Low selling books

[Xarcon]

When Marvl or DC would go bankrupt, they wouldn't take your entire collection with them.

Yeah, that ties into one of my primary issues with Comixology--they don't let you download your comics. I know they're worried about torrenting (and there are probably other concerns as well), but people already torrent. Making comics available for download won't really change that.

[Brave Sir Robbin]

Digital comics are the reason i got back into reading comics. I carry my entire collection around in my pocket, can read it whenever I want, don't have to worry about storing it or damaging the books. I don't have to track down back issues, and I can read a new comic pretty much whenever I want, wherever I am.

The only real downside is if you're a collector, not a reader. I don't plan on selling my collection.

Nice, that's me too. Only digital comics are how I got into comics big the first time. In the past, I didn't buy monthly and only bought trades of selected titles that I thought would be good. It was a risk jumping into the unknown on trades. However, since digitals came out, I can try lots of different comics because they are all in the store and not subject the the store owner's quirks, I can start every story on the first issue to see if I should keep going or drop it, and every issue almost is available. There are great sales to jump in on if you discover a new comic that you like so I get exposed to way more comics than I would normally and I don't have to ask the opinion of some clerk that may know nothing about the book.

Then if I want the trade because I still love the trades of my favorites, there is Amazon. There, I don't have to go to a shop and discover that even if they have one of the many independent books I follow, the selection isn't something like volumes 3, 4, 7, and 9.

[glennsim]

And, are they still accessible if there are problems with power outages and/or cell phone/internet/wi-fi connection issues?

(Hey, I got hit with several days without power because of tropical storms /hurricanes and nor'easters both last October and this year here (about an hour NE of NYC) . . . I'm getting more worried about that crap now!)

True, but they essentially share most of that risk with TV, movies, etc, anything else that requires electricity to appreciate. And I'm sure we're moving into more of an online, cloud-based world where you'll have less-and-less on hand, and more and more out in the cloud.

EDIT: Actually, I was thinking in terms of re-downloading. If you are using a tablet, the book is downloaded to the tablet and can be read offline. It's just that it's locked in to the app, you can't play around with the individual files.

When Marvl or DC would go bankrupt, they wouldn't take your entire collection with them.

Well, technically if DC went bankrupt, that doesn't change your relationship with Comixology who has the copies of the books on their servers. And if Comixology went bankrupt, they'd still probably give DC the list of who-owns-what and DC can find another way of providing you with the content. And that assumes that either wouldn't just get bought out or whatever, rather than just completely going away. I saw an article the other day on the 5 worst business decisions ever made, and in like 3 out of the 5 cases, the old company had been absorbed or whatever, they didn't just completely go away.

Hostess is about to go out of business, but you'll still be able to get Twinkies from whoever buys the recipe.

[Jadenewt]

And, are they still accessible if there are problems with power outages and/or cell phone/internet/wi-fi connection issues?

(Hey, I got hit with several days without power because of tropical storms /hurricanes and nor'easters both last October and this year here (about an hour NE of NYC) . . . I'm getting more worried about that crap now!)

If you read on a tablet some books can be put in resident memory to be read at convince whether you have an internet connection available or not. I keep a library of about 7 or 8 minis on my tablet at all times so if my internet goes down or I have a doctor's appointment I can read them when I feel like it.

[Mindworm]

Living in a strange corner of the world, as I do, the best way for me to buy printed comics, was to subscribe through a local comic-shop in my hometown. This means that each comic cost me more than $3.99 (for instance), equivalent in Norwegian Kroner, as the local shop imported the comics from US (I think), but upped the price. A comic at the mentioned price would cost me more than 6 dollars. Now I’ve gone totally digital, and while I do still buy a very few Marvel comics digitally at $3.99, most of the comics I buy come from DC, and I wait a month to purchase them, and get (most of them) for only $1.99. The quality of DC-comics are just as high as those from Marvel (and many are better), so this means that I can get my monthly dose for a much cheaper price than what I used to do with the printed copies!

Also, if I lost interest in a certain title (maybe change in creative team), I had to wait a month or two cancel it through the shop, and if a new title appeared, and I wanted to try it out, I had to subscribe immediately, without getting a chance to try it out first. With digital comics, I can try an issue, and then decide if I want to continue with it or not! Using Comixology, I also always get a nice overview what’s currently on the market.

I do miss holding the printed comics in my hands though, and if I had lived in US or UK, I probably would have bought the printed versions.

[kakitamike]

Hmm, I have all my digital comics stored on my ipad, and backed up on my computer, so I guess I gotta worry when we lose access to electricity. I mean, there's always going to be some worst-case scenario. I'll never lose my digital collection to a flood, or other natural disaster, or some vindictive friend/spouse/housepet.

Just like a physical collection, you won't lose your digital one as long as you take precautions.

[glennsim]

Hmm, I have all my digital comics stored on my ipad, and backed up on my computer, so I guess I gotta worry when we lose access to electricity. I mean, there's always going to be some worst-case scenario. I'll never lose my digital collection to a flood, or other natural disaster, or some vindictive friend/spouse/housepet.

Just like a physical collection, you won't lose your digital one as long as you take precautions.

You know, usually when people talk about moving files around and not being able to, they are talking about the individual comic files, but you bring up a good point - by backing up your entire IPad/IPhone, I imagine that backs up your downloaded comics as well.

I think what people would like to be able to do is buy more comics than the memory of their device will hold, and store the overage on the computer and move files back and forth between the computer and the tablet, and that's not something that is doable at this time, as far as I know.

[aaronghunter]

Dial H and All Star Western should be fine. If not, at least I'm doing my part by pulling them. I believe I'm the only person pulling Batwing at my LCS, but I won't miss it that much; I think the cancellation of Batwing would lead - in one or two more waves - to another Batman Incorporated umbrella title which I would then look into.

I suspect that All Star Western, I,Vampire, Demon Knights and Dial H will all do fine in trades over time, and may reach a plateau in issue sales. That may not save them, but it rather should. A publisher of an expansive universe needs to have critically successful titles below the relative mainstream to cultivate potential audience segments and provide depth for exploration in retrospect. This is something Marvel seems to have forgotten, to their cost.

[SpadesSlick]

Dial H and All Star Western should be fine. If not, at least I'm doing my part by pulling them. I believe I'm the only person pulling Batwing at my LCS, but I won't miss it that much; I think the cancellation of Batwing would lead - in one or two more waves - to another Batman Incorporated umbrella title which I would then look into.

I suspect that All Star Western, I,Vampire, Demon Knights and Dial H will all do fine in trades over time, and may reach a plateau in issue sales. That may not save them, but it rather should. A publisher of an expansive universe needs to have critically successful titles below the relative mainstream to cultivate potential audience segments and provide depth for exploration in retrospect. This is something Marvel seems to have forgotten, to their cost.

I, Vampire already proved it will do awesome in trades, what with the first one being a new york times best seller and all.

But I think DC probably realizes the value in critically acclaimed titles, even if they are a bit on the low end of sales. Even if they only see it as developing potential properties to put on the big screen down the line.