EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY #327: A DIGITAL REVOLUTION?

[Blake Petit]

One of the cool things about hosting a podcast is getting somewhat random questions from our various listeners. Jacob Bascle, of Visionary Comics, recently sent me an e-mail that I answered on the show regarding my thoughts on digital comics, and while I answered him fairly completely (I thought), the topic is broad enough that I thought it may be worth discussing here more in-depth.

First of all, let’s define the term. By “digital comics,” I don’t mean webcomics, which are already ubiquitous and many of which I read on a regular basis. Nor do I mean pirated comics, which are illegal in the US and of questionable morality no matter where you are. Sorry, Canadians, I don’t care how legal it is to download somebody else’s copyrighted material in your country, it’s still a crappy thing to do.

I’m talking about legal downloads, comics that are given or sold to readers for use on any number of digital devices – computers, iPhones, whatever. There are, of course, a number of different services that now offer different kinds of downloads – PDFs, apps, and so forth. This is not a discussion of any particular brand, any particular service, or any particular format. What I’m here to talk about today is the basic idea of reading comics digitally as opposed to reading them in good old fashioned print.

First, let’s look at the pros of buying comics digitally. And I’ll start with the big magilla: the price. With the cost of print comics going up and up, the idea of buying a 32-page comic online for 99 cents to $1.99 is an appealing idea. It saves money, it allows you to read more, and those are two very good things no matter how you slice it. Digital comics could also save a lot on storage space (you could fit an entire longbox in a jump drive), which in and of itself is a cost-saving mechanism.

Then there’s the timeliness factor. Taking out the steps of actually physically printing and shipping the comics will allow them to get to the readers quicker, will allow them to react to new ideas or information before it’s too late, and will even allow better chances to course-correct if a storyline isn’t going in the direction one would hope.

Comics themselves would be cheaper to produce, since the costs of printing and shipping would be gone, and since they’d be cheaper, companies could take more chances on experimental stories. Branch out from just superheroes. Give solo titles to lower-level characters who may not be popular enough to support a comic in print. Find new ways to handle events and crossovers. There are any number of ways that digital could be innovative.

Plus, as we’ve been seeing with music and prose download services, digital distribution has made a few inroads when it comes to leveling the playing field. Let’s use the Amazon Kindle store as our model here. If a small press publisher puts out a new novel, they have to fight for bookstore space. The big boys have already paid big bucks to Borders and Barnes and Noble to have their new titles on the front lines of the store. If the little publisher (let alone a self-publisher) can even get product into the store, there’s a very good chance it will get shoved to the back and forgotten. On the Kindle download store, however, the only order that matters is the sales ranking, and most readers haven’t the slightest idea who the publisher is, and wouldn’t care if they did. The little guy, in a digital world, has a fighting chance. Heck, at any given time I’d estimate 20 out of the top 100 Kindle books are from small publishers offering a new book (or perhaps the first book in a series that’s continuing) for free or for a greatly reduced price.

Plus, if your distribution method is through an iTunes-like store, no more worries about Diamond shafting you by screwing up the order.

All good things.

But for me, it’s not enough to make me want to make the switch. And while I accept that more and more people are making that choice, here are the reasons that – at present – it’s just not for me.

First of all, there’s the readability factor. I own a Kindle, and I absolutely love the device. And ironically, the reasons I love it are most of the reasons I mentioned above in relation to comic books. In fact – and here’s my dirty little secret – I’ve even read a couple of comic books on my Kindle. Some time back, Top Shelf began releasing Andy Runton’s Owly graphic novels on the Kindle. I bought one, and I was very impressed. The practicality of the method didn’t really make sense to me, though. Owly is a comic that is aimed at very young readers, readers who are still learning to see images in a sequence and may not even be up to rudimentary letters yet. It makes for a wonderfully accessible read, but if I have a child young enough to be in the Owly age range, I’m certainly not going to trust that child with a $300 Kindle.

The other thing is that Owly worked very well primarily because it is presented in black and white. The Kindle is a black and white device, and as such, the comic translates well to the electronic ink screen. This isn’t the same technology you use to see images on a computer screen, cell phone, or PDA. All of the devices we use to read comic books, so far, are backlit. The reason I love my Kindle so damn much is precisely because it is not backlit. I can’t read long-form comics on my computer screen, and I’ve tried. The backlighting causes too much of a strain, and my eyes start to hurt. I just plain can’t do it. Admittedly, I’ve never tried reading long-form comics on an iPhone or PDA, but I imagine the same problems would apply. Amazon and other companies are all currently working to try to create an electronic ink reader that would function in color. If and when that happens, the idea of a digital comic will be a lot more appealing to me, but not until then.

Then there’s the collectability factor. While I primarily consider myself a comic book reader and not a collector, in that I get books I enjoy without regard to their potential monetary value, that doesn’t mean the geek in me doesn’t like to actually have something. I’ve got a special box right now where I’m placing each Blackest Night comic as I read it. Putting all the assorted comic book files in their respective folders… that’s just not the same, is it?

The last reason I can’t get on the digital bandwagon is the biggest one. If comics go digital, that’ll be the end of comic shops. Oh sure, there’ll still be some – specialty stores where folks can get their graphic novels and collectibles. Music stores didn’t go extinct when downloads started, nor have bookstores… but the small businessman is having a harder and harder time. Most music and books are now sold in Big Box stores, corporate entities without the personality and charm of a locally-owned comic shop.

And for many of us, our comic shop is more than just a place to buy our comics. It’s our hangouts. It’s our neighborhood bar. It’s our home away from home. I talk about my local comic shop on the podcast all time time, and it’s not because they’re giving me anything to do it. I talk because I like the guys who work there. I talk because I consider them my friends. And I don’t want to see my friends out of work. Is that selfish of me? If it is, I can live with that.

I’m not naïve about this, guys. I know digital comics will continue to grow in popularity. And I wouldn’t even be adverse to seeing them coexist with traditional comics. Companies like Visionary could be a great way to give new creators and new concepts a shot they wouldn’t get otherwise, and the popular ones could find their way into print later. (Although I’m still looking for a way to read them that won’t hurt my eyes.) I just don’t want the comics I love to go away.

Favorite of the week: October 28, 2009

It’s the final issue of the series (for now), and it’s been as good as the previous 24. Dynamo 5 #25 features Jay Faerber’s teen heroes without their powers, trapped by their nefarious half-sister and Maddie’s estranged son. While they manage to get in the game, the changes are pretty all-encompassing. The status quo for Dynamo 5 is now entirely different, and opens up a lot of new potential storylines that I’m really interested in following along. Faerber promises that the book will return, although at the moment he doesn’t know if it’ll be with issue #26 or beginning a series of miniseries and specials. Either way, I’ll be waiting anxiously to see it come back. It’s a great series that has earned its audience.

Blake M. Petit is the author of the superhero comedy novel, Other People's Heroes, the suspense novel The Beginner and the novel-in-progress Lost in Silver at Evertime Realms. He’s also the co-host, with whoever the hell is available that week, of the 2 in 1 Showcase Podcasts. E-mail him at Blake@comixtreme.com and visit him on the web at Evertime Realms. Read past columns at the Everything But Imaginary Archive Page.

[FreemindVsionry]

Thanks for the in-depth answer to my e-mail. I don't think anyone needs to "make the switch" to digital comics. Digital comics will never take over print comics entirely. If the power's out or I'm in the middle of nowhere, I still want to be able to read me some comics. I do think that they can coexist and even complement each other.

The lower price tag gives people an opportunity to try a book out that they might not otherwise. The accessibility of getting comics from your computer when there's no comic store around is a major plus for those without a local shop. I think the greatest thing about digital comics is giving voice to creators who are having difficulties getting their work into print. It gives them a chance to get their books out there, and if well-received, can help them get that print deal that was eluding them before.

If given a choice between a print copy or a digital copy of any given title, I'll choose the print copy every time. But if a great story only exists in digital form, I'm glad I can get it that way.

[Normalman]

I have to somewhat disagree, when the color Kindle comes out and the price of the reader falls to $<100, I think the traditional comic book will be in huge trouble. It may not disapper, but it'll be like the vinyl record, something the most hardcore readers want but few others.

From what I can tell as a consumer, the price of a comic is just too high relative to the price of other forms of entertainment and a lot of that imust be tied up with publishing and distribution - else why would a TPB cost about half what the same run costs as individual comics? When Marvel starts selling their backlog for Kindle at $0.50 a pop or $20 a month for unlimited access, I think most of us who only read comics for entertainment vs collecting will switch. I only buy TPB's right now as it is. A lot of comic's focus is already on that market. Even most LCBSs no longer seem to have a very deep back issue section, because the collecting aspect is no longer a big deal for most.

The LCBS better add an expresso bar and game tables because I'm not sure the comic sales are going to support it.

[Blake Petit]

I don't like the "unlimited access" model at all -- at least, not the way it's currently offered. I don't want to pay for the privilege of accessing content on somebody else's site, only to lose it if I decide to cancel my subscription. This, I believe, is exactly why the Zune never took off as a serious competitor for the iPod. If I ever made the switch, it would have to be for files that I would own, and that I wouldn't lose if I ended a service.

Now, if the subscription was a set price for so many downloads a month, more like eMusic, that would be something worth thinking about.

[Mark Blicharz]

Digital comics are coming and they'll be appearing more and more. Why? It's cheaper to produce and 90% of the country has a computer and a significant portion of those have high speed internet.

[thtadthtshldntb]

There is always something special about holding pure reading material, in printed format, in your hands.

I am on record as stating that I think the format that comics are currently printed in, is more or less dead (and don't think that there is a historical reason for the current size, comics have been larger and smaller in the past to some degree).

Switching to the same standard size as a magazine, and making the lower circulalation/print run comics become bimonthly or quarterly, would go a long way towards dealing with pricing and cost issues (the same machines that print time magazine for example, could be used to print Spiderman, allowing the same presses to be used, etc.

So instead of say 2 or 3 spiderman titles a month, you get 1 magazine with 3 or 4 different stories in it, for say 6.99 (US).

[Blake Petit]

I've thought about that model too, and it's an interesting idea. I wonder what it would have been like if Marvel tried that with Amazing Spider-Man instead of the thrice monthly model.

[Ben Lehnsherr]

I kinda like that actually, Tad. Need Marvel's phone number?

[thtadthtshldntb]

Imagine seeing comics in the standard magazine section of your supermarket (the popular ones at least) the same way you can get the American version of Shonen Jump now (which is almost that format).

digital comics are certainly going to have their place, what with Marvel's deal with the iTunes store and all though, especially for back issues.

Look at demand becoming a much lower pressure on the prices of back issues, and only the rare ones holding high value long term in the future, but that affects the speculators and the store owners more than the reader.

[Ben Lehnsherr]

-Do you think graphic novels will still be made and purchased with similar regularity, if in fact digital comics ends up being the format soon?

[thtadthtshldntb]

If you mean trades, yes, I think so. If you mean original print stories, only when there is a name artist or writer behind them. If the digital buy is high, then a print run would probably be done to satify the collectors and speculators.

I have, as have others, suggested this format to comic companies for years in one form or another. Its not a new one.

[Dynamite]

Originally Posted by thtadthtshldntb

There is always something special about holding pure reading material, in printed format, in your hands.

Amen to this youv'e just been repped

[Normalman]

Originally Posted by thtadthtshldntb

If you mean trades, yes, I think so. If you mean original print stories, only when there is a name artist or writer behind them. If the digital buy is high, then a print run would probably be done to satify the collectors and speculators.

I have, as have others, suggested this format to comic companies for years in one form or another. Its not a new one.

Don't some of the marvel all ages comics appear in a magazine format?

I think from a distribution/cost view their could be some advantages. I think the companies will need to take account of the larger page size and not blow up existing books. But now, price becomes an issue. If these larger mags are going to cost $10, I might as well just stick with the TPB from Amazon.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by Normalman

Don't some of the marvel all ages comics appear in a magazine format?

I think from a distribution/cost view their could be some advantages. I think the companies will need to take account of the larger page size and not blow up existing books. But now, price becomes an issue. If these larger mags are going to cost $10, I might as well just stick with the TPB from Amazon.

Marvel still puts out some of their all-ages comics in magazines, in fact, but I've got no idea how well they're performing sales-wise.

[BigWords]

The digital comic-book revolution is still being viewed in the same light as the e-book "revolution" (same thing, different format), and we need to start considering what possibilities can exist with a comic as soon as you add multimedia properties into the mix. Does anyone remember an old computer game called Drake? When that appeared there was serious geek chit-chat about a Sin City computer game which could accurately capture the visual style of Frank Miller, though things never really materialized save for some bedroom coders creating pretty artwork with the engine.

It's time to revisit Big Ideas. Flash comics, while never making the leap to mainstream popularity, always managed to impress me precisely because of the forward-thinking idea which said that pages needn't be static. I like the video aspect which comics in a digital format can use. Maybe it will never catch on, but it would give legitimacy to abandoning paper and ink for some creators. While we're thinking about adding video we might as well look to audio. I actually listened to the Dirk Maggs Knightfall CD as I was reading the trade paperbacks, and the inclusion of audio in the reading experience made that story seem just a teeny little bit more special than it was.

Everyone here has at least a couple of computer games based on comics, right? Have you considered that the future of digital comics might include reading a twenty-odd page comic, then completing a mini-level, then reading on to the next issue? It would be perfect for PC's, and maybe even get comics onto the consoles for a wider audience. Hell, if we're throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the new format - and I for one would stump up the £40 for an all-in-one package of trade paperback / full cast audio dramatization / game - then there are a multitude of other ideas I'm willing to throw into the mix...

• The catch-up boxes with "See Astonishingly Fabulous X-Peeps #3" (or whatever) would be a HTML link to the issue in question.

• Each comic could have creator's videos (like the Painting With Fire DVD) attached to specific panels, where the artist(s) would walk through the creation of the image step by step.

• Easter Egg backup strips which aren't listed, just like DVDs.

• User-created content showcased (which will stir memories for anyone raised on Marvel UK reprints).

• Reading lists for some titles (like The Question's late eighties run) would link to either Guttenberg (for copyright free books) or the Amazon store.

If there is going to be a revolution, it might as well be one which has revolutionary ideas involved.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by BigWords

It's time to revisit Big Ideas. Flash comics, while never making the leap to mainstream popularity, always managed to impress me precisely because of the forward-thinking idea which said that pages needn't be static. I like the video aspect which comics in a digital format can use. Maybe it will never catch on, but it would give legitimacy to abandoning paper and ink for some creators. While we're thinking about adding video we might as well look to audio. I actually listened to the Dirk Maggs Knightfall CD as I was reading the trade paperbacks, and the inclusion of audio in the reading experience made that story seem just a teeny little bit more special than it was.

Gotta be honest, dude... I don't want that. When I'm reading a book (or a comic), I just want to read a book. I don't want someone reading along, and I don't want to have to play a game to get to the next chapter.

I want my comics to be comics, my cartoons to be cartoons, and my video games to be video games.

[BigWords]

You wouldn't even be the slightest bit intrigued at the possibility of something approaching the true multimedia capabilities which computers can handle easily now? The early computer games (there was a Punisher one and... was it Spider-Man Vs. Kingpin? Late 1980s) were pretty much animated comic-books to begin with, and anything that brings in the curious non-readers to comics would be good for the industry.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by BigWords

You wouldn't even be the slightest bit intrigued at the possibility of something approaching the true multimedia capabilities which computers can handle easily now? The early computer games (there was a Punisher one and... was it Spider-Man Vs. Kingpin? Late 1980s) were pretty much animated comic-books to begin with, and anything that brings in the curious non-readers to comics would be good for the industry.

Like I said, if that's what I want, I can already play a video game. And frankly, I don't have time to play a lot of video games.

I just want a book. I want pages to look at, and even if those pages are digital, I prefer to let my mind actually exercise itself instead of having the voices supplied, music beating into my ears, and sound effects erupting every twelve seconds.

I'm not saying there isn't a place for that kind of stuff. I'm just saying that once you start adding animation and interactivity and sound, it's not a book anymore. It's a game.

[BigWords]

Point taken. What about hyperlinks to other issues referenced in text boxes? There are so many issues to each big event storyline that it sometimes seems to be a maze of converging storylines occuring at once. Making the leap from "hunt this issue down" to "read the first part here" would save a lot of confusion. Same goes for the feedback which is now absent in a lot of comics. Links to a community board directly tied to the comic seems to make sense to me.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by BigWords

Point taken. What about hyperlinks to other issues referenced in text boxes? There are so many issues to each big event storyline that it sometimes seems to be a maze of converging storylines occuring at once. Making the leap from "hunt this issue down" to "read the first part here" would save a lot of confusion. Same goes for the feedback which is now absent in a lot of comics. Links to a community board directly tied to the comic seems to make sense to me.

If I was reading a digital comic, I'd be okay with that sort of thing, sure. Some eBooks have similar functions now, although usually within the same file.