Digital Comics: Adding Readers and Flexibility

by Bruce Lidl | PW - Aug 14, 2013

'Edison Rex' by Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver, available from Monkeybrain

In an industry as old as comics, a few years may not seem like a very long time, but the disruptions in the digital marketplace between San Diego Comic Con 2013 from just a few years prior were seismic. Not long ago digital comics were considered a side story at best, and a likely net negative revenue threat at worst. Yet, the controversy at this year’s Comic Con about digital comics was that there is no controversy anymore.

"We are in the midst of the “dawn of a golden age” for digital comics, according to industry observer Rob Salkowitz. Digital comics are not radical or even unusual today, but rather an accepted—and accerating—part of the comics landscape. As leading comic retailer Joe Field put it, “the old notion of digital versus print does not even make sense anymore.” Speaking to over a dozen comics industry publishers, editors and creators, gave a few insights into where digital comics are today, and how they fit into the broader comics publishing landscape generally.

Almost universally, digital is viewed as “additive” to the comics industry, and not competitive with print. Digital comics are not cannibalizing print sales, but are in fact expanding the market noticeably, and at a time when sales are up for the industry across the board. As DC senior vice president Hank Kanalz put it, “the install base for digital comics is vastly larger than that provided by local comic stores.” Mark Waid, the popular comics writer and digital comics entrepreneur with his Thrillbent website, has been evangelizing for years about the need to break out from the distribution constraints of North America’s “1800” comic shops, and he found wide agreement at San Diego this year. Every publisher I met told me that sales numbers apparently confirm that there was a real untapped market for comics, just waiting to be addressed in a compelling and convenient way.

More