DC partners with kid-centric video-calling app Caribu

(Image credit: Caribu / DC)

DC has entered in a partnership with the educational video-calling app company Caribu for its characters and stories to be available on the platform.

Caribu is a kid-centric video-calling service that encourages children and their families to engage in video-based activities including games, coloring activities, calls, and now comics. Launched in 2018, the following year it was named one of Time Magazine's top 100 inventions of 2019.

77 kid-friendly comics from DC's library are available now on the service, and will be free to new users "all summer" according to DC. The selection includes DC Super Hero Girls, Teen Titans Go!, Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes, and more. The app will also host free previews of DC's middle grade graphic novels Diana: Princess of the Amazons, Black Canary: Ignite, Super Sons, and more.

"We pride ourselves in offering a variety of content for a wide range of ages and interests on Caribu," Caribu's chief executive officer/co-founder Maxeme Tuchman says in the announcement. "Partnering with DC allows us to meet the needs of older kids who want to have virtual playdates with family and friends so they too can stay entertained and engaged this summer."

Although the partnership with DC is new, since its launch in 2018 Caribu has worked with DC's parent company AT&T. Earlier this year, AT&T contributed $560,000 to underwrite the app's free availability to children and families during the onset of COVID-19.

The addition of DC comics to Caribu's offerings comes in the midst of the service's 'Superhero Week' which lasts through June 26. According to an article on Caribu's website, DC's superheroes are the only superheroes featured on the service for the week.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)