The Future of Comics?

Hey gang.

Got involved in an interesting conversation at the comic shop yesterday. Marc Nathan, the man who runs the Baltimore Comic-Con came into the shop to talk to the owner Rusty (most of you know that, duh) and was discussing a meeting he attended in Memphis. The subject turned to the price point of comics, which I'm sure most of you have seen or heard about. For those who haven't, it seems that the price of comics has moved from 2.99 to 3.99. This is not done for every comic, just among the big 2 (Marvel and DC).

At the meeting, the Marvel president said the the price change was "something they were testing the waters on to see if there was a market for it" if memory serves. DC said the price change would affect those books that added more story, so you'll get more bang for the buck (in theory). In the course of this discussion, a motive for Marvel seemingly arbitrary price increase is to try and kill the market was posed. To drive the price so that people wouldn't want the books, I guess. There appears to be some facts behind this theory. Recently there was an announcement at a con about SPIDER-WOMAN preview or #1 being released only online for a period before heading to the comic shops. The only way to see this comic is to be a subscriber to Marvel's digital comics line, which costs an amount per month. You'll have to forgive me if I'm not completely and totally factual. I remember a time about a year or so ago that Marvel announced this and at the time, I was financially unavailable to do this. It sounded like a great idea at the time. You would eventually have access to the entire back catalogue of Marvel comics, stretching back now 70 years.

Now, I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, but the idea that Marvel would eventually go totally digital and no longer have current material at the brick and mortar stores sounds....suicidal to me. I am old enough to remember when Marvel tried to make a power play to have their own distribution (breaking away from behemoth Diamond) in the early '90s. It was a disaster and left customers and retailers confused and angry. They abandoned it in a short period of time and returned to Diamond's fold. This doesn't sound like that, but in a roundabout way, could be just as disastrous. Most of us comic fans read our books in other places, like the bedroom, in a comfortable chair in the living room, or even the bathroom. We don't sit for hours on end staring at a computer screen catching up on the events in Spider-Man or Batman's lives. We like being comfortable when we are transported to another world, not hogging the computer at home (work would be another matter). I think that Marvel underestimates comic fans (no big surprise here). There would be a large section of fans who would follow them into the internet. That's why they're called Marvel Zombies. However, I think a large section of fans would head somewhere else. They would give IDW or BOOM a try. They would pick up something from DC, Image or Dark Horse instead.

What I'm trying to say is that while there is a demand and marketplace for comics on the internet, to totally remove yourself from what made you who you are is to cut your off at the knees for no good reason. I say this while also being sad that a few months ago, Scott Kurtz announced that he was cancelling his brilliant PvP book at #50. But, in fairness to Scott, he did start out as a webcomic and is still continuing to do a 5 day a week strip. They just wont be collected in true comic form. Sad, yes, but I'm sure that there will be trades from time to time.

So, what is your opinion? Think Marvel's idea is brilliant or sucks on ice? Drop me a comment and if I should get enough of them (more than 1) I'll post with either a comment or a polite rebuttal. Thanks!

Some Random (or Randumb) Thoughts

Thought I would throw some things at the internet and see what sticks.

-Saw WATCHMEN last night, finally. I had read some of the reviews and thought Shawn was closest to the mark. I liked it, but found myself feeling "meh" after it was over. Maybe it was because I was in a small theater with sound for a larger theater that at times pinned my head to the back wall. Couldn't get out fast enough. My wife, who never read the book, enjoyed it and thought that Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan were excellently done. I agree, and thought that at times it was a spectacularly done thing. But something I haven't seen a lot of; the fascination that Snyder has with slo-mo. Man that was totally overdone at times and seemed to almost stop the movie for me. Will be interested in seeing the director's cut when it's released on DVD.

-on the comics front, I found that my choices of books has been dwindling down without really noticing it. I stopped reading Spider-Man, Punisher, Titans (old not Teen) and the Hulk books. It hit me the other day that these were my entrance back into reading way back in the early '90s, but they have lost me. I have picked up Spawn again (sorry Shawn, I'm an addict) and have been enjoying that. I am giving Iron Man a chance again. I have kept my mainstays in the DCU, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash but they are being changed again. Other than the GL event due in the summer, what is happening in these other books has me sort of apprehensive about my continued patronage. Buffy is still a good read and I like where things are starting to go there. It really does feel like the series. They will get off the main story arc from time to time, but those detours are interesting and add to the color of the characters.

-on the WoW front, I finally hit 80 with my char. Now I look forward to doing some of the other ancillary things that make that game so freaking addictive. Like killing and maiming. Those are always fun.

See ya! =)