The Way of the Dinosaur (I Hope Not)

NO!!!!!!!!!

it's a good thing and a bad thing all in one

comics on paper and comics online is  the equelibrium they balence each other out. both are needed like yin and yang

The comic book store process is an experience for me. Going to the store, chatting it up with the people that work there or getting into a debate  with a complete stranger when they over hear you saying something. You can spend hours in a comic store an leave with a smile on your face.

Personally I would hate if comics went digital. It would take a lot away from what comics are all about.

I like to be able to touch the paper.....

I don't even like reading electronic books!!!!

It's a shame, really.

Even if DC went digital and I could read Supes online I would still go out and buy the book every month. I think and sincerely hope there are enough of us out there that share my opinion that would keep the books in print.

It probebly works best with people in my position who have a lot of down time at work and don't really want to bring a bunch of comic books to thier work place they can read them online.  I haven't done this yet but was wondering, how quickly is an issue sold in a store compared to when it is ready to read online?

My ex-room mate read everything online, and he was a thief. He gave me, or sent me, Captain America 25, because I couldn't get to the store that day, to read. I hated it, I wanted to manually turn pages, but everything was "click this" and "click that". It was my least favorite comic book moment, and no not because Steve died, because I felt so detached from my hobby.

Reminds me of how newspapers are dying in favor of online/TV news...

No more printed comics? I pray not, I hate web comics.

This is an across the board future for print media. Its not a surprise that this may happen with comics as well. I personally prefer holding written materials in my hands rather than reading on my computer.

I'm surprised no one has pointed out that I have a Hate Monger issue of F4... First appearance of Sue Storm as Malice.

nononno

nononno

I like both. I'd be so sad if paper comics died. :(

I really enjoy paper, there's nothing better than having that book right in your hands, but at the same time I'm a tech nerd and I can't wait for the day when I can have a device that holds my entire collection and I can carry it where ever I want and pull up any book I want within seconds

Reading a comic online just plain sucks from my experience. I was very interested in it(for back issues only) until I tried to read one and it was crap I didn't even finish the issue the enjoyment just wasn't there if comics go completely digital I will stop reading them.

Comic books and graphic novels, like paper back and hard back books, are very tactile.  People like to touch and feel things, for the reasons you mentioned, flipping through the pages manually, seeing what the next page will bring.   That joy seems to be removed if reading something online.

This harkens a bit to Sci-Fi author Isaac Asimov, who, in his Foundation Trilogy and Robot novels, came up with the concept of the computer notebook and books being electronic.  This was during the 1950's & '60's, mind you.  These are for the most part a reality now.  I mention this because in those stories, the characters still have "antiques", i.e., actual hard back books, something not many people wanted to part with, and these stories take place several thousand years into the future.


Can a comic book go "offline" if the power goes out, a computer crashes, etc.?  Hhhmmm...you can at least still read a comic book with a flashlight.  

I think with the advent of technology of late, computers in general, that online comics will probablystick  around, but not take over the market.  One advantage of the computer, though, is being able to archive issues,  that is helpful, but online comics....I'm not reading them.  

see for me I enjoy reading no matter what the medium is....if it's a huge novel, a comic book, or on my 56" flat screen then I'll read and I'll enjoy it

the only thing I've found that's crappy about online comics is that it's harder to read on the toilet...crappy/toilet...HAHAHAHAHA!!!! get it?

Change is change...  Are any of us typing on typewriters right now?  Probably not.  Do any of us mail letters - paper letters - to our friends?  Unlikely.  This is just another change.  You can embrace it and find different things to like about it (or even love), or you can shake your fist at the kids on your lawn.  I'm not saying "be happy with it or be left behind", but I am saying that a generation from now, people won't even consider that comics are all online.  They'll just be reading them, like we do now.  Hopefully by then there will be a Matrix (benevolent, of course) and in that Matrix there will be comic shops.  And we can all gather there and trade news.  ;-)

I truthfully dont see comics entirely turning over to the digital realm.

 I mean, logically as things are all ready going that way, I dont think very many people actually like reading books on their computers because they cant curl up anywhere, even with a laptop.

Maybe when carry-away notebooks become popular where you can pretty much carry some sort of digital pad that has all the pages at touchpen access will comic books die, but I dont see that technology around much at all and highly doubt people would resort to such a portable device to pass up visiting the comic shop and bullshitting for a few hours about geek stuff.

I just really don't see it happening, even considering how nostalgia-based the comic book audience tends to be.

I've tried to figure out in my head how I would explain to my wife the idea of spending the money to read Marvel comics online. All I hear in my head is her laughing. 

As cool as this Kindle is an online-digital comics, I enjoy having the actual, physical comic book in my hand, whether I've gone to the comic book store or maybe ordered it by mail. I like going through my longboxes. And I've thought of getting one of those Marvel DVD/CD collections of 40 YEARS of X-Men, Fantastic Four, The Avengers or Spider-Man. 

I guess it's the difference between Golden Age Radio and the Television boom of the '50's. Or the shift from silent movies to talkies. Or from the LP and 45 to 8-track or to cassette or to CD or to iTunes. I'm still trying to figure out what the big deal is over Blu-Ray...   

I have a basic answer to this issue.

And that is a compromise yet a total reorganization of the comic industry.
i think that floppys are a total wast of time space and money. I can tell you all that in the past 3 years that I have come back to comics I have bought enough trades to catch up and be able to go into a store pick up a floppy. Now that I can do that I can honestly say that I have not read a single (well maybe 1 and really mean 1) floppy issue that after reading it made me feel a sense of satisfaction. Most of us call this a payoff, and for me it seems that the format of the monthly comic is old out of date and providing little to NO payoff to fans. After I read a floppy all I think about is BUYING the next issue which I have to wait awhole month for...or in some cases longer (old man logan) and at that point I care less and less with each day that passes.

Think about  it we read a floppy in like less than 10 min and marvel wants us to pay 3.99 for 10 min of entertainment that will little to no payoff other than the classic BUY NEXT MONTHS ISSUE! to see what happens!!!
Now in contrast after every trade I have ever read (good or bad) I did feel a sense of stastification and payoff at least I got a whole story arc and it took longer to read it. Overall I felt that everytime I buy a trade its worth my money and in the case of floppys that just not the case.

Now with all the digtial comics I feel that basically all publishers should release digtal comics every week along with the floppys BUT charge a lot less for the download. And by less I mean 1 dollar! and no thats no too cheap itunes did it for years and made money and marvel can do the same. This way a kid with yard job can drop a measly 10 bucks and 10 great digtal books that month and keep up with everything! hell they could even keep up with DC too. and lets be real kids are stealing this stuff left and right and there is no one really to blame but Marvel & DC for rasing prices too high and printing collections for 100 dollars! just cause its old.....come on Joe if you want people to jack your books all day then just keep raping them for 5.99 a book (cap 600)

Now dont forget the collectors keep them happy with with the floppys. But nowadays I feel that alot of people are seeing the light about collecting and that is its for the most point pointless. we buy and buy and buy and in the end we get too much stuff that it takes over our homes and we end up parting with our collections on ebay for less than what we bought it for! yet if there are still collectors that have to have thier floppys by all means go for it.

interms of what we loose? I dont know I think we gain more than loose comics gain in not having to spend soo much and since there will always be a collectors market comic shops will still be around just maybe not as many.  And btw i have never really meet comic guys in the store that were really cool. Most of the sellers were real jerks always talking smack about this writer or arist or character I guess no one ever told them to make a SALE you should talk bad about the product......DUH

I think the thing of it is that the digital comics are rearely up to date. That may change in the next five years, but right now, if you want to know what's going on, you have to get out to the store. If you want to read a comic from the silver age, then you can spend a bunch of time and money trying to find it, or you can just pull it up instantly read it online for a lot less. If you want to catch up on a series that you're interested in reading, then chances are that you can find it online. But you won't be able to find the latest issue unless you download illegally (which is your problem, not mine).

Now if you're a collector, then you're going to collect it anyway. But if you just want to read a comic for the story, so that you know what's going on, then it works great. The point of it is to maximize readership. Why don't we jump into series in the middle of the run? Well, it could just be a crappy series or we are just not interested. But one of the other big reasons, I'd imagine, is that we don't know what's going on. It's hard to watch an episode of Lost near the end of the Second season if we haven't seen any of the episodes before it. That's why Hulu exists. Th more people who get exposed to a series, the more people you will have following it. 

I hope that digital comics continue to remain inconsistent, because that'll be a win-win situation. The publishers (I would think) get more money, because it costs more in the shop than on the web, and now we're potentially getting exposed to more series; the shops make some money for themselves; and we get to enjoy the feel and whatnot of the individual issues, while still being able to do some extra reading if we want.

I like paper. ; )

k thanks

I greatly prefur to use the paper comics, because it just is easier to use when I physically read something. I don't get "into" online comics the way that l get "into" reading comics. Often times, you can analyze the artwork better through paper comics too. I don't usually take as much time to admire the art on online comics. Therefore, I prefur to just read the paper copies. Not to mention, that as you keep them, they get more valuable. There isn't any value to an online file. When you keep a paper copy, you can sell it or keep it for value.

All in all, l greatly prefur paper comics, and you wont' see an online transition from me.

Change isnt always good. I want a real book in my hands. I do not like reading on a screen.

And some how it dosent feel like you have it when it is a file someplace. I feel the same about music. I like to hold the LP or CD in my hands and see it on a shelf and look at the art. I have a few mp3 "cd"s on the work PC but i dont get that feeling of ownership.

yet another step in making computers (and the net) the center of our lives....though it might be for some, and I'm not too far behind. 

I'm sure a lot of us look forward to our Wednesday trip to the comic store.

I can't wait until someone turns the tides and sets an EMP bomb off.... At least I'll still have my comics then

I rather buy my comics at a comic book store instead of online, but hey thats just me.
Then it'll be less computer storage the way i buy comics.

It's not a big deal, they having stopped making books...yet

I really hope not. I hate reading books online, regardless if it's pure text or comic form.

This blows!!!! They better not stop printing comics!!!! That would SUCK so bad!!!!! Online comics just aren't the same as going into a comic book store and smelling that familiar smell that we all know and love!!! I hope so bad that this doesn't happen.

Another issue I'm surprised that isn't brought up is getting people into comics. If someone wants to get into say Batman, I'm pretty sure they'd rather go to a store a get a single issue or perhaps a trade instead of signing up for some online thing. 

Online comics also take away a chunk of the social aspect of comic book culture. I love talking to other patrons and the employees of my local store (Heroes Comics in London Ontario ftw) about stuff. I also like having a physical copy of the thing I spent 3-4 bucks on.

Twitter told me to come here.