scim

Name: Guy Mulders

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Reviews
scim's Recent Comments
September 20, 2010 1:35 pm

I always laugh when I flip open my comic book and the ad that is displayed is one for childrens sneakers which were designed with some famous character in mind. When I see those types of products I cannot help but think if these ads are targeted towards the young person who will go nag his mother for these shoes or if it is more geared towards the young father and giving him some insight in some cool shoes he could buy for his son :). 

Anyway, I totally agree with you. I am from the Netherlands and grew up with the more European style comics, which were often bigger (page size) and thicker (amount of pages). They weren't monthly but each title had a steady stream of releases (and back then I did not really care about ongoing story lines). These books had a coverprice similar of the comics today and I think their coverprice now is equal to max double the price of a comic book (15 years have passed, possibly more). I have been back into comics and now the more adult heavy storyline driven ones (can't get into most of the superhero ones, too much history and too much variation in quality imo). I love most of the Vertigo series, the creator owned series from IDW and Image and all in all a good part of my monthly fun-budget is going into comics. However, every month once I get my delivery (the whole comic book wednesday part is non existent here unless I want to travel 3+ hours in each direction, which is long here :)), I cannot help but think why I am spending an insane amount of money on a comic book that I read in 10 minutes or less. I put it in a box thinking that one day I can get someone else interested in them or maybe reread the classic run of x series. The result is that I have been cutting into my pull list and just removing everything that I am not totally crazy about atm. First ones to go were nearly all the superhero comics I did try to get into. Each month I would open up the new issues and realized I had forgotten almost everything that happened before and sometimes even wondered if I had even read the previous issue. This is not the case with some of the other series (like fe. Chew, Unwritten or Locke & Key), but it is saying something. In preperation for the Walking Dead tv show I have started reading the hardcovers I have on my shelf, however since I had to go out of town for a few days I loaded up my iPad with the issues of the remaining 4 hc I own from a not so legal source. The story was just as gripping, be it a little smaller in size, not as heavy and I could take a lot more of it with me on the trip. I'd say digital comics are a very good idea and if all the series I follow would be available to me when they release I would get them. Especially if they would price them at something below 1.50. I can't see why they would not do it. Many creators are tweeting about how they are proofreading or checking their comics on digital devices like the ipad so in a sense these things are completely digital before they ever see print. And even in the rare cases where artists are actually painting and not finalizing their work in photoshop, every printer in the world will probably start from a digital source these days. So why not put them out there on graphic.ly or comixology. 

Anyway long story short, I think in order to survive they need to drive down the sticker price and take a good look at the current superhero lines. The creator owned work is a bit more grown up in its content, but if I compare the Amazing Spider-man or Batman comics I read now with the cartoons and tvshows I grew up with then you cannot say that the target demographic has changed and the stories have changed as well. If they want to catch kids then a book like ultimate spider-man would be far better than amazing spider-man currently.
As for me, I'm just hoping for a move to digital, this would make publishing for indies even easier since they do not need the costly printing process to make their products available and it allows for new business models. Spotify which is the first big music subscription service in Europe is getting rave reviews and a lot of subscribers and they offer a huge catalog of music for the equivalent of 5 dollars a month and if you want some extra's (like fe. mobile devices (iphone, android)) you pay 10 dollars a month. Netflix in the states is similar for movies. Why not get something like this for comics. I would pay 10 dollars a month for unlimited "streaming" access to comics, hell I might even pay a lot more if the experience and catalog is worth it. 

September 8, 2010 8:52 am

I love this book. And its not just the hardcovers which look beautiful, the single issues are also beautiful printed on thick glossy paper with a tougher than normal cover often with embossed or foil-like features. I just love the story, it has so much mystery in it and the fact that you know who the (current?) bad guy is and how is inserted himself into their lives you as a reader are almost constantly put in situations where you say "Look out he is right (behind, next etc.) you!" The evil of that character, the mystery of the keys and the house and the characters itself makes this a highly enjoyable story for me. 

The new storyline Kings to the Kingdom just started and art/layout wise this issue is brilliant, the new key Bode found is interesting as well. Can't wait to see which direction the story is going in this arc. Its a series I highly recommend and after hearing its being turned into a TV show I cannot wait to see some of the scenes from the book translated to live action :) 

April 8, 2010 4:20 pm

@Shallam trades will not be as big of an issue, the seperates issues are the item being replaced here. This will become an issue as soon as companies are going to make their new releases available digital at the same day as the issues would hit comic book shops across the world. It would save a lot of money in printing and distribution if the digital comic would catch on. Trades could still exist for the collectors out there, but even trades could eventually see the same treatment. Then again iTunes is the biggest music retailer in the US but CD's are still pressed and sold in stores.

 As for the iPad, I'm in the Netherlands so unless I pay premium on eBay I will not be able to get my hands on it until I find someone who is travelling to the US or when it hits our shores at the rumoured end of the month. Not that I am currently interested in the iPad, I think no flash is still a nono for this device and although I like the multitouch announced today I'm still on the fence if I want one. The whole comicbook/ereader thing would get me over probably. If new comics & my study books would be available ont he iPad and it is usable I will get one for sure. But this is in the hands of the software/comic book companies now, everything will depend on how these apps "grow up" and how these stores will grow in the future. The screen is fantastic, from what I know about the technology used it has one of the best viewing angles and color reproduction you can get in LCD tech, the only drawback is the sheet of glass which reflects and causes glare under direct light, however that is a problem you can fix with the right positioning :). I'll keep an eye on the developments around the iPad and digital comics in general.

September 15, 2009 12:30 pm

Just received issue 1-8 and until issue 6 or 7 I was going, well ok this is another take on the superman archetype without a real plotline. And then it changed :)

Issue #8 is great and I'm anticipating the next issue, can't wait to see what happens next.