Graphic Novels, In App Purchases and The Walking Dead

So I think I've figured this out, and it should be no problem but I had an issue today with some purchases and I wanted to share. 

One of the main uses for the iPads at Turning Point is as an eReader. The pads hold many more books than we can fit on our tiny bookshelf, they are current and shiny to our readers, and because we can share one iBooks account library among 10 (maybe more) iPads it is more cost-effective than buying a class set of books. 

However, that last bit of math only works if you can actually share your library. It took us a little while to figure out how to share the libary across a class set of pads, but I think we've done it. So wasn't I surprised when I stumbled upon a different way many companies are choosing to sell their eBooks. 

Now I should briefly explain - I've been a proponent of graphic novels in the classroom for some time. I think they're interesting for some reluctant readers, but also think that they're simply a new part of the canon that deserves to be discussed in a classroom much in the same way we study poetry, drama and the novel.

Knowing that, it is no great surprise that I investigated options for graphic novels. Now you can buy graphic novels at the iBooks store, and I did that first. But some of the most current material is published by more independent book sellers - companies like Dark Horse press, and IDW publishing - as well as comiclogix, the publisher of the eComic "The Walking Dead". Now these companies, for whatever reason, don't sell their books via the iBook store. Instead, they each develop their own app, or potentially, for a serial like The Walking Dead, they develop the series its own app - the Walking Dead app looks like this...

You download the app (no problem for us - download it to the account at iTunes and it pushes the app to the class set of apps) - and then you download the books inside the app, for a few dollars an issue (like a comic book) or a few more for a collected set (a volume). Originally I was worried about this because I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to share these books. Unlike iBooks the comiclogix app is a little more secure and passwords and accounts can be cumbersome at best. Nevertheless, so far it is working out well. I have successfully logged onto the same account on two different pads with no problems - the purchases volume was waiting for me when I opened the new pad. I will now try to install it on all of the pads. 

I will let you all know how it goes. Does anyone else have any experience with the in app purchase option presenting a problem to their classroom? Any benefits?