With the release of the many book readers out there, the digital format is pushing forward into the revolution territory. Apple's release of the iPad is just one more weight that is tipping the scales in favor of the digital platform. Marvel Comics has recently announced their application for the iPad, and plan on taking control of their digital destiny. More about the announcement can be read at Tech News Daily.
One of the things that is holding the digital revolution back is the price, both in the readers and in the comic. One of the cheapest iPads is still $499. That's a ton of money just for an ebook reader and until prices come down it won't leap over to mainstream. I'm thinking sub $200 range would be the ticket.
The other problem is the price of digital comics. Marvel plans on charging $1.99 per comic. While one might be able to say that the price is half of the newstand, I don't think that is going to launch it forward enough. Ninety-nine cents, in my opinion, will be the magic number. People are used to paying that for songs, and I think that for the digital market to truly come alive, there needs to be a reason for people to not just pirate material. An aggressive price point will surely take this to a place that will become commonplace among comic book fans.
Comments
When are the comic collectors going to learn that Marvel doesn’t give a damn about them, or the stores, or anything else that applies to our industry. They make millions on the movies, print their stuff on tissue paper, use half the pages for ads, charge the most, and now they want to throw it all out to ones and zeros at fifty percent off. Its American greed at its best. While I agree that half of my customers want to save the physical comic, the other half just reads and I am going to lose those people when they can read on line at half the price. I can’t afford that. Ones and zeros won’t pay the bills. I hate to get down on Marvel but they sure aren’t doing me any good at all. People come into my store all the time and ask me about investment with the Spiderman syndrome already on their minds. My answer, as follows, is always the same.
Many of my customers are saving Marvel and Stan Lee’s signature. Why, I don’t know. Scarcity dictates price and hundreds of thousands of any single comic book says it’s barely worth a nickel. As far as signatures go you’re better off gambling on the unknown that draws for an independent comic than the thousands of Lee signatures already out there. If you can buy a signature for ten bucks and sell it ten years down the road after the artist has been kicked around the industry for a while, you’ll probably do okay. Investment means that what you buy will gain in value. Some will, most won’t, but if you use your eyes and your head, you might luck out.
Change is scary. Replacing books/mags/newspapers with other media is occurring. The lowly comic book will fade when buying a single issue is more convenient on the electro gadget. Right now it’s not. The gadget costs a lot. It’s format isn’t as big – ipad HD resolution helps with visual quality but it isn’t the same size yet. The market will splinter some but print and digital will co-exist for awhile longer.
Great posts guys. I understand the fear about digital comics taking away sales, but I also agree that this format isn’t going away and could (unfortunately for LCS’s) become the norm one of these days as digital reading devices become commonplace.