The creator-owned ranks of Amazon subsidiary comiXology have swelled since the announcement of comiXology Originals last year. But as Comic-Con International in San Diego got underway Wednesday afternoon, the platform not only announced four new series by a range of creators popular both in comics traditional direct market and in new formats online, but it also made them available immediately across comiXology and Amazon's platforms.

These brand-new series on tap for the launch include the five-issue series Goliath Girls by Sam Humphries and Alti Firmansyah, the new Tim Seeley and Mike Norton effort Grave Danger from new publisher Comix AF, internet-based anthology Hit Reblog from editor Hope Nicholson with cartoonist Megan Kearney and lastly another five-issue series titled Teenage Wasteland from Mags Visaggio and Jen Vaughn.

A second wave of new series like OGN The Dark by Mark Sable and Kristian Donaldson, Delver. by C Spike Trotman, MK Reed and Tish Doolin and finally The Stone King by Kel McDonald and Tyler Crook will debut later in 2018.

The event announcing these varied projects began with comiXology co-founder and President David Steinberger who said the company's guiding principal has always been "Make everyone on the planet a comics fan...When we launched ten years ago, we did a really good job at servicing fans," Steinberger said. "Getting into comics can be hard...so two years ago we launched comiXology Unlimited." He said just over 50% of new buyers to comiXology come in via the monthly-paid platform.

But now with comiXology originals, the company is hoping to push its recruitment even further. "This is another way we can serve our mission," he said, promising to deliver comics that appeal specifically to new readers. "I want to point out the important part: these books are free to read on any Amazon subscription service" such as Kindle Unlimited, comiXology Unlimited or even Amazon Prime through the Prime Reading function.

comiXology Head of Content Chip Mosher welcomed a majority of the creators to the stage for an in-depth look at the various projects, starting with the four series which launched on the service as they were described.

Goliath Girls, a five-issue fantasy series by Sam Humphries and Alti Firmansyah, reunited the team from Marvel's Star-Lord/Kitty Pryde series. The writer described the book as being about "Four best friends who have raised their own giant monster" before calling it "Pitch Perfect meets Pacific Rim."

Additionally, this series will debut simultaneously in Japan fully localized for Japanese manga readers. The creative team is working with experienced translators and their editor Jeanine Schaefer to make that experience unique and effective for an international audience. "I believe the things that unite comic book fans are stronger than the things that divide us," Humphries explained. "We are evolving in to a global comic book connected marketplace...and I think that manga fans in Japan read Goliath Girls and realize that we manga and anime fans have taken everything we love from that world, remixed it and broadcast it back to them."

Grave Danger is only the latest Tim Seeley and Mike Norton collaboration, but it is also the very first series from new publisher Comix AF co-founded by Daniel Alter and Jeff Forsyth. Norton was on hand to talk about the work with his studiomate and Revival co-creator. He noted the series is a mix of secret agents, monsters and a slew of other genre influences. "The main character, Grave Danger, is a woman who has been raised by vampires and a set of ten DVD tapes, so she basically relates to the world only through the dialogue of old crappy '80s movies. She sees herself as James Bond, but she's not James Bond. She fights werewolves and vampires and the things that go bump in the night with style and a little bit of awkward," Norton said.

Seeley called in via cell phone to offer his take on Grave Danger – a call that seemed to break up frequently to comic effect, but he was able to mention that this was a story that could encompass literally any influence that came to mind. "This is a fun book for me and Tim," Norton added. "It's something we haven't done before, and it's nice after drawing five years of depressing things in the snow to draw anything we can think of."

Hit Reblog, a compendium of viral internet comics curated by Bedside Press editor Hope Nicholson with additional biographical content by cartoonist Megan Kearney. The series is set to explore what it means to become a comics meme in the modern era. "I threw money and Megan and told her to make me a book," joked Nicholson. "We wanted to explore both the positive and negative aspect of sudden internet fame." While certain creators were able to ink book deals or capitalize on their viral comics in some ways, many also had to retreat from the social media sphere after their work took on a frightening life of its own with the internet's denizens.

The fourth new launch title will be another five-issue series called Teenage Wasteland by writer Mags Visaggio and artist Jen Vaughn. The story takes its cues from the ethos "High school is bullshit" by telling the story of a new kid in school with a twist. Visaggio noted that she wanted the comic that takes cues from magical girl and giant robot stories set in the '90s to be a more exciting version of high school than her own experience as an awkward teenage outcast.

The second-wave of creators took the stage to talk about their project starting with The Dark. This OGN takes its cues from writer Sable's work as a futurist – working with non-profits to foresee complications in the future and counter them. The heart of this series is a globally devastating cyberattack. Donaldson is taking a 3D approach to the art, building locales and elements of the story with his computer and then populating his pages with the result.

Trotman spoke about Delver., which she said didn't quite fit under her very popular Kickstarter-based publisher Iron Circus because she wanted to take advantage of methods of distribution and promotion that a smaller operation like her own couldn't do just yet. The story continues Trotman's commitment to stories that are "strange and amazing" by telling a story about the people who live with the results of fringe sci-fi and fantasy monsters that are set loose into the wild.

Finally, Kel McDonald spoke to her and Tyler Crook's newThe Stone King series. The writer said she's moving further into partnership with comiXology after finding success with comiXology's "Submit" platform because she wanted to continue to create comics outside the experimental platforms she's used in the past. She connected with fellow Dark Horse comics freelancer at a convention. Committed to working together, Crook created an image without a story for McDonald to run with, and the result is an adventure story that stands apart from the work either has done in the past.

The panel ended with a short Q&A, perhaps the most tantalizing bit was the idea that these series could be placed on track for film and TV adaptations by Amazon Prime, though no specific info on that front could be offered.