iSteve

May 27, 2013 5:02 pm I have experienced one too many substandard comic shops to hardly care any more. There are just way too many that are dumps and who do not try to cater to their customer base. A couple of months ago, I made the move to mostly digital - and have had very few regrets. Now, instead of going every Wednesday to my LCS, I go every other week or so to pick up the few remaining issues that I still have on my pull list, plus a few mags that I subscribe to through them. I really do think that the days of the LCS are numbered. We are quickly reaching a transition point in the comics industry. I don't think that because I buy comics digitally that I am imperiling the comics industry or hobby. In fact, I believe that I am investing in its future. My love of comics is not tied to my experience in a given store, but in the comics themselves - whether digital or real copies.

May 16, 2013 4:34 pm I use to consider myself both a reader and collector of comics, but that began to change when DC's new 52 began. About the same time as the new 52 came out, I also bought an iPad and discovered Comixology. I soon cancelled all my DC books at my LCS, but kept getting all my other titles in physical form. I have to admit that I really enjoyed reading comics in digital form far more than in physical form. I love the technology that Comixology uses to easily slide from panel to panel. I enjoy the act of reading comics in digital form so much that I slowly began to transition from physical to digital comics. Two months ago, I cancelled most of my subscriptions at my LCS and moved to digital - without much remorse, I might add. The only comics I continue to get at my LCS are Dark Horse comics and some comic magazines (Alter Ego, Back Issue, Bleeding Cool). In the past year that I have been transitioning from physical comics to digital, I decided to sell off my Modern comics (read 2004 forward). They were all bagged, boarded and boxed. Thus ended my career as a hobbiest/collector. Now to be truthful, I still have a few thousand comics in storage, but they all are from the 1960s-70s when I was a child and youth and first began to read comics. I have an emotional attachment to comics from this period and want to preserve them Yes, I still go to conventions and pick up comics from this era. But now, mostly I go to comicons to have writers and artists sign issues that they had a part in creating. Two of my big moments were in meeting Brain Michael Bendis and getting him to sign a New Avengers comic, and in meeting Joe Kubert and getting him to sign a comic where he had drawn himself into the cover. Those comics I will treasure forever. But other than that, my collector days are over. I'm just a reader now - but a very eager one. There is rarely a night that goes by when I'm not lying in bed with my iPad reading not only the newest comics, but also some older ones as well - all with the swipe of a finger!

February 25, 2013 1:55 pm One more thing, and this is a negative, I still don't like the pricing of digital comics. Paying $3.99 and $4.99 for a digital comic is just price gouging - especially by Marvel. Yes, they do have their Marvel sales on Monday and Friday for $.99, but you never know what's coming. I think a much more reasonable price point for new comics is $1.99 - and $.99 for much older comics. That's my opinion.

February 25, 2013 1:50 pm Great article Jimski! It leads me to make this confession: I am now 90% digital. Comixology is now my comic shop of choice - and I like it that way just fine. I still get the other 10% of comics and magazines from a local brick and mortar store. But recently, I had an epiphany - I just didn't enjoy reading paper comics any more. Whereas I get the greatest joy swiping from frame to frame on my digital comics on my iPad. The colors and art are just more vivid. AND - like you pointed out - you can not only buy new comics, but much older comics and back issues, mostly for $.99-1.99. What a deal! And in the case of some older comics, digitally they look so much better than they ever did on paper. So I have cast my lot with the future - and the future is digital.

February 4, 2013 7:12 pm I'm currently reading, "Marvel Comics: The Untold Story." Great book, but it really strips away many of the fanboy illusions of how comics are created. Even in his heyday, Stan Lee was just as capricious as anyone in how was put on which book, which books were published, etc. Although the 1960s at Marvel were extremely creative in terms of comics, even then artists were kicked off books. Writers and artists were given no credit or compensation for their own creations. Why should I not be surpised that here in 2010s, things are still pretty much the same?

January 10, 2013 6:48 pm I began reading comics in the 1960s and continued in the 1970s. The artist who had the greatest impact on me with regard to Batman was Jim Aparo - hands down. I loved his art on Detective, Batman, and especially the Brave and the Bold. His Batman was slim and muscular, with bat ears that stood up straight and a cape that flowed and whipped around. His art was dynamic, filled with motion - and emotion. And he drew the best Joker ever - maniacal and truly scary. I have bought all the Showcase volumes of Brave and Bold just so that I could enjoy Aparo's art once again. Even without the aid of a colorist, his comics are pieces of beautiful art. Check out some of these covers: http://media.dcentertainment.com/sites/default/files/book-covers/21088_900x1350.jpg http://blog.newsok.com/nerdage/files/2011/08/braveandboldaparo.jpg http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081223135904/marvel_dc/images/0/08/Brave_and_the_Bold_v.1_118.jpg

January 9, 2013 9:28 am Really good review, Ron. Thanks for keeping it spoiler-free. While I'm not completely sold on the new status quo of Spider-Man, I am trying to keep an open mind. I have loved Dan Slott writing ASM and generally trust where he takes us story-wise. Dan, in my opinion, has been one of the better Spider-Man writers. I have really enjoy ASM since he took over. Love his sense of humor. Speaking of sense of humor, that is my major concern for the Superior Spider-Man. Peter Parker had a great sense of humor, always cracking wise. That is not in Doc Ock's personality. What will happen with the witty banter of Spider-Man? Cheers, Steve

November 19, 2012 3:46 pm I've been back into comics as an adult since 2004. Comic collecting is really one of my only vices/hobbies. But I am really more of a reader than a collector now. When I first got back into comics, I would buy comics that I might not read, but that might be collectible one day. Now I only buy comics that I will read - future worth be damned. There was a time when I would spend $100-120 each week on comics. Now it's more like $50-60. Part of the reason for that drop was my purchase of my iPad and both DC and Marvel going on Comixology. I made a decision that with DC's relaunch, I would wait a month and buy my DC books for $1.99 digitally. I also buy quite a few other publishers that way too - Image, IDW, Dynamite, etc. I buy my Marvel books at my comic book store at a 10% discount. On average, I buy more digital comics than physical ones now. Though I appreciate Marvels $.99 sales on Comixology from time to time, I am still bothered that Marvel doesn't discount older digital titles after a month. There is no good reason that I should be paying $3.99 for a digital comic book. I strongly believe that Marvel needs to rethink it's digital marketing plan with a lower price in the offing. So I still spend a good deal on comics, but I have become a smarter buyer.

May 22, 2012 4:11 pm Marvel is just about the only comics publisher that I still get physically at the store. I won't buy Marvel digitally until they lower their prices - both current and back issue. I just don't think that any digital comic is worth $3.99 (or more).

May 22, 2012 4:05 pm And a big AMEN too!