Proposal: Comic Books Should Be Free

[Shawn Hopkins]

Yeah, and people hate embedded ads so much that other people make money creating add-ons to browsers that block them out. No one is going to want to read a comic with an annoying video that you can't turn off.

And who says the comics will find a larger audience? That sure as heck isn't happening with digital comics now. And not just because of price.

You could say no one is going to want to watch YouTube videos with annoying ads that you can't turn off, or no one is going to want to play an app with annoying ads you can't turn off, but millions of people do this every day. They accept this price for their free content. The ad-supported digital comics would not be presented in a browser or something that makes it easy to circumvent the ads, but as software with Digital Rights Management protection. Would some people crack it? Sure. Everything will be cracked or pirated no matter how freely it is given. But your average user would accept the free comics as presented.

I couldn't guarantee comics would find a wider audience, but here are the barriers as I see it:

1. Price, especially price per minute of entertainment, which is among the lowest of any medium.

2. Availability of the physical product. Comics, especially periodical comics, require a special trip to a bookstore, often a specialist bookstore.

3. The problem with digital comics is that they are hamstrung by the need not to compete with the print product, mainly manifested by selling at the exact same price. So go back to number one.

Free ad-supported digital comics break down all three barriers. And by distributing them through social, app, and viral channels, you get your product in front of many more people who might be interested in trying it.

[Jeff Brady]

No, thanks. I'll pay for the books ad-free. Like Netflix does for movies & TV shows.

[Arvandor]

No, thanks. I'll pay for the books ad-free. Like Netflix does for movies & TV shows.

Ideally, we should be given a choice - free ad-supported comics, or upgrade to paid ad-free comics.

[Kid A]

I'd love if someone did a Radiohead In Rainbows style release where you pay whatever you want.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Ideally, we should be given a choice - free ad-supported comics, or upgrade to paid ad-free comics.

That's a good idea. That's a mechanism that's in place with apps. Many of them have a "remove ads" in-app purchase.

[indigim25]

I think that to truly thrive and become a modern product, comic books have to let go of some of the conventions of dead tree media. And one of those is expecting people to pay for content. Although a few people will still do that, you limit your consumer base to only enthusiast/collectors. Monthly paper comics are simply at a point where the price barrier to entry is too high to expect a giant leap in growth.

What I propose doing instead is to fully embrace the possibilities of digital distribution. Distribute comic books worldwide, for free, through social media channels and apps. Embed advertising in these comic books, including video advertising. Digital comics are perfect advertising platforms, because they are short, they can be DRM-controlled software so that most people won't skip or circumvent the advertising, and they are mostly told in an episodic format that encourages people to consume them regularly. Even better, the advertising is not a one-shot proposition as it was when advertisers stuck Sea Monkey ads on the back cover. If publishers choose they can serve new ads to them for as long as they remain on the market and continue collecting ad revenue for years, maybe decades, as new readers read older issues. If done correctly the advertising revenue from a book given away for free in the millions may exceed the revenue from a book sold in the thousands for $4.

The enthusiast/collector would still be served, as ad-free paper reprints of storylines would be offered after the stories are finished, similar to Japanese tankobon collections of stories published in disposable manga magazines. I can see this market getting even more high end, with the editions offered focusing on a deluxe experience.

I'm not sure it could co-exist with paid digital comics or monthly paper comics, as it might eat too significant a portion of their revenue to make them worthwhile. What I would propose doing is starting with a trial, a new comic based around an already popular character distributed using these methods. If that is successful continue to add to/convert the line to the new model.

Just like Manga? Not bad.

[CliffHanger2]

Why do people always think art/entertainment should be free? It's like you learn how to draw and use a computer and people come up to you with all sorts of ideas until it's time to talk money-then you hear the crickets. Nah I'd rather pay for what I like than feed into that.

[Pat Thomas]

Comics could reach a wide audience again by being put back in the high traffic areas where they used to be. Most of the sales would be impulse buys, of which there are hardly
any right now.

[Mister Mets]

It's complicated. Comics are going to be expensive because it requires a lot of work from talented people. It can take an artist months to draw something that takes ten minutes to read.

Print comics require retail space, shipping (with a premium on preserving condition) and quality printing, neither of which is cheap.

Digital does allow for some changes, like the Marvel Unlimited plan. Tablets are getting cheaper, but it does require some initial purchases which CBR posters may be more likely to have already made than the typical potential reader.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Comics could reach a wide audience again by being put back in the high traffic areas where they used to be. Most of the sales would be impulse buys, of which there are hardly
any right now.

What's more high traffic than Facebook?

[Billy Batson]

I'd love if someone did a Radiohead In Rainbows style release where you pay whatever you want.

Some do like BKV and Marcos Martin with their series Private Eye.

[Don C]

You could say no one is going to want to watch YouTube videos with annoying ads that you can't turn off, or no one is going to want to play an app with annoying ads you can't turn off, but millions of people do this every day.

Quick. What was the last Internet ad you saw?

You could give me a million dollars to name the last ad that I watched and I wouldn't be able to do it. I tune them out. Any banner ad that get past my blocking software gets ignored, too.

Your idea would be good if people paid any sort of attention to Internet ads. But they don't. Or at least I don't.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Quick. What was the last Internet ad you saw?

You could give me a million dollars to name the last ad that I watched and I wouldn't be able to do it. I tune them out. Any banner ad that get past my blocking software gets ignored, too.

Your idea would be good if people paid any sort of attention to Internet ads. But they don't. Or at least I don't.

It was an ad for the Economist. It was about how the magazine covers the issue of fracking. It was on YouTube and I wasn't allowed to skip it, so I sat through the whole 10 seconds so I could watch a Minecraft video.

You seem like a savvy net user, but your personal experience isn't universal. Most people consume the ads, that's why they don't go away. In fact, the internet ad industry claims internet ad revenues surpassed broadcast TV for the first time last year.

http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/rec...ease/pr-041014

[Arvandor]

Quick. What was the last Internet ad you saw?

You could give me a million dollars to name the last ad that I watched and I wouldn't be able to do it. I tune them out. Any banner ad that get past my blocking software gets ignored, too.

Your idea would be good if people paid any sort of attention to Internet ads. But they don't. Or at least I don't.

Internet ads work by sheer volume. One person won't notice one ad, but one person in ten thousand who buys something from a cheap banner ad is considered profitable.

[Brandon Hanvey]

So basically the webcomics model. Which usually only works when it's the creator doing all the work and not having to pay for a lot of overhead and employees. Plus profits from ads tend to only be a portion of their income which is vastly supplemented by merchandise sales and freelance/commission work.

There are exceptions such as Penny Arcade which have a staff and put on events such as PAX, but that's not the norm.