
  3. ^ a b c Reid, Calvin (Oct 25, 2010). "New Owners, New Business Model at Wowio.com". Publishers Weekly.
  4. ^ a b "WOWIO Introduces 'ebooks for Free' Concept to U.S. Readerdom" (Press release). Aug 14, 2006 – via PR NewsWire.
  5. ^ "Scream Factory, Wowio.com to offer Fangoria comics for free". Comic Book Resources. April 7, 2008. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Meyer, Jeff (June 30, 2008). "Platinum Studios Announces It Is in Negotiations to Acquire WOWIO, LLC". GoCollect.
  7. ^ Johnston, Rich (October 1, 2009). "WOWIO to Pay All 2008 Second Quarter Payments by November 15". Bleeding Cool.
  8. ^ "Turning the Page". Los Angeles Business Journal. 8 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
  9. ^ "Bloomberg Company Overview of Alliance Acquisitions Inc". Bloomberg News.
  10. ^ "Brian Altounian Joins Platinum Studios as Chief Operating Officer: Former Time Warner Interactive Executive Brings Both a Proven Operations Track Record and Multi-Media Partnership Experience" (Press release). August 9, 2005 – via PR Newswire.
  11. ^ a b "Executive Profile: Brian Kenneth Altounian". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on Nov 9, 2018. Mr. Altounian served as the Chief Executive Officer of WOWIO, Inc. from June 11, 2010 to September 2015 and served as its President since July 1, 2009.
  12. ^ Wauters, Robin (3 June 2010). "WOWIO Raises $1.7 Million, Acquires Online Community WEvolt". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
  13. ^ "REGISTRATION STATEMENT NO. 333- 184529". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. February 8, 2013. Archived from the original on Nov 10, 2018 – via NASDQ.com.
  14. ^ "WOWIO Launches New Mobile eBook App with over 350,000 Titles" (Press release). 2014-05-28. Archived from the original on Nov 9, 2018 – via Business Wire.
  15. ^ a b Tartakoff, Joseph (8 June 2010). "Wowio Buys Webcomics Community DrunkDuck". Gigaom. Archived from the original on Feb 26, 2014.
  16. ^ Dilworth, Dianna (June 10, 2010). "Digital Publishing: WOWIO Acquires DrunkDuck Comic Book Community". MediaBistro.
  17. ^ a b Marriott, Michel (September 25, 2006). "Using Web as first draft for comic books". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2012. ...bought DrunkDuck.com, a popular Webcomics site ... community of Webcomics artists, writers and fans.
  18. ^ ozoneocean (Oct 11, 2013). "We are NOW online again!!!!". The Duck Webcomics. Archived from the original on July 3, 2014. With the combined efforts of JustNoPoint Comics and Comic Rocket www.theduckwebcomics.com lives!
  19. ^ HippieVan (Jan 10, 2014). "BIG NEWS - Drunkduck.com is BACK!". This is huge news - we've finally got our old URL, drunkduck.com, back! Jacob from Wowio was able to get it back, and our good friend Jamey Sharp from Comic Rocket got it working for us again. A big thank you to both of them! All old links should now redirect to theduckwebcomics.com!
  20. ^ "About the Duck". The Duck Webcomics. Retrieved Nov 4, 2025. In 2015 The Duck began the transition to management by its own community.
  21. ^ "The PopGalaxy Channel - YouTube". PopGalaxy YouTube Channel.
  22. ^ "Desist and Refrain Order" (PDF). State of California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency: Department of Business Oversight. January 6, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on Sep 10, 2015.
  23. ^ "Wowio, Inc". Retrieved Nov 4, 2025 – via Market Watch.
  24. ^ "Robert H Estareja, Wowio Inc: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on Nov 9, 2018.
  25. ^ "Wowio, Inc. Acquires Lodgenuity, Inc" (Press release). 2018-01-25 – via Global News Wire.
  26. ^ "Wowio, Inc. Attacks Housing Crisis in California" (Press release). 2018-01-30 – via Global News Wire.
  27. ^ "Wowio, Inc. cancelled the acquisition of Lodgenuity, Inc". Market Screener. Jan 24, 2019.
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