Coronavirus knocks out direct market - Diamond stops deliveries

[superduperman]

I tried reading digital and don't really enjoy it. The only reason I can think of for getting it would be to fill in the blanks in your back collection that you can't find physical copies of. That having been said, if this kills the direct market, we may not have a choice. And, yes, they do need to knock down the price of new issues since we aren't dealing with overhead. Which might occur if more people buy digital.

[Jadeb]

I have continued buying print because I like getting a physical product and want to support the floppy format. But I absolutely would go digital if they continue that way. If there is a long gap of no new product, I don’t know that I would come back. And I suspect the same would be true for many others. It’s too easy to drift away and find other ways to spend time and money.

[matthew]

The model was never sustainable to begin with. This is not a knock against older readers or anything like that, but businesses rely on being able to rotate in new, younger audiences to replace lapsed ones. Comics from the Golden to Bronze ages were written on the assumption that most of the kids currently reading them were eventually gonna lose interest and start focusing on things like cars and sports as they got older, and thus constantly bringing in new kids was a major priority.

I don't know when exactly that changed, but the audience has largely been stagnant now for a while, with a select few exceptions of new characters appealing to readers outside the direct market. They were always gonna have to either make a major play to appeal to newer, younger readers or just sit back and accept that the current state of the industry was eventually gonna go off a cliff.

New younger readers don't exist in any appreciable numbers. It's not that young people aren't reading comics, they aren't reading period. People who do become readers do so later in life now and are more likely to read books, skipping comics altogether. This is why comics are hurting more so than book publishers.

[Noodle]

How in the world would digital become a rival for the direct market when digital comics are sold at the exact same (exorbitant) price as the print comics, which happens because the publishers don't want the digital comics undercutting the comics shops?

Before we say digital is stagnant and doesn't work, I would like to see the comics sold at a price point that isn't ridiculous.

"How would digital become a rival when it's on the exact same playing field as its competitor? You have to give it an advantage and undercut what it's going against!"

Of course digital would sell better if it were cheaper. Because you're almost forcing the market's hand.

The only reduction should come if they adopt the format music used. Music migrated to digital easily due to two factors: Being able to buy individual songs, and those individual songs being priced accordingly. If each song is $1, and the average album has 12-15 songs, that price would add up to the average price of an entire album.

If comics were to follow that formula, they would have to base it on the average price of a collection (about $20), with the average collection having about 6 issues, making each individual comic roughly $3.50

[Tzigone]

"How would digital become a rival when it's on the exact same playing field as its competitor? You have to give it an advantage and undercut what it's going against!"

I'd disagree with your assessment. I think having the digital the same price when it doesn't have the same cost to produce/distribute is giving it an artificial handicap, thereby advantaging print.

However, I don't think digital really does anything in and of itself that would move comics from niche to mainstream.

[kjn]

New younger readers don't exist in any appreciable numbers. It's not that young people aren't reading comics, they aren't reading period. People who do become readers do so later in life now and are more likely to read books, skipping comics altogether. This is why comics are hurting more so than book publishers.

I think that's a huge assertion that isn't justified.

Sure, there is more competition in the form of movies and animation and computer games, but kids still read. The reason they don't read comics has more to do with comics not being readily available, and here both price and distribution methods matter.

The only reduction should come if they adopt the format music used. Music migrated to digital easily due to two factors: Being able to buy individual songs, and those individual songs being priced accordingly. If each song is $1, and the average album has 12-15 songs, that price would add up to the average price of an entire album.

There is another important difference here. In lots of ways, comics are more akin to books than music or films, in that physical books and physical comics are physical artifacts that can be enjoyed fully in their own right. An LP, CD, video band, or DVD however require an intermediate device in order to view, just as e-books and e-comics do.

[C_Miller]

For those that are willing to drop the medium if it does go all-digital, that's really unfortunate but as the saying goes, good luck on all future endeavors. It seems to me if you're completely unwavering in giving digital a chance, then you were more speculator than fan and the industry needs fans right now. I myself have been collecting floppies in varying numbers for over 30 years now but I'm perfectly willing to part with a physical copy in favor of a digital one if it means saving these characters to be written and drawn in comic book form. And the accessibility of digital comics is just so much more convenient than going to a niche store or purchasing them online and then having to wait for them to show up on your doorstep.

What type of gatekeeping garbage hot take is that? There are lots of reasons that people would prefer physical copies over digital without being speculators. I'm one of them and I've never sold a comic for profit in the 20 years that I've been reading, despite having several books that I could have done that with. Can you really not comprehend why people wouldn't want to go digital other than speculation? Honestly?

Let me explain it to you. There's the issue of ownership. As far as I can tell, there is no digital comic service where you can actually download the book onto your hard drive. You're actually purchasing the privilege to read them on a service whether it's Amazon or Comixology. If for whatever reason they stop hosting them, you're out of luck. iTunes proved years ago why it's not a good idea to trust a company to host your purchases for you.

There's the issue of cost. Unless you get them on sale, you're paying the same amount for a digital comic as your are for a physical one. To me, when I buy a comic, I am paying for the content and the package itself. The digital comics are the same exact price, yet I'm missing the package. Going back to ownership, physical comics have resale value and I'm not talking about speculation. On more than one occasion, I have sold or traded comics to get other comics. Trading comics goes back to the origin of comics as kids would buy a stack and the drug store and their friends would buy another stack and they'd be able to trade them and read everything. You can't do that with digital. If there's a comic you no longer want, there's nothing you can do about it.

And finally, I have tried digital on many occasions. I just don't enjoy it. I don't like the guided reading feature as I like to see the whole page at once and I would have to buy a new device to get a screen where I'd be able to do that without shrinking the page. My computer works, but I'd have to awkwardly put it sideways to get what I want. And of course reading on screens isn't great. There are studies that show LCD screens do cause harm to the eyes and while many studies are still on going, I know that I personally get headaches if I stare at a screen for too long.

[Ascended]

I'd disagree with your assessment. I think having the digital the same price when it doesn't have the same cost to produce/distribute is giving it an artificial handicap, thereby advantaging print.

However, I don't think digital really does anything in and of itself that would move comics from niche to mainstream.

The high cost of digital is definitely not doing it any favors.

But beyond that, the distribution schedule doesn't help either. Same day digital has the same flaws as the direct market; slow monthly releases when America binges its entertainment in bulk, or at least expects new content each week. High prices when compared to other digital products (like a song on iTunes or a game like Angry Birds). Lack of marketing and advertising to any worthwhile degree, and the content itself isn't designed for the audiences most likely to use the digital format.

I think digital *could* reach, if not a mainstream audience, then at least one considerably larger than what the direct market or current digital has. But it would require completely changing and adjusting the product to fit the format, then advertising it properly, which the industry has not done.

But I think the best option isn't to put all our eggs in one basket. That's what the direct market did and look how that's turned out? No, I think it's better to diversify; push digital, push bookstore OGN's, YA novelizations, Scholastic book orders, etc. Build the product to take advantage of it's distribution format, rather than "round pegs in square holes" like they've done with same day digital. And there's no need to abandon the direct market either, assuming it survives covid19. It might not make much money and be a dying market but publishers might as well squeeze what they can out of it while it lasts, as long as that doesn't get in the way of them diversifying into stronger, healthier markets and formats in the way they need to to gain a solid foothold.

[Lee Stone]

I went all digital in 2012, and haven't regretted it.

I do feel for the shops, but I think now would be a good time for them to move away from floppies. At least for DC, Marvel and Image.
Everything those three put out will be in trade paperbacks, which have a stronger value for the shops.
The indies would be the only floppies that need support because they're not guaranteed a trade paperback.
But for DC and Marvel, especially, floppies have become nothing more than previews for the trades.

Shops also have so much more to offer than the floppies: trade paperbacks, rpg games, card games, board games, heroclix, action figures, posters...
Let the floppies go to digital, where they can at least keep the price from rising.
They'll still sell digitally for people that want to continue reading month-to-month, they'll serve as advertising for the trades, and they won't undermine the sell of trades because the trades will be the only way to get them in print.

[Stingo]

What type of gatekeeping garbage hot take is that? There are lots of reasons that people would prefer physical copies over digital without being speculators. I'm one of them and I've never sold a comic for profit in the 20 years that I've been reading, despite having several books that I could have done that with. Can you really not comprehend why people wouldn't want to go digital other than speculation? Honestly?

Let me explain it to you. There's the issue of ownership. As far as I can tell, there is no digital comic service where you can actually download the book onto your hard drive. You're actually purchasing the privilege to read them on a service whether it's Amazon or Comixology. If for whatever reason they stop hosting them, you're out of luck. iTunes proved years ago why it's not a good idea to trust a company to host your purchases for you.

There's the issue of cost. Unless you get them on sale, you're paying the same amount for a digital comic as your are for a physical one. To me, when I buy a comic, I am paying for the content and the package itself. The digital comics are the same exact price, yet I'm missing the package. Going back to ownership, physical comics have resale value and I'm not talking about speculation. On more than one occasion, I have sold or traded comics to get other comics. Trading comics goes back to the origin of comics as kids would buy a stack and the drug store and their friends would buy another stack and they'd be able to trade them and read everything. You can't do that with digital. If there's a comic you no longer want, there's nothing you can do about it.

And finally, I have tried digital on many occasions. I just don't enjoy it. I don't like the guided reading feature as I like to see the whole page at once and I would have to buy a new device to get a screen where I'd be able to do that without shrinking the page. My computer works, but I'd have to awkwardly put it sideways to get what I want. And of course reading on screens isn't great. There are studies that show LCD screens do cause harm to the eyes and while many studies are still on going, I know that I personally get headaches if I stare at a screen for too long.

This. I've bought comic books for going on five decades and I've tried digital and have not taken to it and will always prefer the so-called "floppies" (p.s. worst name for a comic book...ever.). This does not make me a speculator or a fly-by-night, fair weather fan. Broad generalizations aside, this is one of the better posts I've come across on this particular "hot button" issue.

[Vampire Savior]

I went all digital in 2012, and haven't regretted it.

I do feel for the shops, but I think now would be a good time for them to move away from floppies. At least for DC, Marvel and Image.
Everything those three put out will be in trade paperbacks, which have a stronger value for the shops.
The indies would be the only floppies that need support because they're not guaranteed a trade paperback.
But for DC and Marvel, especially, floppies have become nothing more than previews for the trades.

Shops also have so much more to offer than the floppies: trade paperbacks, rpg games, card games, board games, heroclix, action figures, posters...
Let the floppies go to digital, where they can at least keep the price from rising.
They'll still sell digitally for people that want to continue reading month-to-month, they'll serve as advertising for the trades, and they won't undermine the sell of trades because the trades will be the only way to get them in print.

That's how I feel. I still think print is great and the trades should still come out. I just don't think think the floppies should generally be printed anymore. That stuff should be digital, in my opinion. I also don't have anything against comics shops. I more so have something against the over reliance on the direct market and how that has even affected the fiction being produced, with events, relaunches, reboots, and various other bizarre gimmicks running amok, which are quite often off-putting and confusing to people who dip their toes into comics for the first time, and, which, in my opinion, frequently don't make for good fiction anyway, for various reasons.

[skyvolt2000]

New younger readers don't exist in any appreciable numbers. It's not that young people aren't reading comics, they aren't reading period. People who do become readers do so later in life now and are more likely to read books, skipping comics altogether. This is why comics are hurting more so than book publishers.

KIDS READ.

The issues have been teh following-

1) access to BUY comic

2) the format of comics (which is the price)

3) It's the CONTENT that is turning kids off. 15-20 Batman books isn't cutting it. Kids don't want to read about Batman and the entitlement gang. They are interest in the books that alt trolls and even DC employees don't care for.

Most parents I deal with want books with POC as LEADS. Be offended if you want to but that is REALITY. They want VARIETY of leads. And in most cases the KID is asking for it.

Yet when DC (and ESPECIALLY Marvel) tries-here comes the PUSH BACK. And no the pushback has NOTHING to do with story-it's the fact they don't approve of who is on the cover. Yet as we have seen with not just Moon Girl but Raven & Cassandra Cain bypass the comic book store-you find fans.

DC tossed away kids to pander to guys who have zero issue with events, variants, HATE buying books and bad stories as long as Batman and certain others are on the cover.

The issue is with this is your younger generation isn't following along.

[Vampire Savior]

Regarding digital not being a good reading experience...I don't know. Frankly, I read comics on my computer all the time, and usually you just...scroll down. There are issues with double page spreads. Those don't really work well for digital that I've ever seen. The people who actually make comics that are specifically meant to be digital just tend not to use those. Personally, I don't miss them, but I can see how people could lament their absense.

[Digifiend]

Here in the UK, Beano - a weekly anthology comic that's been running since 1938 - sells more now than it did a few years ago - somewhere in the region of 40,000 copies a week. Why don't you guys have anything like that in America? Oh, and it's sold in newsagents and supermarkets, not specialist comic book stores. Can also be bought by subscription or read digitally on a dedicated app. If US comics were available in the same manner and had similar content, kids would lap it up! You're missing out.

You might know one of the characters - 80s TV star Bananaman.

Two of the newest characters are a girl in a wheelchair called Rubi, who is an inventor, and sporty black girl JJ. The other famous characters are Dennis the Menace and Gnasher, Minnie the Minx, Roger the Dodger (he's my avatar), the Bash Street Kids, and Tricky Dicky.

[mathew101281]

New younger readers don't exist in any appreciable numbers. It's not that young people aren't reading comics, they aren't reading period. People who do become readers do so later in life now and are more likely to read books, skipping comics altogether. This is why comics are hurting more so than book publishers.

Then who is buying all those manga titles that are selling so well.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbr...perheroes/amp/