Digital is the Future

Pesto Comics - Audio Edition

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Digital is the Future

It has to be, right?

Adriano Ariganello

Feb 01, 2024

Transcript

Happy February! Time is flying by, isn’t it?

Before we dive into this week’s topic, I have a question for you…

Thanks for that! Now, to the business of the day.

I Prefer Digital Comics

It’s blasphemous to the comics gods, I know. It doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good floppy or the fancy magazine-sized version you get from DSTRLY or DC Black Label. They look great and I love the ritual.

There are just too many advantages to digital copies.

Marvel Comics Bridges the Digital-Paper Divide | GearDiary — Is it “free” if I paid for the comic?

In fact, I’m a big part of the problem. When I have easy access to both, like when Marvel or DC would include a code in the floppies in the mid-2000s, I would read them digitally rather than the paper copies - keeping my collected issue completely unmolested.

The How is Why

I’m not some masochist that reads comics on my phone (with very few exceptions). I read them in two places: on my desktop or my tablet.

Matt Garvey has Gangsters vs Nazis live on Kickstarter now!

Reading on my desktop, with the screen turned to portrait mode, makes each page huge and backlit. It really highlights the art and makes it so much easier to read. Most of the time. Two page spreads are a little bit more of a pain and don’t have the same impact.

A small price to pay for really getting to appreciate the incredible art that is out there nowadays. (I don’t think that’s been getting enough attention. The art lately has been the best it’s ever been. People were amazed by Jim Lee and Todd MacFarlane, but we have DOZENS of artists putting out that level of quality every week now. Anyway…)

Refer a friend

Where Do I Keep It All?

I read a ton of comics.

If I had a physical copy of every comic I read, it would literally be TONS. Between DC Universe Infinite Ultra (that name really needs to be so much shorter), Marvel Unlimited (which needs a much shorter window between releases), VIZ Shonen Jump (barebones, but at the right price) and GlobalComix (a huge up-and-comer) - I read hundreds of comics every single month.

Not my collection. I’m not nearly this organized.

Where would I put all of that?

I’m already surrounded by the handful of comics I do purchase for collection purposes. I couldn’t imagine if I had a physical copy of every single copy I’ve read. I’d need my own warehouse.

Heck, even counting the comics I’ve supported on Kickstarter, I’d have over 1600 books floating around. Instead, they’re available at a moment’s notice on my hard-drive (and backed up on the cloud, of course).

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All About the Bordens

That doesn’t roll off the tongue the same way as “Benjamins”, but that’s who’s on our $100 bill in Canada. Him…and insulin.

My point is, for what it would cost me to buy every comic I read in a month, I’m able to get a whole year of comic reading. It’s truly insane.

It’s a common complaint that comics are too expensive. They can be - but they don’t need to be. They’re also not printed on flimsy newsprint that fades before it hits the shelf anymore either, so there’s trade-offs in every direction.

Talking indie comics again, living in Canada, the shipping usually outstrips the cost of the comic itself. I’ve been able to read so much more incredible indie stuff by getting a PDF copy. I’d likely have supported a tiny fraction of what I have so far if not for this option.

I’m happy with the minor trade-offs I make reading digitally to save the money.

Kirkman Should Have Researched Future Shop

There are two things that held digital comics back from being very successful.

First is Robert Kirkman convincing Comixology not to make comics $0.99, to align it with everything else on the App Store at the time.

There’s an argument to be made that it was actually a good idea. It allowed for sales, which creates a sense of urgency and might bring people who wouldn’t otherwise spring for comics to do so.

But I don’t believe that. Having digital comics cost the same as paper issues may have helped the LCS stay competitive, but really it just held people like me back from reading as much as they could.

Amazon Ruins Things, As Amazon Does

The other half of the problem came to its conclusion recently:

Amazon finally ending the Comixology store after breaking it in a number of ways and gutting the staff rather than fixing it.

The good news is that in the piling heap of manure Amazon left in place of Comixology has come a couple of exciting players.

New Comixology App Store Has Far More Drawbacks Than Benefits — The Beginning of the End: An Amazon Company

I’ve mentioned GlobalComix, which is positioning itself to be the Netflix of digital comics with unlimited reading of work from publishers like Image, Boom, AWA and a whole host of indie creators. Omnibus is the closest to the old Comixology setup.

Not to mention, the under-advertised apps by DC and Marvel.

It’s a good time to read digital - regardless of Bezo’s has done to the flagship Comixology.

Digital Has To Be The Future

If comics are to expand, I think digital is how it happens.

Doing what worked in the ‘90s isn’t going to grow the business and get it in front of more people. That said, it doesn’t mean physical copies and collecting needs to go away entirely.

In fact, I believe it’s an important part of the business we’ll talk about next entry.