Comic tablets and the future...

[TordelBack]

Quick observation:

In the past I've fallen prone to taking the occasional digital shufty on the laptop, generally with a newish book I haven't seen on the shelves, when issues are frustratingly uncollected, or when a book I've never bought touched on some endless crossover or other.  I appreciate that this was both illegal and immoral, and I've since resigned myself to waiting for collections to appear in libraries when I can't afford the singles.  Home cloning is killing music and all that.  However, I doubt my library borrowings are paying anyone's mortgage, and buying regular ongoing comic is a big commitment - €50-€60 a year for 250 pages, I'd be thinking more than twice at spending that on a single book of any kind.  However, if I could grab issues online that I wanted a look at for a couple of euro instead of €5 (on average),  and the hassle of visiting the comics shop every Thursday, hunting them down or ordering them, I'm sure I'd be doing it a lot more often than I am now.  

Plus it'd be easier to hide them from the wife.  The teetering heap of paper by my side of the bed is a constant worry.

Not nice news for my favourite thrill-merchants, but then I'm not buying the bloody things now either.  

[Mike Gloady]

Interesting debate.

I think I'll stick to the paper copy myself for precisely the same reason I'e not yet got a subscription.  Picking up the prog/meg is a cracking excuse to drop in and see John & Eric and have a natter for 15 minutes every week.  And pop a bit of cash into a mate's business.  Were I to see them in the street and be asked "You not picking up Twoth anymore?" I wouldn't know where to look....

A good thrill merchant deserves to be supported, even if it is in only a small way.

[TordelBack]

A good thrill merchant deserves to be supported, even if it is in only a small way.

I'm of a similar mind when it comes to my 'regulars' (now down to Tooth, the Meg, Knights of the Old Republic (finishing in 4 months' time, sob, stupid imminent MMO game thing of a similar name screwing things up i presume), Age of Bronze and Berlin (out once in a blue moon) and The Walking Dead: an average monthly cost of about €30, already way too high), but for anything else I might want to try on an issue-by-issue basis, I just can't afford another €5 a pop, especially when if I actually like what I see it means another fiver every month.  One or two euro, direct to my laptop, now maybe I 'd go for that over a long wait.

[Richard T Field]

I keep on thinking I should really start saving as I want whatever Apple reader finally materialises.

I know a lot of people will still buy printed comics as they appeal to the collector mentality however I think the opportunities a digital reader will present will revolutionise the industry.

I know PJ talked a lot about the possibilities on the ECBT2000ad interview but it really is exciting when you think about it. You could show the script, breakdowns, pencils, inks and final coloured piece if you want.

If the tablet comes with a media player you could listen to the creators whilst reading the comic.

If it comes with a web browser if you read a comic you like, you could ask to buy and read other comics by the creator. You could perhaps link to that creators website too or read their blog.

Plus if its light enough I reckon you could still read it on the bog.

As a side note I remember reading a magazine years ago when MP3 players first came out (It might have been Select) moaning that so far the 2000s hadn't produced anything remarkable and that if MP3 players where the only thing of any significance it was a poor thing indeed.

Almost ten years later the music industry has changed beyond recognition.

Its going to be interesting whatever happens.

[James Stacey]

Printed comics all the way for me I'm afraid. I work in a web company and all my work Ive done my entire career is digital. If anything this has made me value the tangible more.

[Emperor]

Its not often a thread here gets picked up by the Forbidden Planet blog:

http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2009/going-digital/

I got the link to the article via John Freeman a few days back and have been pondering it since and this may not be too wild a statement:

Which is tantamount to saying “Apple is helping to create a digital comic book market.”

www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/1835595,ihnatko-longbox-comics-apple-tablet-102009.article

In some ways it will also help level the playing field and increase the chance of having a break-out hit.

In this regard it is well worth checking out Alex de Campi's articles:

www.bleedingcool.com/category/uncanny-valleygirl/

She is exploring the whole topic of electronic distribution and the various formats

[moly]

the only thing i worry about with digital is that i would always prefer to get my weekly fix with a paper copy if the downloaded version affected the paper distribution to much they might/would stop doing a hard copy version, as it might become financially unviable which could lead to a lot of people getting there fix this way missing out

[locustsofdeath!]

Now that I think about it, if it was affordable, I could go both ways: a paper prog (and other comics) for the collection and a digital reader for reading. Less risk of coffe being spilled on it or baby hands messing it up, ha.

Would I would really like is for comics past to be digitalized. I would like nothing more for my Conan collections to go that route, as I loathe to take them out of the plastic bags. I have the GN collections of most, but a digital reader would be great for long trips or what have you.

Sad thing is, it would be near-impossible to digitalize my collection, as most of it consists of low-run, obscure 80's black and white comics, ha.

[Dandontdare]

I just don't seem to get much enjoyment from reading a comic off a screen. Maybe when they perfect those ultra-thin floppy screens (electronic paper) then things will be different, but for now, I need paper.

[Toni Scandella]

Hmm.  I'm at the point where I want my paper prog for reading, plus a cover to cover digital copy for keeping. Clickwheel provides that, I just wish that all the progs / annuals etc were available from them.

I also get the trade collections of favourites (so, the Case Files, SD Agency Files, Nemesis, Cabs, RoBusters...) for the bookshelf... it's getting harder to justify keeping all the progs.

I'm not going to stop getting the paper progs, but I am going to stop keeping and storing them just as soon as I can make the emotional leap... it's difficult to justify the space when I never read them.

[johnnystress]

paper all the way for me

I cant even read the short story competition on these boards before my brain tells me to go look at something less demanding

I have a disc with loads of cbr files of a lot of stuff I'd like to read but I just don't enjoy reading comics off the screen/ Im also not gone on the after-effects let's pan the background to the left, have the guys eyes blink and the speech bubble appear way of "animating "comics

Still- its early days for e-books- who knows what they'll be like in a few years

[Mike Gloady]

I wonder how feasible a digital copy of the trades would be?  I mean, if you bought them through Twoth/Clickwheel and they sent you the physical copy in the post.  Obviously they'd need some sort of copy protection or something to stop hurting the sales, but it'd be a good way to see what sort of people like certain strips and market research like that.

Of course, that's probably not going to happen until there's a catch-all reader for all comics, but as an idea, it's pretty sweet.  A hard copy for at home and the shelf, a copy on your laptop or phone for reading on the go......

Although it'd suck heavily if those animation thingys Johnny mentions were to be a part of it, I hate them too.

[Pete Wells]

Hmmm, interesting articles there Emperor, thanks. I like Richard's post too, where the comics could link to other work by the creators or relevant titles (blimey, a normal person could actually follow a DC or Marvel event!) Anyone who's seen the loathsome Monkey Magazine would get the idea, it reads like a lads mag but there's weblinks from each article so you can see more of the gadget, sport, movie, girls breasts you're reading about. It's a bad example I've used but the idea is sound. I'd welcome a 'directors commentary' style approach to my comics too (Frazer Irving wrote some great blog entries on how and why he constructed a page, they were fascinating) but I'm a bit of a sad git that way and realise that it would be a huge drain on creator's time...

While most of us, myself included, seem to prefer a paper copy, it's my dream that in the future the device will be light enough, potentially floppy even, and not be too back lit that you can barely tell the difference, except for the increased functionality the device could offer of course.

As someone who didn't get my prog yesterday, I'd love the chance to be reading it digitally now, grrrrr!

[COMMANDO FORCES]

I did download a bunch of DC/Marvel comics off the web and read them a while back. It was all the extra 'Civil War' stuff and bits like that. Since then I've never done it. I like to hold the paper and physically turn the page, flick through, marvel at the splash pages, etc..
I also like to read stories whilst not killing the environment (okay I'm not really bothered about that one but every time you reread a paper comic that does nothing, the initial power has been used once to create it. When you use a computer thingy you will be using power each time).
Plus it's another shiny thing for thieves to pry out of your hands, not mine I hasten to add (I'll be doing the prying ).

[pauljholden]

Interesting move by Marvel recently; distribution a bunch of different titles via a bunch of different digital comic readers. Making a digital comic reader isn't that difficult (well, if you've got a decent programmer on hand) we developed the software for Murderdrome in two weeks (and it was considerably more complex in what it could do than many of the readers) - so it's a little surprising Marvel didn't just go their own way. Could be they're testing the water (IDW, IIRC, used iVerse to begin with then took it in house, as Dark Horse do). Frustratingly it's US only - a bonkers decision that's synonymous with big American companies (we spent ages building a to-spec comic reader for NBC, only for them to decide to limit it to US only).

Suggests to me that Marvel MAY end up using the longbox project - and I was working on the assumption that Marvel, DC and other larger publishers may fragment the nascent digital comic market by insisting on building their own software. Roll on longbox and an apple tablet (and a reasonble price point, $1.99 for digital comics? madness...)

-pj