[Digital Comics] Funny Books On Your Phones and Tablets! Check OP For Retailers

wwtMask

Yes, you own the files. No, they don't have anything new from Image. They had Elephantmen and Freshmen. Like I said, a dearth of material. The upside of Longbox is that it follows the iTunes model, so it reads CBR/CBZ files and manages your collection regardless of where you got the files.

wwtMask

Oh, and in the spirit of encouraging awesome behavior by creators, check out these two comics from creators that understand how to handle digital comics. The creators have taken the approach of putting it in as many digital formats and venues as humanly possible.

Valentine

During Napoleon’s retreat from Russia in the War of 1812, cavalry officers Valentine and Oscar are separated from the main army by a brutal blizzard. They think the worst thing waiting out there in the snow for them is Death. They could not be more wrong. The two soldiers stumble across an ancient conflict between beings more powerful than humanity can imagine, a conflict which now threatens to consume the Earth and all upon it – because those who have stood in the horror’s path, the few bastions of light, are going home.

Valentine is a fantasy / thriller graphic novel series by writer Alex de Campi and artist Christine Larsen. It is available in 14 languages and counting.

In Maps and Legends

Kaitlin Grayson considers herself just an artist until she gets recruited by a strange man named Bartamus, who shows up at her place in the middle of the night and demands she use her skills to save his dying world. Soon Kait gets caught between two worlds, and if Bartamus’ world falls, Earth is next — along with untold other worlds.

In Maps & Legends is a 10-issue contemporary fantasy comic with hints of science fiction and steampunk. The comic won the Nov. 2009 competition hosted by DC Comics imprint Zuda Comics, where it ran in 2010 until the Zuda site closed.

In September 2010, we relaunched the comic with the help of some fine online distributors. You can read a new, 22-page issue every 6 weeks, with the first story arc ending in late 2011.

The Story

Kaitlin is a newly single freelance artist who is stuck in the rut of the well-paying, for-hire covers and maps she creates for fat fantasy novels.

But at night, driven by some strange compulsion, Kait has been working long hours on an intricate, mixed-media map of a place she’s never been, a map that covers all four walls of the window-less spare room she keeps locked next to her tiny bedroom. She’s not sure where the inspiration for the map comes from, but she can’t seem to help herself.

One cold night, Kait is visited by a disheveled man named Bartamus who claims to be from another world. He needs her to finish a map of his dying world so he can use his skills to save it. He doesn’t need someone with the ability to create a map from a satellite image or GPS data; he needs someone like Kaitlin, who he calls a true “world artist.”

For Kait, things like this happen in the books she illustrates so often that she feels like she knows what will happen next; she couldn’t be more wrong.

About the Creators

Artist Niki Smith is an artist and writer who is currently working on a handful of creator-owned comic projects such Some Did Rest. Her work has also appeared in several English language and German comic anthologies.

Writer Michael Jasper has published three novels, a story collection, and over four dozen short stories in Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, Polyphony, Writers of the Future, and the Raleigh News & Observer, and other fine venues. His most recent novel is A Gathering of Doorways (Wildside Press, 2009).

OptimusZed

Does anyone have experience running the Marvel Digital archive stuff on a color ereader like a Nook Color?

I'm probably going to be getting one in the next month or so, and if I can basically Netflix my comics to it that would be pretty fricking awesome.

BigDes

Valentine seems pretty cool

Munch

If you own any of those massive DVD collections of Marvel comics, and an iPad, here's an article explaining how you can put those comics on said iPad.

Junior Yank

OptimusZed wrote: »

Does anyone have experience running the Marvel Digital archive stuff on a color ereader like a Nook Color?

I'm probably going to be getting one in the next month or so, and if I can basically Netflix my comics to it that would be pretty fricking awesome.

The Marvel online comic thingy uses Flash, which the nookColor doesn't support... yet. But if rumors are to be believed, there will be a firmware upgrade in the next few months that will allow for Flash support.

And if you have comics in .PDF form, they work pretty well on the nookColor. I just turn it sideways and "fit to width".

OptimusZed

Junior Yank wrote: »

OptimusZed wrote: »

Does anyone have experience running the Marvel Digital archive stuff on a color ereader like a Nook Color?

I'm probably going to be getting one in the next month or so, and if I can basically Netflix my comics to it that would be pretty fricking awesome.

The Marvel online comic thingy uses Flash, which the nookColor doesn't support... yet. But if rumors are to be believed, there will be a firmware upgrade in the next few months that will allow for Flash support.

And if you have comics in .PDF form, they work pretty well on the nookColor. I just turn it sideways and "fit to width".

Ok, thanks. I thought I'd heard somewhere that the two weren't compatible, but it's good to get it confirmed.

I might just hold off and see if that gets resolved.

Munch

Apparently if you root a nookColor, you can use Comixology on it, essentially turning it into a smaller, cheaper iPad, at least for the purpose of reading comics.

TexiKen

oooooohh.

I have no need for an iPad with a netbook (at least until it gets flash one day), but a nook color would be a nice gadget to have around the house, especially if it can get comics on it.

wwtMask

Once rooting a nook becomes relatively simple to do, I'll probably see about getting one. It'd be a nice way to read comics, if the experience I've had on my Droid X is any indication.

Munch

Well, supposedly a cheaper version of the iPad's on the way anyhow, so it may be a moot point within the next year or so.

Of course, comic companies could probably very easily partner up with Barnes and Noble and start selling Nookbook editions of their comics. But that'd be the smart thing to do, so I won't hold my breath.

wwtMask

Yeah, I'm not expecting any publishers to do the smart thing.

OptimusZed

From what I've read (I don't have any personal experience with the IPad), the Nook Color has better resolution, which I would guess helps when trying to read comics that are sized appropriately.

Besides, I don't need a full-on IPad. I've got a netbook, I just want something I can take on the train with me to catch up on The Outsiders.

cardboard delusions

I'd imagine that the next iPad will have the same retina display as the current iPhone. Also it will be priced better to compete with the inevitability of other products in the market. Hopefully there will be a point, like with music, that the digital distribution model starts to make sense.

Centipede Damascus

Munch wrote: »

Apparently if you root a nookColor, you can use Comixology on it, essentially turning it into a smaller, cheaper iPad, at least for the purpose of reading comics.

holy crap, that's awesome

I highly doubt the next iPad is going to be anywhere near as cheap as the nook Color, considering the larger screen size, more technology inside, etc.

Also B&N is supposed to be putting together their own app store very soon, so I am very optimistic about Comixology being available without rooting your device.

Keith

yeah that really makes me want a NookColor

the only problem is that since it's not official they wouldn't see how much of a success it could be

Munch

David Brothers breaks down the top-selling digital comics of the year.

Comics Alliance wrote:

Top Ten Best-Selling Comics (by unique series)

1. Wanted #2
2. Kick-Ass #1
3. The Walking Dead Vol. 1
4. The Pro
5. Grimm Fairy Tales Return to Wonderland #2
6. Chew #2
7. Civil War #1
8. Hack/Slash: The Series #1
9. Sandman #1
10. Y: The Last Man #1

Top Ten Series (units sold)

1. The Walking Dead
2. Kick-Ass
3. Wanted
4. Civil War
5. Grimm Fairy Tales Return to Wonderland
6. Hack/Slash: The Series
7. Chew
8. Hunter Killer
9. Witchblade
10. Sandman

I think this is a good example of why Marvel and DC may be hesitant to move to digital. Their stuff doesn't have nearly as much dominance in that market.

Also, Archie Comics is now doing simultaneous digital releases, with cheaper prices for the digital products. Their app also received two million downloads last year. I wish they had something besides the Archie line, and the Sonic comics. Maybe once DC loses the Red Circle rights, Archie can do something new with those characters.

Finally, the third issue of Greg Pak's Vision Machine launched today. You can read all three for free, here.

Munch

Interview with Red 5 founder Paul Ens, concerning their digital initiatives. Here are some choice quotes.

TFAW wrote:

TFAW.com: How have digital comics been selling for you, compared to traditional comics?

PE: The total gross revenue from digital comics has increased each month in the two years since we started, as has the total number of comics downloaded. In terms of total sales revenue, it’s still small but growing. Some of our titles have gone on to sell more digitally than in print.

That's promising, even for a small company like Red 5, whose top books tend to sell around 5,000 in the Direct Market.

TFAW wrote:

TFAW.com: What do you think of the piracy issue that comes along with digital distribution?

PE: I’m not familiar with an argument that digital distribution of comics might lead to an increase in digital comic piracy. We’ve been distributing digitally for two years now, and still all of the pirated copies of our material come from scans of the print books. It’s hard to copy-protect a printed comic.

If we take lessons from the music and movie industries, we see that if there is a demand for digital versions of a product, then piracy will gladly fill the supply. We also see that a portion the public will gladly pay something for a legitimate and convenient copy when it is offered at a low enough price. We also see that a certain percentage will never pay any price above zero, and that we were never going to sell a book to them anyhow.

The best way to combat piracy is to supply our product in the format the consumers want to see it. Otherwise, their choices are to steal or ignore.

I think Ens generally has the right idea, but is still being a bit disingenuous when he says he's, "not familiar with an argument that digital distribution of comics might lead to an increase in digital comic piracy." If that weren't the case, publishers wouldn't have their shit locked down in all kinds of unwieldy formats, and would be selling .CBR files, which is how 99.9% of pirates get their comics.

TFAW wrote:

TFAW.com: What do you think digital comics will mean for traditional retailers in the upcoming years?

PE: Forgive me while I imperfectly borrow lingo from my economics classes.

While a digital comic is a good substitute for a print comic (like margarine for butter), it is not a perfect substitute (like one brand of corn for another). The experience of reading a print comic is not the same as a digital one. Factors like the feel, smell, sight and sound of the physical comic will remain important for some. These difference are so great, many will never embrace digital versions.

Okay guys, fess up. Who's been smelling or listening to their comics?

Because you're doing it wrong.

Delduwath

I'm not going to lie: I love the smell of ink. It's the smell of a freshly-opened card game booster pack, or a board game, or - sometimes - a comic. I don't exactly rub my face into every comic I get, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't occasionally smell the ink smell.

Munch

Maybe it's because I'm perpetually riddled with allergies that make it difficult for me to smell much of anything, but that's something I've never considered. For me, comics have always been a strictly visual experience. I don't really care about tactile sensation, the way the pages sound when they rustle, or the smell of the paper.

That said, there are some smells I strongly associate with nostalgic stuff from my childhood, so I guess I can kind of understand it.

Delduwath

Maybe I fetishize physical objects too much, but there's definitely something about holding a physical comic book/book/computer game manual/whatever that I really enjoy. It appeals to some ridiculous old-fashioned part of me that thinks that all digital things are ephemeral dust in the wind. I resisted digital downloads of games for a long time (partially because I want for me to be in control of my media and not Steam, partially because I like physical things), but for a while now there hasn't been much of a point in buying a disk if I can buy a file (poorly-made game boxes, practically non-existent game manuals, etc).

Mostly, I just wish the two options lived side-by-side. Want a floppy that you buy from a dude who knows you name*? You can. Want to get some ones and zeroes that won't get wet when your apartment floods? You can get those too.

* - It still kind of weirds me out that one of the dudes at Midtown Comics knows my name. I mean yeah, I've been buying comics there for several years, but he must see a thousand nerds every week. It's pretty impressive and also pretty nice. Must be that "human connection" that the popular kids talk about.

TexiKen

Mark Millar talk about some of the things not talked about with digital comics. This is Millar so I don't know how much of this is exaggerated, but he would have a better idea about iTunes than other creators out there with his works being in film and comics:

Okay, I’m loving the fact that Millarworld books account for 8 of the top 10 downloads in 2010. That’s cool, but what superficially looks like a great deal for creators is less so under a little scrutiny. Yes, you’re eliminating paper, printing, comic store and distributor costs, but there’s hidden costs here I haven’t seen highlighted anywhere.

1/ Apple take 30% right off the bat.
2/ In the case of Wanted, Comixology then splits 50/50 with the publisher.
3/ Then the publisher pays the agent and creative team out of the remaining cash depending on their deal.

In hard numbers, the digital comic is normally half the price of the paper comic, but you have just as many percentages to pay out as a creative team to an electronic distributor and publisher. So effectively the creative team is getting half as much money. For creators, this isn’t great and for comic stores this is awful. I don’t mind paying thirty percent to a local store where my friends work and the guys care about the product. But do I want this money going to Apple?

I would say what's wrong with giving money to Apple but that's a different discussion.

wwtMask

TexiKen wrote: »

Mark Millar talk about some of the things not talked about with digital comics. This is Millar so I don't know how much of this is exaggerated, but he would have a better idea about iTunes than other creators out there with his works being in film and comics:

Okay, I’m loving the fact that Millarworld books account for 8 of the top 10 downloads in 2010. That’s cool, but what superficially looks like a great deal for creators is less so under a little scrutiny. Yes, you’re eliminating paper, printing, comic store and distributor costs, but there’s hidden costs here I haven’t seen highlighted anywhere.

1/ Apple take 30% right off the bat.
2/ In the case of Wanted, Comixology then splits 50/50 with the publisher.
3/ Then the publisher pays the agent and creative team out of the remaining cash depending on their deal.

In hard numbers, the digital comic is normally half the price of the paper comic, but you have just as many percentages to pay out as a creative team to an electronic distributor and publisher. So effectively the creative team is getting half as much money. For creators, this isn’t great and for comic stores this is awful. I don’t mind paying thirty percent to a local store where my friends work and the guys care about the product. But do I want this money going to Apple?

I would say what's wrong with giving money to Apple but that's a different discussion.

That sounds like sour grapes from someone whose contract either didn't include a digital distribution clause or included a shitty digital distribution clause. If you're a creator and don't have digital distribution sorted out before signing the contract, you're fucking up.

Also, how about you distribute your shit through other channels that aren't Apple? Just a thought.

Robos A Go Go

It's surprising that someone who's accustomed to working with Hollywood would sign an agreement that makes the lower-cost medium less profitable on his end.

And if anything, it's the publisher who's taking too much from the pie. As far as the digital model is concerned, isn't the publisher just a middle man?

Munch

I'm pretty sure Dark Horse set up their own proprietary app, specifically to avoid giving Apple any money.

I'm 99% sure Brian Clevinger said he makes more money off digital sales of Atomic Robo, than print sales. Now that's probably because Robo only sells around 5k, which is probably just enough to pay for the printing and such.

But oh no, Mark Millar's movie-comics don't make him crazy bank. I weep for him.

Speaking of price and distribution outside Apple, there's currently people looking to get around that, with what's been dubbed The Not .99 Method.

I only skimmed it, but the gist is that you pay a creator through Paypal, they send you an automated e-mail with a .PDF download link for their book/comic, and that can then be downloaded and viewed on your e-reader of choice. There's a few problems with it, but it just goes to show that people are going to keep finding ways to buck the system.

Munch

Novelist Joe Konrath analyzes his e-book sales, finds the lowest-priced ones make the most money overall.

Joe Konrath wrote:

I get 35% of the price I set on Kindle, or 70 cents per ebook download.

We can draw some simple conclusions looking at these numbers.

Ebooks priced at $4 sell an average of 1100 ebooks per year.

Ebooks priced at $8 sell an average of 342 ebooks per year.

Ebooks priced at $2 sell an average of 4900 ebooks per year.

It doesn't take a math whiz to see that the biggest profit is with low priced ebooks.

Now let's play the imagination game.

My five Hyperion ebooks (the sixth one came out in July so no royalties yet) each earn an average of $803 per year on Kindle.

My four self-pubbed Kindle novels each earn an average of $3430 per year.

If I had the rights to all six of my Hyperion books, and sold them on Kindle for $1.99, I'd be making $20,580 per year off of them, total, rather than $4818 a year off of them, total.

So, in other words, because Hyperion has my ebook rights, I'm losing $15,762 per year.

Now Hyperion also has my print rights, and my Jack Daniels books are still selling in print. But they aren't selling enough to make up the $15,762. Especially since all of them aren't regularly being stocked on bookstore shelves.

According to my math, I'd be making more money if my books were out of print, and I had my rights back.

---

$3430 per ebook per year isn't really a big number. I've certainly never been paid so small an advance for a novel.

And yet, I'm 100% sure ebook sales are going to go up. I've signed deals with Smashwords to sell ebooks through Barnes and Noble, Apple to sell ebooks as iTunes apps for the Iphone and iPod Touch, and Sony to sell ebooks on their reader. Kindle was just released in 100 more countries. I predict more ebook sales in the near future.

Let's say by the end of 2010 I can make $5000 per year per ebook title by self publishing. I can easily write four books per year.

Again, $20,000 per year isn't enough to live on. But things begin to accumulate.

$20k per year for 4 new books, plus $20k per year for the books I'm already selling, is $40k per year.

But I'm selling more than novels on Kindle. I also have 6 collaborations and short story collections. This year I'm also going to put The Newbie's Guide to Publishing ebook on Kindle.

So now we're looking at 14 ebooks, each making $5k per year. That's $70,000 a year.

And as more people buy ereaders and ebooks, that number can go up. Plus, I publish on my schedule, I keep the profits, and best of all, the rights are 100% mine. So if I want to do a limited print edition, I can. If I want to sell the mass market paperback rights, I can.

It's also a nice reminder that creators are gaining more power in a digital marketplace.

amateurhour

This may have already been asked, but I didn't see a lot of talk about it, so if it's a repeat I apologize.

1) With Longbox, do you actually get to keep the comic you purchase? (I.E. With ComiXology, if they go belly up tomorrow, I've just lost access to every comic I've gotten from them, I have nothing tangible to show for it, like a .pdf for example) Is this like iTunes where you actually have a file on hand, that's yours to keep?

2) Is Longbox going to have support for indie publishers like the kindle on Amazon, as in, if I were to make a 12 page comic book about the exploits of super duper man, could I sell it for .99 cents?

wwtMask

1: Yes, you own the comics. It has an offline mode, so the comics you've bought in the Longbox format should still be good even if Longbox, Inc. goes under, but you will definitely need to keep a backup copy of the software just in case. Otherwise, it supports CBR/CBZ files.

2: Yes, individual creators can sell their work independent of a publisher. I'm not sure how stringent they are about who qualifies and the cost of doing so. See this page for more info: http://longboxdigital.com/lbx-content-details.html

wwtMask

Apparently Skottie Young's foray into offering digital comics for sale has been successful: http://www.skottieyoung.com/2011/01/some-love-for-adventures-of-bernard.html. I know he got $2 from me.

Munch

I too gave him my money. If only as a way of telling creators, "Hey, do it this way."

Seriously, that's what bugs me the most about Mark Millar's little bitch-fit about digital comics, and how Marvel and Comixology take so much from him, as to make the model no longer profitable. Guess what? That's on you, champ. You and Marvel, anyways. There's no reason a huge corporation, which is backed by Disney, couldn't somehow figure out a more financially advantageous way of selling their products.

Except for the fact that they've become accustomed to bending over backwards to not make money. Brian Clevinger said on the Something Awful forums that retailers keep 50% of what you pay for a comic. So $1.50 per issue then pays for printing expenses, shipping, Diamond warehouse employees and management, Marvel corporate costs, and the comic creators themselves. If there's one thing I hate about the comic industry, it's repeatedly being asked to support their poor business decisions.

But hey, in a story of getting it right, indie darling Duncan the Wonder Dog, a 400 page graphic novel, is being sold digitally as a .CBR or .PDF for $10. I haven't bought it, because honestly I don't have the time to read it right now and I'm not sure how much I'd like it, but bravo to those responsible.

Comics Alliance wrote:

CA: You significantly lowered your price point from the print to the digital version (nearly 15 dollars), another thing many publishers are loathe to do. Why did you make that decision?

CP: Are publishers loathe to do that? I don't profess to being an expert in this arena. Basically, this model costs NOTHING to put the digital work in the hands of possible readers, so why not reduce the digital version cost? As a side, one of the fastest profitable original graphic novels we ever published was Salamander Dream by Hope Larson. At the time of publication, the entire work was available FREE online.

wwtMask

Hmmm, I'll have to take a look at that book. It's a bargain even compared to my desired price of $0.99 per 22 page comic. Actually, I need to start buying from mydigitalcomics.com, since they seem to be closest to getting digital comics right.

Wildcat

Has anyone tried Drivethrucomics at all? I've used their sister RPG book site to great success, but I've never bought one of the comics from them.

wwtMask

Never heard of it before, though I will say that it's kinda lame for a site to go with PDF as their standard format. At least you get to keep your comics if you buy from them.

amateurhour

Wildcat wrote: »

Has anyone tried Drivethrucomics at all? I've used their sister RPG book site to great success, but I've never bought one of the comics from them.

I haven't checked out their comics site but I will now. I love their RPG repository. It's the only place to get older copies of stuff for a decent price.

Munch

Marvel letterer/cartoonist/Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius creator Chris Eliopoulos is also selling his Misery Loves Sherman comic for $2 digitally, when the print version costs $15.

Newspaper-style strips aren't really my thing, but It's a pretty good deal if you like his work.

wwtMask

Guys, I updated the OP with links to digital comics sources and other noteworthy items. Let me know if there are any other publishers or creators that ought to be linked. I'm particularly interested in giving exposure to publishers and creators that are "doing the right thing" (no stupid DRM, reasonable pricing, you own the comics you buy).

Also, if you spot any other creators using the "Not .99 Method" or something similar, I'd like to highlight them as well. Right now, it looks like Skottie Young is the only major creator that I know of, and possibly Chris Eliopoulos (can anyone confirm this for me?).

Munch

Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin's Gingerbread Girl Ch. 1 is now up on Top Shelf's website.

Munch

Skottie Young appraises his digital process, one week in.

Skottie Young wrote:

Here's where it gets interesting. In 7 days, I've sold 391 digital copies. The only promotion I've done is on this blog, twitter, facebook, and deviantart. Since I started selling, a few news sites like CBR and iFanboy have done pieces on it. But that's it. No real push, no real plan. Woke up last friday, no plan to sell anything digital and by noon the same day I was in the middle of this experiment.

So the dude basically made almost $800 in a week (minus Paypal's miniscule fee), with no real plan or promotion. That's not bad, when you consider how many indie books can have a print run of 3-4,000, and still not make the creators any money.

wwtMask

Munch wrote: »

Skottie Young appraises his digital process, one week in.

Skottie Young wrote:

Here's where it gets interesting. In 7 days, I've sold 391 digital copies. The only promotion I've done is on this blog, twitter, facebook, and deviantart. Since I started selling, a few news sites like CBR and iFanboy have done pieces on it. But that's it. No real push, no real plan. Woke up last friday, no plan to sell anything digital and by noon the same day I was in the middle of this experiment.

So the dude basically made almost $800 in a week (minus Paypal's miniscule fee), with no real plan or promotion. That's not bad, when you consider how many indie books can have a print run of 3-4,000, and still not make the creators any money.

Its sorta a cross between the webcomic business model and the traditional model. Also, doesn't hurt that he's a well known and well liked creator. In the end, I really, really hope that it encourages more creators to take the plunge into selling digital comics on their own.

wwtMask

A few new links, courtesy of Pipeline on CBR. I'm also updating the OP with this info.

The Illustrated Section, a store for digital comics and art. All purchases are available in PDF format.
New issues of Cemetery Blues by Thomas Boatwright. PDF or CBR format, for $1. The artist appears to be using the Not .99 method for distribution.
F**K YOU, BOX by Katie Cook. $2 for the 30 page ashcan. I can't confirm that she's using the Not .99 method.
Cleopatra in Space, book 1 by Mike Maihak. $2 for the 52 page PDF. It's available through the illustrated Section, but if you want to get a feel for what it's about, check out his site directly.