The short answer is no, but that’s not how one retailer felt after a tweet Kurtz put out into the internets inquiring about Justice League #1. The webcomic creator told the story on his Google+ account, seeming not to be picking a fight, but just genuinely baffled.
“”So wait, can I just buy Justice League #1 on my iPad now? Do I even need to go to a shop?”
Immediately my followers let me know the facts. Yes. I can purchase it via the comixology app. For the exact cost of the print version (no discount). If you want to skip the store today. Fair enough.
And the truth is, I do. I want to skip the store today. I do not want to drive to Lynnwood to purchase a $3.99 comic out of curiosity. I don’t collect floppies. I don’t polybag. I don’t fill longboxes. I’m fine reading this digitally with the idea that I’m kinda only “renting” the comic anyway.
Then, I got a twitter reply from a retailer who said:
“@pvponline with the disdain you seem to have for us brick and mortars, it makes me wonder why I carry PVP books in my shop”
Which I found unsettling and very telling. He followed up to let me know that “the tone of [my] post made it seem as though comic shops don’t provide any value-add or service.”"
Kurtz goes on to analyze the retailer’s statement, and finds that in some cases, the answer is unfortunately, “no, they don’t.”
He told about how personally he makes more money selling PVP books directly than he does selling them through Diamond. He talked about the simple ease of getting books digitally or from an online store.
So it does beg the question: What do retailers need to do to continue providing “value-add” to customers who have an increasing ability to pick up their wares more easily?
September 9th, 2011 at 10:05 am
Let’s be honest, it’s a lot of work for Scott Kurtz to get up and leave the house.
September 9th, 2011 at 10:20 am
That’s interesting, because I talked with Kurtz at Baltimore Comic-Con this year about this very subject. I told him I was a shop owner (Comic Toast – Harrisonburg, VA), and he asked me if I would be more likely to stock his product if he contacted me (and other retailers) directly. The impression I got from him was that it was more a question of profitability rather than discriminating against brick-and-mortar stores.
What I’ve found with my customers (because they tell me), is that they value my knowledge of the comics field more than my prices (we sell most new books at cover price). It’s been said before, but for brick-and-mortar stores like mine to survive, we have to diversify and up the customer service. In the end, the free market will decide if we live or die.
Personally, I think the end of local shops will mean the end of comics culture as we know it, but I’m obviously biased.
September 9th, 2011 at 11:57 am
I guess I’m a little confused why the shop owner in question would be surprised Kurtz would choose a digitally distributed comic as his main business model IS digital distribution of comics! Yes, Scott sells printed materials, and it’s also (I’m sure) a large part of his business, but his whole carear started by doing comics through the internet. You want to claim surprise, be surprised that he feels the comic is worth paying $3.99 for a digital comic he doesn’t own, since he gives away his content for free.
There are two vastly different businesses here, between retail and digital, and it’s the shoehorning of the two to fit together that is causing most of the confusion, for retailers, creators, and (potential) fans.
But the big problem is that DC released Justice League and Flashpoint as their ONLY books that Wednesday. And, even though there was a good amount of time knowing this (actually, first expecting only Flashpoint #5, JL wasn’t even announced yet), none of the other companies stepped up to fill the gap on what was obviously a week light with new product. Not Marvel, not Image, not Dark Horse… They could’ve taken advantage of what was going to be a light product week on one side, OR a week with potential new readership with JL/The New 52 was announced to be hitting. One hot book is, for most, not a reason to trek to their shop. Especially when DC made the book day-and-date available though Comixology.
Scott asked a pretty basic question and got a realistic answer, and it’s a question more people will probably be asking. And when DC starts seeing things like they can sell x3 more product by dropping the price of the comics by half (example, not even close to a provable fact at this point), standard comics distribution will make less and less sense from all sides.
Jonathan (above) has it right in how he makes his store valuable. And I agree. I won’t leave my shop, I’ll support it (and Kathy, the owner) as much and as long as I can, for however long she’s still around. I love going to my LCS, spending time with the people there, talking comics… I also haven’t invested in a tablet yet, and the comic reading experience on my Evo phone leaves a lot to be desired (I bought the digital combo pack of JL #1). I’m not saying I’d never read digital comics, but I’d be hard pressed to give up my store.
But don’t beat up a guy who decides to use a choice that DC has given to him. And don’t act like he is attacking your business when, in fact, by making content available for you to sell, he is helping your business. If you have a problem with where the business is headed, it sure as hell isn’t the fault of Scott Kurtz. Why the hell hasn’t DC and Marvel ever policed the printers that work for them and figured out how and why scans of their new books make it on the web before the books themselves even hit shops each week? That seems like a much bigger problem to me.
September 9th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
I have read web comics (including PVP) for quite a long time. I never got into comic books. I recently decided to give comic books a try and went to my local store… an hour away. Though they provided a good service to me and helped me pick comics I would enjoy, it is a really long drive and not one I can afford to make every week.
In addition, when I was done reading the comic, I was stuck with this thing I didn’t know what to do with. Do I throw it away? I just spent $4 on this! Will I read it again? Probably not. It is cluttering up my house but I don’t feel like I can throw it away. I realize this is something I just don’t “get” about the comic culture.
The shop adds value, I have no idea where to start with comics, there is so much history I don’t know or understand. However, I would have been more likely to keep up with it if I could have had a digital copy whereas now I haven’t been to the store in months and have no real intention of going back because I found the whole process so expensive (comic + cost of gas). I am not sure where the future is but from my perspective (online comic reading, not so much traditional comic books) it looks like something needs to change to make shops viable because they certainly do have a place and provide a service to new readers, like me.
September 9th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
@Let’s Be Honest
You’re an idiot, and the moderator at Newsarama is an idiot for letting that comment clear the filter.
Also, as Kurtz just pointed out on twitter, no one has interviewed him about this. Someone just took some twitter comments and decided to use it as source for an article. The headline “Is PvP’s Scott Kurtz Anti-Comic Shop?” does vilify Kurtz and requires you to click on the article to see the first comment of “no”. It’s on par with the best Fox News journalism. Also, saying that blogposts don’t equal journalism this day and age is pretty dense. (for reference, that’s exactly what @newsarama does on twitter)
The sad truth is that a lot of comic shops don’t offer any value or add-in service, and the digital age is quickly making them obsolete for anything except for magic cards (which Magic Online is taking over anyway) or figurines. We’ve got four or five comic shops in my area and two are large chains with about a dozen unsorted longboxes for back issues and primarily focus on selling used vinyl, and the others focus on collectible cards and trades. None of them have been useful for finding advice on what’s worth reading or getting an honest opinion on comics in general. Obviously this isn’t the case with every comic shop, and unfortunately the good ones that seem to care are going under one by one, like Atomic.
Digital distribution doesn’t mean the end of comics, it just means a new way to get them into consumer’s hands.
Kurtz’s question was a perfectly reasonable one to ask, and retailers coming back with a softball threat of “should I bother carrying your comic then?” don’t really make sense, especially since the bulk of that is done through Image and I don’t think it’s exactly his bread and butter.
September 9th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
I fall in with Where Is the Future. I’m a new dad with a 1 1/2 year old. I read comics regularly, but don’t collect them or reread them. A physical copy is a fight waiting to happen in my house. If I leave them out and about I’m getting yelled at to clean up my comics and put them somewhere. I have no place to put them to they end up stacked up in the garage until I can figure out something to do with them. Lately I’ve been bundling them up and leaving them in random spots around the city hoping someone will find them and maybe get into comics. The time I save on digis and no fights from the wife make it ideal for me.
September 9th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Truth be told, the real reason Kurtz doesn’t go to the comic shop is because he’s like 900 lbs. Great, the advent of digital comics is going to be the death of one of the most noteworthy web-comic creators. Oh the irony!
He should walk to the comic store…it’d help prolong his career.
September 9th, 2011 at 6:39 pm
Stop using “beg the question” improperly. Google it.
September 10th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
First of all, @Let’s Be Honest and SnarfSnarf!: Way to elevate the level of discourse. Stay classy.
Secondly: Great title for the column, Lucas. Perhaps you could have mentioned that he likes to kick puppies.
And yes, the brick-and-mortar shop is going the way of the dodo. It’s going to become harder for you to get your floppy fix. The sooner you realize this the sooner you can move on. There are plenty of online retailers that sell comics.
September 10th, 2011 at 6:02 pm
While Kurtz has a weight issue guys, it’s got zero to do with this conversation. Even worse is you’re bothering to call someone fat when he’s working on it with his father.
Something I find odd is there’s no mention of the content of Kurtz’ post about it. He says he isn’t interested in:
1) Spending the hour drive to get a physical copy.
2) Picking up a comic that he’s not even genuinely interested in. He’s curious about it, that’s all.
3) Isn’t a collector.
Digital sounds the right way for him. I bet you guys get upset when people buy games on Steam instead of going to GameStop or BestBuy, amirite?
September 11th, 2011 at 10:18 am
Spending an hour drive to get a physical copy? He lives in Seattle. There is a comic shop five minutes from him house, from his workplace, from his favorite Starbucks. Walk! Effing lazy.
I’ll make it easy for you comicshoplocator.com. It’s this website that can find the closest shop to your zip code. Comic Shop Ink is real popular, probably right down the road for you. I bet if you told them who you were, they would hold a copy for you!
Scott has been going on for a long long time about the solvency of comic shops. He’s talked about it in his podcasts, mocking Diamond, mocking stores for trying to do digital. He blogged about how Marvel shouldn’t care about shops. He’s gone on panels at conventions about the death of print, and stores are bound to close. He tried to explain how print isn’t capable of carrying his books because shelves were designed for print comics not webcomics. I don’t even know how to respond to that.
The stores that are noticing his attitude toward them are the same stores that bought his “How To Make Webcomics” which sold out btw. They are the same stores that have copies of Awesomeology gathering dust on their (incompatible) shelves.
A comment on Comicsbeat from Scott, “Now I have a retailer offering thinly veiled threats about not carrying my books because of a consumer choice I’ve made to by a digital book that DC is offering digitally” No, Scott. You’re not a consumer. You’re a celebrity. You said this on twitter. You went to comic-con and tweeted for people to bring you a coffee mocha. That’s now something “consumers” do all the time.
This isn’t anything new for Scott. He’s got a long history with picking fights with his friends, with businesses, publishers, shops, strangers, colleagues, the list goes on. He got banned from Daily Cartoonist for his problem of getting in constant arguments. Now he’s super peeved because this time, THIS TIME, it’s personal? Scott, you always make it personal. But as long as you’re right, as long as you can wrap yourself around your 30k twitter followers, it’s worth it.
Maybe the more bridges he burns the less we’ll eventually have to hear about him.
September 11th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
The only thing Scott’s ever had to pick a fight about concerning physical media and comics is the snooty community surrounding it.
And you can keep bringing up the things Scott says on twitter and ignoring the fact that in his situation purchasing a digital copy is more convenient for what he needs from it. I won’t stop you there.
September 11th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
Comic book stores are going the way of Blockbuster. Denying that both the comic book medium and its distribution are going to be radically transformed by technology is silly.
How many copies of Kurtz’s “How To Make Webcomics” were sold at comic book stores versus a chain book store, or online from a company like Amazon?
Amazon is currently selling “How To Make Webcomics” for $8.06; will my local comic shop give me that same deal, or will I have to pay the $14.99 list price?
September 12th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
I’m dying to know how many of you guys commenting are retailers.
September 13th, 2011 at 7:17 am
Yo, DC is all digital and print at the same time. Let the free market decide which is better.
September 13th, 2011 at 3:32 pm
Someone above mentioned Scott’s thoughts about digital on the podcast. Scott has never blatantly opposed comic shops and favored digital distribution on a podcast. The episode in question, he was blatantly calling out Diamond for a stupid marketing idea wherein they would allow the shops to sell a digital copy of a comic along with the book for an extra dollar, or separately, but it had to be purchased in store and it was just a way to add the brick and mortar store in the digital loop as a middleman, for no reason. His views on that were completely right and if I recall correctly he even had Jim Demonakos on that podcast, whom he called on the spot, who agreed that it was dumb move on diamond’s part.
From every Webcomics Weekly podcast I’ve listened too, Scott has always been in favor of selling books, with an emphasis of constantly looking into new technology to get his content into the hands of potential readers. In the past he’s used content bars and apps, and even had Skottie Young on a recent show to talk about his $2 digital art books and go into detail about how easy they were to set up through his digital store front.
He’s even spoken against digital from the perspective that you’re just renting the comics, and never get the source file to keep on your own. He points out the flaws on both ends.
September 23rd, 2011 at 12:21 pm
What do retailers need to do to continue providing “value-add” to customers who have an increasing ability to pick up their wares more easily?
Some basic business-sensible things, mostly.
I want a clean, well-lit, neatly-organized store.
I want to see employees who concerntrate on the customer instead of making me feel like I’m intruding on their WoW game. In fact, don’t make me feel like I’m making trouble when I ask you to do common things like order a specific book, or look up and see if book X is a new issue or a restock (with the various variant covers, it gets confusing).
I want to come in with my girlfriend and not have employees react like they’ve never seen a woman outside a blister pack, or direct her to the Archie aisle first thing.
I want employees that know where things are.