Are Digital Comic Books The Future Of The Medium?
It will come as a surprise to no one that there has long been a strong connection between computers and comic books. Since the early 1990s, artists have used digitally-rendered, computer generated artwork to enhance their comic books. A novelty at the time, computer artwork was used for backgrounds or conceptual points within a story. Now, comic books and computers are intertwining in a different way through Cloud-based platforms and portable devices with extensive data storage. Computers have become the display medium for comics through digital comic books.
Digital comic books are not new, though they have become more accessible to readers with recent advances in data storage capacity and Cloud-based storage. Before data storage improvements, it was tough to get comic book readers to commit the hard drive space to the large files digital comic books occupied. With Cloud technology and hard drives with greater data storage capacity, digital comics are coming into their own.
While Marvel Comics has had digital comics and a large computer support network for its users in place for years, DC Comics has been slower to adapt the technology. With the reboot of DC Comics with their “New 52” strategy this year, DC Comics invested heavily in the digital comics market. DC Comics sells digital comics on their “first look” nature. New comics come out on Wednesdays and DC releases both the print and digital comic books on the same day. Because most comic book shops do not open at 12:01 A.M. on Wednesday, digital comic readers may read the stories a few hours earlier than their friends.
As a business plan, digital comics are brilliant for both the manufacturer and the consumer. For a limited investment in computer support personnel to transfer the printed images to a digital format, comic book publishers create a product with no materials cost. Digital comic books replace the expense of publishing with vastly more affordable fees for data storage devices.
On the consumer end, digital comic books offer readers increased portability without risking their valuable collectible. Collectors may keep the printed comic book in mint condition, but upload the digital comic book to enjoy the story. Because of the Cloud-based distribution of digital comic books, readers need not have extensive data storage space to enjoy them. Setting up the readers and apps may require some computer support to get the programs and subscriptions to run properly.
Despite the inherent benefits to the environment and the collectible value of comic books, digital comic books may not be doing a service to the medium. The best graphic novels and comic books feature big artwork, sprawling panels that must breathe on the page. That level of artistry is not represented well on a smartphone screen and the transitions between pages and panels may still be choppy on tablet computers.
Even so, the relationship between comic books and computers is now cemented and the future of comic books may well depend on the next technological leaps in portable electronics.
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