Comixology, or the local Comic Shop?

[G1 Startruck Jonez]

Hey all, been away for a while from this place, but with all the fun stuff in the world of pop culture going on recently, I had to pop back in to join some of these discussions. Plus, Ghost Rider 2 came out, and I had said over a year ago that it was impossible for that to happen, and if it did, I would eat my hat. Luckily for me, my hat blew away while walking on the Brooklyn Bridge one day - so I'm spared from that.....for the moment at least. But I do want to say to HellSpawn that I'm sorry for doubting him back then. You got that one, bro.
But let me not stray from what I really want to discuss, and that is: Will the digital age of comics be the end of the local comic shop?

I ask this because over the Holiday's I got a Kindle Fire, and the first thing I did was download the Comixology app. I had tried it out on my cousins Kindle, just to see how I would like it, and although I was skeptical at first, I kind of dug it overall. So as soon as the app was dl'ed, I started to purchase the comics I was collecting, which was nothing but The New DCU books. JL, Batman, Wonder Woman, and so on.
Now the best part about this was the back issues from the titles I was getting in DC were a dollar less then the issue for the month. I liked that, a lot. And although I already had the physical copies of whatever number of previous issues for those titles, I found myself buying all the issues that were there. And the reasoning behind that was to have all my books in one place, where I didn't have to go looking for them when my wife would move them when she was cleaning up.
It was convenient. And what was even better was that if I waited a month after an issue was released, it would drop down a dollar, making my purchase that much sweeter. And the best part - it seemed more than one publisher was doing that also. I thought to myself, This is GREAT! Now I would be able to go and get the Marvel books I passed up when I didn't like the whole "Dark Reign" arc. But Marvel wasn't doing that. Their books were still cover price, and after more than 4 months worth. I didn't like it. I was kinda pissed. No Marvel for me, I guessed.
But it didn't matter. As long as Batman and the rest of my DC books were dropping price after a month, and other books like The Walking Dead and Invincible, The Transformers and Voltron were too, I was a happy camper. And there was my feeling of not having to ever go back to a comic store starting to creep in. After a couple of trips to the Comixology site, and getting some old school stuff I never read, but always wanted to, like Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing - that feeling was no longer creeping in, it had sunk in. It had taken over my mind like (AVENGER SPOILER) Loki did to Hawkeye.
These old issues I was buying for 1.99 apiece would have cost me at least 10 times more if I sought out the individual physical copies. And another convenient thing was I didn't have to leave my house to get the books. Buy them online, download them, and start reading. Perfect. And as my collection grew on my Kindle, my physical collection disappeared, put away by me for that day when I want to sell them to a collector.
Now my wife was happy because there wasn't comics everywhere she looked, and I was happy because I didn't have to sort through stacks to find the series I wanted. And I was saving a buck. And then Marvel started dropping their prices, and they have the awesome Marvel Mondays, where they will have a particular series for 99 cents a piece. Needless to say I have a boatload of Marvel books on the Kindle now - a lot that I had already bought when they originally came out and now repurchased to have them right at my fingertips, and all the stuff I put off when I jumped off the Marvel bandwagon.

Now I don't know how many of you collect comics, but I know there are more than a few. If you own a tablet or even go to Comixology and read the books off of your computer, do you feel the same way? Do you like the idea that you can get all these books, sometimes for half off cover price, and have them all in one space, that takes up no physical space? Or do you like going to the Comic Shop and getting your books? Plastic and boards, and keeping them in mint condition? I know I used to love that, and I won't lie, I feel bad for the smaller Comic Shops out there, because they most definitely will be hit the hardest by internet sales, but the convenience and price ranges and space saving are all just too good to go and buy my comics from a Comic Shop anymore.
But I do have a 20 dollar credit at Midtown Comics that I think I'll take my daughter to so she can get Marvel's Wizard of Oz trade. Then I'll be officially done.

G1

[Chris55]

Hey all, been away for a while from this place, but with all the fun stuff in the world of pop culture going on recently, I had to pop back in to join some of these discussions. Plus, Ghost Rider 2 came out, and I had said over a year ago that it was impossible for that to happen, and if it did, I would eat my hat. Luckily for me, my hat blew away while walking on the Brooklyn Bridge one day - so I'm spared from that.....for the moment at least.

I'm mailing you a hat, a napkin, and a knife and fork.

[wataru]

I buy my comics from local shops, called B&Ms (brick & mortars). Buying from a local shop supports shipping companies, print shops and comic shops. Digital doesnt.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

100% in agreement with Wataru.


I've been going to my comic shop since I was seven years old, they've always done right by me, and no amount of convenience is going to make me say "skreeonk you guys" and go digital. And that's all in addition to the fact I that I'm hesitant to pay for media with getting a physical copy, in general.

[Legionmaster]

Unlike novels, comics are both media and collectables. Also considering how many comic book shops diversify into other nerdly realms of business, they're probably not going to go anywhere. Given the sheer volume of small-scale comics that exist, shops have mostly established themselves as specialty retailers. They're a niche market, but that offers a little protection against online content if the customer base is loyal enough.

[zilla103192]

I think comics should start being released with a code, so you can have the book for collectors sake, and you get the digital copy for reading...

[Cimmerian Dragon]

^ That's a wonderful idea.

So you can pretty much assume the publishers will never implement it.

[Legionmaster]

^ That's a wonderful idea.

Not from a business perspective. It basically means you're giving away free merch for a lot of extra work and resources. Unless there's a significant incentive for the consumer to partake in such an activity, there's no practical way to implement it. Plausability is the the #1 killer of good ideas.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

^ That's a wonderful idea.

Not from a business perspective. It basically means you're giving away free merch for a lot of extra work and resources. Unless there's a significant incentive for the consumer to partake in such an activity, there's no practical way to implement it. Plausability is the the #1 killer of good ideas.

They could implement what a lot of publishers are starting to do: Print on Demand.

But I like being able to go into a store.

[wataru]

They already do guys, jeez.

Marvel AR.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

^ That's a wonderful idea.

Not from a business perspective. It basically means you're giving away free merch for a lot of extra work and resources. Unless there's a significant incentive for the consumer to partake in such an activity, there's no practical way to implement it. Plausability is the the #1 killer of good ideas.

It would be the equivalent of providing a digital copy of a movie with your DVD. You've already bought the media once, now it's just about how you view it. They could still sell the digital-only versions to others.

[SoleMan]

I already figured out why Digital isn't going to be permanent. Ever.

It's all accountability: If you have a hard copy of something, say a Comic book issue, then it gets checked off on an inventory list, and new issues have to be ordered, which means they have to be printed, which means an ardrous process that proves the comic sold. With digital, you can sell as many as you want, but it can only be recorded through an electronic blip, a slight change in data that can be easily falsified.

Not to mention I think people are hard-wired to want a hard-copy of something, and likely aren't going to settle for something as intangible as digital.

[Legionmaster]

It's all accountability: If you have a hard copy of something, say a Comic book issue, then it gets checked off on an inventory list, and new issues have to be ordered, which means they have to be printed, which means an ardrous process that proves the comic sold. With digital, you can sell as many as you want, but it can only be recorded through an electronic blip, a slight change in data that can be easily falsified.

This is 100% incorrect.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

It's all accountability: If you have a hard copy of something, say a Comic book issue, then it gets checked off on an inventory list, and new issues have to be ordered, which means they have to be printed, which means an ardrous process that proves the comic sold. With digital, you can sell as many as you want, but it can only be recorded through an electronic blip, a slight change in data that can be easily falsified.

This is 100% incorrect.

Indeed. Paper can burn too.

[Legionmaster]

Indeed. Paper can burn too.

That has nothing to do with it. Part A is that all data like that is catalogued digitally nowadays anyway. Part B is that digital things are far easier to catalogue than material things because you actually have to count material things.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

Indeed. Paper can burn too.

That has nothing to do with it. Part A is that all data like that is catalogued digitally nowadays anyway. Part B is that digital things are far easier to catalogue than material things because you actually have to count material things.

Oh, no. My comment was a stab at people that think analogue is better than digital. People claim that if computers go down through an EMP or something, we've lost everything.

But the same is true for analogue. Except paper burns.