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  1. #241
    Invincible Member Vordan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cranger View Post
    https://www.comixology.com/release-d...=0&publisher=1

    Looks like DC has ceased plans to continue digitally. BC has an article that says things are pushed back 4 weeks right now.
    So they pissed off the retailers and now they’re pissing off digital readers. Fantastic. Glad to know the DC under Lee is just as stupid and spineless as Didio’s DC. What are they going to do when this pandemic hasn’t gone away by the end of April? Because it won’t be gone, not even close. This is going to last on and off pretty much for the rest of the year. How are they going to pay creators now? Just a breathtaking display of incompetence.

    Either cancel comics until the vaccine is made in 2021 or embrace the digital storefront and tell the retailers to eat it. You can’t have it both ways.

  2. #242
    Astonishing Member Nite-Wing's Avatar
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    Looks like comics are cancelled for 2020

  3. #243
    Hey Baby--Wha's Happ'nin? HandofPrometheus's Avatar
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    They would be going digital until things get back to normal no? I don't understand what the problem is...

  4. #244
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    As a digital reader I’m upset but the sake of the constant flip flopping is more annoying at this point.

  5. #245
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vordan View Post
    So they pissed off the retailers and now they’re pissing off digital readers. Fantastic. Glad to know the DC under Lee is just as stupid and spineless as Didio’s DC. What are they going to do when this pandemic hasn’t gone away by the end of April? Because it won’t be gone, not even close. This is going to last on and off pretty much for the rest of the year. How are they going to pay creators now? Just a breathtaking display of incompetence.

    Either cancel comics until the vaccine is made in 2021 or embrace the digital storefront and tell the retailers to eat it. You can’t have it both ways.
    Digital is 10% of what the direct market is.

    A single issue probably costs $12,000 just for page rates of the talent (writer, pencils, ink, colors). Let's say DC gets $2 a unit sold through Comixology, that means they need to sell 6,000 units just to cover the creators. Does not sound like a lot until you remember digital is 10% of physical. That would equate to a book that is selling 60,000 units in the direct market. DC only had 3 books do that. That means every other book is flat out losing money going digital only.

    Now, not that I buy into it, but let's just go with your prediction of the physical market being written off for 2020. That would mean the death of the direct market. If that is the case, forget about DC paying all of those creators. They will shift to OGNs in the book market. Any digital offering will be vastly different, if any. At that point we are all going to be finding new ways to read things.

  6. #246
    Ultimate Member Ascended's Avatar
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    Well, if the market dies in 2020 (and I don't believe that'll happen either) then the smallest change DC can make is returning to spinner racks in every grocery store and Wal-Mart. They'd maybe keep the production and release structure as close to the direct market as possible but this would still probably force at least some changes to the operating model.

    Or they might just go bookstore OGN, and we'd all essentially be trade waiting. That'd be a bigger change in operation but still a mostly known process, and trades have sold well in recent years.

    Their main focus would be print over digital, in any case. Not only has that been a higher seller (floppies and trades), after being stuck in the house all year we'll be taking any excuse to go somewhere. And for a lot of people that'll include the bookstore. Plus, people will be shopping to support the local economy, etc etc. If any of us have any money left, anyway.

    That's assuming something drastic isn't done with digital during the "year of no print" anyway. DC might be pulling digital to make retailers happy today, but the end of year is a long ways off yet, who knows where they might land before then? Doubtful but you never know.

    What all that does to digital....if DC returns to wide-spread spinner racks, probably not much. If they go OGN? Since digital is structured around a floppy format they'd no longer be using, they might just drop digital. Or it'll free digital up to create product that'll actually appeal to digital markets. It won't surpass print, especially while the "we can go places!" euphoria lasts, but depending on how they do it and what 2020 actually does....well, who the hell knows?
    "We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."

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  7. #247
    Invincible Member Vordan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cranger View Post
    Digital is 10% of what the direct market is.

    A single issue probably costs $12,000 just for page rates of the talent (writer, pencils, ink, colors). Let's say DC gets $2 a unit sold through Comixology, that means they need to sell 6,000 units just to cover the creators. Does not sound like a lot until you remember digital is 10% of physical. That would equate to a book that is selling 60,000 units in the direct market. DC only had 3 books do that. That means every other book is flat out losing money going digital only.

    Now, not that I buy into it, but let's just go with your prediction of the physical market being written off for 2020. That would mean the death of the direct market. If that is the case, forget about DC paying all of those creators. They will shift to OGNs in the book market. Any digital offering will be vastly different, if any. At that point we are all going to be finding new ways to read things.
    May not be all year but how long can retailers feasibly last without selling? All of April will be spent under lockdown. May very well could be as well. At the three month mark we’re already going to be seeing stores drop like flies.

  8. #248
    BANNED Starter Set's Avatar
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    Ah well, i don't buy recent comics anyway cause i find the price of them offensive but that's rather amusing to see how DC doesn't seem to be able keep the same opinion on something for two days in a row.

  9. #249
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ascended View Post
    Well, if the market dies in 2020 (and I don't believe that'll happen either) then the smallest change DC can make is returning to spinner racks in every grocery store and Wal-Mart. They'd maybe keep the production and release structure as close to the direct market as possible but this would still probably force at least some changes to the operating model.
    Can they do that?

    Are there distributors willing and able to do that? And are the stores willing to provide the space for spinner racks or newsstands?
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  10. #250
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vampire Savior View Post
    I think that's a huge mistake. I also think the lack of basic common sense progression and even road blocking of it is a big reason why some people out there are actually gleeful about the difficulties the industry is facing and wishing for its ultimate demise. This whole thing has really brought to light how backwards the whole thing is to me and how dependent it is in a backwards system of doing things.

    Besides, their comics really aren't good most of the time.

    Oh well. Not upset but somewhat disappointed to see comics industry just going on being the comics industry.
    *nods head*

    I wasn't receiving solo titles starring the characters i wanted to see nor satisfactory characterization / showcasing of said characters before and i'm not going to see that now so *shrugs*.


    Nothings changed for me.

    I hope they recover for the sake of everyone else.
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  11. #251
    Uncanny Member Digifiend's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kjn View Post
    Can they do that?

    Are there distributors willing and able to do that? And are the stores willing to provide the space for spinner racks or newsstands?
    They sell the Archie Digests and the DC Giants, right? The problem is that $3.99 32 page floppies don't make the shops enough money. They'd need to merge books into anthologies. So, say, Superman, Action Comics, Supergirl, Young Justice and Legion of Super Heroes in one magazine? And the same for Batman, Detective Comics, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Hood?
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  12. #252
    Ultimate Member Ascended's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kjn View Post
    Can they do that?

    Are there distributors willing and able to do that? And are the stores willing to provide the space for spinner racks or newsstands?
    I assume there's some kind of exclusivity deal with Diamond that limits retail distribution, but with Diamond not delivering that might be enough for publishers to break contract. I've never read the actual Diamond contracts so I'm just guessing here. And if Diamond spends this year not distributing comics they might not be a factor by 2021 anyway.

    I don't know if retailers and grocery stores would bite. How are the Wal-Mart books selling? That'd probably be the metric they would use to decide if it's worthwhile to carry comics again.

    And of course, whoever the new distributors are would play a big part. If I recall correctly, most retailers don't order comics or specific magazines, they just order "stuff" from the distributors, and the distributors include comics, appropriate for whatever contract they have with the publishers. If I'm remembering that right, anyway.

    So I don't think it's impossible at all, but I don't know how likely it is. Instead of trying to find their way back into retail, publishers might just double down on the bookstores where they already have distribution deals. Whether they'd try to move floppies through bookstores like they do the direct market or just go all OGN's? Who the hell knows. In this hypothetical, we will have spent this whole year locked in our houses and that'd f*ck with the economy in ways I can't even imagine. None of my classes ever covered something like this.
    "We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."

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  13. #253
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    Well, if DC is able to find a new distributor they will probably use that to get physical comics out.

  14. #254
    Astonishing Member Clark_Kent's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vampire Savior View Post
    I think that's a huge mistake. I also think the lack of basic common sense progression and even road blocking of it is a big reason why some people out there are actually gleeful about the difficulties the industry is facing and wishing for its ultimate demise. This whole thing has really brought to light how backwards the whole thing is to me and how dependent it is in a backwards system of doing things.

    Besides, their comics really aren't good most of the time.

    Oh well. Not upset but somewhat disappointed to see comics industry just going on being the comics industry.
    I'm with you, even if I may be the only one. As a loyal digital customer with weekly purchases (I also buy trades/hardcovers in print later), it's disappointing to basically be shown the door during this time while they cater to print readers. Yes, I get it, print outsells digital by a wide margin right now, but...that's right now. This is a wonderful opportunity to really test the digital markets and look to the future. Will readers switch to digital if that's the easiest/predominant/only way to get the content? Maybe. We won't know until we try it. Other industries faced this issue and came out all right...people were afraid to give up their vinyl when cassettes & cd's came out, but they adjusted. They later adjusted again when digital became the norm (itunes, etc). Physical media for movies is dying, and digital (whether it's streaming Netflix or purchases on digital retailers) is now king. Another 5 years, and discs will be hard to find. Games did this as well.

    Right now, print outsells digital because comics have never attempted to change formats the way other industries have. Perhaps if they actually made the change, things would be different. We won't know either way until they try it though, and this is the perfect time. I have to believe most readers would just switch formats to continue their hobby, the way others do. Many said they would never give up their CD collection, but then they did. Formats change, and sometimes you have to upgrade. People eventually gave up their CRT televisions and upgraded to flatscreens. Gamers upgrade consoles, music enthusiasts bought an ipod. Comics readers, eventually, will just have to accept that sometimes hobbyists have to upgrade things to continue the hobby. It's the way of the world.

    Is that time now? Apparently not, according to DC, but it sure could be if they wanted it.
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    Every post I make, it should be assumed by the reader that the following statement is attached: "It's all subjective. What works for me doesn't necessarily work for you, and vice versa, and that's ok. You may have a different opinion on it, but this is mine. That's the wonderful thing about being a comics fan, it's all subjective."

  15. #255
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clark_Kent View Post
    I'm with you, even if I may be the only one. As a loyal digital customer with weekly purchases (I also buy trades/hardcovers in print later), it's disappointing to basically be shown the door during this time while they cater to print readers.
    Print readers are not getting books either. So how is this catering to print readers? The books will come out in print, and they will come out in digital. As I pointed out in another post, if they release digital now and comics ship next month, the whole schedule is getting pushed back a month, and that means next month you will still go a month (or whatever the length is) without digital at some point.

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