Comics / Digital Comics

Web Comics, Why Should I Care? part I

By Andy Doan
June 16, 2008 - 16:40

Do I really miss dealing with someone like this every week?

So I got a note from my editor the other day telling me that web comics are the wave of the future. He told me that if we wanted to get a jump on where the world of sequential art is going tomorrow we have to begin covering the digital version today. It was also suggested that printed comics will be a forgotten relic within 5 years time.

After hearing him deliver this prophecy I looked over at my 12 plus long boxes covered in dust and stacked in a dark corner of my basement. I pulled the lid off one of the dustiest boxes and began leafing through the contents. Every issue of Spider-man 2099 sorted in order with the specials and annuals filed at the end. Each issue carefully bagged and boarded and neatly taped. I remembered the wise words of the guy that sold me these books monthly as they came out reminding me that I have to replace the boards and bags every 7 years or else the acids released from the degrading plastic will destroy the colour on the book. I guess I'm a couple years late on this series, I'll have to put it on my to do list.

I can remember comic collecting before the Internet. I would ride my bike down to the local shop every Wednesday or Thursday and walk right past the racks and up to the counter. The shop keeper knowing me by name would reach down into a box behind the counter and pull out  a stack of the weekly titles from my pull list. He would then reach into another box and pull out the correct number of boards and bags and set them on top of my pile. Without having to say a word to me he would calculate my total on an over-sized calculator (to accommodate his fat fingers) and show me what I owed. I'd pull a couple fives out of my wallet and he'd make change from the metal box that served as his cash register. I would take my pile down to the end of the counter and begin examining the covers as I slid each one into it's board and bag.

At this point the shop keeper would usually start talking to me. He'd start by suggesting a few of the books that he's read recently. Usually he'd suggest something that at the time sounded awful but since then has become sought after. For example I can remember him trying to convince me how great "Long Bow Hunters" was. "Green Arrow!" I say "That's DC! There's no way I'm buying a DC book!" I also remember him calling Todd Macfarlane a hack. Jack Kirby, John Bryne, John Romita Jr, these are the timeless artists he'd say. Being old must make him stupid I thought to myself.

Since having children makes weekly trips to the comic shop nearly impossible I let my mouse and keyboard do the shopping for me now. Although I miss out on the social aspects of sitting around the shop and discussing the art form with other hobbyists, I find the charm over-weighed by the convenience. Now I can make weekly, daily, hourly changes to my pick list. Now my comics are delivered to my door every other week boarded bagged, taped and sealed in a neat little box. Now I get discounts based on the volume of monthly titles I collect and I can regularly get 30 - 40 % off trade paper backs. Right now the only thing really missing for me is a source of suggestion as powerful as the personal ones I would receive from the old comic shop owner. From third party blogs, news sites and podcasts I can easily fill the gap for news and recommendations the only difference being is that now I can survey results from many sources and act on that advice faster.

So as I look back at the transition from the past to the present the only thing I see missing is the contact with the third party vendor. At the time it was an important link between me the consumer and the publishers. Now that the publishers are able to reach me directly through their ads and expect an immediate response (via the Internet) the personal relationships seems less and less important to the eco system. So in other words trade offs have been made but ultimately the consumer and the supplier have benefited from the transition.

The first part of the prophecy has been realised. As a comic collector I can be reached and communicated with on the Web. I have brought my commerce to the digital market place and received benefits for doing so. The next thing that needs to happen over the next five years is I have to be transitioned away from the physical product. This is the part I'm a little more skeptical about. It's the love for printed paper that will be the topic of the second part of this article.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12