In Digital Death Part I: Illegally Downloading Comic Books, we discussed the dangers of downloading comics and the negative impacts on the publishing companies (especially the smaller ones), the distributors, and the comic book stores. In this installment, we will look at another side of digital comics and the negative impact on the market. We will look at the secret intent of digital comics which Marvel and DC don’t want you to think about and what this intent will lead to.
The death of the comic book industry will be caused by digitally downloading comic books.
What If Digital Comics Took Over?
What if we all switched tomorrow to digital comics? Where would that leave the comic book stores and distributors like Diamond? There would not be a need for them in the end. There would not be a need for the printed pages since they were all digitally rendered. Marvel and DC would love to have the opportunity to cut out levels of distribution and eventually sell directly to the consumer. The Big 2 need their profits and if it means they would put over two thousand small businesses out of business, what do they care? What do they care if digital comics could cause for tens of thousands of people being added to the unemployment lines if they (Marvel and DC) can make more money?
Price and Cost of Digital Comics
Think about the profits Marvel and DC would gain if they did not have to give a piece of the action to the comic book stores and to the distributors. You might be saying “Well, the digital comics I have been buying are only $0.99. Marvel and DC can’t be making that much money.” Do you really think the Big 2 would leave the price of digital comics at $0.99 if the other levels of distribution were eliminated? Once the levels of distribution were eliminated, the price of the digital comics would go up to the price of printed versions, or higher.
Where Does this Leave Comixology?
Of course, Comixology and other digital distributors of comics are making some money now, but what is going to happen if Marvel and DC are able to eliminate physical distributors and comic book stores? Digital distributors would be next as the Big Two march towards complete domination of the market and sell the digital comics to you directly through their websites and apps.
Where Does this Leave Smaller Publishers?
Smaller publishers fight to get as much of the market as possible. Most of their push comes in the comic book stores as workers introduce you to titles from smaller companies you did not consider. Business also comes from Previews, which is published by Diamond. How long with Previews be around if Diamond was forced to go belly-up because of the domination of digital comics? The smaller companies would be casualties of the digital comics war between Marvel and DC.
Illegal Downloads
Again, we have to revert back to illegally downloading comics. With more digital comics out on the market, the downloaders would take their piece of the pie. The stage could be set for a battle where Marvel would have to team with DC to ensure the illegal downloaders did not completely kill the market. Funny, the Big Two would have to fight to keep the market they are killing alive.
Gone!
Gone would be the days of walking into a comic book store to peruse the shelves for new titles. Gone would be the discussions with comic book store workers about their suggestions. Gone would be the physical locations where you would go to talk about comics with other comic book fans. Gone would be the excitement of going through a long box at a store to see what hidden gems you can get for cheap.
Gone would be the experience of looking at a stack of new comics and trying to decide which to look at first. Gone would be the smell of a new comic and feeling the glossy pages on your fingers as you open it to see what the creators had in store. Gone would be the experience of reading a comic book…just so Marvel and DC could make a few extra dollars an issue.
The future of the industry is yours to decide. Will you stand there and do nothing like the Watcher, or will you jump in and say “I’m as mad as Hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!?”
