Digital Comics - Discussion

[t0xin_ven0m]

Yesterday at Comic-Con Chicago '06, Joe Quesada mentioned that he thinks Digital Comics are the way of the future. My question is how can they protect from pirating. What do you think about it....I think it's stupid.

[comicfreak]

i'd prefer to old classic paper books. we need to keep some of the old history before everything is powered by robots.

[t0xin_ven0m]

yeah...I hope that if they do go to digital, that they will still make the paper ones also. Maybe just limit the number that the make or something.

[Ouchmaker]

Well, I happen to believe that digital comics are a way of the future, and will prove to be a nice way to read comics. No way are they ever going to be more popular than regular comics, just look at how it went with regular books. But they will come sooner or later, and for someone collecting comics they're a pretty good way to read them without worrying about damaging them. So while he has the paper comic somewhere safe after one read, he can read the digital comics over and over again without damage to the copy.

Piracy can become a problem, but like in all things, cheapening the price enough will solve these issues.

[t0xin_ven0m]

I agree it will be the way of the future. I just don't like the idea of that. Maybe it's just me, but when I read books, I like to be able to have them in my hand. But again, maybe it's just me.

Although, it will be a lot better for the comic industry...but, you won't see as many local comic shops, because they will be put out of business or be forced to become hybrid shops (as many have already done).

When I say hybrid, I mean that most of them don't just sell comics, most have Magic tournaments, etc, etc.

[comicfreak]

its not just u toxin i think the same way. paper comics are so much better. its the closest thing to the past we got without it being futurized or some other word. besides i don't feel like looking at the screen all day.

[Carnage]

I don't think digital comics are a good idea. I need to feel the page between my fingers when I turn it, clicking to the next page is just not a option for me.

[comicfreak]

i totally agree.

[Ouchmaker]

Seems that I'm alone in this

But I want to remind you that having one doesen't necessary make the other obsolete. I find it a good thing to have the original safe, and if I want to check some things, then I can read it on my computer.

And there are a lot of ways they can make it work in the digital form, there are for instance programs that let you select a compressed file of pictures, and by rolling the mouse roll you can go forwards and backwards through the stack of pictures. the same could be applied to comics.

No, digital comics will never replace the real one, atleast not in the coming years, but they're still a good idea to use as a back-up.

[t0xin_ven0m]

I do have to agree it would be easier to store, lol...but that's the only good aspect of it to me. Other than having to use up my gas to go pick them up from the store.

[Ouchmaker]

So, what are the ups and downs of digital comics?

+easy to storage
+has no wear and tear -risk
+you don't have to leave home to get what you want
+comics are already scanned, you don't have to scan them yourself if you want to make a wallpaper or an avatar from a comic book.
+doesen't consume paper

-reading isn't as comfortable
-need electricity to read them
-loses the comic book -feel
-one Windows crash later you've got nothing left of your collection
-piracy (which can be solved by lowering prices)

What other points are there?

[t0xin_ven0m]

Another plus is not having to worry about there not being any extra copies at your comic book store...incase there was a shortage, with digital, you don't have to worry about that.

[marvelboy]

They are a good idea, most of all for people who hasn't read many comics during his/her life.

They are also a good way for showing Marvel products!!

[daredevil]

Comicbooks, make you feel like your apart of something. If your looking at them on the internet then your just looking at something on the internet, which has no attachment at all.

[Ouchmaker]

This is very much true, and in my opinion the best reason why nothing will remove the paper form of comic books from the number one spot for enjoying comics.

[WANDERINGJD]

you can protect them with the right coding but i doubt it's the true future

[t0xin_ven0m]

Actually, there is always a way around the coding...

[comicfreak]

lol theres a way around everything. thats how people download music and movies for free.

[t0xin_ven0m]

Okay, so here is an update on this from the NYCC 07.

From Newsarama:

Friday morning at the Comics Publishing: Review and Outlook panel at New York Comic Con, Marvel President and Publisher Dan Buckley confirmed that Marvel is working on, and will be involved in the digital distribution of their comics. No date was given for a launch.

Buckely’s news about digital comics came at the end of the panel when moderator Douglas Wolk asked the assembled panelists (DC’s Paul Levitz, Del Rey’s Dallas Middaugh, Tokyopop’s Stuart Levy, and Viz’s Alvin Lu) what they felt about the digital distribution of their comics, and if it will be playing a role in their future. The question was initially greeted by silence from the panelists, with Buckley ultimately stepping in to answer for Marvel.

Buckley explained that Marvel already has roughly 200 issues available to read on Marvel.com, however those are seen mostly as promotional and marketing elements which drive sales towards trades and collections of the arcs.

“[Digital distribution] is a very real thing that we’re all going to have to deal with, because whether we like it or not, our books are already on the internet,” Buckley said, just prior to confirming that Marvel will be directly involved in the distribution of digital versions of their comics.

In comparing putting comics online versus music companies putting music online, Buckley said that its not an apples to apples comparison, as the experience of reading comics online is different than reading the physical versions of the comics themselves. Because of that, Buckley noted that they are currently looking at alterations that could be made to the format of their comics to enhance the online reading experience.

Buckley said that he feels that with online distribution of the comics, the entire market could see growth similar to what was seen in the days of broad newsstand distribution, saying that he feels publishers will see their readership grow tremendously as a result.

In terms of comics that Marvel will be putting online, the Publisher said that it will not be their entire line of books, “No one up here will put their entire line online,” Buckley said, noting the others present on the panel. Buckley said that along with other titles, Marvel will be aggressively work to get comics of their Marvel Adventures line online, as well as their Classics Illustrated line which kicks off soon with adaptations of literary works, such as The Last of the Mohicans.

Buckley concluded his comments by saying that Marvel has done the research that suggests that even though the comics can be bought online, readers who find Marvel product online will convert and begin buying the monthly titles as well as trades, reflecting a theme of the entire panel that readership will grow as more people become familiar with the material.

Update: Some of the industry’s heavy weights got together on the Comics Publishing: Review & Outlook 2007 panel to do a bit of discussing the year in review, forecasting the coming year, and identifying the areas of opportunity and items that need to be worked on further.

Paul Levitz (President & Publisher, DC Comics) opened the discussion indicating that this is “a moment in comics that is more creative” than any other time in his tenure. He wanted to thank the majority of the audience (which he estimated to be booksellers) for their help in making the last year a good one. The terrific moment we’re experiencing is in spite of not yet seeing fully “what comics can be”. In his estimation, we’re just starting to see the depth of the medium and a new audience is being attracted. Book giants are entering the fray and finding new ways to market their ventures, sinking in more money to the promotion. The book sellers (independent DM and bookstores, as well as major chains) are putting more effort into marketing the items, as well, which Levitz appreciates.

Dallas Middaugh (Associate Publisher, Del Rey Manga) was the next to address the audience. He started out expressing how honored he was to be on the panel, as he started reading via comics when he was 2 or 3 (as he imagines many fans have). Del Rey (as a Random House subsidiary) is one of the largest publishers shaping manga and graphic novels now. He sees manga as continuing to dominate. This is because there is a lot of really good manga out there that can appeal to kids and adults, men and women, and nearly any group you can think of. What he currently finds exciting is the vast variety coming to market from all publishers (especially Del Rey’s own).

Stuart Levy (CEO, Tokyopop) started off his time with bringing back Levitz's estimation that a majority of the audience were booksellers. He polled the audience for how many were booksellers, journalists (the actual majority), creators, and other (which Dan Buckley chimed in that those were mostly his people that he forced to attend). Levy then went on to warn the panel and audience that he wanted to take a bit more of a cynical approach than those who had gone before him. He currently sees a market where everyone in the audience seems to want to publish, but where are the readers? Comic books have many other items (film, video games, etc) competing against them for the consumer’s dollar. The approach to combat that has been to make good stuff and hope readers come, but there just isn’t the habit of reading comics in America that there needs to be. He wonders how do we get people to stop thinking about comics as being “just for a few geeks”. He (slightly tongue-in-cheek) called out Paul Levitz and Time-Warner to put forth a $5 billion marketing push to increase awareness of comics as being more wide-open (because he doesn’t have the money). One of the problems we have in the American market is that society doesn’t see great comic book writers or artists as heroes in the same way that they put great directors or fiction writers on a pedestal.

Levitz broke in to say that DC does put out several million dollars in marketing (Levy reminded that he said billion) and that he knows that at least one or two other companies represented at the panel put forth a million or more dollars into marketing. The Minx line will have a great push and he said there are sometimes they might push a book where they’re basically spending $5 per book to market the books, even if that isn’t great math. Levitz feels part of the problem has more to do with overall literacy and attraction to reading in our country.

Levy said he feels that Minx is great, but he feels that something is needed that pushes the medium in general, rather than specific products, in the same way that Sony pushed a gaming platform rather than software title specific. He feels part of the problem is caused by the fact that even the five people on the panel can’t agree on the same name for the medium. Its called comic books, graphic novels, manga, and a host of other names. Sequential art covers it all, but it doesn’t really sum it up in a way that helps galvanize attention.

Alvin Lu (VP – Publishing, VIZ Media) says his focus is growth. Not just growth for his market share, but comics and manga in general. New readership is key. They’ve had success in modest way in bringing people not familiar with manga into the market. Their flagship titles (Naruto, Bleach, Death Note) help, whether it is from TV, t-shirts in Hot Topic, or other exposure. Nurturing current readers is important and they’ve kept steady. He feels the back list is important and is coming through fine with Volume 1 of Naruto selling well. What needs to be done from their perspective is bring more people in through their big properties and then “hook them on the category”.

Dan Buckley (President & Publisher, Publishing Marvel Entertainment, Inc.) wanted to “echo Paul” and be “less cynical than Stu”. He feels DC & Marvel are having difficulty penetrating the same “cool” audience that manga reaches. Minx is a great attempt and Marvel is making their effort with things like their Dabel Brothers deal. DC & Marvel owe a lot to manga for resuscitating the bookstore market. He feels its unfortunate that, as mentioned, we don’t have a consistent name for what is produced. Marvel is seeing consistent growth outside of the Direct Market better than ever before. He wondered when does the medium just become “graphic fiction”, in a change that would encompass all the product and fit in with the bookstore market better. He thinks it will come soon, as we’re proving we can handle all genres. There are already such leaps made, where comics came from being a handful of DC Comics trades and some Overstreet Guides to about 24 feet of space in all bookstores. That is helping to bring in more readers, as is the “crappy” newsstand market.

As everyone had gotten to speak, the floor was open again.

Levtiz shared that he had a “rare moment of clarity” in the last year with V for Vendetta. All current comic readers who wanted to read the book had already read it. Not surprisingly, though, the book sold 125k copies. Peculiar to the property, they did very little to advertise other comics in that trade, but they saw a bump in other books. Watchmen, for example, sold about three times as much as it had in the previous year. He is certain that it bumped other books and that it probably bumped manga books as well. Manga, he feels, has likely bumped DC product, too…not that he has anyway of telling who and what bumped. Market research shows, though, that there are a lot of new readers coming into the market via bookstores and intend to buy more very soon.

Levy felt that movies and television bump products, but we don’t seem able to build up artists and writers as stars here like they become in Japan. Dan Buckley immediately answered that he feels that is a cultural difference between the US and Japan, where Japan is so much more strongly based around the written media. The closest our market has to that would be Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman being able to push product just by name.

Lu interjected that he feels their Death Note was a new product without any big base before, but Levy was quick to counter that, because of the internet, the market here already knew it was huge in Japan.

Middaugh agreed that it is difficult in our market to build that push for artists and writers here. His best example was that no amount of work that Chris Ware had done seemed to get his name to break through in the market until he won the Darnian (UK) Award. Manga, without mass media tie-in, is very hard to get to break through in the market, as well.

Levitz brought it back around to cultural differences between the U.S. and Japan and added that he felt it is, also, about a difference in functional literacy. People like to read more in Japan than here. Harry Potter (a franchise read the world over) sold around 16 million copies in America…to about only 5% of the US. This cements that it is hard to break creators in ANY medium in our market because of this. Comics and graphic novels are not as good at breaking creators, but they are so much better now. Allison Bechdel came virtually out of nowhere. Pride of Baghdad was something very different than they had done before and sold around 20-30 thousand copies, better than they would have been able to do before. He mentioned that these strides are with us still not even knowing how to rack comic material: should all Frank Miller rack together or should his Dark Knight Returns rack with DC?

During the question and answer period that followed, an audience member the literacy question was brought up more specifically to focus on how do we get more kids reading.

Middaugh mentioned that, for all the talk about manga bringing in a younger audience, we have to realize that teenagers are buying that for themselves (as their parents wouldn’t probably look kindly on it initially). Where the kids will come in is through the adults buying graphic novels for themselves, accepting the medium more, and then they will find more within the medium to buy for their kids.

Levitz answered that new readers (young and old) are coming in at a greater rate now than it ever has in the last 30 years, whether it is through Dabel Brothers product, college age kids with Vertigo, or other sources. We’re “at a critical mass for reaching more adults”, where we’re reaching at least 500 thousand to at most a million.

[comicfreak]

even if there r comics on the internet i would still hope they make then in paper.