I’ve been mulling over the big DC Comics announcement from yesterday and bemoaning a lot of things this presents from a storytelling standpoint (what will happen to Dick Grayson and all of the development Grant Morrison has given him? will there still be a Justice League International book?). This has distracted me, and surely others, from considering the impact of the other half of that announcement - that DC Comics will be releasing their comics in a digital format the same day as the print editions are releasedBrian Michael Bendis tweeted yesterday that it would kill local comic book shops. That’s nonsense. It's simply a method to help facilitate a wider audience to have access to comics.
13 Year Old Me would have loved it. In the wee town of Olean, NY, there’s a pretty tiny store that allegedly sells comics, but they really don’t get much in stock. For example, when DC flagship event Blackest Night happened, I stopped in during my trip home for Christmastime to see if they had an issue and the guy working there had no clue what I was talking about. The same goes with the frequency of theatrical releases becoming more readily available through video-on-demand while in theaters - Olean's movie theater would never play any arthouse films, and the closest theater that would is an hour and a half drive. If technology like this prevents anyone in similar cultural dead zones from having to deal with a lack of access to things they're passionate about, I’m all for it.
Of course, Adult Me loves having a tangible product in his hands and is a compulsive collector of DVD's and comics. And since I live in a city where I can buy every comic that comes out each week, I’ll still be at my local comic book store every Wednesday. I know I’m not the only one.
1 comment:
As Todd Bedford, a good friend of mine, always says. "Root Beer is delicious!" With that in mind I consider this topic from an outside perspective. I have recently gotten into comics moreso than I have ever been, but at the age of 28 with a wife and student loans to pay, I have had to adjust my compulsive spending habits.
DVD's and toys aren't exactly commonplace purchase anymore, whereas 6 or 7 years ago they were responsible for a solid 30% of my spending. I can only borrow so many comics for months at a time from Brando before he gets mad and stops letting me borrow them.
I am not going to go to the comic store and spend 50 bucks a week, but I will be more apt to read exclusives and blogs online... and am more immature with my online spending, so hey, you never know.
It will certainly broaden the audience and any true comic fan who is established with their shop of choice isn't going to give that up easily. If they do, they're most likely a little bitch.
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