My shop has already been forced to close.
Last edited by Godlike13; 03-23-2020 at 06:29 PM.
I never said they would stop putting out books. Just that they would put a temporary hiatus on their print titles (Action Comics, Detective Comics, etc) and do some digital-first series that would eventually come out in print. Similar to what DC's done with the Injustice books, or Marvel did with the most recent Jessica Jones series.
Just as a theoretical example, let's say this goes on for 4 months. Action Comics #1021 is in shops this Wednesday. If DC continued the book digitally while the physical distribution stopped, would your next print issue be #1026? Would they publish those issues in print once they start shipping books again for those that don't read digital (i.e. most of the comic readership based on the numbers given by the major publishers)? If they did, you'd be expecting the print readers to buy 5 issues of Action Comics alone that month just to get caught up to the digital book, not counting any other DC books you may read doing the same thing. I doubt they'd just leave a gap in the issue numbering and never print the issues. Comics are still very much a collector-heavy genre, and it would be a logistical nightmare for collectors and print-only readers.
It just makes sense to me to hold off on the current title storylines and create alternate content until books start shipping again. Plus, it would give the creators a chance to get some issues in the can and help with the constant problem of delays the major companies have had as of late.
Last Read: Aquaman & The Flash: Voidsong
Monthly Pull List: Birds of Prey, Daredevil, Geiger, Green Arrow, Justice Ducks, Justice Society of America, Negaduck, Nightwing, Phantom Road, Shazam!, Space Ghost, Suicide Squad: Dream Team, Thundercats, Titans
We're on lock down for 3 weeks here in MI of all non-essential services, but my shop has not made an announcement as of yet. They are a two person shop, closing for 3 weeks is going to be rough for them. They don't do much online but some eBay.
I have DCU, and I may read comics on there, but I want the floppies, I have over 600 straight issues of Batman and Detective each.
Pulls: Batman, Detective Comics, SiKtC, Catwoman, Nightwing, Titans, Godzilla, Wonder Woman, Batman & Robin, Brave and the Bold, No/One, Kill your Darlings, and Deviant.
My runs: Batman #230-, and Detective #420-
All these shops can get federal help.
I myself will never ever read comics digitally.
If they halved the price, they would have to double sales to make up the lost revenue. Plus make up lost revenue from print and from ad sales in print copies. If they dropped prices to 99 cents they would have to quadruple sales to make up lost revenue. Do you honeslty think a price drop would result in that big a sales jump? And even if it did, where does the lost revenue from ad sales get made up?
-M
Comic fans get the comics their buying habits deserve.
"Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato
If DC does go through with continuing to release comics digitally, they need to do some agressive marketing urging people to buy legally and not ust reading isseus on illegal reading sites.
I would be willing to do digital with a LOT more titles if they were $1.99-99 cents.
Who says ads have to be taken out? Most of those ads seem to promote DC or Warner Brother related stuff.
How much is that costing you? An ad for Batwoman on CW poster is probably the same poster being used on billboards.
They don't have to be "taken out" but advertisers pay based on print circulation numbers, not digital, so they will not pay DC/WB/AT&T to put ads in if there is no print circulation. There are much more cost effective ways to advertise online than inside digital versions of comics, print ads, there's not a lot of options. So it's not a matter of having to take them out, it's a matter of they won't be getting paid to have them in there.
-M
Comic fans get the comics their buying habits deserve.
"Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato
I think a good solution is to offer a discount on the physical book if you buy it digitally.
So, you buy it digitally for full price and then when the LCS get's the physical version you can go pick it up for a dollar.
Let the publisher eat the cost since they already got paid for the digital release as well as a extra dollar for the physical book and they get the good will from the LCS
I agree with all of this. And I used to be that "never ever" guy, until I was bored at work one day and saw a post here about a comixology sale. I've been almost exclusively digital ever since.
I haven't paid more than $5.99 for a tpb/OGN since 2012. The sales on comixology are unbeatable, and for the stuff I missed out on, I read it with my Comixology Unlimited sub or on the DCU app. I still buy the occasional tpb or floppy for custom binding purposes, but the ease with which I can pull up anything I own on my Fire HD 10 tablet is surreal. My entire collection, available anytime I get an itch, sitting in my briefcase.
I feel for the shops...even though I've gone digital, I still frequent my LCS for merch (figures, posters, etc), and I'd be devastated to see it close. But yeah, digital all the way for this guy. The art looks better, you can read them in any light, and sales sales sales. A $5.99 tpb or a cover priced copy at my LCS is a no brainer 100% of the time.
"Darkseid...always hated music..."
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."