Warren Ellis considers what digital distribution really means to DC Comics:
For as long as I’ve known him, Dan Didio has believed the key to a resurgent DC is reclaiming all the readers the commercial medium lost in the 90s… It’s all about accessing that hypothetical lost fan base. The impression the recent statements have left is Dan saying “comics used to sell loads back then, let’s do that again.” And that can’t happen in print.Comics used to sell loads back then, yes. But a big part of that — and this is the part he isn’t mentioning — is that there were ten thousand comics shops back then. And now there are, optimistically and rounding up, about two thousand. There simply aren’t the number of outlets left to sell the kind of volume comics could shift in the 90s.
The gamble here is this: that hypothetical lost fan base is older, has credit cards and disposable income, and an internet connection that can bring the DC Comics section of a notional comics store right to their desks. That, in fact, digital comics services will do the work of those eight thousand stores that don’t exist anymore.
Much has been made about the potential for digital to be the “new newsstand” – a feeder stream bringing new readers into the direct market, and through the doors of comic stores once they become hooked – but this is the first time that I’ve really considered the possibility that digital could essentially become the new direct market. If that’s the case (and such a change would be some distance off, considering the 630:1 ratio of print to digital sales currently), then what happens to the old direct market – and where, exactly, is the bookstore market left in all of this? Untouched? A failed attempt at outreach that never lived up to the hopes and potential people invested in it? Somewhere in between?
(Ellis is on fire in the above-linked post, by the way, characterizing the previous relationship publishers had with retailers as “DC were the attentive suitor, while Marvel Comics treated retailers mean to keep them keen,” and considering what DC’s new attitude towards the DM might mean. Go and read.)
June 30th, 2011 at 11:39 am
The reason comics sold so much then is the speculator market approach to them. When people realized they couldn’t make much money on them, they stopped speculating on them. It’s like all these nerds forgot what the 90s was like.
June 30th, 2011 at 11:40 am
I’m not a “go to the comic store” type of person. I’ve never been. I started off by buying some off of Ebay and from there I got hooked up with a retailer who would order them for me and ship them out. Even that was okay, but eventually I had boxes and boxes full of comics that I had no intention of reading. Sure, I’d go back and read some – now especially I’ve taken the time to start over at Ultimate Spider-Man #1 but for the most part I’ve had too many with not enough room. Digital is ideal for me because I don’t have to worry about storing them anywhere.
I’d even like to take it one step further. I’d like to have a general DC “monthly” subscription service where I pay a fee per month and have access to read the titles that are released during that month. If I don’t pay the following month then I don’t get access to anything anymore. Odds are I won’t want or need to go back to any previous issues but if I did I could have the option to buy it.
Another option could be similar to “renting” comics. $.99 to read it within 24 hours and then it’s gone. Obviously that is easier said than done and they’d have to get a bigger customer base for that to happen, but if they can do that with TV shows that pay actors top dollars then why can’t they do that with comics?
Yes, this cuts out the local comic shops… but as the article says – they’ve already been cut down from lack of sales over the last 2 decades. As terrible as it sounds for the shops, DC and Marvel can’t hold themselves back because of them. They are a business and times have changed.
June 30th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
It would be nice if DC or Marvel actually talked directly to comic stores to see what imput we had. Want more sales? Quit having Diamond being exclusive. If Diamond is out of the latest issue you are just out of luck. Just because Marvel caused the industry to panic we have to deal with an exclusive could care less company called Diamond Comics? Seriously if we don’t like Diamond our choices are tough it out or quit selling comics. It would be like having me be the only comic store in 100 miles. My business would increase while the rest of the area went unserved.
History sadly repeats itself. Variant covers, popular comics being very late, and to much product helped lead to the end of the 90s boom. We once again have the same problems crushing the market. I had new comic readers wanting the latest Kick @$$ series. Two issues in over what seven months? Guess what those newbies gave up and stop coming back. Person comes in wanting to check out Avengers. Imagine the shock of so many Avengers titles out on the shelve to a casual person. Walks out empty handed.
Digital is not going to hurt comic stores. As stated elsewhere people that read digital comics can do it for free so a majority do. Lack of stories that people can actually get excited about is what is hurting comics. Crossover and gimmicks and stunts are not long term gains. High quality on time books over the long term will get people into comics.
June 30th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
As a member of the “hypothetical lost fan base” I’ll admit to both being older and having a credit card.
But disposable income?
Who has “disposable” income?
June 30th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
Seamus, anyone who can afford to buy a comic book theoretically has disposable income. That’s what the disposable part means – money they don’t need to spend on the essentials (food, rent, yadda yadda)
June 30th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
“…Dan Didio has believed the key to a resurgent DC is reclaiming all the readers the commercial medium lost in the 90s…”
This may explain a lot of those costume redesigns…
June 30th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
One thing some people may forget is that there is an audience outside of the States, willing to pay for up-to-date comics instead of relying on translations that appear months—even years—after the originals have been released. If anything, a big digital retailing model would cater to that international audience that imports overpriced magazines and retorts to digital piracy. Still, it could be argued that such a model would harm international retailers and translators, but that would be a different question altogether. (On that point, I think that going for digital in a more agressive way would not disrupt localized versions, given the language barrier for some people interested in comics—I’d guess kids, but who knows—but I would not know how it would impact retailers. Still, collectors and enthusiasts, I guess, would not simply stop buying paper, because of collections or simply the feeling of paper, or whatever.)
June 30th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Mavrik, DC’s digital are essentially just rentals, you don’t own a copy and can’t access it offline, yet you still pay the same price to own.
June 30th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Why try to reclaim people that left. As Mr. Rod Lee stated the troubles above they cannotkeep old reader or new readers. Why not get these back into grocerary stores and 7-11′s. Heck make two print runs. One for the direct market on the fancy paper and digital colors, the other on newsprint, get these things down to 1.00 to 1.50 and get them where moms and dads and grandmas will pick them up for their kids in a store. Kids do not care about fancy paper nor do their parents, the kids want to read and look at the pictures, parents want a cheap treat for their kids.
June 30th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
I feel that there is more of an opportunity to distribute digital material than anyone seems ready to give credit for. Millions of young teenagers spend ridiculous amounts of money on apps for their phones and tablets, game cards for Zynga made games, and digital content for chat programs like IMVU.
If we want to hook the older readers, then we hook the older readers by giving them mainstream comics that they were reading when they were younger. But the younger crowd requires something different. Digital comics should be more than just jpg images … they should be interactive, flash-designed storytelling devices. To increase the number of readers, we need to look at how to attract the generation of 15: minute television shows and MMO’s. We need interactive media.
I also disagree with the 630:1 ratio presented. In March, Newsarama released an article citing that Diamond reported 350,000 consumers on any given Wednesday in the month of January at comic shops across America. In contrast, ComiXology reported over 3-million users downloading comics digitally in the month of January. This to me would prove that there is a higher potential for digital sales than for maintaining a print empire.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
I know this might not be the right place. But has there ever been an in depth article about why sales here in America (where comics were created) are so poor while in Europe and Japan they have sales in the millions?
Also has Europe and/or Japan tried or are currently doing digital comics?
June 30th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
This is an attempt to gain new readers but be honest, with all those retcons and some titles that will not gather the new readers they want, I am quite sure it will fail and bad. Didio, Lee and Harras believes in a time, which is past, when lots of comics were sold and Harras himself was in that time,but like I said it´s past. Marvel will sell even more now, if you compare Marvel´s new titles, Wolverine and X-men, The new Madureira´s Spider-Man and more I am sure will come, this NDCU will die. Marvle´s lineup of creators is away much better than DC´s. Instead of retcon why not DC invested in decent and good creative teams, instaed of place its bets on 90´s Marvel names and obscure characters. Ellis is right and when September comes, we´ll see the numbers of this new DC.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Hey lost readers!
Remember hating the prices going up from 50 cents to 75 cents to a dollar?
Now they’re $3 – and those are the cheap ones! Try $5-$7 for those special issues!
Remember how you hated those “… to be continued” storylines?
Now it’s practically every book!
Remember hating two-parters?
Now it’s six parters!
Remember hating to wait until next month for the conclusion?
Now you get to wait half a year – at the least! Some titles are YEARS late!
Remember if a title was going to come out late, and they’d use a filler issue instead?
Not anymore! They just don’t come out with anything!
Remember how “character death” issues were very-special-issues?
Not anymore! We kill all sorts of people every issue!
Remember how there was that line villains didn’t cross?
Not now! We shove women in fridges (GL), have Natzi massacres at family picnics (JSA), and teens mauled by dogs (Titans). And those aren’t even our mature titles!
Remember how you’d get earlier issues to get caught up?
Don’t go back too far! We’ve had five reboots since you left!
Yeah, the thing holding back readers is paper and distribution. Right.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
@Rod Lee:
it would be pretty interesting to see numbers backing your statement (not that I’m doubting it! I just think it would be really interesting if you had a source!).
It would really depend on which comics sell so much in different countries, like, what sells better in France or in Spain. I mean, I have no doubt that what sells best in Japan is manga, but is that because of the cheap price of magazines as the Weekly Shonen Jump? What about countries where there’s no such established industry? Would digital be a reshaper of such landscapes?
June 30th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
So everything goes digital, Why Have comic Cons if there is nothing too collect. When I was a Child the casual Reader bought a Comic Read it, rolled it up and put in their back pocket.
A Collector reads them, puts them in mylar with a backing board
and stores it in a acid free box. I don’t see People printing the digital stuff and storing it. If You want the Casual reader back put the things back in Drug stores or make a Sweetheart deal with Wal-Mart.
June 30th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
As a European I can tell you that all this talk about how going digital will crush the local comic shops is simply beyond our understanding.
However, Americans must understand that the comic medium in Europe, mostly coming out of France and Belgium, is based on graphic novels and not serialized comics as in the States. So, there is no concern about “late” comics, Wednesdays’ runs to the shops for the weekly releases, nor the perpetual “discussions” about company owned characters, universes and resets/reboots/relaunches.
Things are simpler, and it works.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
@Richard:
I think you are for the most part correct, and i agree that digital is being 100% underestimated right now.
As I work quite a bit, I can never get to the stores on time to get my favorite issues. I will greatly take advantage of this digital comic plan.
You are 100% correct that it should not be just pretty jpegs on your computer screen. I have seen it where they “cinematically” make each panel it’s own page so it plays out like a really well-animated slideshow. Despite how low-tech that may seem, I actually prefer it over motion-comics and I’m 22 (you may actually be referring to the “tweens” but I do not want to be presumptuous).
DC is being bold right now and for that I definitely commend them. Flashpoint has proved to be a very interesting event and I cannot wait to see the repercussions of it all.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
mateo107, that only applies to the desktop. Comics purchased from the DC Comixology app do fully download to your iPad or iPhone or Android phone and you can read them offline.
Much like the Apple App Store, you can delete them to make room then download again any time you want after purchasing.
June 30th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
You’d have to think that Comixology should take advantage of the Mac App store as well and make a real nice native reader for the Mac to work in line with the iPad and iPhone. Personally I don’t think the iPhone or any other phone for that matter is a great platform to enjoy comic books…. but the iPad is perfect. To backup the point that Panelxpanel made, these platforms are idea to move comics into a more “cinematic” format and possibly take them to the next level.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
@Ed Giguere One reason why – http://i53.tinypic.com/v483ef.jpg
June 30th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
I love digital comics on the DC Comixology app for my iPad. I ran into an issue about a week ago, apparently running out of room, but when I complained to Comixology, they were awesome in helping me out. I didn’t realize that I can delete a book from my iPad and then re-download it again whenever I want. And like Eric H. says, these are on my iPad; no Internet connect needed. I can also always read my comics at comics.comixology.com. I never run out of space, and I always have them without using up my computer’s memory. Perfect–unless you’re a Marvel reader.
July 1st, 2011 at 9:32 am
Daniel R. says: “I can also always read my comics at comics.comixology.com. I never run out of space, and I always have them without using up my computer’s memory.”
True right until Comixology goes bust or the next tech shift occurs.
July 2nd, 2011 at 12:00 pm
As a long time comic reader and former comicshop manager, I have been own both side of the issue. As a fan and artist, it is frustrating that the stories fizzle out before they conclude. Marvel can’t figure out that there are stories out there that don’t include superheroes. I hate politically correct, liberal storylines written with the assumption that everybody thinks that way. (Not in my part of the country, and I doubt in yours as well.)
As a businessman, a book that is a week or two late isn’t much of a problem, however months or years late is unprofessional in any industry. Diamond Distribution’s monopoly is killing the industry pure and simple. No more exclusive distributions!
Lastly, the digital market is slow at the moment but I like it and hope that it starts to gain momentum. I prefer comics on disc because I like to actually have a product I can hold in my hand, however the digital download market should be fully explored. Competition makes the entire industry better.
The comic industry needs to start taking itself seriously and stop appologizing. The only reason that comics can’t become a serious media form is that comic professionals fail to be professional. Do your JOB and produce like a grown up, market like a grown up, write or draw like a grown up, and stop acting like you’re inferior!
July 7th, 2011 at 12:26 am
I really like this TV.
July 11th, 2011 at 7:17 am
Somebody give Steviecoolest some feedback here.
The guy’s on to something. Seriously.
For what it’s worth, i’ve had a 3-decade long love affair with comics and now have more purchasing power than i ever have. But…
With very few exceptions, i find myself trying different titles and not interested to keep going back.
I miss the days when comics didnt take itself too seriously. I miss running into crazy stories out of continuity, and trying out different titles and getting full stories in a single issue.
I miss getting a good story for simple sake of getting a good story… Not to tie in with another title to boost sales. Way back then, if a famous character showed up in another book, it was scarce and special. And it usually meant that title needed a boost from said famous character.
And simply put… Stories back then were good.
July 11th, 2011 at 7:18 am
I’m being accused of a duplicate comment…
July 11th, 2011 at 7:19 am
Somebody give Steviecoolest some feedback here.
The guy’s on to something. Seriously.
For what it’s worth, i’ve had a 3-decade long love affair with comics and now have more purchasing power than i ever have. But…
With very few exceptions, i find myself trying different titles and not interested to keep going back.
I miss the days when comics didnt take itself too seriously. I miss running into crazy stories out of continuity, and trying out different titles and getting full stories in a single issue.
I miss getting a good story for simple sake of getting a good story… Not to tie in with another title to boost sales. Way back then, if a famous character showed up in another book, it was scarce and special.
And simply put… Stories back then were good.