Poll Results
Before we begin, I’d like to thank the people that voted in the poll last week. With 86% in favour of making no changes - I’ll be doing just that. You can continue to expect newsletters at Noon EST every 1st and 15th of the month.
Thanks again!
Now, let’s get into this week’s topic - why cold, hard paper comics aren’t going anywhere…
Nothing Like a Comic In Your Hands
Last week, I wrote about my love of the experience digital comics provide. It allows me to see everything huge and backlit. Sometimes with amazing resolution. It all makes the art pop…with one exception: two-page spreads.
I’ve yet to find a good way to read these on my devices and their impact is completely muted in the digital format. They actually shrink if you’re reading them on a tablet or portrait-flipped monitor.
But in print? The results can be amazing.
It’s also the way these books are meant to be read.
Most writers aren’t thinking of the digital page turn - they’re thinking of the physical one. That means the pacing, or how scenes are broken up, can be a little strange when the page turn is expected every other page instead of every single one like when you read digitally.
If that feels like a stretch from me, considering how hard I went to bat for digital last week, that’s because it is. I still prefer digital.
There are still some exceptions.
Not All Prints Are The Same
Floppies are great and all, but where print truly shines is with premium editions. Not every book deserves this format, but those that do elevate great work into something amazing. You feel like you’re getting something to be proud of for your money, where digital can feel a lot more frivolous.
It takes the size advantage away from digital when you’re talking about absolutes or library editions. There’s also nothing like having it laid out on a table in front of you.
Not to mention, looking at your books on a shelf can bring its own sense of joy. It’s not the same looking at a webpage or a your folder of PDFs from Kickstarter downloads.
Collecting and The Thrill of the Chase
Speaking of appreciating your books, collecting books is just as important of a hobby to the industry as reading books.
I have access to read most of the Superman Triangle Era from the 90s-early 00s via DC Universe Infinite, but I still find myself going to comic shops and antique malls across Ontario to fill the gaps in my collection.
It’s likely a mix of nostalgia and an urge to collect that’s driving this need more than anything. I rarely dig through my longboxes when I want to revisit a story. Yet, it’s hard to replicate the satisfaction of cracking open your longboxes to see what you’ve gathered.
Just looking at the covers can bring those emotions you felt reading the stories the first time out right back that you don’t get that looking at a jpeg.
Sense of Community
As great as it has been to meet people online, both through this newsletter and through socials like Twitter/X and Instagram, there’s a different feeling meeting like-minded folks in person.
Where do I meet most of these like-minded pals?
At conventions while we rifle through longboxes trying to fill our backlists.
The local comic shop, or LCS, is another great place to meet like-minded folks. Not everyone is there for the conversation, but those that are can be some of the friendliest people you meet. I frequent Knowhere Comics in Toronto, but I’ve had this experience at many other shops too. I split orders with CaptCan Comics in Brantford a lot and have always had a good time when I pick up books in person. Ditto for Stadium Comics in Brampton (recently shifted to online only) or the Silver Snail in Toronto.
It’s always a must do when I’m in a new city. It’s always an extremely familiar setting whether I’m in a shop in Rome, Dublin, New York or Los Angeles. That doesn’t happen if we’re only “streaming” our books.
Am I The Problem?
Though I see benefits from either format, I still definitely lean to digital comics. I can’t help but feel a little bit of guilt in that, as I would lead to the demise of a lot of things I love about comics: comic shops, collecting, conventions.
But does it have to? Maybe it’s a matter of shifting priorities in the industry. I still buy premium editions after reading digitally. I’d collect art if I wasn’t spending all my money on the books themselves. (That’s basically what I’m doing with variant covers anyway.)
I’m sure there’s some other creative ways of doing this that I’m not even considering.
What about you?
I know that print isn’t going anywhere, but I feel like a shift is coming. Or at least should come in how print comics are released.
Next month, we’ll talk about it.
What’s Next?
March 1
In For The Long Haul
What can “save” comics - if they even need saving
March 15
How to Make Friends
Where to make friends in comics (and out)
Pesto Comics Release Calendar
Launching Soon
Writing Tools (within Archetypes: An Independent Geek Culture Magazine)
April 2024
Il Pestcatore (as part of TO Comix’ The City We Chose Anthology)
Spring 2024
Summer 2024
NKW #1
Fall 2024
NKW #2
Cleo & Gus (Web Comic)
FPU #1
Long Live the Floppy