Daily Rant: November 24th, 2007
Downloadable Comics...As It Should Be.
So I wrote/spoke in yesterday's Daily Rant about the importance of publishing companies moving in to digital realms of downloadable comics and then after decided to find a publishing company, any publishing company, which resembled my 9 criteria for successful online distribution of downloadable, DRM free, ad supported comic books.
And I think I found a company that closely resembles my criteria.
Engine Comics is an online comic publisher with many of my criteria in mind, admittedly they came before my rant so they should get all the credit. They hit all of the nine criteria (except the part about having the comics be ad supported for increased revenue). Since they are a smaller publishing house the amount per book is more expensive with it being $2 per book. But my criteria are directed towards the big comic publishers since ad departments, media relations, etc. are already set up and in place for those criteria to be met.
All I had to do was preview the comic I wanted, select that I wanted to purchase it, purchase the book (cbr format) and upon receiving the receipt page it even showed me some other books I may be interested in buying. Perfect execution.
Could you imagine getting Superman comics like this? I'd actually follow the Superman line if I could do it this easily. However, as I stated before, DC would need to decrease their price per book, at least 75% of the printed cover price. These aren't books I'm reading anyway, you might as well get something out of me and it increases the likelihood that I start picking up the titles in print.
On another note, I would not stop buying Daredevil comics in print, but I'd likely buy the downloaded version too, which is increasing their sales. Especially if the comics were cheap. Remember, ads would be supporting the downloadable comics. I always walk away from iTunes thinking, "Damn, how much did I just spend?" because they make it so simple and impulsive to buy songs. They have your credit card on file and they have a previous agreement that you will use that credit card for purchases. So basically when you are purchasing your songs you don't have to get out your credit card or checkbook, you don't actually have to think about what you are doing. That is indeed the intended purpose. It feels like you are getting the tunes for free, until a day or two later they show up on your bank statement. Doh!
I also found some other downloadable comic book sites. But again, nothing is going to take off unless a bunch of publishers come together to start an iTunes-like community for downloadable comics, or DC or Marvel make a move in this direction, which is the right move to make.
Another problem with the Marvel comics is do we really want kids/newbies having their first experience with comic books being a Stan Lee penned Spider-Man. I mean the man is great, but for his time. Kids would most likely not appreciate this kind of writing and would be turned off.
Here are some other samples of downloadable comics I found:
- Heroicpub.com: They are giving away free comics of the Flare series with ads, or selling them for $1 without ads. They use WOWIO (see previous post) for the free version and DriveThruComics for the paid versions. Here's a list of the free Flare downloadable comics.
- DriveThruComics: They claim to be the first comic book download shop.
- ElectroComics: Golden Age comics for a price (nice).
- GoldenAgeComics: Golden Age comics for free (even better).
- EyeMelt Comics
- Interview with Viz's Dan Marks on downloading manga (and anime) in the present and future.
- Interview with Baz Renshaw about why comics need to move into the download era.
Check these links out, write Marvel and DC, tell them what we want. If I would have told you in 1988 that someday you would be going into Borders to buy a six issue TPB of a Superman comic you would've laughed me out of the store. But look what's happened. Yes my friends, things change. I just wish DC or Marvel would have the balls enough to step up and take some risks. Be leaders!
In my next rant I will be reading a legal response from a major comic book torrent tracker to Marvel and DC for pulling out the big guns! And then I promise I will get back to talking comics. Maybe.
As always feel free to send in your ideas for the Daily Rant topics or let me know if you want to be a guest on the show. And of course make sure to subscribe to our feed.
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