Posts from ‘Comic books’
mmmm define irony
I have to make the confession up front.
I’m not a leave it in its box kind of guy.
I’m just not, I once bought a Jurassic Park T-Rex pristine in its box for 15 years and within 15 seconds of being in my care it was out of that box. You have to let these things breathe.
So you can imagine that I don’t leave my comics in bags, I don’t have cotton gloves and special tweezers to examine my comics and I certainly don’t see them as any form of investment other than in my sanity.
But a lot of people do.
I’m not knocking you guys but honestly you’re going to have to hang on to that Superman #75 for a very long time to make any money, I’m talking pyramid construction kind of years. Comics from this era are not worth golden age prices because the market is different. Better paper, more issues and everyone is collecting, it does not make for rare comic books.
So stemming off of yesterday’s post and the discussions it generated I’m now wondering about the impact of digital comics on the stories and art. I don’t so much mean in a display point of view, that’s fairly standard but I mean what happens when you take the collector aspect out of comic books.
You wouldn’t buy two digital copies of Deadpool #45 just because one has an alternative cover featuring whatever character has either a movie coming out or is a) Wolverine or b) Deadpool (an alternate Deadpool comic book cover featuring Deadpool… how meta) but there are plenty of people who appear to buy the physical version for collector and investment reasons.
Well that gimmick probably won’t work, I say probably, I mean these are still people we’re talking about here. So when you remove the resale or collectible aspect of a comic book what do you have left?
Story and art.
So now you can’t rely on that guy who just buys every single issue of every Batman related title because he has to haves thems because they’s his precious. (yeah I know that was a really hard sentence to read, it was hard writing it, I think it came out different to what was in my head)
If a series that features a Batman related character has poor art and poor storylines then I would hope that without the collectible status that readers just wouldn’t buy that book any more.
The lessor known, less effective I'm on a horse Old Spice campaign
So with no more gimmicks apart obviously from motion comics and soundtracks etc you return the merit system, we as a comic book reading public should hopefully reject poor story lines or poor art and no longer buy books to complete collections or because one day they might be worth something!
Of course now that I think about it, potentially it could work in favour of those limited readership books, with no printing costs and the potential to be added to a library that people could continue to purchase from for years and years, maybe the big companies could carry some indie books that have limited appeal.
Maybe Aquaman will get his own series again?!
It’s the thought that I was pondering this morning as I read a Judge Dredd Megazine on my iPad whilst riding the bus in to work. The simple fact is that whilst I realise I can only talk from my own perspective I actually am completely comfortable reading a comic book in that format and I suspect I’m not alone (actually I know I’m not but figure I shouldn’t speak for everyone else). I find the experience as rewarding as if I were holding the paper and ink book in my hands and flipping the pages.
In fact I would almost go as far as to say that I find digital comics to be more convenient and therefore more rewarding.
The resolution on the iPad is clear enough that I can enjoy the artwork completely and I’ve got the added bonus of zooming in on particular panels to appreciate them in finer detail without straining my eyes. I can carry a large library of material around with me and so I’m never stuck on a train or a bus or in a meeting without at least something of interest. There are also no creased pages or ripped covers or lost books.
Actually in one of my social media presentations I make the point of mobile devices but pointing out that the average weight of ten silver age era comic books is about half a kilogram. On my iPad I’m carrying at least 100 Aquaman comics which would normally weigh me down by 50 kilos! (I of course tie this fact back to an actual business requirement)
But what of my friendly neighbourhood comic book shop?
I love my comic book shop, they know my name, I have a standing order with them, they know a lot about comics and there is a general atmosphere of… well… comic books in there. So what happens if everyone started buying their comics digitally and directly from the source? (right now digital costs around the same and above for actual books which is just ridiculous and a topic for another post but sheesh…)
I wondered this about music as well with digital downloads surging in popularity, how CD shops might survive and was impressed to see the Sanity music chain selling “burn on demand” CDs. They simply have a card on the shelf which you take to the counter and they advise you it’ll be an hour or whatever and they burn and print it there and then. I mean that doesn’t really provide a solution for them but at least they are exploring new markets and using technology well.
Not that I think CDs will completely disappear either nor do I expect comic books to stop printing.
But the fact that I see a day that I wouldn’t be upset at the thought of buying a virtual comic rather than the paper book makes me wonder if I’m being disloyal to the comic book shop? I’m a huge advocate of supporting the comic book shops who have carried comic book culture for decades when newsagents would only stock two copies of the Super Friends at triple the standard cost.
So is there a day in the future where I can set up an account with my local comic book shop and purchase my digital comics through them? Or take my iPad or laptop into the store and download the books as I scan bar codes off the racks?
I don’t see physical books disappearing at all but I wonder about the enthusiast market such as myself who don’t really have the room at home for three tonnes of comic books and therefore about comic book shops in general?
For anyone interested my comic book reader of choice right now is Comic Book Lover for iPad.
Jurassic Park: Redemption cover by Frank Miller
I love Jurassic Park.
It’s one of those franchises that even when things aren’t so good (Lost World film) it’s still pretty good and it’ll get my interest which is why when I heard that IDW were making a new Jurassic Park comic of course this was something that interested me.
Then I saw Frank Miller’s cover.
VERY interested.
But then I picked up my Frank Miller cover copy of JP: Redemption, one thing really disappointed me and another only served to not move me.
The basic premise of JP: Redemption is that 13 years after Jurassic Park Tim and Lex are obviously adults now and both are dealing with their grandfather’s legacy in what I’m assuming is very opposing directions. Lex is running some company called Lexxcrop which has its own controversies and trying to protect the original Jurassic Park island Isla Nublar. Tim on the other hand is trying to resurrect Jurassic Park because apparently waking from nightmares of velociraptor attacks weren’t enough to remind him that it’s not a great idea. Okay I made the nightmare bit up and the more I think about it the more I accept that he has motivation to do so.
So what was the part of the comic that really let me down? Well it’s something I find more and more in the licensed lines of comic books and that’s the art itself. On the cover we’re treated to this awesome image of a T-Rex eating someone and inside the book all of the artwork is messy and uncomfortable. I just don’t like it, it’s all very capable and the artist no doubt has their fans but I’m not one of them and I probably can’t really put my finger on why not. It’s a personal taste thing and I’m also yet to read anyway praise the work. In regards to that cover too, it should be noted that it is a variant cover.
Actually that art is even worse than I remembered...
I don’t know what I was expecting storyline wise either, I don’t think I had any expectations but was very interested to see where Tim and Lex have gone in their lives and thought it interesting that they are taking all the movies into account. The story set-up just doesn’t do anything for me, I’m neutral about it, I neither like or dislike it which is probably not a good thing. I certainly didn’t care one bit that Dr. Wu and Dr. Burke showed up, in fact it feels forced.
I think I’m a little spoilt because I read manga and there is generally a lot of story jammed into those books. So reading this comparatively short first issue it is just so light on but then I don’t get that same sensation from other books so the writing still has some role in it.
I’ll keep getting the book if only to see where they go with it but it’s not really setting my world on fire and had I just bought a copy of that awesome cover in poster format then I might have actually been a little more pleased.
Rating: 
