^ Well you know, someone made a "widescreen" version of Old Man Logan. It actually worked fairly well. I'm not home so I can't add a screenshot, but it did work.
COMIC BOOKS future?
- Thread starter RobertScorpio
- Start date
I'm not just talking about fitting frame sizes to the screen though, but using the screen itself as a frame as one would the borders of a page.
Also, instead of using a page like mechanic, which most digital readers and digital comics use (understandable since they mimic books), artists should be thinking about the flow of their layouts in a continuous left to right motion.
There's no need for page breaks on a digital comic, the screen could move continuously from left to right, or zoom into an item on the page ad infinitum if the storytelling technique required it. Fades, wipes, dissolves and other transitions should also be considered tools that can be utilised.
It's still a very young medium though (digital comics) and we're still sort of in the very earliest stages of exploration where artists and publishers tend to drag the principles of the preceding medium (in this case physical books) and sort of duct tape them onto the new medium to try and solve storytelling problems.
If digital comics are to succeed or stake their claim, they'll need to offer an experience that can't be had with the physical book (other than simple expediency).
I'm actually pretty interested in the subject and exploring the strengths of the medium is something I plan on doing when I start my post-grad studies in a few weeks.
On the subject of revitalising the comic book industry, I do believe it's possible long dormant comic book fans will embrace outlets like the PlayStation Comics initiative and the upcoming Longbox Digital Comics platform (assuming the latter ever gets off the ground) since they allow folks easy access to a relatively wide variety of comics at a discounted rate. Will they replace physical comics? I can't see it happening, at least not any time soon.
Again it's not an either/or proposition: digital comics should offer traditional comic book layouts in a digital format as well as new takes on sequential art that traditional comics can't accommodate. There'll be markets for both approaches.
Agreed.
RobertScorpio
Pariah
Yep...I know that collecting ONLINE comics has no value, I just want to read the stories of my youth.
Rob
In their house.
Yup, additionally it's great for picking up books you might not ordinarily spend on.
RobertScorpio
Pariah
I love the fact that the local comic store sells those old 70s comic books, used of course, for a $1 a pop. I have almost got all the ones I wanted.
My son is a BIG fan of anything to do with GREEN "HAL" LANTERN..and he loves the old JLA (like me). I think that 70s JLA roll-call is the most funnest teams of all time...pre-CRISIS of course..
Superman
Batman
Green Lantern
Wonder Woman
Flash
Green Arrow
The Atom
Hawkman/Hawkwoman
Zatanna
Aquaman
Phantom Stranger
Red Tornado
Elongated Man
Black Canary
Fun stuff...
Rob
Yeah I love going to my LCS and picking through the dollar (or hell the 50cent and quarter bins!) and finding some real gems. Iconic, important stories, sure they aren't minty fresh, but they're still good reads. Now this is my question... would an online/digital/ebook comic ever be as cheap as picking through the back issue bins? I dunno.
I think in many ways to do a true e-comic they need to basically construct them like flash movies. Or like the Marvel motion comics, where the stories move along automatically.
I think in many ways to do a true e-comic they need to basically construct them like flash movies. Or like the Marvel motion comics, where the stories move along automatically.
RobertScorpio
Pariah
Good question...
Going digital would also put the comic book stores out of business wouldn't they?
It probably wouldn't help matters.
RobertScorpio
Pariah
It is something I'm willing to let happen. The two local comic book stores I go to have become gaming centers (board games) and they block access to the comic books....
I have bought several dozen comic books on line already via EBAY. So, if anything, the online-comic book era is already here...
Rob
The problem with comic shops is that they are the niche within the niche. Joe Blow doesn't stumble by the comic shop one day on a whim and say "Why not give a comics a try?" Those already interested in comics seek out comic shops; and it's only a portion of those interested who bother. Many comics readers get their product solely from mail order websites, Ebay or retailers like Books-a-Million; they never set foot in a comic shop.
The collapse of the comic shop wouldn't affect the industry; the hardcore comics fans who go to comics shops will seek out their product (and they'll often even find it *cheaper* outside of the comic shop). The only damage caused by a comic shop collapse would be to the handful of people running the shops. Is that sad? Sure. But it's not worth holding back everything just for the sake of a handful of people.
RobertScorpio
Pariah
I get most my comics (older ones which I prefer) and my action figures (DC UNIVERSE for my son) online as it is. So losing the comic book store wouldn't make be sad.
Now, my friend who goes there each weekend to play D/D or Magic? Yeah, he'd be out of sorts.
Rob
It'll happen. It's just going to be one of those things that's going to take forfuckingever (as has been the case so far). The one thing I wonder is if it's too late to build a digital fan base that won't just consist of die-hards.
RobertScorpio
Pariah
Physical newspapers will go the way of the dodo and be replaced by digital newspapers. That'll present a big opportunity for comic book publishers. Printing a big comics section in a physical paper is prohibitive because of printing costs, but putting a lengthy comics section into a digital newspaper can be done very easily. That could be a very powerful marketing tool in terms of exposing millions of people to comics who otherwise wouldn't come across them. For instance, you could have daily strips featuring Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man with links that readers could use to navigate their e-readers to websites where they can buy further digital comics or order physical graphic novels by mail order.
Dusty Ayres
Commodore
Yes they would, and we still need those stores, no matter what.
(TemporalFlux)
The reason Joe & Jane Blow don't is because Joe and Jane Blow are nothing but lazy morons who think that all book needs can be served by big, impersonal shitty corporate chains like B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, Media Play (and in Canada) Chapters/Coles/Indigo. Going to an independant bookstore isn't in cards for them.
This reminds me of what's happening to GLBT/Afro-American/feminist bookstores; the general public thinks that they don't need them anymore. But guess what? Without them, nothing in the way of progress would have been made, much less ideas; these stores are the lifeblood and heart of the respective movements/minorities mentioned above. And independent bookstores are the heart of literature generally.
Comic book shops care about comic books just like the abovementioned bookstores do; they are where most back issues are sold, where hard to find independents are sold, and where alternative comic books are also sold as well. And like most bookstores, they serve as the main place of a certain community (sci-fi/fantasy/comic art in this case). Online retailers and corporate chains don't give a fuck; they're only there to take your money and fuck you up the ass if something goes wrong. And where is the young person of today going to find a certain book they want? At some online store that may not have it, or that the young person won't be able to get because they don't have a credit card or online access?
What about the quality of the neighborhood/high street that the store in question was located on? What happens when all you have is nothing but chain stores? And what will you do when you can't get a certain independent or alternative comic book because the online store doesn't have it? What if that comic book has sexual content that the online retailer feels can't be sold because 'people might complain?'
All of this is happening to normal bookstores (LGBT/feminist/Afro-American) and ones that just sell normal books; soon it will be the turn of comic book shops-and all because you want to read with some E-book thingy that may not even be that great.
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