Bought an iPad. So long, paper comics. Options

[Fred Lang]

Wow.

I've had my iPad for two days now, and I've had the best comics reading experience I've ever had.

I've found issues that sold out at my local comics store because they didn't stock enough.

I've found books that my local comics store wouldn't stock because they didn't have enough shelf space.

I've found fill-in issues that would cost me $5-8 for $1.99, so I finally get to read what happened in the issues I missed.

I can search by writer, artist, story arc, character, imprint and company. (Found some great Stuart Immonen books I didn't even know he did--bought 'em.)

The "pages" are super bright, crisp and exciting to read, the digital screen bringing a larger-than-life appeal to the comics page. Beautiful.

Today, I'm gonna hunt through the digital indy books that I have never heard of and buy a few of those. I'd have never found them in my local store.

This is the future of comics.


The final straw was DC Comics' announcement that it'll release digital comics on the same day those comics hit print in the next few months. That sealed it for me. The other companies, I imagine, will have to do the same to keep up. Heck, I've already bought more comics in the last day than I've bought in the last four weeks. It's a win-win for all parties involved. Competition will eventually bring lower prices, but I'm content to show the companies that there is a market for digital comics by paying the current prices.

I've had pals who bemoan digital comics, citing the feel of paper, the smell of the book, the entire tactile experience. These mean nearly nothing to me. A comic book isn't some collectible thing to me. It's an experience--a story. That's where the power is. Divorcing the "thing" from the "experience" via digital comics will reveal the difference in comic book fans--are you a collector of stuff, or are you a reader of stories? I'm interested to see how this progresses.

Super giant A+, both thumbs and big toes up for digital comics.

Back to reading...!

[Cary]

Fred, I completely agree sir. As someone who had to divest myself of 30 years worth of comics that I had collected and lugged all over the United States with me as I moved, joined the Navy, moved, got out of the Navy, and then started my diving career...it was hard. What finally did it for me was coming to the point where I realized I could keep these books that I haven't pulled out and actually READ in decades, or I could sell them at a HUGE profit and put the money I got from them into actually MAKING comics. In the end there was no real decision at all, and since then I've found myself to be far happier with the comics I do buy, because I read them and then give them to kids who will enjoy them. (Except with The BOYS. I think I'd be in trouble for giving those to a kid!)

Now, since I've bought my iPad...comics are fun again because the collector thing doesn't exist. I can just sit back and enjoy the story without worrying about damaging the pages or getting it into a bag quick enough. I also don't have to worry about an ex wife stealing them.

[Decapitated_Dan]

You're killing my job industry!

[Zodar]

You can have your digital, I prefer the physical books and the sense of timliness they provide. With reading old comics I find it interesting to read the letters pages and editorials, and to see what else came out around the same time without, say, having to go and hunt around on the internet. Those things give a book context which is an important piece of the experience for me.

You guys seem to be looking down your noses at collectors but there is more to it than hoarding books, there is seeing an entire tapestry which gets lost not only in digital copies but also with collected editions.

[Tyler James]

Fred, if you're looking for some cool indy books for your iPad, check out the stuff ComixTribe has put out.

There's a particularly fun story from yours truly and Cary Kelley, plus the EPIC creative team available for free on Graphic.ly. Let me know what you think!

[LurkD]

Now, since I've bought my iPad...comics are fun again because the collector thing doesn't exist. I can just sit back and enjoy the story without worrying about damaging the pages or getting it into a bag quick enough. I also don't have to worry about an ex wife stealing them.

So now that you don't have any house ads to direct you to other titles, or ads for movies you might want to see, or anything else that grownups traditionally read* comics for, you can treat comics like the disposable entertainment they were, and were intended to be, when you were a kid?











*This is the past tense, pronounced 'red.'

[Greg G.]

I really hope the publishers just ditch the per file pricing model and go with the Netflix model of $XX.XX a month to subscribe and you can use your reader to access 60 years of comic material.

All of them. Every single publisher.

[Cary]

You guys seem to be looking down your noses at collectors but there is more to it than hoarding books, there is seeing an entire tapestry which gets lost not only in digital copies but also with collected editions.

Zodar, believe me, I'm not looking down my nose at anyone. I think if you dig the print version, more power to ya! It's not like I'd see a print comic and make fun of the kid reading it. I've just simply been down the fascist collector road, and I have no space in my life for that anymore. Understand the kind of comic buyer I was at one time. I was spending $150-200 a month on comics for over a decade, from 1988-2000. After that I was still spending in the realm of $100 a month for another 5 years. That's not counting all the boxes, the bags, the boards, and the amount of space required to store all those comics! By the time I came down to where I needed to make a choice, they were weighing me down something fierce. And so they had to go. I hated it, I still kinda twinge about it on occasion, but it was the right move for me, that's all.

[tbrotomo]

I collect spider-man. Will buy everything else on iPad but I'll always keep print spider-man

[Cary]

So now that you don't have any house ads to direct you to other titles, or ads for movies you might want to see, or anything else that grownups traditionally read* comics for, you can treat comics like the disposable entertainment they were, and were intended to be, when you were a kid?

I'm not sure that I'll ever consider them disposable entertainment, but I do look at them differently too. I don't have a fit when my 10 month old jumps in the middle of my reading stack and wrinkles a couple of covers, you know? For me, that's a HUGE step from the collector I used to be! I guess you could say I have mellowed with age.

[Cary]

I really hope the publishers just ditch the per file pricing model and go with the Netflix model of $XX.XX a month to subscribe and you can use your reader to access 60 years of comic material.

All of them. Every single publisher.

That would be truly incredible! I wouldn't know what to do with myself...but it would rock!

[Greg G.]

That would be truly incredible! I wouldn't know what to do with myself...but it would rock!

I'll keep waiting, but I'm sorting through my drawer boxes, a long box, and moving stuff to short boxes because I have an old disk injury in my back that makes hauling long boxes and drawer boxes a literal pain in the back. So the time I can access a comic library for a monthly fee on an tablet, I'll jump in.

I honestly feel the company that starts this will take off. Marvel allowing their digital subscription service on the computer to play nice with the tablet devices was a knock against the iPad for me. Lack of pressure sensitivity is also a knock since I want a nice digital sketch book so I don't have to carry as much gear around.