What if there was a Netflix for comics?

[Brandon Hanvey]

If there was a service that let you "rent" comics through the mail, would you try it?

It could be set up like Netflix, you get 2 to 3 books at a time and have a list of books want to read on the companies website. When you are done with a book you send it back in the mail and then later get a book on the top of your list.

Since the books would be handled by a lot of people, they would have to be mostly trades and graphic novels. And if you really like the book, you could keep it at a small fee.

[i_mmmchocolate]

It's funny you mention this because recently I've noticed that libraries around here have expanded their GN/TPB collections.

[Greg Hatcher]

It's funny you mention this because recently I've noticed that libraries around here have expanded their GN/TPB collections.

Lena beat me to it. I've been doing a presentation for the Puyallup library here for the last couple of years at the request of Lisa Oldoski, the youth librarian there, and she loves to tell the story about how the board FINALLY gave her permission to start buying comics trades for the youth collection. When they saw what kind of circulation those books did -- checked out almost continuously, constantly wait-listed -- they really sat up and paid attention, and essentially gave Lisa a blank check for more. Bear in mind that 'success' for a library young-adult book acquisition means getting checked out two or three times a year. So when a book is doing ten times that amount of circulation, you better believe libraries are on top of it. And librarians talk to each other, it's like an information virus.

Give it another five or ten years, Brandon. You'll have your Netflix-style system for free at the library. It probably won't be as up-to-the-minute as Netflix is with new releases, but on the other hand, it'll be free. I doubt you'd get an actual rental library going, though. That would have to be fan-driven and fans prefer to own the books outright, I suspect.

[i_mmmchocolate]

Just to add a bit more to the discussion, when I worked in the Circulation Department I noticed that quite a few patrons borrowed anime books.

I'm not sure if all GN and TPBs are borrowable. Most people tend to read them at the library and I've never checked any in- at least when I was at Circ.

[cactusmaac]

If there was a service that let you "rent" comics through the mail, would you try it?

It could be set up like Netflix, you get 2 to 3 books at a time and have a list of books want to read on the companies website. When you are done with a book you send it back in the mail and then later get a book on the top of your list.

Since the books would be handled by a lot of people, they would have to be mostly trades and graphic novels. And if you really like the book, you could keep it at a small fee.

Generally speaking, I only read the comics I know I want to keep.

And if I do buy something I'd rather not keep, I just sell the trade on Amazon for a small loss.

It's not like movies where I buy maybe 15% of the films I watch.

Although I'd definitely sign up for a service like that if it offered regular prose books.

[Brandon Hanvey]

The funny thing is I was at a creator's meeting at the Cartoon Art Museum on Thursday.

The theme of the meeting was “Marketing, Self-Promotion and Distribution.” The presenters were Larry and Mimi Young of AiT/Planet Lar and Juliette Torrez of Last Gasp.

One of the subjects they covered was outlets for their books. They all said they hate chain bookstores since they want huge discounts. Plus the chains’ return policy lets them return any “damaged” or unsold books at the publisher’s cost in the form of a restocking fee. And since a lot of book at the chains are only read at the store and not bought, a lot of the books are returned damaged and can not be re-sold.

On the other hand, they love libraries. They often want to buy the books near or at cover price and rarely return the books. They’ve said with the recent “boom” in graphic novels, libraries are buying more comics.

[DarthDookuk]

I would definitely do a comic book netflix. I love reading all my comics, but they are starting to take up space and most of them will never be worth anything in my lifetime. But i would have to be able to get 5-10 different titles a week.

[cactusmaac]

What I would be up for is buying .cbr files of comics direct from the publisher.

That would be a quick, cheap and guilt-free method of checking out a series and deciding whether I want to buy it in trade.

[Tadhg]

I should start a netflix trades program.

[DonC]

Yeah, I would try something like a Netflix comics service. In fact, some stores are actually already ahead of you, Brandon. A couple stores in the Cleveland area will "rent" out their trades for a week or two for a couple bucks, then sell them at half-price after they've rented them out four or five times (basically, before they become too damaged to sell). Sadly, none of these stores are close to me, so if there's a trade I want to sample, for example, I have to get it from the library.

[K'Nort]

I get a LOT of trades via the local library system. However, they discontinued ILL about a year ago. Too many trades/graphic novels get stolen, so you can't borrow them from other libraries. That was a local decision. If there was some way to work with them to make that less of a risk, awesome.

[Fabian]

I've gotten trades from my library too and it is great. I can order them online through their website and if they don't have it, they can order it from one of other local libraries and they'll notify me when it arrives

The main thing I hate is the kids getting them and treating them like crap so sometime you get a trade and it's falling apart or a page could be missing.

Also, I don't think they'll ever get mature comic books. Especially in the young adult section

[Expletive Deleted]

I like the idea, but I don't think it'd be feasible for rare or out-of-print stuff. A copy of MIRACLEMAN: OLYMPUS that was making the ILL rounds a few years ago had several key pages cut out.

Replacement costs would be a bitch.

[Core]

Also, I don't think they'll ever get mature comic books. Especially in the young adult section

My local public library circumvents that problem by stocking the trades with potentially offensive material in the non-fiction section. It's really a pretty lame solution to the problem, since it forces them to catalog works that are decidedly fictional along side non-fictional works about comics history. It would be better if they just shelved them in the fiction section, next to the rest of the novels, but I'm honestly just happy that they have them at all.

[jimmyboy]

I'd love a service that had comics available for reading on the internet. In most cases, I don't care about having my own copies, but I do care about reading and seeing the stories. If both Marvel and DC had available their entire run of everything they've ever done :eek:, and allowed online rentals, I'd be all over that!

[darkkeeperjr]

My library gets almost all the new trades that comes out.If you look up their online list of "books that coming soon" you can reserved your copy and get it almost the same day. They get it the same week as the book store gets it. :)

[DonC]

Also, I don't think they'll ever get mature comic books. Especially in the young adult section


My local public library circumvents that problem by stocking the trades with potentially offensive material in the non-fiction section. It's really a pretty lame solution to the problem, since it forces them to catalog works that are decidedly fictional along side non-fictional works about comics history. It would be better if they just shelved them in the fiction section, next to the rest of the novels, but I'm honestly just happy that they have them at all.


My county library system has a seperate Graphic Novels section and does stock mature comics. I've gotten Preacher; Y, The Last Man; Blankets and a ton of manga. I don't think they've ever had a problem, either. I think it helps that a lot of the librarians want the graphic novels in their branches. I have a librarian friend who is constantly checking out graphic novels for herself. She's read Promethea, Top Ten and just about every Star Wars trade ever published.