JOHN OSTRANDER: The Digital Rubicon
A very intelligent man, one Dennis O’Neil (who you will also find here on ComicMix), and I were talking once about comics’ future. He noted that comics didn’t have to survive. Like the dinosaur, they could die out. Early cars had places for buggy whips; I doubt that you’ll find that feature on your car today. Food we need, water we need, air and so on. Story we need, I think, but comics as a venue for story? Not necessarily.
It’s no secret that comics sales are declining. The numbers of readers are declining, the numbers of stores are declining, the amount of cash being made is declining. It happened once before when comics were sold only on the newsstand, back in the Neolithic Era for you who are too young to remember. What saved it then was the Direct Market but that’s now killing it; the market is constricting and the numbers of readers are finite. What may save it this time is going digital – comics here on the web.
The reason is this is where the eyeballs are. As a product in comic books stores, comics are a very specific market – a destination shop for those who already know the product exists. The problem with selling comics on the internet is that will inevitably undercut the brick and mortar retailers, just as e-books are doing. (Amazon now says it sells more e-books than physical ones.) I love comic book stores. I admire the retailers who have put their hard work and passion into building businesses that cater to we the fans. I’ve made a living for more than twenty years because these people sell my stuff (and, okay, some other stuff, too). However, it’s going to happen. Comics are headed for the digital market big time.
Up until now, the majors have been releasing some titles on the web after the onsale date in stores but that changes in September. DC is renumbering its books and relaunching and all that but, to me, the bigger story is that they’re crossing the Digital Rubicon and putting everything on sale digitally the same day they’re in the stores. If that is successful, expect lots more companies to follow, big and small.
The big question in my mind is – will people buy comics on the web? If so, how much are they willing to pay? If all that happens is that those who go to the stores now buy online, this won’t fly. This has to increase the overall market – the number of eyeballs – or it will not only fail, it could sink much of what’s left of the retail market.
I’m thinking it’s part of the reason for the renumbering and rebooting (despite denials from DC) – to make the books more attractive to new readers. It will also attract some national media attention. It’s also necessary. In an era when superhero movies (and movies made from all kinds of comics – i.e. Cowboys And Aliens) attract huge numbers in the theaters, there is clearly a following for these characters. If even a small percentage of that can be attracted to the comics, it would make an enormous difference. I think DC is making a gutsy move.
Make no mistake, however; whatever happens in September, the comics biz won’t be the same. By this time next year, we may know if we’re still viable or making buggy whips.
MONDAY: Mindy Newell
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I agree things are going to change, but I still compare it to the music industry. I think going digital is going to be important but I don’t think print will completely fade because a digital comic doesn’t have ‘collector value’. People will want something they can hold in their hand.
I do however think all publishers will have to step-up their game. Things are changing quickly but the one thing people have always flocked to are good/ meaningful/ original stories. This might just mean the end of ‘filler-crap’. Or that might just be me being optimistic.
There is also the issue of digital storage space. If you only follow one or two titles, you can probably keep a year’s worth of those in a box in your closet, ready to be pulled out when you want to reread them (or look up some minor point to win an argument :) ), while depending on format this could take up a gigabyte or so of storage on your computer. (A gentleman here in Seattle recently disproved the “cloud computing” hypothesis for private individuals – his attempt to put all his storage in “the Cloud” resulted in his exceeding Comcast’s 250 Gb monthly limit, as a result of which he can no longer use their ISP. No, if you purchase digital comics, you’ll need to have them on your own storage…)
For myself, there are some titles I’d purchase in digital format, because after I’m done with an issue, I’m probably not going to refer back to it until just before the next issue comes out – and then just the once, and if it disappears after that, oh well. “Justice League of America”, for instance.
But there are other titles I enjoy rereading several times, because their creators engage in clever wordplay (and sometimes brick jokes, where I have to refer back to something that happened a couple of years ago in order to get the full impact) – “X-Factor” springs to mind here.
Print isn’t dead – it’s just not as young and spry as it used to be…
For the time being, I’m still only a print guy. But I’ve no doubt I’ll own a tablet in the next few years, and then? Digital comics will certainly be considered.
Digital may be here to stay, but the formats will continue to change. The floppy diskette is already ancient history, much like our first cell phones.
I predict that, in five-to-ten years, methods of storing and accessing digital information will have changed so much that any acquired digital files will have to be replaced with a ‘superior’ format. Meanwhile, they’re still discovering Dead Sea scrolls and ‘accessing’ them today. Print simply can’t ever go away.
Welcome back John, All this digital talk is making me feel old as I’m clueless to how to “download” anything so I’m hoping print will be around for some time yet !
ComicMix used to have a very nice digital comics “Reader,” a small program that made reading full sized digital comics a JOY on the computer. It was like AdobeReader, but more compact and agile. I thought it was one of most clever and powerful tools in ComicMix’s arsenal. But that didn’t make it over when ComicMix was ported to WordPress. I was sad, but maybe I was the only one who noticed.
True– sadly, there are only so many hours in the day. We\’re still looking at bringing it back, if we can do the necessary back-end work.
Sadly, only so many hours in the day… when\’s San Diego again?
It took me a couple of years to finally get an e-reader, but I’m now completely in love with my Nook. I’ve downloaded classics and current titles that I’d never have room for on my shelves at home.
As for comics, at least for now I think I’ll stick to print. In some cases I may wait for the inevitable TPB collection of the series from either DC, or whatever publisher is going the digital route. Heck, I do that with some mini-series already even with print editions at my local shop.
I may download an occasional one-shot or special, but can’t see myself filling my storage with a monthly title.