COMICS - Print or Legally Download? (Editorial)

COMICS - Print or Legally Download? (Editorial)

I prefer print but maybe I'm one of the last dinosaurs.

Editorial Opinion
By KingLobo - May 25, 2012 01:05 PM EST
Filed Under: Comics

I love Comicbooks and graphic novels. I'll assume if you are on this site and or reading this article so do you. Otherwise, you are just a sadist, I suppose.

Like many I was excited about DC's NEW 52. Being a gamer and having a PS3, I would see "store" ads about "download a copy now". Normally, if I want to get a comic I'll go to a near by shop, or browse the local book store for older comics to see if there is something I liked. But I was intrigued.
I thought "hmm digital download". I could do this and see if I like it. If I do I can buy more and decide if I want print or not. Makes sense right?



So I go to DC Comics' site and then to Comixology for the download. It was fast and easy. I loved the presentation and the fact that I could see it on my computer bigger than in print. I loved the start of the NEW 52 also. I eventually downloaded a few more as the new issues came out. But all of a sudden I realized a big problem.

I didn't really OWN them. Yes I can view them anytime I wanted, on any compatible device...but that's it. (as far as I know and I've checked..a little bit). I'm pretty sure I can't print them out..or at least not like the actual comic, If I printed the pages it would be cheap and silly to do. I can't give it away or trade or sell it. I have basically paid for the right to view.

I don't know about you but I like to touch and feel my comics. I like to be able to sit down and open and turn the pages. Not trying to be weird but I think thats part of the enjoyment of comics. At least it is for me.



Don't get me wrong I love the digital version of the comics. It was easy and bright and bold and can't complain about that. But When I turn the computer off, it's gone. out of sight out of mind. I have not gone back and looked at any of the digital comics that I bought. I have however, looked at some Much older ones that are laying around the house. That to me is HUGE. I will NEVER be able to do that...clearly...with a digital comic. When I look at my phone or computer I don't think, "oh I think I look at my comics".

What happens if Comixology goes away? Or if technology changes and becomes incompatible? or a thousand other things that render me without access to my download. OR I just forget about it? I'm just out of luck I guess right?

Maybe I'm just a dinosaur. I grew up in a time without Google, where to do research you had to go to the library or to the actual source. It wasn't until college that there was such a thing as "webcrawler". The internet was "prodigy" and Netscape. Today kids and young adults have ONLY known downloads, ebooks, mp3s, streaming etc...In a way, perhaps like those who hold on to vinyl records, I feel sorry for kids and young folks that don't understand the concept of true ownership vs. digital ownership.

Just because I paid for it...doesn't mean I get to keep it, or do what I want with it. Downloading it certainly doesn't mean I create an attachment to it.

This isn't just comicbooks but Ebooks, games, and music, ...really anything that you "own" but can't share, or resell, or appreciate in ways that don't revolve around a "device".



Looking back Digital copies are easy...print copies are special.
I prefer print...SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL COMIC SHOP

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KingLobo
KingLobo - 5/25/2012, 2:26 PM
Thanks for the "Legally" addition in the title
BlindLemonShemp
BlindLemonShemp - 5/25/2012, 3:12 PM
AMEN! I couldn't agree more and have been saying pretty much this article verbatim to people that suggest i digitally download anything (books, comics, movies)...

Im also one of those guys that still holds vinyl records above all other forms of audio technology, so maybe that has something to do with it...

I hope they never go completely digital, or else I'll see the day when i buy my last comic...
HarrisonBergeron
HarrisonBergeron - 5/25/2012, 3:34 PM
The big reason that I cling to print is that I like supporting my local shop. Originally I was buying my stuff from a big well lit shop that didn't seem like it cared one way or another whether I bought from them or not, but when I found the small shop that I go to now I felt like I was actually helping to prove the efficacy of a trickle down economy.

There is also the collecting aspect. I think that Kevin Smith was the first person I saw point out that digital comics have zero collector value and never will. Yeah, my New 52 stuff is never going to make me a millionaire, but it will always have more value than the respective digital copies that cost the same amount. I spend $70-$100 on comi s a month, I like having those boxes stacked in my closet to show that that money was not a total waste.
grimloc2000
grimloc2000 - 5/25/2012, 3:50 PM

All of the digital copies that I've purchased over the last year just disappear when I turn off my ipad. Compare that to the multiple long white boxes that take up my limited space in the spare bedroom.

That's why I went digital.
Lack of storage space.
For me, convenience is more important than nostalgia.
GammaKing
GammaKing - 5/25/2012, 4:47 PM
Totally Agree - Love Print, Love going into a shop and hanging out. Digital is cool and all but ultimately worthless. I like the poll questions and could see a "rental" market.
Kalel219
Kalel219 - 5/25/2012, 7:06 PM
I go digital simply due to convenience of having over 1000 comics on a hard-drive, it's alot easier to check out an issue that was referenced in another and it doesn't take up any physical space.

Do I wish they were all physical copies on a nice shelf in my room? Hell yes.

Do I feel a sense of attachment to my digital comics? Hell yes.
DukeAcureds
DukeAcureds - 5/26/2012, 7:42 AM
Legal downloads can suck my ass. The only reason I'd download is if I couldn't afford the damn things and even then, if the comic was good enough I'd buy it in graphic nowel format. Shit, for good comics I buy all variant covers, reprints, hardback AND softback, throughout various editions.
Egon Spengler once said "Print is dead".
I didn't believe him in 1984 and I don't believe him now.
marknjoanna
marknjoanna - 5/26/2012, 11:12 PM
if any of you collect comic books id like your opinion on my fears of online comics.you can read it on the view
results page.thanks
Boyle360
Boyle360 - 5/27/2012, 7:10 AM
If only I had money...
as a secondary (high) school student in Ireland it's very hard to get comics. The nearest place with legit comics (and the only one I know of) is in Galway city, about an hour's drive from where I live. I never buy individual issues because they charge 5 euro per issue. That's about $6.25.
I only buy some graphic novels, as they're not TOO badly overpriced and I don't need to buy one or two every month to keep up with the storyline. Usually between 14 and 20 euro. ($17-$25). I simply don't have the money to buy graphic novels or comics regularly.
So, I download the Free legal digital comics and sometimes illegally download some series too. Last summer I read Ultimate Spider-Man pretty much the whole way up to the relaunch. That's pretty much it.
VERY few people in Ireland (or at least in my school and people I know) are interested in comics. Me and a group of friends sort of made it a little bit more popular in our school in the last 2 years.
comicmoviesdcmarvel
comicmoviesdcmarvel - 5/28/2012, 5:44 AM
I go to my comic book store once a month because there just arent any local stores! I have to into the city just to get my comics (I LIVE IN AUSTRALIA) and it really bugs me I have to wait a month to get my comics! But back to the issue at hand yes I prefer print! there is nothing like holding the comic in your hands i only get the DC Comics previews once a week :P
comicmoviesdcmarvel
comicmoviesdcmarvel - 5/28/2012, 5:46 AM
Boyle360 I know what you mean man I am the only person in my school that likes comics! I have one friend who comes over and reads mine but he isnt really into them and the rest of my friends think they're gay! I sometimes really wish I was American :/
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