Do you do Digital Comics, do you?

[Kurosawa]

I don't buy digital comics or digital music. I'm not opposed to the formats for those who like them, although I think the digital À la carte format hurts the album format, but most modern music is horrid unlistenable junk anyway. Comics are fubar too, but for different reasons.

 

[trustyside-kick]

I've gone totally digital for a few reasons:

1. Much easier to organize and store. Instead of a dozen boxes, I just have one nifty-looking iPad. AND I can bring them anywhere with my iPhone.

2. With new DC Comics dropping to 2 bucks after a month, it'll prove to be much cheaper for me than print comics.

This. Those first 2 reasons sum it up for me. However, I will state that the books I care about collecting for the sake of having them, like Aquaman for example, I am getting in print. So technically, I guess I am 100% digital, but some books like Aquaman, Justice League, the new TMNT series, the new Mega Man series...I want physical copies of.

Although, because of how much I love reading comics on my iPhone and computer--aka anywhere at any moment--I am buying Aquaman in both print and digital.

I plan on going digital, but I'm not sure which application to use.

What publishers do you read at the moment, wieg? I use the Comixology app and it's been great so far.

Though, they do not have some of the Dark Horse things I wanted to sample, as well as a few Boom Studios books I wanted to sample, so at the moment I have the Dark Horse and Boom Studios apps as well. I hope that eventually everyone just goes 100% under Comixology or the way that DC is doing it where they are like partners. You can use the DC App but if you do it through Comixology, the same books/purchases through Comixology that are from DC will show on your DC stuff since the DC site uses Comixology login info.

 

[wiegeabo]

I only read DC at the moment.

I take that back, I also read Fables and Walking Dead. So Vertigo and Image.

 

[trustyside-kick]

Both Vertigo and Image recently have talked about getting around to more digital and same-day digital stuff. Image I believe for some titles, and Vertigo slowly working to being same-day digital.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I voted "not at all" but I'm not against it. I just personally don't care for digital comics. Especially when they do that annoying thing where they blow up on panel at a time. I know you can usually turn that off, but I shouldn't have to, damn it.

 

[trustyside-kick]

The panel-guide thing actually is what made me fall in love with it. It makes it feel more interactive.

 

[CConn]

The panel thing is really only necessary for phones and small screen-devices.

If you have an iPad, the panel-thingy is permanently turned off unless you want it on. So there, Corp.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I will concede that reading comics is probably the one use for which an iPad (or similar tablet) is ideal. I refuse to buy into Steve Jobs' (RIP) bulls*** conspiracy that somehow convinced the people of the world they need tablets.

 

[CConn]

I actually wanted a tablet before it even existed, so I was just buying into my own ********.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

They've existed for like 10 years. People just never bought them because Jobs never told them to before.

 

[wiegeabo]

I'll consider a tablet once it drops to a more reasonable price. Sub $200-$250.

Luckily, the HP selloff triggered a bit of a price war, and a number of manufacturers are getting their prices down because they now realize the price point the (huge market of tablet) consumers want.


I'm thinking about doing what my friend did. He got a refurbished color Nook for under $200. Then he rooted it and runs Droid on it off of an SD card. Pop the SD card in, it boots into Android and acts like any other Droid tablet. Take the card out, and it boots into Nook and acts like nothing happened (because, technically, nothing did).

 

[CConn]

They've existed for like 10 years. People just never bought them because Jobs never told them to before.

I thought of it when I was 11.

23 - 11 = 12 years. I got them beat by 2.

 

[wiegeabo]

I know the poll mentions the word "buy" but for all of the digital comic book supporters here, how many of you are actually paying for them versus torrenting them?

Well, to be honest...


Did anyone else know that you could read comics on a Nintendo DS?

You, know, if you were interested in doing that, or something.....

 

[Roose Bolton]

Yeah I'm mostly Digital these days, pretty much for the same reason's as everyone else has listed, accessibility, price, reading them on my phone etc
also my local comic book store is on the other side of the city,so **** taking 2 hours out of my day for maybe 2 or 3 comics
That said, I do get the occasional Marvel and Vertigo title in print form as well as various trades, so I've not totally given up on hardcopies.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I've dabbled a little, but never really dived into it. I may more so if I end up getting that Kindle Fire thingy.

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

I buy digital, and that's because I don't have the option.
Comic book store is a 2 1/2 journey away.

I like that get to keep updated with current stories, but I feel ripped off in a sense.
I don't have the physical comic. I can't lend it to someone once I'm done reading. if my battery dies I have to recharge it and wait, I can't sell it and this only happened once, but it was a pain in the ass. I bought Ultimate Spider-Man and it wouldn't let me read it even though I bought it. I had to contact the provider and get it fixed. It was a huge pain in the ass.

 

[Cosmic]

I'm pure print for the time being. I have no specific aversion to all digital though. There are a few reasons I haven't changed over. One, I don't have a device I'd find comfortable reading them on. My iPhone is too small and reading them on the computer would just feel weird. If I ever get an iPad or similar tablet I might go digital. Two, I like to support the comic shop I go to. The owner has been good to me over the years and has earned my loyalty. I'd kind of feel like I was shafting him if I switched. Three, I like getting a physical copy of media when I pay for it. I'm not dead set on this though. I can't remember the last time I bought a music CD and streaming movies is nice. There are plenty that I buy that I want to have though. However, when I look in the back closet that my comics are piling up in sometimes I wish they were all gone and I had them all stored on an iPad. I have a few long boxes but there's a couple years worth just stacked up on the floor next to them (all bagged and boarded though).

When it comes down to it, it would be hard to switch over completely just because I've been collecting comics ever since I can remember. But as an adult now it would be nice to clear out the space that they're taking up and to be able to have them on the go.

This post basically sums up my current position. However, I haven't played with any of the new apps, yet. I'll get my chance this weekend, and decide from there what I will do next.

One of the main reasons I returned to buying comics in the first place...and continued buying them...was that I enjoyed collecting them. I just like my comics collection. I like to see other people's collections of hats, stamps, trading cards, and comics. And I love sharing my comics collection with whoever wants to check it out. I sometimes sell my comics cheap, trade with one of the few people I know who collect them, or give them away. I love to receive my long-awaited comics in the mail, and just the same, supporting local shops with my cash. Right now, I can't see myself getting the same or similar enjoyment if I switch to digital.

 

[SpideyInATree]

I've dabbled into digital comics. Especially last month. There were a lot of the DC books that seemed interesting but didn't know if I wanted to add to my pull list so I downloaded them and added Resurrection Man, Demon Knights, Stormwatch and OMAC to my pull list because of it.

I don't have an iPad yet so that's probably why I haven't dove more into digital yet but I read a comic on a friends iPad and I fell in love. The high def screen REALLY makes a lot of the art pop more than on the paper but the downside from what I've seen are that double page spreads don't show up so well.

I've downloaded other comics here and there but mainly when they are either doing 99 cent deals or they have some cool stuff for free. I really like when comixology puts up previews for some series and it's nice and easy to download and get a nice teaser.

Digital comics definitely can be a game changer. Comics readers who live in remote areas with a comic shop no where in site can really benefit. Then you've got the wonderful feeling of not having to bag and board and then catalog them in their proper boxes. I'm in a bind where I've been reading comics for about 17 years now and the spare room is starting to get difficult to navigate with all the comic boxes scattered everywhere.

So, once I get an iPad it will be on like Donkey Kong with digital comics!

 

[kguillou]

The main reason I've been converting more and more to digital lately is price. Comixology has been doing a fantastic job offering weekly deals at great prices. A couple of weeks ago i bought the entire DC New Frontier for less than 6 bucks....6 bucks!! Just a few days ago they had that a Walking Dead sale with each trade costing 4.99 and issues for 99 cents. I snatched up two trades for less than the price of one. Im sorry but you just can't beat that. I still buy trades for titles I really wanna read and have for collection purposes but, I will defnitely be more heavily invested in digital.

 

[SpideyInATree]

No you can't beat that at all, especially if you don't mind the digital copy and not owning it physically. Comixology has really been knocking it out of the park with the deals lately. If I had an iPad I probably would be addicted to digital comics.

 

[JTStarkiller]

I've got about a dozen or so monthly titles on my physical pull list that I go pick up on Wednesdays. The major stuff like Batman, Action Comics, etc. There's nothing like walking into a comic shop (I'm lucky, I live next to an incredible one, one of the best in the country), and looking at the racks and checking out that week's selections. That said, at the same time, I try to keep my collection relatively light. I've been collecting for about 5 or 6 years, and have kept my collection to about 2 longboxes.

Digital is great when I really don't need to own a physical copy, and also when you want to read on the go. A small handful of titles I'm going the digital route... stuff like Swamp Thing, Aquaman, and Animal Man. Although I think I'm doing the wait a month thing to save a buck. When it comes to collecting comics, every dollar counts.

So I'd say about 80% of my pull list is physical, 20% digital.

 

[trustyside-kick]

Oh yea let me add in that I do love going to my LCS that is not a long driver for me and picking up comics. I like the atmosphere and seeing all the books that I am and am not getting. I love all of that. And it is easily the best comic shop I've been to more than a handful in TX and other states. Just the big thing for me is that managing bags and boards and boxes when there are only SOME comics I'd want to have hard copies of is the thing. I still buy TPBs. But when more become available for digital purchase, I am gonna hop on that train for some TPBs. The TPBs I care about more I will get in physical print, but even TPBs are slowly starting to go digital.

 

[Max Gaines]

This poll doesn't have enough options. I don't buy digital comics just because I don't yet have anything on which to read them.

 

[CConn]

I'll be sure to add a Max Gaines option next time.

 

[Max Gaines]

I'll be sure to add a Max Gaines option next time.

Well I can see the two of us are gonna get along just fine.