PDubble

February 6, 2012 7:38 pm And I should point out I replied because I, like you, believe there needs to be a subscription function and I think digital buyers should get a significant discount because the cost of production and delivery is much cheaper. No ink, paper, delivery, or 2nd printing fees.

February 6, 2012 7:36 pm I don't like the "guided reading" and think if they just did straight scans like the pirates they could charge far less. I've been all digital since I got my iPad2. I'm glad someone who writes for this site is finally embracing the future.

November 22, 2011 6:34 pm @Connor, the statement that is divorced from reality is the one that outlines the positions I've gotten from the iFanboys. Connor Kilpatrick on the 28 August 2011 episode of iFanboy: "we could be wrong (about this store closing), but if it is (a sign of comic demise) we'll see more (closings), and that's the only way to tell" directly after saying "When any store closes it's bad, there are so few of them." The reason there are so few of them is because they have all closed down. Josh Flanagan in a 2 September 2011 e-mail to me about these seemingly differing statements, and the need for iFanboy to make some kind of digital stand for comics to make the transition into the post-shop world: "We work for a digital comics company and have long advocated for that. We also like comic shops. They are not mutually exclusives." which is semantically true, but in the context that I was talking about it, a conflicting argument, unless you assume the average reader is buying both formats. I like horse and buggies too, but I drive a car. There are those who have both, but they are far and few between because of money alone. I've heard you all make some statement about the longevity of the paper comics industry and downplay the death of retailers outside of major cities. This is where the "digital comics will never be preferable to paper comics, but somehow they are part of a digital comic company which makes them realize there is a market, so that’s not actually their position when pressed" statement comes from. The main point of all this is that I'm just a schmoe in the world of comics. I am a consumer who doesn't delve that far into what I'm reading. I've never attended a convention and I probably never will. I see comic creators and companies tweet articles from this site. I'm interested in a site that is advocating for a better consumer experience, which for me is digitally delivered to my tablet. It should be cheaper as most books are when sold that way. I have heard you all talk on the podcast about how you prefer the paper comic and this site is fairly constant in it's willingness to fight off the specter of comics demise. Your "quite the opposite" column that was not quite the opposite was dedicated to that. The quite the opposite column that was not even "opposite", let alone "quite the," was before the proliferation of e-readers and tablets. All that being said Ron said something to the effect of "if you need to know a good comics podcast let us know" when someone mocked his comically large sideburns and pick of the week. At the time I didn't care because it's his pick of the week, and I would love to have a Jason LaRue or Rolly Fingers mustache, so who am I to begrudge sideburns? Another podcast though? I'm in the market for one. I've unsubscribed all of yours. I look at the site every couple days just to see what's going on with my books, and I like the pull function to track my books. Don't worry though, even though I'm an advocate for a better podcast, I still like yours. The two are not mutually exclusives.

November 22, 2011 2:12 pm Should say "so that’s not actually their position when pressed."

November 22, 2011 2:09 pm @Wally, you're using knowledge and reasoning. This is not allowed in the digital comics debate. This is what I've been saying for a while, and written in about numerous times. The 2nd printing is where you make your money in the digital comics market. Hard printed comics have to be reprinted and shipped, whereas it costs just as much to produce a comic that is downloaded one time as it does to produce a comic downloaded 1 million. I think Marvel and the other publishers should come up with a standard format and then let the readers choose what app to use to read the things. The comic piracy market has already done this, and I know personally that it has cut into a couple hundred dollars a month in my town alone. There has got to be some kind of DRM style protection to prevent large scale piracy, and if there isn't that's where they should be putting their money. Somehow the lesson the publishers have taken from the piraters is that they need to be in "guided viewing" to make us pay the same amount. I'd rather just have the discount and get a scanned page. Don't worry about getting into that discussion here though, the official iFanboy position is that digital comics will never be preferable to paper comics, but somehow they are part of a digital comic company which makes them realize there is a market, so that's not actually there position when pressed. If you're confused, well, you can't work for iFanboy. Does anyone know a weekly podcast that reviews all the comics that come out that week where they're not in denial about the ongoing digital revolution's affect on reading?

November 15, 2011 7:08 pm @Connor, but it's not "Quite the opposite." The opposite would be glorifying the demise of comic sales. Quite the opposite would most likely be praying for less comic sales.

November 15, 2011 6:30 am @Connor: He does comment on them, he thinks they're not happening, at least in 2008 he didn't. "'Holy cow,' I said to no one in particular, 'if this industry dies any more, I’m gonna need to buy some more shelving.'" Again, his whole article was a refutation that comics were dying based on the downturn being largely a factor of the newly downturned economy, and even then certain areas were going up. You might want to read the article again.

November 14, 2011 11:05 pm I like the comparison to movies. Both industries have been seeing less business over the long run and have done much the same to make up the losses.

November 14, 2011 11:01 pm I think the biggest problem with your intelligent critique is that no one is asking the right questions. I think you're on the right track, and I'd also ask "How much does 'guided viewing' cost on digital comics?" "What is the cost of shipping a comic to the store versus digital delivery?" "How much does printing a book cost?" I've said it before, the future of comics is tablet. I'm writing this on my iPad, which I use to view comics. The numbers just don't work out in my head that it costs as much to digitally sell a comic as it does to sell a book at a third party vendor. I'm sure there will be people on this site who buy comics in paper form until the day they die. I have friends that only listen to vinyl. I don't think anyone on here would argue the CD is due for a comeback. It's true that comics have to be of high standards to compete with the thousand channels, myriad of books and hundreds of video games every consumer has at home, but the price point is a huge sticking point. To compare it to movies is very apropos because both suffer from dwindling audiences, and have much the same marketing strategy in response. Increase quality and price, and continue to reach out to new audience share by embracing tried and true formulas (how many Hulks do we have now? Who didn't know Avatar was Ferngully repackaged?) with this flashier packaging. The problem is that the audience never seems to stick around past a breakout hit, so they go back to gouging the tried and true fans.

November 14, 2011 10:28 pm @Connor and for the record Jim's previous article you cited was about the health of the industry versus what people say is going on. It was not a rejection of the idea that sales matter at all.