20 years

[Melfice]

Hello everyone,

With the printed media being replaced with the digital version of books, do you think there will still be printed comic books 20 years from now? Comics in general are having a hard time selling, and have become more of a hobby. I'm thinking in the next 10 to 20 years printed media for comics will be a thing of the past. I just wonder how many people are getting their comics via digital media these days.
Thanks

[Fenaris]

I think it's going to turn out like the vinyl record. It will still be around and there will be stores, but it won't be as mainstream as it used to be.

[Melfice]

I think it's going to turn out like the vinyl record. It will still be around and there will be stores, but it won't be as mainstream as it used to be.

Yep and comic book stores will be the thing of the past. Much like video stores like Blockbuster etc

[Lady Obie]

I think it's going to turn out like the vinyl record. It will still be around and there will be stores, but it won't be as mainstream as it used to be.

There most likely will be a niche market for printed comics and the right ones could still rake in some big bucks

[Donald M.]

I don't think that printed books - comic or otherwise - will be going away, at least not any time soon. Certainly not at least until we reach the point where the number of people born after the advent of eReaders outnumber the people born before. Even then there'll probably always be people who prefer printed matter, but I can certainly foresee traditional bookstores falling to the wayside in favor of print-on-demand services, at least where new material is concerned. A good amount of the millions upon countless millions of printed books that currently exist will still be around, obviously.

[Sabrina_Fried]

My prediction for books in general, be they prose or comics:

I think old editions of printed books will be collectibles and there will be book dealers that operate much like antique dealers do now. Most comics though will still not have much value. Because for decades everyone has been preserving their collections, and those collections will get inherited by the next generation. Some of the next generation may read the paper versions, but most won't care and they will simply dump them on the market for whatever they can get for them.

For newer books, the main release will be the digital version. But print-on-demand paper versions will also be available for those that absolutely insist. Much less often, very limited "collectors editions" will be printed where the paper book will be bundled with all sorts of goodies. One or two companies will hold the monopoly on the print-on-demand technology.

I also hope that the big publishers in the next 20 years will make a dedicated effort to digitize their backlist. Especially for comics like Batman and Superman where the stories go back 60 or 70 years already. For the very early issues the paper versions are rare enough already, and no matter how well they are kept, they won't last forever. If a company like DC is still around 20 years from now, I won't be surprised if they have a "complete Batman collection" or something that in digital form will probably represent a few terabytes of scanned comics.

[Michael P]

*blows whistle* False premise. Digital is not replacing print. Five yard penalty, repeat second down.

[needler420]

Digiital is for publishers too poor to do print. Same can be said for its consumers.

[Hulk_Is]

I think printed comics will still be around. I prefer print and I doubt that I will ever go digital.

[Iangould]

Yep and comic book stores will be the thing of the past. Much like video stores like Blockbuster etc

There's a Blockbuster no more than a block from where I'm seated and at least two other video stores within another block's walk. That's not counting the video rack in the comic shop I'm sitting in or the African grocery story with racks full of Nollywood movies on DVD.

[Shawn Hopkins]

I also think that within 20 years print comics will become a boutique item. Certainly something that's available for people who really want it, but not the way most people read comics.

Digiital is for publishers too poor to do print. Same can be said for its consumers.

Right, like Marvel comics and every publisher that publishes e-books.

There's a Blockbuster no more than a block from where I'm seated and at least two other video stores within another block's walk. That's not counting the video rack in the comic shop I'm sitting in or the African grocery story with racks full of Nollywood movies on DVD.

That's where you are, though. Try to find one in the rural US. There used to be independent video stores everywhere, but now the best you can do is a Redbox or a small video store within a grocery store. There's definitely a shift taking place in the US.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Digiital is for publishers too poor to do print. Same can be said for its consumers.

OH right... So publishers like Marvel, DC, Penguin Group, Random House and other big name publishers are too poor? This is news to me. Can you show me where you got this information?

From experience (working in a library and all) I see all walks of life, from rich to poor buying ebooks and digital comics is starting to become popular too. Now, some libraries are circulating Nooks (have become a huge hit), allowing audiobooks/ebooks to be downloaded (with digital life though, it's not a permanent download) and of course audiobooks are bigger than ever and still really popular. So please, tell me where you get the information about your consumer comment?

What I'm trying to say here is that digital is becoming more and more popular and more publishers, writers, and creators are embracing digital and NO it's not killing books or comic medium.

[Shawn Hopkins]

I'd think (non-pirated) digital comics are more for the better off, right now, because they cost about the same and the only good way to read them is on an expensive tablet.

[The Black Guardian]

There's a Blockbuster no more than a block from where I'm seated and at least two other video stores within another block's walk. That's not counting the video rack in the comic shop I'm sitting in or the African grocery story with racks full of Nollywood movies on DVD.

There are more... ahem... adult video stores around here than Blockbusters, and the Blockbusters are in "sketchy" parts of town. Lots of Redboxes though.

So... if I extrapolate from this... Hentai is the future.

[medioCORE]

As someone who refuses to go digital for any form of reading entertainment and a fiercely loyal supporter and collecter of printed comics and books, I want to say "comics will be around forever!" But as a sane human being, I know, with great sadness, that there will come a day where actual print will be all but phased out of the mainstream. HOWEVER, this may not happen in my lifetime, so there's a glimmer of hope.