Next week at Comic-Con, comic book fans are going to be inundated with news and information about digital comics. I am sure announcements will be made by various companies about digital comic sales and digital comic promotions. Think about the reason for the reasoning for these sales before jumping on the digital bandwagon.
Don’t believe the hype over digital comics sales. You can usually find physical comics for less.
Reasons for Digital Comics Sales
Digital comics have been around for a few years now, but the publishing companies still need more customers. I am sure many are surprised by the fact that after a few years of marketing, digital still has not become a more prevalent force in the comic book industry. We know that the reason is because comic book readers traditionally want a physical comic to read, to enjoy, and to store away in the hopes of it gaining value over time. Digital comics do not gain any monetary value at all.
Are Digital Comics Sales Actually a Deal?
A perusal of the digital comics for sale will find thousands (if not tens of thousands) of titles for $0.99. Chances are good that most of these will be traditional items you would find in a dollar box anyways. If you were to walk around a comic book convention, you are sure to find vendors who are going to have sales on their dollar boxes where you can purchase 12 or 15 for $10. You will find other vendors who have some of the same comics you could find on digital comic download sites for $0.50.
Near the end of a convention or show, some dealers will deeply discount dollar boxes so they do not have to take them home. It is not out of the range of thought to see people picking up 50 dollar comics for $30 or less as dealers try to figure out how to repack everything they came with and everything they purchased.
The New Comic Shenanigans
Someone said to me recently that searching dollar boxes at conventions was useless if you are collecting newer comics. WRONG! Many vendors start putting comics in their dollar boxes four to six months after initial release. Not all comics, but ones from lesser lines which are not moving. Some wait a year for titles which do move, but place the slower issues in the dollar boxes.
At Gem City Comic Con, I picked up Suicide Squad #2-#11 in a bundle. It was ten comics for $8. #11 had just come out five months before the convention. At C2E2, I scored a complete run of Frankenstein Agent of SHADE, a complete run of Voodoo, have of the Batman & Robin issues I had missed, and about a third of the Avs.X run. The average price I paid per coming was $0.74 when all was said and done. Much lower than digital comics, and I still had something physical to show for it.
If you happen to be at a convention like Comic-Con international and are enticed by digital comics sales, walk away and look around the convention. A keen eye will probably find better deals on the physical comics the digital comics market just can’t seem to kill.
