You can also pick up issue 1 there too.
Or, if you're waitign for print, watch for it in comic shops soon!
Or, if you're waitign for print, watch for it in comic shops soon!
Showing posts with label digital comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital comics. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Night of the 80's Undead issue 2 available digitally today!
Starting today, my NIGHT OF THE 80'S UNDEAD issue 2 is available digitally via COMIXOLOGY... and for only .99 cents!!!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: cool flash comic
Plus the art (by Barth) and story are spot on too!
Check out MONKEY GIRL and DRAGON DUDE - HERE
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: publishing stuff
A couple cool links from TheComicsBeat...
First, a link to a DIY approach to digital publishing that may be a nifty idea - HERE
With an interesting alternate idea floated in the comments from digital trailblazer DJ Coffman.
As I'm grappling with a clear path forward digitally, both for my work, and my publishing output. It's clear there are any number of directions one could go, and that ultimately there should be an option, or standard, for doing it on one's own, but I also think there's a big potential in the collective space... or digital publishers. As with anything, there needs to be focal points for choosing content on the user side... something to replace the comic shops, the newsstands, etc.
Then second, we have a lengthy conversation with Joe Casey, a comic writer synonymous with creator driven work, and quite the success story - HERE
I've always been a fan of Joe's work. And while nothing of his has ever been a pure favorite, his work is interesting and exciting. And I'm very much looking forward to his and Mike Huddleston's BUTCHER BAKER (from Image).
First, a link to a DIY approach to digital publishing that may be a nifty idea - HERE
With an interesting alternate idea floated in the comments from digital trailblazer DJ Coffman.
As I'm grappling with a clear path forward digitally, both for my work, and my publishing output. It's clear there are any number of directions one could go, and that ultimately there should be an option, or standard, for doing it on one's own, but I also think there's a big potential in the collective space... or digital publishers. As with anything, there needs to be focal points for choosing content on the user side... something to replace the comic shops, the newsstands, etc.
Then second, we have a lengthy conversation with Joe Casey, a comic writer synonymous with creator driven work, and quite the success story - HERE
I've always been a fan of Joe's work. And while nothing of his has ever been a pure favorite, his work is interesting and exciting. And I'm very much looking forward to his and Mike Huddleston's BUTCHER BAKER (from Image).
Monday, October 04, 2010
Viva le double!!
As much as I embrace our digital future, Rich Johnston touches on one of the biggest pitfalls to the new format (especially on smaller handheld devices)... the limited canvas that all but wipes away any chance to dramatically increase scale during the story with double page splashes (and to an extent, single page splashes).He even includes a nice gallery of double page splashes that are a visual feast HERE
I know a lot of people are detractors of the splash page, but for me comics are an art form, and are art first and foremost, so limiting it's potential canvas is worrisome, so as much as I'd love to see comics expand their reach digitally, I hate that it comes at a cost.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: the comics equivalent to the jetpack is here
Hey kids, the future of comics is now.
Print is dead.
Resistance IS futile.
I'm not fucking around.
Not only is the iPad one giant step for the digital transition of print media (i.e. landing on the moon (which happened by the way), and making, I suppose, the Kindle, and iPhone, space chimps in this analogy), but I guess Marvel Comics are part of the launch...
For more on the breakdown of the coming revolution, I've found ComicsBulletin has a nice digital comics column by Ryan McClellan.
And for a look at the iPad running comics in the hands of 21st century comics pioneer, Otis Frampton, have a look at his Ustream review...
Print is dead.
Resistance IS futile.
I'm not fucking around.
Not only is the iPad one giant step for the digital transition of print media (i.e. landing on the moon (which happened by the way), and making, I suppose, the Kindle, and iPhone, space chimps in this analogy), but I guess Marvel Comics are part of the launch...
The bean counters will cry that 1.99 per single issue download (roughly 1/6th of a trade or graphic novel) is equivalent to a music single (roughly 1/12th of an album)... but the fact is, as on Apple's eBook pricing, it's roughly double where it should be, both in terms of cost margin, and market value.
Go ahead and tell me I'm wrong, but I'll just go ahead and sell my shit for .99 cents thanks.
To be clear, I'm not saying the iPad is the actual device that will be embraced moving forward (I'm not saying it isn't either), however, what is clear to me, is that it's the first such tablet that can adequately move things significantly forward, and combined with the major comics publishing giant's participation, and the onslaught of similar devices... this train's left the station.
So, while we may not have jetpacks, make no mistake, the digital revolution just got a big ol' "all systems go", and at least, in the early part of the 21st century, we'll have comic books back in front of billions of people, instead of thousands, as a form of cheap alternative entertainment...
So yes, fanboys, welcome to the future.
Long live the medium.
Now excuse me, I've got some work to do...
For more on the breakdown of the coming revolution, I've found ComicsBulletin has a nice digital comics column by Ryan McClellan.
And for a look at the iPad running comics in the hands of 21st century comics pioneer, Otis Frampton, have a look at his Ustream review...
Monday, April 20, 2009
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: new Sony Notebook - comics reader?
Apparently it’s reallyyyy slow, and yeah, it’s like $900 dollars… otherwise the new 8" screen Sony Netbook looks awfully close to the killer comic reading machine!
Watch the AOTS vid, or check out their notes on it HERE
Darn!
Watch the AOTS vid, or check out their notes on it HERE
Darn!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Comic Book Indsustry State of the Union 2
Well, I've always focused on the bigger picture of the comic industry here, first, as a publisher/creator working in the direct market it's obviously on my radar, and second, because I've known for years that we were at a crossroads in the US industry. Now it seems, keeping tabs on the pulse of the industry is a daily occurrence, so here's another roundup of news items relating to our changing times...
____
First we have a new feature on The Beat, adding an independent publisher roundup to their monthly tallies of comic shops sales, based off the Diamond top 300 books.
Very interesting to get a coherent rundown of all the indie books making the list.
Check it out HERE
____
Next, also courtesy of a link from The Beat, Todd Allen explores a doomsday scenario, where the direct market, if things play out poorly, could collapse altogether (and hey, that's not too far fetched... I've always said, digital will reach a tipping point when either A) there's a reader device current fans embrace, or B) when one of the large publishers (Marvel or DC) decide to switch to a digital model, of which the latter could occur at any time).
Check out part one HERE
____
Then, hop over to Newsarama for a couple different articles on digital comics...
First, a poll on what readers think is the best price model for digital HERE
and second, they take a look at the new software update for the iPhone, and it's implications for comics HERE
____
And finally, there's the news that DC plans to start shifting pricing on it's books to $3.99 (to match Marvels recent-ish moves of the same), and also some rumblings of continued price increases for Diamond UK, that were on-again, off-again (see Lying In the Gutters), that could've had a big impact on the UK market.
Tune in next week dear readers for what I'm sure will be more developments...
____
First we have a new feature on The Beat, adding an independent publisher roundup to their monthly tallies of comic shops sales, based off the Diamond top 300 books.
Very interesting to get a coherent rundown of all the indie books making the list.
Check it out HERE
____
Next, also courtesy of a link from The Beat, Todd Allen explores a doomsday scenario, where the direct market, if things play out poorly, could collapse altogether (and hey, that's not too far fetched... I've always said, digital will reach a tipping point when either A) there's a reader device current fans embrace, or B) when one of the large publishers (Marvel or DC) decide to switch to a digital model, of which the latter could occur at any time).
Check out part one HERE
____
Then, hop over to Newsarama for a couple different articles on digital comics...
First, a poll on what readers think is the best price model for digital HERE
and second, they take a look at the new software update for the iPhone, and it's implications for comics HERE
____
And finally, there's the news that DC plans to start shifting pricing on it's books to $3.99 (to match Marvels recent-ish moves of the same), and also some rumblings of continued price increases for Diamond UK, that were on-again, off-again (see Lying In the Gutters), that could've had a big impact on the UK market.
Tune in next week dear readers for what I'm sure will be more developments...
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Comic Book Indsustry State of the Union
We all wish we could say it's stong, but just like everything else, it's in turmoil. From rising prices, to key changes to distribution, the weak economy, and the crossroads in format, there's a lot going on in the comics industry right now... Here are a rundown of some news and notes:
Perhaps the biggest development currently, are the changes at Diamond Distribution, increasing sales thresholds and potentially driving away a good percentage of independent offerings, and the fallout from those changes.
____
Two potential distribution options are attempting to fill the void this move will create, since idependent comic sales were already in turmoil.
- First, is Haven Distribution, a company in existence for about a year, that took over for the former Coldcut backlist distributor. Haven announced their arrival, relocation of operations to Chicago from California, and abolishment of the "no superheroes" policy, and then pretty much faded away (or at least went to work behind the scenes, and/or under the radar). However, with the move at Diamond, their virtual only rival, Haven is at least attempting to make a play to capture more of the independent market, by now offering advance order material as well.
As an independent publisher myself, I can share some insight here.
When I started out self-publishing in late 2005, there were then 3 distribution options, Diamond, ColdCut, and FM International (at least on paper, Coldcut and FM were very small by comparison). Within six months of publishing my first book, and attempting to get setu up with FM International, having met a couple of the key players there at Comic-Con, FM closed up shop, and I was quickly down to 2 options. Having already setup my book Super Real with Diamond, that only left Cold Cut as another avenue of distribution. However, they only took previosly released, or backlist material, so after sending samples in once I had some books published, twice, and never receiving a response, they eventually folded up in late 2007, early 2008, and then became Haven Distribution. (I don't know if I was just a victim of their policy for not carrying "superhero" material, or a symptom of their decline.)
Once Haven was established, I'd also contacted them via the publisher contact area of their website, with no response. Fast forward quite a few months and I try again, upon publising some more product, and do get a response this time. Actaully from someone I know and used to work with at a comic website, who was a reviewer, and bit of a fan of my book. But I'm informed that they're not currently accepting any new product, until November. So I check back in November and am told that unfortunately things are still on hold, and that it's now looking like January before they'll open up again. Of course when January rolls around, the game has changed, and Diamond has announced their changes in policy. So Haven is accepting new material, and also scrambling to take advantage of the new landscape, by also offering preorders or adavance product solicitations.
I'm currently working with them, and am hopefull that they can build another outlet to the direct market for independent material. They have a catalog system of sorts in place, that is a bit promising, if retailers and the market will embrace it and be able to utilize it in addition to Diamond. Those are some pretty big questions though. Certainly some marketing on thier part, and/or independent publishers listed by them, is key to help spread the word, and grease the skids.
There are of course many other hurdles, so time will tell.
Along the lines of getting the word out though, I will talk at more length about Haven and their product catalog, Comics! in the near future. Suffice it say, they plan to have a new catalog out this May.
- Second, is Ka-Blam.com, a POD (print on demand) printer. POD printing is an affordable option for digital printing of comics, where by leveraging technology, a creator can print small quanties of a book, from as little as a single copy, for the same mostly affordable price. POD printers are widely used to supplement web content, or for direct sales at conventions and online. They are not vialbe as a mass market solution, as although the costs are reasonable, they are not low enough, nor do they lower, when print at higher quantities. This has been the main hurdle to utilizing POD technology to offer products to retailers, as retailers buy at wholesale pricing, which is only a fraction of the cover/retail price of a product. The average cost to print a standard sized black and white book via POD is around the $2 range, or $3 range for full color, so you can see, the margains are pretty small, and thus only work for direct sales from the creator/publisher to the reader/fan.
However, as with Haven, Diamond's change in policies has brought about a change to Ka-Blams's services as well, with their announced Comics Monkey POD distribution service.
Without going into too much detail, Ka-Blam is looking to offer any content they print, to comic book shops, via a new pricing model, where they still take their standard cut via printing fees, but then offer product to retailers at discount (starting at 60% of retail), and a small cut to creators/publishers of the sales. And "small cut" is the key here, as I mentioned before, with POD costs being what they are, they're not really condusive to wholesale pricing, at least in line with the current direct market price model, so instead of finding a way to lower their costs and share percentages with publishers more in line with what they'd find from full run printing and distribution, Ka-Blam is offering 10% of the retail to the publisher.
I'm not suggesting Ka-Blam is short changing the creator in any way here, they're simply trying ot make the POD model work on a wholesale level, and these are the first efforts of this kind. So, they're moving forward while admittedly breaking new ground, and trying to find what works for all parties involved. Not the least of which is the reader, because if you simply raise cover prices to offset the difference in cost associated with the POD model vs standard comic distribution, the cover prices could climb steeply. It's a new way of looking at print sales, that also has a completely new set of challenges.
So, between the two, there are efforts already in place to improve direct market independent comics distribution. But, it's very early, and hard to tell how any of it will play out.
Or, I think, more to the point, if anything can even be done at this point to salvage independent print comics as we knew them, most certainly digital is the future, and increasingly more so by the day. So, is there enough demand, and/or time before the paradigm shift, to maintain a print market? Or are we already past the tipping point?
____
Now, here are some links on related stories:
Perhaps the biggest development currently, are the changes at Diamond Distribution, increasing sales thresholds and potentially driving away a good percentage of independent offerings, and the fallout from those changes.
____
Two potential distribution options are attempting to fill the void this move will create, since idependent comic sales were already in turmoil.
- First, is Haven Distribution, a company in existence for about a year, that took over for the former Coldcut backlist distributor. Haven announced their arrival, relocation of operations to Chicago from California, and abolishment of the "no superheroes" policy, and then pretty much faded away (or at least went to work behind the scenes, and/or under the radar). However, with the move at Diamond, their virtual only rival, Haven is at least attempting to make a play to capture more of the independent market, by now offering advance order material as well.
As an independent publisher myself, I can share some insight here.
When I started out self-publishing in late 2005, there were then 3 distribution options, Diamond, ColdCut, and FM International (at least on paper, Coldcut and FM were very small by comparison). Within six months of publishing my first book, and attempting to get setu up with FM International, having met a couple of the key players there at Comic-Con, FM closed up shop, and I was quickly down to 2 options. Having already setup my book Super Real with Diamond, that only left Cold Cut as another avenue of distribution. However, they only took previosly released, or backlist material, so after sending samples in once I had some books published, twice, and never receiving a response, they eventually folded up in late 2007, early 2008, and then became Haven Distribution. (I don't know if I was just a victim of their policy for not carrying "superhero" material, or a symptom of their decline.)
Once Haven was established, I'd also contacted them via the publisher contact area of their website, with no response. Fast forward quite a few months and I try again, upon publising some more product, and do get a response this time. Actaully from someone I know and used to work with at a comic website, who was a reviewer, and bit of a fan of my book. But I'm informed that they're not currently accepting any new product, until November. So I check back in November and am told that unfortunately things are still on hold, and that it's now looking like January before they'll open up again. Of course when January rolls around, the game has changed, and Diamond has announced their changes in policy. So Haven is accepting new material, and also scrambling to take advantage of the new landscape, by also offering preorders or adavance product solicitations.
I'm currently working with them, and am hopefull that they can build another outlet to the direct market for independent material. They have a catalog system of sorts in place, that is a bit promising, if retailers and the market will embrace it and be able to utilize it in addition to Diamond. Those are some pretty big questions though. Certainly some marketing on thier part, and/or independent publishers listed by them, is key to help spread the word, and grease the skids.
There are of course many other hurdles, so time will tell.
Along the lines of getting the word out though, I will talk at more length about Haven and their product catalog, Comics! in the near future. Suffice it say, they plan to have a new catalog out this May.
- Second, is Ka-Blam.com, a POD (print on demand) printer. POD printing is an affordable option for digital printing of comics, where by leveraging technology, a creator can print small quanties of a book, from as little as a single copy, for the same mostly affordable price. POD printers are widely used to supplement web content, or for direct sales at conventions and online. They are not vialbe as a mass market solution, as although the costs are reasonable, they are not low enough, nor do they lower, when print at higher quantities. This has been the main hurdle to utilizing POD technology to offer products to retailers, as retailers buy at wholesale pricing, which is only a fraction of the cover/retail price of a product. The average cost to print a standard sized black and white book via POD is around the $2 range, or $3 range for full color, so you can see, the margains are pretty small, and thus only work for direct sales from the creator/publisher to the reader/fan.
However, as with Haven, Diamond's change in policies has brought about a change to Ka-Blams's services as well, with their announced Comics Monkey POD distribution service.
Without going into too much detail, Ka-Blam is looking to offer any content they print, to comic book shops, via a new pricing model, where they still take their standard cut via printing fees, but then offer product to retailers at discount (starting at 60% of retail), and a small cut to creators/publishers of the sales. And "small cut" is the key here, as I mentioned before, with POD costs being what they are, they're not really condusive to wholesale pricing, at least in line with the current direct market price model, so instead of finding a way to lower their costs and share percentages with publishers more in line with what they'd find from full run printing and distribution, Ka-Blam is offering 10% of the retail to the publisher.
I'm not suggesting Ka-Blam is short changing the creator in any way here, they're simply trying ot make the POD model work on a wholesale level, and these are the first efforts of this kind. So, they're moving forward while admittedly breaking new ground, and trying to find what works for all parties involved. Not the least of which is the reader, because if you simply raise cover prices to offset the difference in cost associated with the POD model vs standard comic distribution, the cover prices could climb steeply. It's a new way of looking at print sales, that also has a completely new set of challenges.
So, between the two, there are efforts already in place to improve direct market independent comics distribution. But, it's very early, and hard to tell how any of it will play out.
Or, I think, more to the point, if anything can even be done at this point to salvage independent print comics as we knew them, most certainly digital is the future, and increasingly more so by the day. So, is there enough demand, and/or time before the paradigm shift, to maintain a print market? Or are we already past the tipping point?
____
Now, here are some links on related stories:
- Steven Grant notices that independent comic sales are growing, not trending down... at least direct con sales that is... in his column HERE
- Tim Seeley ask questions about how to make comics cheaper, but doesn't find many answers over on CBR HERE
- The Beat highlights some Kindle comics play HERE
(And don't forget, Amazon has partnered with Apple to offer a Kindle app on Iphones)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Comic Book Crossroads: DIGITAL COMICS
Okay, I took a two week vacation, and have been in uber busy mode since my return getting ready for this weekend's Wondercon, and the 2009 con season, but here are some links, and thoughts on the ever evolving comic-book-crossroads that we are increasingly in...
A brazen recent article on Uclick and comics for the iPhone HERE
Where they posit that the future is now, and it is comics on a 3.5" screen!?!
Next up, Newsarama talking with a Ka-Blam.com guru regarding their escalated effort at direct market POD distribution HERE
Ka-Blam is tops in POD comic book printing in my book, and I've used there service exclusively for years now. They've had the Indy Planet online store all along, and just as with ComixPress' similar effort, they don't move much product outside webcomic hits.
I'm not sure how A) they can make POD print distribution viable to the creator/publisher, when POD costs are already such that margins are very tight at full price direct selling, they must plan to offer a decrease in cost to make a wholesale scale feasible... and B) like Haven, I'm not sure how well an infinite catalog can translate to direct market shops, when they have a hard enough time servicing the sizable content via Diamond, under their old thresholds.
Sure it's an option, and will work for some, but it seems a tricky path overall to me...
Then we have a more detailed viewpoint on the changes at Diamond from The Comics Reporter, and a myriad of reasons it's likely more harmful and short sighted than earnest HERE
Certainly the speculation of Geppi and his other business woes, outside Diamond, play a part in the overall picture and decisions to more aggressively manage the direct market's lesser channels.
If nothing else, the direct market landscape has changed, and the comic book crossroads might take a sharp turn at this point in history...
DIGITAL COMICS - Kindle2
Released by Amazon.com this week, the Kindle2 is the next step in ereader technology.
It's light, paper thin (just over 1/3 inch), backlit, glare proof, PDF and JPG supportive (but not CBZ). The Kindle 2, with it's new 16 shade gray scale being the main improvement, is not that far beyond the existing technology, but it begs the question, how far are we from a full color e-reader?
The overall size is roughly 8.5" tall by 5.5" wide, or ash can comic size (half an8.5.11" sheet), with a 6" diagonal screen (at 600 x 800 pixel resolution).
The iPhone's screen by comparison is a mere 3.5" diagonal widescreen (480 x 320 pixel resolution)
All with a price tag of $360.
Sure it downloads, browses, and streams music too, but at that price, you'd think the content was cheaper. As a book reader, the standard price is $9.99, hardly a bargain. At this value, I don't see the Kindle2 proliferating the market to the extent of the iPhone, and thus, don't see any huge potential shift in comic content to the platform.
Here are specs for the Kindle2 vs different reader options out there:
Kindle2
$360
6" diagonal display (600 x 800 167ppi pixel resolution / 3.6"(W) × 4.8"(H))
8" x 5.3" x 0.36" size
10.2 oz
16 levels of gray
PDF and JPG support
2GB internal memory
Sony eReader (PRS-700)
~$300
6" display (600 x 800 170ppi pixel resolution)
5 1/9 x 6 7/9 x 0.4" size
10 oz
8 levels of gray
PDF and JPG support
512MB internal memory
up to 32GB external plug in memory
iPhone (3G)
$
3.5" (diag widescreen) display (480 x 320 163ppi pixel resolution)
4.5 x 2.4 x 0.48 size
4.7 oz
full color
8GB or 16GB flash drive
up to 7 hours video playback
So yeah, ideally, we could use a slightly larger screen for comic page display (just as comic books are larger in size than a paperback), and of course, full color.
The Kindle 2 gets us a step closer to that ideal format, but perhaps now, to a workable mid ground. Because if content providers are making a go of comics on the comparatively tiny, yet full color, iPhone screen, a rich gray scale display in twice the size should be usable too. At least until we get the full size and color reader we're looking for.
A brazen recent article on Uclick and comics for the iPhone HERE
Where they posit that the future is now, and it is comics on a 3.5" screen!?!
Next up, Newsarama talking with a Ka-Blam.com guru regarding their escalated effort at direct market POD distribution HERE
Ka-Blam is tops in POD comic book printing in my book, and I've used there service exclusively for years now. They've had the Indy Planet online store all along, and just as with ComixPress' similar effort, they don't move much product outside webcomic hits.
I'm not sure how A) they can make POD print distribution viable to the creator/publisher, when POD costs are already such that margins are very tight at full price direct selling, they must plan to offer a decrease in cost to make a wholesale scale feasible... and B) like Haven, I'm not sure how well an infinite catalog can translate to direct market shops, when they have a hard enough time servicing the sizable content via Diamond, under their old thresholds.
Sure it's an option, and will work for some, but it seems a tricky path overall to me...
Then we have a more detailed viewpoint on the changes at Diamond from The Comics Reporter, and a myriad of reasons it's likely more harmful and short sighted than earnest HERE
Certainly the speculation of Geppi and his other business woes, outside Diamond, play a part in the overall picture and decisions to more aggressively manage the direct market's lesser channels.
If nothing else, the direct market landscape has changed, and the comic book crossroads might take a sharp turn at this point in history...
DIGITAL COMICS - Kindle2
Released by Amazon.com this week, the Kindle2 is the next step in ereader technology.
It's light, paper thin (just over 1/3 inch), backlit, glare proof, PDF and JPG supportive (but not CBZ). The Kindle 2, with it's new 16 shade gray scale being the main improvement, is not that far beyond the existing technology, but it begs the question, how far are we from a full color e-reader?
The overall size is roughly 8.5" tall by 5.5" wide, or ash can comic size (half an8.5.11" sheet), with a 6" diagonal screen (at 600 x 800 pixel resolution).
The iPhone's screen by comparison is a mere 3.5" diagonal widescreen (480 x 320 pixel resolution)
All with a price tag of $360.
Sure it downloads, browses, and streams music too, but at that price, you'd think the content was cheaper. As a book reader, the standard price is $9.99, hardly a bargain. At this value, I don't see the Kindle2 proliferating the market to the extent of the iPhone, and thus, don't see any huge potential shift in comic content to the platform.
Here are specs for the Kindle2 vs different reader options out there:
Kindle2
$360
6" diagonal display (600 x 800 167ppi pixel resolution / 3.6"(W) × 4.8"(H))
8" x 5.3" x 0.36" size
10.2 oz
16 levels of gray
PDF and JPG support
2GB internal memory
Sony eReader (PRS-700)
~$300
6" display (600 x 800 170ppi pixel resolution)
5 1/9 x 6 7/9 x 0.4" size
10 oz
8 levels of gray
PDF and JPG support
512MB internal memory
up to 32GB external plug in memory
iPhone (3G)
$
3.5" (diag widescreen) display (480 x 320 163ppi pixel resolution)
4.5 x 2.4 x 0.48 size
4.7 oz
full color
8GB or 16GB flash drive
up to 7 hours video playback
So yeah, ideally, we could use a slightly larger screen for comic page display (just as comic books are larger in size than a paperback), and of course, full color.
The Kindle 2 gets us a step closer to that ideal format, but perhaps now, to a workable mid ground. Because if content providers are making a go of comics on the comparatively tiny, yet full color, iPhone screen, a rich gray scale display in twice the size should be usable too. At least until we get the full size and color reader we're looking for.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Diamond raises independent pubisher sales thresholds PART 2: beneath the surface
First be sure and read part 1, my reaction yesterday to the news of the changes to Diamond's indpendent publisher policy. Now, here are some more in depth thoughts on the topic...
Comics are a business.
True.
However, comics, and by that we mean the US comics industry/direct market, have become increasingly a business about the large publishers.
There was a time when small press was a viable percentage of what the direct market was about, ushering in new creators, ideas, characters, companies, and franchises, offering a diversity beyond the spandex and cape comics that had conquered the newsstands, and growing the medium to it's current more mature existence.
Let's not forget, there once was a time that comics were truly for kids, and while Stan Lee and the modern Marvel universe may have played a large role in changing that, we certainly wouldn't have gotten to where we are today without the small press and creator-owned comic books of the 1980's and beyond.
It's easy to point to Diamond, and their handling of this material, being vastly the sole distributor to comic books shops, as the guilty party, but lets not forget, it's accross the board. Somewhere along the line, there was tipping point - most likely when the big two publishers realized they had a captive, and importantly, static market, and catered their publishing around that, increasing output and gimmicks to take more and more of their fanbase's comic spending dollars, leaving less money for everyone, accross the board, to spend on independent offerings. In turn, driving interest further in their direction, and therefore affecting every aspect of the industry, including print and web coverage. You see, it's not just tough to sell a book via Diamond, it's also become increasingly difficult to get any press whatsoever for the small press, as comic news sites become more and more corporate, and hit/traffic based revenue driven. They simply no longer afford much coverage at all to anything outside the larger publishers, as they need to drive their traffic based revenue, with the advertising rates rising, along with their hit counts, and the industries largest and main print publication, Wizard, fancying itself a media magazine, with coverage and expensive ad rates to coincide with it's bloated distribution numbers. There's increasingly no where for the smaller voices to turn, or even be heard, and increasingly more product from the large publishers, with high level, high volume exposure, competing against them.
The entire industry has become self serving to these larger publishers, and there's no one with any power, championing indpendent comics and the small press. Sure, the web is infinite, but small press centric sites come and go, and no real voice has emerged. (This has been a point I often muse about, and would love to address, putting together and pitching some sort of small press column to the big sites, but something I unfortunately haven't found the time for.)
In recent years, one can sight the emergence of the "indy" scene, and/or market, that's largely driven by those like-minded creators, and a growing convention circuit, arguably, mostly buoyed by, themselves. But yes, the indy market does exist, and is also linked to the growing alt/lit style book market. Both this convention circuit, and bookstore market, are unique, and mostly seperate from the comic book store direct market though, and therefore still leave a void in presence there. Most any independent publisher that traffics in this material will openly point out that Diamond and the direct market are just a fraction or subset of their business.
There is a real void of support for small press comic books across the board in the direct market, and no one to champion them. Readers can't be the ones to drive this effort, and Diamond is a business, simply reacting to the reality of their market (and, not deciding to invest in, or cultivate their back catalog). That leaves the retailers, and the publishers with the most interest, and power in this situation. If either doesn't band together and make an effort, to bring more focus to small press product, the ability for the market to offer it may slip away completely.
Or, perhaps it's all just a cycle, and it takes the fall of small press completely, and a clean slate, for some new publisher to enter the mix post collapse (like PC comics, or Eclipse in the 1980's), and get the attention small press used to draw, from lack of competition and renewed need for that material, for the whole small press boom to start again.
It's our choice, a proactive effort to bring visibility to this portion of the medium, to fight the control the large publishers are exerting on the market, or sit idiley by, do nothing, and see if fate, and the market, deem another rise from the ashes.
Of course, changing paradigms like digital distribution, and the switch in format to trade/graphic novel length material are large factors in where things go from here too, but that still doesn't change the current climate of the direct market and it's complete focus on the upper tier Diamond clients, which means any efforts in it's direction will face similar disadvantages seen in the current model.
Comics are a business.
True.
However, comics, and by that we mean the US comics industry/direct market, have become increasingly a business about the large publishers.
There was a time when small press was a viable percentage of what the direct market was about, ushering in new creators, ideas, characters, companies, and franchises, offering a diversity beyond the spandex and cape comics that had conquered the newsstands, and growing the medium to it's current more mature existence.
Let's not forget, there once was a time that comics were truly for kids, and while Stan Lee and the modern Marvel universe may have played a large role in changing that, we certainly wouldn't have gotten to where we are today without the small press and creator-owned comic books of the 1980's and beyond.
It's easy to point to Diamond, and their handling of this material, being vastly the sole distributor to comic books shops, as the guilty party, but lets not forget, it's accross the board. Somewhere along the line, there was tipping point - most likely when the big two publishers realized they had a captive, and importantly, static market, and catered their publishing around that, increasing output and gimmicks to take more and more of their fanbase's comic spending dollars, leaving less money for everyone, accross the board, to spend on independent offerings. In turn, driving interest further in their direction, and therefore affecting every aspect of the industry, including print and web coverage. You see, it's not just tough to sell a book via Diamond, it's also become increasingly difficult to get any press whatsoever for the small press, as comic news sites become more and more corporate, and hit/traffic based revenue driven. They simply no longer afford much coverage at all to anything outside the larger publishers, as they need to drive their traffic based revenue, with the advertising rates rising, along with their hit counts, and the industries largest and main print publication, Wizard, fancying itself a media magazine, with coverage and expensive ad rates to coincide with it's bloated distribution numbers. There's increasingly no where for the smaller voices to turn, or even be heard, and increasingly more product from the large publishers, with high level, high volume exposure, competing against them.
The entire industry has become self serving to these larger publishers, and there's no one with any power, championing indpendent comics and the small press. Sure, the web is infinite, but small press centric sites come and go, and no real voice has emerged. (This has been a point I often muse about, and would love to address, putting together and pitching some sort of small press column to the big sites, but something I unfortunately haven't found the time for.)
In recent years, one can sight the emergence of the "indy" scene, and/or market, that's largely driven by those like-minded creators, and a growing convention circuit, arguably, mostly buoyed by, themselves. But yes, the indy market does exist, and is also linked to the growing alt/lit style book market. Both this convention circuit, and bookstore market, are unique, and mostly seperate from the comic book store direct market though, and therefore still leave a void in presence there. Most any independent publisher that traffics in this material will openly point out that Diamond and the direct market are just a fraction or subset of their business.
There is a real void of support for small press comic books across the board in the direct market, and no one to champion them. Readers can't be the ones to drive this effort, and Diamond is a business, simply reacting to the reality of their market (and, not deciding to invest in, or cultivate their back catalog). That leaves the retailers, and the publishers with the most interest, and power in this situation. If either doesn't band together and make an effort, to bring more focus to small press product, the ability for the market to offer it may slip away completely.
Or, perhaps it's all just a cycle, and it takes the fall of small press completely, and a clean slate, for some new publisher to enter the mix post collapse (like PC comics, or Eclipse in the 1980's), and get the attention small press used to draw, from lack of competition and renewed need for that material, for the whole small press boom to start again.
It's our choice, a proactive effort to bring visibility to this portion of the medium, to fight the control the large publishers are exerting on the market, or sit idiley by, do nothing, and see if fate, and the market, deem another rise from the ashes.
Of course, changing paradigms like digital distribution, and the switch in format to trade/graphic novel length material are large factors in where things go from here too, but that still doesn't change the current climate of the direct market and it's complete focus on the upper tier Diamond clients, which means any efforts in it's direction will face similar disadvantages seen in the current model.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Diamond raises independent pubisher sales thresholds PART 1: the surface
So the big news in the world of comics is of course the announced (or rather, exposed) changes to the Diamond Distribution independent publisher sales thresholds, and as an independent publisher that’s listed by Diamond, well, that’s me.
Basically it means that things will be drastically changed in what product you see in comic shops. Either a more seismic shift to trade or larger price point style format, and/or a dearth of variety outside the larger publishers, or a continued move to digital for those in the back end of the catalog. But most likely all of the above.
I know many of you kids out there have no real interest in what goes on in comic shops, or selling your comics via those outlets, and are already making good online, but for us old timers like me, it’s something we still cling to, perhaps pointlessly. Look, I’ve long said digital is the future, and nothing can change that, the economics are indisputable, and sure there will always be some print comics, however, instead of a the perfect app coming along to cause the shift, looks like it will be the direct market’s inability to support anything outside the big two publishers, who completely drive the industry (selling 70-85% of it’s product). Anyone who argues independently published quality can find it’s way, regardless, is deluded in thinking so, I'd argue that the playing field is simply too unbalanced at this point.
So, I’ll continue to look for solutions outside the norm, like the change in format I did last year to larger, original graphic novellas, and addressing digital solutions. This may be the end of an era, but it’s certainly the dawn of a new one.
Links to the story:
The Beat
Lying in the Gutters
The Comics Reporter
For the time being, you'll continue to see Super Real Graphics print product via comic book shops. For how long, remains to be seen.
Basically it means that things will be drastically changed in what product you see in comic shops. Either a more seismic shift to trade or larger price point style format, and/or a dearth of variety outside the larger publishers, or a continued move to digital for those in the back end of the catalog. But most likely all of the above.
I know many of you kids out there have no real interest in what goes on in comic shops, or selling your comics via those outlets, and are already making good online, but for us old timers like me, it’s something we still cling to, perhaps pointlessly. Look, I’ve long said digital is the future, and nothing can change that, the economics are indisputable, and sure there will always be some print comics, however, instead of a the perfect app coming along to cause the shift, looks like it will be the direct market’s inability to support anything outside the big two publishers, who completely drive the industry (selling 70-85% of it’s product). Anyone who argues independently published quality can find it’s way, regardless, is deluded in thinking so, I'd argue that the playing field is simply too unbalanced at this point.
So, I’ll continue to look for solutions outside the norm, like the change in format I did last year to larger, original graphic novellas, and addressing digital solutions. This may be the end of an era, but it’s certainly the dawn of a new one.
Links to the story:
The Beat
Lying in the Gutters
The Comics Reporter
For the time being, you'll continue to see Super Real Graphics print product via comic book shops. For how long, remains to be seen.
Monday, September 01, 2008
INDUSTRY RANT: Passion of the Comics
Well, haven't done one of these in a while, and it's kind of topical now, what with Kirkman's plea to save comics...
I dunno, that just seemed, odd, to me.
But, hell yes, can't argue more creator-owned comics wouldn't be a darn cool thing!
Anyway, my buddy Rashad (one kick ass comics head) had a journal up on DeviantArt about comic fans needing to "chill", in relation to making some changes in the US industry, for the better. Be that more creator-owned comics, or some actual, you know, change and growth, to their beloved superhero (registered trademark/copyright Marvel/DC) comics!
And yeah, while I agree with that, I don't think the ownus of change is on the fans, or at least, the "readers", I think it's more on the powers-that-be, or the "powers-that-will-be"!
So here's my response, or passionate rant, that mostly sums up my observations to what's needed to truly move the US comics industry forward:
What do you think?
Come on, lets IMPROVE comics!!!
I dunno, that just seemed, odd, to me.
But, hell yes, can't argue more creator-owned comics wouldn't be a darn cool thing!
Anyway, my buddy Rashad (one kick ass comics head) had a journal up on DeviantArt about comic fans needing to "chill", in relation to making some changes in the US industry, for the better. Be that more creator-owned comics, or some actual, you know, change and growth, to their beloved superhero (registered trademark/copyright Marvel/DC) comics!
And yeah, while I agree with that, I don't think the ownus of change is on the fans, or at least, the "readers", I think it's more on the powers-that-be, or the "powers-that-will-be"!
So here's my response, or passionate rant, that mostly sums up my observations to what's needed to truly move the US comics industry forward:
The US comics industry is incestuous, and is only concerned with milking money from it's existing, dwindling fanbase. And because of that, it's core fanbase are only concerned with getting more of what they're spoon fed by the big two.
Look, it's business, and through other media, they aren't forced to innovate and bring in a new audience. They can keep wrangling dollars out of the aging fanbase, and not really giving too much effort to new readers.
It's not really on the fan base though, there gonna want what they want, for the most part.
It's gonna take something new changing the game; digital, manga, etc, or a corporate focus to get new readers at the cost of existing ones.
There's a lot of things that are great about the current market, but most of it is built on old outdated standards, from production, to story, to quality, to distribution. Soup to nuts, the US market is still built around the disposable entertainment newsstand model it left behind decades ago.
To have a better quality product, one only need look East or West, manga as many point out, tell natural story arcs, more than never ending serializations (only concerned about maintaining the status quo for licensing), and European comics have much higher production quality from their slower production schedule emphasizing art over all, instead of a new book every 30 fucking days!! To say nothing of either’s wider focus in genre, tone, and style.
To put it bluntly, it’s a mess.
But if it’s clear to a layman like me what’s lacking, than surely something can be done.
As I said, it’ll just take some kind of paradigm shift. Because the fans don’t want it (by in large), and the corporations that run/own/are the big two (that do what, 70/80% of US comics?) don’t either. The publishing divisions are just farm systems for other media and licensing, that's what Marvel/DC comics are.
But, with a new generation embracing manga, and webcomics, as much or more than the stale US market (hey, don’t get me wrong, there’s a ton of good shit in it too, despite itself, but it’s approach is completely ass backwards and not looking forward), who knows what may come.
Digital will undeniably play a part, or most likely change the game, no outcry for tangible reading can stop the economics of it, it’s just a matter of a better reader most likely (and yes, there’ll always be print… or at least for the foreseeable future, to some extent, but not as the norm), and/or time.
And yeah, it’s funny, the US market had the tools, and the model in place, with things like Ultimate Marvel, and All Star DC. You could roll out new contemporary retellings of your core characters/stories, which you’ll HAVE to do eventually (as you point out, not many concepts are built like the X-Men where by it’s very nature, a school for mutants, it’s built to have legacy and change... but hey, just cause they keep adding (or subtracting) mutants from their roster, don't confuse that for actual change), while still telling the current continuity, and bringing those stories growth and an actual end. All while being massively epic, on a scale beyond any other medium. You’ve got your existing stories for your aging fanbase, and new contemporary stories for new fans (and those that enjoy that as well). Then you can just repeat that model. :)
The problem is, then they'd have to actually invest in finding that new market...
Otherwise, as things are, there’s never any real change, and only the die hardest of the die hards, won’t get burnt out, or just plain burnt, by that! (which is pretty much what you have now, perhaps the movies etc bring back some lapsed readers/fans, but do they really bring in new fans in any large number?)
Every death, undone.
Every change, swept away.
It’s frustrating, dumb, and just lame.
And none of it serves story, which is what ideally, we’d all like to see.
Or ya know, outside serialization, creator-owned or story driven material, if it’s good enough, will live on. Case in point, Watchmen.
So hopefully that will sink into someones brain, “Hey, this Watchmen thing doesn’t go on to infinity, maybe telling a really great story can continue to sell as good, or better than recycling the same shit forever?!?”
But more likely, they’ll just start an ongoing comic for it! ;)
And the one last caveat to all this, that's kind of forgotten today, is licensed comics. And no, I don’t mean Dynamite Entertainment and nostalgic licenses like that (Lone Ranger, Buck Rogers, etc), those sell comics for independent/smaller publishers because they’re recognized brands marketed to the existing aging fanbase. I mean licenses for current other media. The big two used to trade in this heavily, and now that they’re essentially their own license companies, do not. And that my friends, is/was a huge factor to snagging new readers!
Star Wars, GI Joe, Transformers, etc
Hit movies, TV, and toy franchises bring in new readers.
They buy a comic of their favorite toy, then if they like comics, start trying other stuff.
Hmmm.
Where’s Harry Potter, where’s Lord of the Rings, where’s more video games of the moment?
That puts new butts in the seats!
Sure, there’s Battlestar Galactica, Halo etc, but those skew more older, which is a tougher sell for those who aren’t already fans of the medium, to say nothing of the lacking mainstream availability.
Oh, and FYI, bookstores are not the answer.
You need outlets that reach everyone, and bookstores are far from that.
Outside the internet, the easy answer a few years ago was video stores, but not anymore… but something more along those lines, where people already traffic in similar media on a large scale.
As you can tell man, this is one of my biggest peeves, let’s not call it fixing comics, but improving them. If you’re a true fan of the medium, you only want to share it with more people, and I just don’t see that happening enough with where things are, or where they’re headed, but there’s always hope!
What do you think?
Come on, lets IMPROVE comics!!!
Monday, October 29, 2007
INDUSTRY RANT: The game has changed!
Oh, wait, comics aren't music... damn!A couple weeks ago though, the music industry changed, with another huge move towards all digital, when Radiohead announced they're new album, In Rainbows, would be released online, and by them, direct. Regardless of what you think of their decision to make the album available at whatever cost, including free, they'll still take in likely bushels more than what a record company would give them. No middleman, no media, just 0's and 1's for pennies on the dollar. Artist makes more, fan pays less, that's what digital can, and I think should, mean.
That's the future of entertainment (at least the near one), and hopefully comics.
I know in the past I've ranted here about the pending switch to direct digital distribution, and the Radiohead model (one adopted suddenly by a slew of other big name artists including NIN, and Madonna) is a perfect illustration, providing the content, directly from the creator, to the public model, with no distribution or manufacturing required.
Holy shit that's nice!
Look, I don't want to bemoan Diamond, or any other cogs in the wheel of the comic book industry, but if an artist can release their work directly to the market, without inflating prices and sharing profits, that's the ideal state. Don't cry for the retailers or any other party who loses out here, they only exist because the artist needs them to reach an audience, and well through the magic of technology, we don't any longer.
Sure, for music, it's much more streamlined, there's no loss (perceived or otherwise) in quality, the product is the same, whereas comics, are still waiting for a better application to replace, or at least make it not so radically different, from paper.
With PSP's, and now Iphones, and other ereader/digital tech on the horizon, it's getting closer at hand.
In Rainbows is just the latest step in that direction, and possibly a big one.
I for one can't wait for the next!
And yes, I know the great majority of comic buyers are old school paper purists, but you can't argue spending $3 for a read vs .25 cents, or even a dollar, you just can't, not once you can nearly replicate the experience via some portable device.
And if you want to further argue that print will always exist, to some extent, fine, no doubt, just like Radiohead plan to release a deluxe disc edition down the road, there will of course still be a potential market for tangible edition items.
Also, before anyone gets too critical of me for wanting a bigger cut of my profits, consider that I'm a self publisher selling in the bottom range of market, a market that's increasingly hostile and unreceptive to my efforts. So to me, digital is an even brighter opportunity to make my art, and passion, viable.
Friday, April 20, 2007
MEANWHILE AT THE MOVIES... Grinding on GRINDHOUSE!!
Got to see GRINDHOUSE for the second time last night, it was as much of a treat as the first time, the damn thing throws so much cool shit at you, a second viewing is practically mandatory (or third, fourth, etc).
It's visual nirvana.
The thing I really keyed in on the second time was the soundtrack. Both RR's Planet Terror score, masterful 80's synth echoing that blistering theme throughout, and of course QT's best soundtrack since the remarkable Pulp Fiction collection. I bought the Death Proof soundtrack, and can attest it's really great (I'll have to pick up the Planet Terror too).So speaking of visual nirvana, and my obsession with all things Grindhouse, here's a collection of fan arts for the movie/s, complete with links to the creators. A fine assortment of interpretaions of the films array of inspiring and iconic characters!!!
Please share any cool one's you've seen that I might have missed!
First, we have a selection of CHERRY DARLING's:
Josh Howard
Cameron Stewart
Grant Gould
Cristian Navarro
LubasaAnd then we have some of the other characters:
Machete by Carlos Lerma Quite possibly my favorite!
The Babysitter Twins by Don Ramon Sierra 
Dakota (aka Doctor Block) by Cameron StewartI just love how Cameron captured sooo much about the character here!!
Lee (aka The Cheerleader girl) by HC NoelAlso, be sure and check out this great GRINDHOUSE FAN SITE on MYSPACE (and not just because they made my fan art their avatar ;)
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
IN CASE U MISSED IT: Future Formats?
Over on the always informative comics blog THE BEAT, Heidi covers discussions on the format crossroads the US industry has come to, spurred by some OGN creators musing on ramifications of that process vs monthly production (specifically in terms of revenue generation), which then spurs all kinds of thoughts and speculation on where we're heading...
Is this the death of monthlies?
Are Graphic Novels/OGN/TPB/Manga and the bookstore market the future?
Is it digital?
Digital to trade?
Hop on over and check it out HERE
and again HERE
There are some very interesting points and views shared.
As for my thoughts an independent publisher in the direct market?
From what I'm reading, seeing, and hearing around the industry, the market is definitely less promising than it was even 2 years ago, and new approaches are fast becoming the norm, as opposed to first starting out with monthly serialization via comic shops.
More and more are forced to start out via the internet, or trade, as selling in the low range of distributed independent publishing is simply not viable.
And I muse more and more on a hybrid of the trade first approach...
Smaller collections, or page counts, somewhere between a monthly and a trade.
The pros of which would be yielding a higher price point (and conversely fewer runs at a printer) than a monthly, but also yielding more frequency in the market than the straight-to-trade approach, thus allowing for more chance at revenue and exposure than publishing less frequently.
Something I've not really seen anyone doing.
To me, with Diamond's thresholds being set at about where a moderately successful indy can hope to distribute, that is around 1k in distribution at the current 3-4$ cover price, it behooves one to go for the higher price point of the trade, at a 10-15$ cover to find a better chance at success.
So why not try something in between, say a 2-4 issue length collection/format (anywhere from 48-96 pages, as opposed to 120-200), priced in the 5-10$ range, that one could release about twice a year (as opposed to every 12-18 months)?
A lower price point than a trade for readers to try, with a higher price than a monthly (and less runs at a printer) to allow for more opportunity for profit in sales.
(This would also make it easier theoretically for a self/small-publisher to maintain schedules, a huge challenge for those attempting serial publication in this position)
Which of course, as with straight to trade, could still be serialized first via the web.
Or, another variation a friend mentioned they were attempting with their next OGN, don't start serializing on the web until your work is complete (or at least enough for a collection), so you can offer the print version to the web readers immediately, and potentially capture more sales from readers not wanting to wait out the serialization? (The opposite of the current popular approach of collecting as you go)
Just a couple of ideas on future format/approach to publishing comics I've not heard discussed...
What do you think?
Is this the death of monthlies?
Are Graphic Novels/OGN/TPB/Manga and the bookstore market the future?
Is it digital?
Digital to trade?
Hop on over and check it out HERE
and again HERE
There are some very interesting points and views shared.
As for my thoughts an independent publisher in the direct market?
From what I'm reading, seeing, and hearing around the industry, the market is definitely less promising than it was even 2 years ago, and new approaches are fast becoming the norm, as opposed to first starting out with monthly serialization via comic shops.
More and more are forced to start out via the internet, or trade, as selling in the low range of distributed independent publishing is simply not viable.
And I muse more and more on a hybrid of the trade first approach...
Smaller collections, or page counts, somewhere between a monthly and a trade.
The pros of which would be yielding a higher price point (and conversely fewer runs at a printer) than a monthly, but also yielding more frequency in the market than the straight-to-trade approach, thus allowing for more chance at revenue and exposure than publishing less frequently.
Something I've not really seen anyone doing.
To me, with Diamond's thresholds being set at about where a moderately successful indy can hope to distribute, that is around 1k in distribution at the current 3-4$ cover price, it behooves one to go for the higher price point of the trade, at a 10-15$ cover to find a better chance at success.
So why not try something in between, say a 2-4 issue length collection/format (anywhere from 48-96 pages, as opposed to 120-200), priced in the 5-10$ range, that one could release about twice a year (as opposed to every 12-18 months)?
A lower price point than a trade for readers to try, with a higher price than a monthly (and less runs at a printer) to allow for more opportunity for profit in sales.
(This would also make it easier theoretically for a self/small-publisher to maintain schedules, a huge challenge for those attempting serial publication in this position)
Which of course, as with straight to trade, could still be serialized first via the web.
Or, another variation a friend mentioned they were attempting with their next OGN, don't start serializing on the web until your work is complete (or at least enough for a collection), so you can offer the print version to the web readers immediately, and potentially capture more sales from readers not wanting to wait out the serialization? (The opposite of the current popular approach of collecting as you go)
Just a couple of ideas on future format/approach to publishing comics I've not heard discussed...
What do you think?
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
SUPER REAL NOTES - Digital Beta & you... YES YOU!!
Anyone who follows TSL! knows that digital comics are on my mind, and as a publisher in this modern age, rightly so.
Back when Super Real was getting set for it's print release, I'd hooked up with the fine folks at GraphicSmash.com, the action comics arm of the Joey Manley ModernTales.com webcomic empire. ModernTales was the largest subscription based webcomic collective on the web, and Super Real ran for a time there as a webcomic. For various reasons I decided to stop offering the book as a "webcomic" after the print distribution began, but ever since then, I've been eager to get Super Real back in digital format, only hosted directly from the website.
Rather than create manual html based page views, I'd been taking in the digital developments and weighing options. Joey Manley himself created Webcomicsnation.com last year, an affordable set of tools (basically the ModernTales creator interface turned public and tied to hosting options) to allow anyone to host their own webcomics. Also in the last year some digital download sites have sprung up, most notably DriveThruComics.com and Pullboxonline.com, offering content (partnered with the websites) for download via PDF or the new CBR format, for a fee anywhere from two dollars to .99 cents.
As, again, I wanted to associate Super Real content with the website proper, and I was skeptical of some of the elements of these sites and their setups (price, format, scope, design), and with Pullbox unwilling to talk about potentially offering Super Real, I'd held off moving forward. However, with what is now four issues of the series out in print, the time felt right to offer the first issue online, digitally, for free (a good way to potentially bring in new readers). Enter my friend Jeremy Rayment, aspiring comic creator, and flash guru who'd set up the Super Real flash trailer from last year. You see, Jeremy had been in contact with me regarding a new flash based reader he was designing for comic books.
Turns out Jeremy had wanted to replicate the feel of reading printed comic books via the web, finding many of the tools he'd seen too foreign to the format he'd come to love from print. Not only that, but he wanted something simple that any creator could easily utilize for displaying their comics on the web. As we talked and things progressed with Super Real, I warmed up to the idea of possibly using this format for my new digital content on the website.
Well, over the last week, Jeremy and I have been working behind the scenes to set that up, and work out some of the kinks of the ereader's interface. The content is now live on the website, and I think, running pretty smooth, but here's where I'd like you TSL! readers to come in... If you'd take a moment and click on over to the new ISSUE INFO & PREVIEWS page of the website, you'll find every issue of Super Real laid out as before, but now clicking on the cover images, you'll find previews for each book, setup via the FLASHBOOK COMIC READER - the complete first issue, and previews for issue 2, 3, and the Special.
Take a spin through there and let me know your thoughts.
What do you think of the reader?
The functionality?
Anything that's missing?
Anything that needs fixed?
A little beta testing before I roll it out to the mass public. :)
Here's the link:
http://superrealgraphics.com/issue.html
Please let me know what you think!
Thanks,
jason
Back when Super Real was getting set for it's print release, I'd hooked up with the fine folks at GraphicSmash.com, the action comics arm of the Joey Manley ModernTales.com webcomic empire. ModernTales was the largest subscription based webcomic collective on the web, and Super Real ran for a time there as a webcomic. For various reasons I decided to stop offering the book as a "webcomic" after the print distribution began, but ever since then, I've been eager to get Super Real back in digital format, only hosted directly from the website.
Rather than create manual html based page views, I'd been taking in the digital developments and weighing options. Joey Manley himself created Webcomicsnation.com last year, an affordable set of tools (basically the ModernTales creator interface turned public and tied to hosting options) to allow anyone to host their own webcomics. Also in the last year some digital download sites have sprung up, most notably DriveThruComics.com and Pullboxonline.com, offering content (partnered with the websites) for download via PDF or the new CBR format, for a fee anywhere from two dollars to .99 cents.
As, again, I wanted to associate Super Real content with the website proper, and I was skeptical of some of the elements of these sites and their setups (price, format, scope, design), and with Pullbox unwilling to talk about potentially offering Super Real, I'd held off moving forward. However, with what is now four issues of the series out in print, the time felt right to offer the first issue online, digitally, for free (a good way to potentially bring in new readers). Enter my friend Jeremy Rayment, aspiring comic creator, and flash guru who'd set up the Super Real flash trailer from last year. You see, Jeremy had been in contact with me regarding a new flash based reader he was designing for comic books.
Turns out Jeremy had wanted to replicate the feel of reading printed comic books via the web, finding many of the tools he'd seen too foreign to the format he'd come to love from print. Not only that, but he wanted something simple that any creator could easily utilize for displaying their comics on the web. As we talked and things progressed with Super Real, I warmed up to the idea of possibly using this format for my new digital content on the website.
Well, over the last week, Jeremy and I have been working behind the scenes to set that up, and work out some of the kinks of the ereader's interface. The content is now live on the website, and I think, running pretty smooth, but here's where I'd like you TSL! readers to come in... If you'd take a moment and click on over to the new ISSUE INFO & PREVIEWS page of the website, you'll find every issue of Super Real laid out as before, but now clicking on the cover images, you'll find previews for each book, setup via the FLASHBOOK COMIC READER - the complete first issue, and previews for issue 2, 3, and the Special.
Take a spin through there and let me know your thoughts.
What do you think of the reader?
The functionality?
Anything that's missing?
Anything that needs fixed?
A little beta testing before I roll it out to the mass public. :)
Here's the link:
http://superrealgraphics.com/issue.html
Please let me know what you think!
Thanks,
jason
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
IN CASE U MISSED IT: LITG
If you regularly follow comics but not Rich Joshnston's column on CBR, LYING IN THE GUTTERS, what's wrong with you?
Yes it's a gossip column, but Rich has been doing it for years and is plugged into the industry like no other, and aside from "gossip" there's always plenty of good solid content.
Take this week for example, short but sweet, there were still a couple of salacious items:
He's got another link to Todd Allen, author of THE ECONOMICS OF WEBCOMICS, and his summation of the Captain America media blitz, which really boils down the failures of the market to capture sales from this mainstream media event (as it often fails on every occasion).
Check that out HERE
It's a good read.
There's also a spiffy preview to what could be a HUGE new book from master writer Warren Ellis, BLACK SUMMER. What looks to be Ellis's evolution of The Authority via Avatar, likely in the next issue of Previews.
I'll be sure and put this on my pull list, you may as well too, or you'll just end up chasing copies after the fact...
Yes it's a gossip column, but Rich has been doing it for years and is plugged into the industry like no other, and aside from "gossip" there's always plenty of good solid content.
Take this week for example, short but sweet, there were still a couple of salacious items:
He's got another link to Todd Allen, author of THE ECONOMICS OF WEBCOMICS, and his summation of the Captain America media blitz, which really boils down the failures of the market to capture sales from this mainstream media event (as it often fails on every occasion).
Check that out HERE
It's a good read.
There's also a spiffy preview to what could be a HUGE new book from master writer Warren Ellis, BLACK SUMMER. What looks to be Ellis's evolution of The Authority via Avatar, likely in the next issue of Previews.
I'll be sure and put this on my pull list, you may as well too, or you'll just end up chasing copies after the fact...
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
IN CASE U MISSED IT: Digital rumblings
Since I like to muse about the EVENTUAL conversion of the market/medium to digital here on TSL, there were a couple solid notes on the movement in the last couple weeks, spurred by some announcements from NYCC about some of the bigger industry players plans for potential digital distribution.
First there was a link in Rich Johnston's LYING IN THE GUTTERS NYCC wrap up to a well informed piece from Todd Allen:
Found HERE
Then there was a more recent piece on Newsarama questioning a cross section of retailers about their thoughts on digital:
Found HERE
Basically, Marvel announced they're working on something, DC is rumored to be (but perhaps more slowly than their opposition), and Top Cow announced an odd two step of a plan that partners them with IGN.com.
As I've often noted, with the ease, dramatically lower expense, and potentially massive reach, digital is the future and WILL suplant print, it's just a matter of time, and if the big comic book publisher players make a move, it could happen very fast.
First there was a link in Rich Johnston's LYING IN THE GUTTERS NYCC wrap up to a well informed piece from Todd Allen:
Found HERE
Then there was a more recent piece on Newsarama questioning a cross section of retailers about their thoughts on digital:
Found HERE
Basically, Marvel announced they're working on something, DC is rumored to be (but perhaps more slowly than their opposition), and Top Cow announced an odd two step of a plan that partners them with IGN.com.
As I've often noted, with the ease, dramatically lower expense, and potentially massive reach, digital is the future and WILL suplant print, it's just a matter of time, and if the big comic book publisher players make a move, it could happen very fast.
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