VIRTUAL COMIC BOOKS vs
                      REAL COMIC BOOKS

What the pros and cons of each?
                                                                 by John Robinson
                                                                      Graham Crackers Comics

 Since DC Comics just announced this week that they'll be dipping their toes in the world of VIRTUAL COMIC BOOKS, I thought I'd finally chime in on the subject.

    DC's announcing this wasn't much of a surprise, anytime MARVEL decides to try something out, all you have to do is wait 3 to 6 months to watch DC following suit.  Not necessarily because they think MARVEL has such a great idea, it seems more so, to simply stay competitive with their #1 rival.  Marvel raises their prices, DC follows right behind, MARVEL starts to buy up comic publishers, DC joins in the game.   These 2 have been fighting over MARKET SHARE for over 40 years now, so as I mentioned, no big surprise there.
____________________________

    Sure, you can take what I say with a grain of salt, after all I make my living selling real comic books.  And, yes I can recognize my own biases, I do try to remain as objective as possible when I examine the strengths and weakness of both options.  I've been 'into' computers since the TRS-80 hit the market in the 70's, bought the original IBM PC with DOS 1.0, setup my own BBS in the early 80's, beta tested the first 2400 baud modem for U.S. Robotics and have never stopped using and enjoying new technologies.  You'd think I'd take to virtual comics, but no, not so much.  Just because something can be done, doesn't mean it should, nor does it mean it's better.

   Virtual comic books are not something new to the computer market - they've been around for over 20 years.  The biggest difference between the past 20 years and right now is that both DC & MARVEL are directly testing the waters of virtual publishing.   In the past product created by the big 2 (Marvel & Dc) were sold in a virtual form to consumer by a 3rd party.  You've been able to legally purchase AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1-500 for $49.99 for the past 10 years, that's about 10 cents a copy.  We even carried these DVD-ROM box sets in the stores, and sold a handful of the years.  Not much just a few.  Still other companies tried keeping their entire library on-line and you could subscribe to the service and read their virtual comics whenever you liked (see Crossgen) - only to eventually go out of business and your real money gone like all the virtual comics you were paying to view.

    SPACE! Virtual comics save space! While technology has improved the reading experience, we've been able to read paperback novels on computers since the late 70's.  Regular novels take up very little virtual space since most novels do not have illustrations and are simply prose. If space was an issue, your early PC's could still fit hundreds of novels on them - yet here we are 30+ years later and they're still publishing books.  I have to concur that the biggest negative for collecting a real comic vs a virtual comic is that most of us eventually run out of space to store the every growing pile of comics.  Score 1 for virtual comics!

   VIRTUAL comics can be downloaded so I don't have to leave home!  I guess some people can see this as a positive. Though for a lot of readers, part of the fun of getting your new comics is talking with the people at the comic shop, running into fellow collectors there and browsing the store in a way that no website can replace.  Tie

   REAL COMICS have a smell to them.  Paper ages, paper can hold moisture, ink has a smell, different comics from different time periods have different smells to them.  Virtual comics smell like nothing, because, well, they are nothing, they're virtual.  To some people this is an enormous plus for Virtual Comics, yet they say smell is the strongest way to remembrance.  How strong will your memories be from something that has no scent.  I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I like the smell of comics!   Score a half point for virtual comics or Tie.

   REAL COMICS can be lent to friends.  When of the greatest joys I get from reading a great comic/trade/storyline is the ability to lend it to family or friends.  Or give it to them.  This applies to novels as well.  It's great to enjoy an item by yourself, but it's much more fun to turn someone else on to it.  Virtual Comics come with DRM (digital rights media) when you buy them from DC & MARVEL - that means you get your copy, and it stays with you.  Even if you've paid the same price for your virtual comic as a real comic, you've given up the rights that come with real comics automatically.  Score 1 for real comics!

    PORTABILITY.  Staring at a gigantic picture tube on your computer desk used to be the thing that turned people off from virtual comics and books, but now with technology improving (and sure to get even better) - you can now lug your iPad with you to the bathroom, or on a plane if you want to read a comic.  Here's the difference though, I'd be momentarily upset that I forgot my copy of WALKING DEAD Vol. 11 tpb on the back seat pouch of the plane, but that's it.  I'd be devastated that I left my $500 iPad lying there.  Score a half point for real comics!

    PRODUCT manufactured to appear the way it was intended.  I've tried reading comics on the iPad, it ranges from okay to near impssible, but mostly it's a pain in the ass and difficult.  These things were DESIGNED to fit different dimensions, and when you try and retro-fit something you only end up with an awkward experience. From a creator stand point, you create your artwork under the guidelines of how it will appear printed.  Colorists spend hours to make sure their monitors are properly calibrated to properly reflect the colors they see on their screen will come out the same way when printed.   With virtual comics the image quality will vary wildly depending on how and where it's viewed.  The vast majority of us do not have properly calibrated screens, so what you download may not look anywhere near what it was intended to look like.   Score a point for real comics!

    VIRTUAL COMICS have never appreciated in value.  While the majority of your REAL COMIC BOOKS will not appreciate in value, most comic books still have some minor value, so when space becomes an issue, you can still get some money out of those comics that you've been storing, enjyoing and re-reading over the years.  Score 1 for real comics!
  
   LOOK at the history of virtual items.  People foolishly put real money in return for Virtual money in Second Life and lost it all when 'virtual' stores and banks simply vanished.  More people spent money buying digital music from stores, including huge companies like Wal-Mart that a few years later either changed their minds on supporting the system they put in place or simply went bankrupt.  Spending money on items that you can not physically hold, means you no longer have control over what you've spent your money on.

   I'll end with this thought, how many people do you know that lost their homes to a FIRE and their precious comic collection along with it?  I don't know of anyone, but there's a chance you might know one person that spent YEARS collecting their REAL comics only to have lost them to a FIRE.

   Now let me ask you a similar question, how many people do you know that had their HARD DRIVES crash and they've lost all their data?  

  Unlike a fire, it's not a question of 'might happen', it's a question of will happen.  All hard drives, EVENTUALLY break down.  If you're the 1% of the public that diligently backs up properly then you only don't have to worry about that, you only have to worry about your data becoming corrupted, or the publisher deciding to stop support it, or the publisher going out of business or merging with another company that doesn't care to support it, or there's the inevitability of the 'modern' computer/interface not supporting the old format you bought for the past 6 years.  Technology tends to do that, still have a drive to read your old 5 1/4 floppies or even the more modern 3 1/2 ones?  That's all.  Otherwise, you're perfectly safe with your virtual collection!