Which writer are you referring to; Neil Hughes or Andy Ihnatko?
Andy Ihnatko, I just don't see what kind of agreement Longbox could make w/ Apple that would allow them to continue developing their application. If I were the CEO of Longbox, though, I also would make it sound like it COULD be Apple that I've partnered with. Get some investors.
Well, Jobs is a major shareholder of Disney and on the board...
and Disney DID just buy Marvel Comics.
It makes sense... I have looked at a couple similar items on my iPhone and although the screen quality is great, it is too small.
Still can't understand why anyone would want a tablet over a laptop though - unless it will be a niche product.
I think the only way for the tablet to be successful, if and when it comes out, would be if they have in fact created an iTunes Book Store. I have an iPhone/touch and would have no use for a tablet.
IF they create an online book store WITH deals with Marvel, I would snatch it up instantly.
It has to be marketed as a Kindle/Nook competitor or it's going to be the next Apple TV.
I can agree that comics have a lot more competition for audience attention and needs to change with the times. But that can be said for every form of entertainment.
Superhero comics have always been considered as mature material. Back in the 60's super hero themes and their battles with right and wrong were considered too challenging for kids in developing moral values.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kolchak
Comics are a dying art form. Very few kids are interested anymore, no thanks to the high cover prices and the focus on "mature" audiences. Maybe if they priced the digital copies at 50 cents or something, but $2 or more with virtually no distribution costs is ridiculous.
... The profit margin on a comic book is pretty small, I think it would make better business sense to distribute Pornography. ...
A lot of today's comics are pornography though in that the sales rely on mega-violence, nudity, and selling to distinct groups like the gay and psuedo-gay markets.
Also, I think when you say that the profit margins on comics are small, you are forgetting that a big part of that is printing and distribution. The eComic would not have that cost.
As a comic collector myself, I find it impossible to afford (or find) most of the older comics that I'd like to have now. Most of today's comic "collectors" just collect what's coming out now and ignore all the old comics. The idea that, like iTunes, I could possibly get digital versions of my favourite old comics is very appealing to me.
The thing I worry about here is the closed nature of the deal. The author of this article is actually wrong to state that there are no comic book readers that sell new comics and to imply that all the eReaders are for old (torrented) stuff. There is a comic book "reader" in the app store right now that does exactly this, but the downside is that you cannot use it to read the old content you have (torrented *or* purchased). It's a closed system wherein you have to buy comics through the app and they only work on that app.
What's really needed here if eBooks and eComics are to catch on is an open standard, just like any other technology. Let's hope these guys see that.
Standing, of course. Sitting is not an issue unless you have trouble with books and magazines, too. But is most common for people to stand on trains in the US and Europe, Apple?s largest markets? Would this be the most common place it would be used. I see your point, and this may make Japanese trains a poor place for this device, but overall I don?t think it?s a problem.
There's a lot of assumptions in this line of argument. We don't really know how big the tablet is going to be (although we can have a good guess at it). More importantly we don't know how thin or how light it may or may not be. At least I haven't heard anything like a scientific assessment of same.
Just for a data point, I sit in a chair for half the day at work so I make a point of always standing up on the train both to give my back a bit of a break, and also to let the seriously tired have a seat. I usually read, write, or watch podcasts on my iPhone and my hands never get tired or even notice the weight.
i think the tablet would have to be at least twice as heavy as the iPhone for this to be an issue for me.
I think the only way for the tablet to be successful, if and when it comes out, would be if they have in fact created an iTunes Book Store. I have an iPhone/touch and would have no use for a tablet.
IF they create an online book store WITH deals with Marvel, I would snatch it up instantly.
It has to be marketed as a Kindle/Nook competitor or it's going to be the next Apple TV.
Do you think that it wont have an online book store? I don't know why Apple would choose to avoid the textbook market, the comic book market, or any other printed market for that matter.
One big advantage of an Apple tablet would be the ability to bundle different media formats together as we've seen with iTunes LP and Extras. The tablet should be the ultimate convergence of these ideas. Buy a movie, have iTunes offer to bundle the book or manga with it. Have Genius start recommending similar books/manga/comics to you, and before you know it, you are hooked on comics. Or something like that. As someone else mentioned you could have more interactive comics too, although I would have to see one before I decide if that idea is more than a gimmick.
Do you think that it wont have an online book store? I don't know why Apple would choose to avoid the textbook market, the comic book market, or any other printed market for that matter.
One big advantage of an Apple tablet would be the ability to bundle different media formats together as we've seen with iTunes LP and Extras. The tablet should be the ultimate convergence of these ideas. Buy a movie, have iTunes offer to bundle the book or manga with it. Have Genius start recommending similar books/manga/comics to you, and before you know it, you are hooked on comics. Or something like that. As someone else mentioned you could have more interactive comics too, although I would have to see one before I decide if that idea is more than a gimmick.
I think it totally will have a new Book section in iTunes, and digital comics will be a part of it. I just don't see where Longbox plays into that.
Marvels digital offering so far is complete trash. If Marvel somehow get's into iTunes though, it would cause a sh*t storm with the direct market. But I think it could only help that market in that most of the people buying comiXologys 'Comics 'app, are people that don't go into comic shops, or haven't done so in years.
Their "guided view" makes viewing on the iPhone totally worthwhile.
Except in Japan manga is usually pocket-book sized. They are sized so you can read them on the train. Kind of hard to hold up a 10" ebook reader and hold onto the strap at the same time for an hour.
many people like the appeal of an ebook reader because it is smaller and easier to carry several titles in a smaller bag.
as for the strap issue. depending on the design of the reader it can be no more difficult than holding the strap and a book where you have to turn the page every few seconds.
Well, not ALL of it anyway after all it is a public corporation but yes with the Pixar deal Steve now is the largest single owner of Disney stock in the world with 7%ish of all Disney stock. Prior to that the biggest single person stock owners were all at around 1%, Eisner and even Roy Disney never owner over 2%.
Pretty freakin amazing... the man who was shoved out the door at Apple those many years ago sure has come back into his own hasn't he?
The graphic novel and comic book are logical bullseyes when Apple comes out with the Tablet. As an analog, think about how the rise of desktop publishing software gave the Mac its initial game changing purpose, and now overlay that into the present.
Beyond the goodness of such a device for narrative/storytelling, think what you could do in the interactive learning realm (imagine a touch/tilt/combine virtual physics/chemistry lab), not to mention all sorts of information and reference guide concepts (think: Fodors on Steroids).
If interested, I have done some further analysis on what Book 2.0 looks like in a post called:
Rebooting the Book (One Apple iPad Tablet at a Time)
Still can't understand why anyone would want a tablet over a laptop though - unless it will be a niche product.
What do you consider a niche product to be? It could be a rather large niche. Besides you're thinking about it wrong. Apple wont market this as a laptop replacement, it will be designed to supplement whatever computer you have.
...and the Cupertino, Calif., company have reportedly had disagreements over the business model to adopt.
Sorry to be so picky but that abbreviation of California was discontinued in the 1950's. One should either spell it out or use CA as an abbreviation. Of course, if neither of those suit your taste, you could always use "Cali" like everyone else who doesn't live here.
Sorry to be so picky but that abbreviation of California was discontinued in the 1950's. One should either spell it out or use CA as an abbreviation. Of course, if neither of those suit your taste, you could always use "Cali" like everyone else who doesn't live here.
Who discontinued it? Since when can language can be discontinued? I understand that the post office wants two letter abbreviations for mail, but that has no baring on the rest of written language. In fact, from Wikipedia...
? These postal abbreviations are distinguished from traditional abbreviations such as Calif., Fla., or Tex. The Associated Press Stylebook states that in contexts other than mailing addresses, the traditional state abbreviations should be used.
PS: The source on the Wikipage isn?t working so take it with the usual grain of salt, but it is how i learned it.
many people like the appeal of an ebook reader because it is smaller and easier to carry several titles in a smaller bag.
as for the strap issue. depending on the design of the reader it can be no more difficult than holding the strap and a book where you have to turn the page every few seconds.
Agreed.
Except I stated a 10" ebook reader in my post, the reported size of Apple's pad, much bigger than a Kindle. I would be exhausted holding something bigger than a Kindle and there isn't the physical space to hold up something that large.
I just measured one of my kids' manga, it's 4.5" x 7".
I spent 7 years riding the Tokyo rails. Japan is 120 million people, relatively affluent, who for the most part, have a lot more technology in their daily lives than most Americans.It's not a market to be discounted.
Comics are a dying art form. Very few kids are interested anymore, no thanks to the high cover prices and the focus on "mature" audiences. Maybe if they priced the digital copies at 50 cents or something, but $2 or more with virtually no distribution costs is ridiculous.
You are flat out WRONG! EH-URRRR!
Quote:
Oh boy!
Are you ever wrong!
Just go to any Barnes and Nobel. What's the fastest growing segment?
MANGA!!!
What is Manga? Japanese, or Japanese inspired comic books, graphic "novels", magazines, movies, video games and the like.
Over the past five years, I've made many props like swords, broaches, armbands, shields, breastplates, helmets, and other props for my daughter and her friends, as they've first gone to the various manga and comic conventions here in NYC, and then, as they got older, around the East coast.
I've also spend more than a few nights, until the next days' dawn, sewing costumes. We've had our entire first floor of the house covered with cloth, and our dining room table used as a sweatshop with as many as three sewing machines, as we've made costumes. Nothing like having a half dozen girls (and a couple boys) over for two days straight doing this.
Believe me, if the tablet is going to get teenagers reading from it, comic books are the place to be.
Locked down, nailed on 100% agree with that guy Melgross post. The tablet and full blown digital distribution will change EVERYTHING! Read Scott McCloud's 'Re-inventing Comics' for the forward thinking ideas that are only now on the cusp of being realised. Hot read.
Secondly, Manga is obviously huge in Japan where they sell more comic books every year than American and Europe put together, I think. They sell hundreds of millions if not a billion of the bleeders every year. And they're far bigger than the pamphlets you get in the states. Plus the genre diversity is amazing.
'Dying artform'? I think not. Ironically, while the big publishers like Marvel and DC have seen some success with Movies and constant reinvention of older Intellectual properties eg Ultimates...we have see a general trend to Independent publishing houses AND Johnny Appleseed Small Press publishers style creators who are just 'putting it out there on the web' and collecting their dailies into print format collections later on. Individual creators are flourishing on the web. There's a veritable GOLD MINE of comic stuff on the Web. It's like the wild frontier. For me, the big publishers have been slow to exploit the web. *Shrugs. Let's hear it for the little guy. It's been a 'two horse' race for too long.
And...to add to Melgross' post. I had to smile as he told us of helping make costumes and props for his daughter and friends. I used to attend the United Kingdom Comic Art Convention many, many moons ago. Highlights are myself dressing up as 'Solar, Man of the Iffy' (Complete with 'hose'), The 'Rowenta' WarMachine (no, that was my wife...I think), AND the 'Silver Cullonder (Where I dressed in silver foil, a real collunder on my head...AND a childs inflatable surfer board also attired in foil. I had to shuffle on stage..and under the stage lights I got cooked. And when I won a prize for it? Hassan threw my prize on the floor for me to collect it...which means the gaffa tape holding me together exploded...) You think that's bad? I had my ex-wife go as Ms. Swamp Thing in hessian potato sack and mouldy tea-bags (my idea...) and me as the 'Murphy Richards' Iron Man. Big embarrassment was carrying the 'box' around London and bumping into Dave Gibbons (Watchmen Artist) in a lift. I smiled at him weakly. He smiled back sympathetically. I think I looked like a yellow and red lego brick in that one... Crazy? Hey, sane people don't post on boards like this...
Quote:
and Disney DID just buy Marvel Comics.
Noted. Good catch. Smiles. IF that isn't part of the Job's master plan...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
While I don't think comics are a big deal these days, I think it's the distribution format rather than the content that's dying. As mentioned in one of Apple's keynotes - people just don't use books that much any more. They waste so much space in our modern minimalist homes and trading them is almost impossible so it's not environmentally nor wallet friendly.
Newspapers, comics, magazines, educational texts, fictional novels - they all need two things: a profitable distribution method and a client device.
Stores + physical format don't work because foot traffic in dedicated book stores and even libraries is so low. Check your local ones and see how empty they are. People don't have time to waste referencing text in books without search or finding well-reviewed novels.
Amazon + Kindle doesn't work that well because although they are a high profile distributor, the client device is poor (dedicated is not enough) and so expensive for what you get.
Apple + tablet does work because they have 50 million+ people at least in this eco-system buying games, movies, apps etc. I read comics on the iphone - daily web comics - and I love it. Same with a few books. However, a tablet works better for sitting down for hours and engaging with this type of content. I have read a few books on the iphone and while I don't mind it, having to scroll pretty much constantly isn't ideal.
Even better is the idea of interactive comics - if you've seen a motion comic e.g:
then you can see the possibilities. It brings comics to life for kids whose imaginations have been rotted away by endless hours of watered-down Disney slapstick entertainment and engages them in some thought-provoking narrative. But the key point is that it's not limited to this function. If you want to do something else you can and this is where so many devices fail.
It doesn't matter if comics would be enough to sell a tablet or if the tablet is enough to sell comics, they would give a significant boost to each other and you may for example buy the static comic and find out you want the motion comic/the movie or check out the website and buy products or review it online. It can all be done on the tablet.
I think Bill Gates is correct that it will be the most popular form factor sold eventually - he was a little off with the timing and that it would be a PC.
I am amazed!
Don't you guys ever go into bookstores anymore?
Comics and Manga, in particular, are the biggest growing segment.
Grins very broadly. A very, very, very perceptive post, Marvin. Excellent analysis. You seem to have the knack of nailing it on the head every time. Very rational and well thought out.
Yes. distribution of comics has long been a thorny issue. I suspect that a ubiquitous tablet/reading device will not only benefit print delivery in general but add a real boost to comics, an area which has been quite conservative over the years when it comes to 'new thinking' or genuine innovation. Too much me too-ism goes on there. And yes, distribution gets a real shot in the arm. If people can go with micro payments and add a few bells and whistles to the digital format, 'reading' can once again be fashionable to our children once more. Because, like the app store, things will be cheap! Accessible. £3 for a comic? Or 50pence? Or less? You don't mind wasting more on 6 comics for £3 if you can fully harness the leverage of the net's scale of economics. Kids play games, sure. But the net is all about pictures and words. That's comics, more or less.
This thread is the most pertinent (to me) thread of Appleinsider I have ever come across. And I have enjoying the read. Keep it coming.
As for Melgross and people going into stores and actually reading books/comics. Sighs wistfully. I know the feeling. You can't beat the smell of paper, fer me. And many of the children at my school agree. When the 'book club' is in town...we always have loads of sales. Did £500 plus of business in one week. Not bad for a generation of illiterates? And ironically, after years of being in the wilderness, comics are coming back to my school! We've got graphic novels aplenty! Jason and the Argonauts, the classics, some donated from my collection, my English head of dept is very aggressively pushing this to help the boys at our school get into reading! And what's more the girls are getting in on the action. A girl said to me today she'd ordered 'Jason and the...' at her local library. I was amazed at her reading a comic book. A girl. Now I think back to this morning...I'm quite shocked I guess. When I asked who wanted to go down to the library to go on the waiting list for it? An avalanche of children put their hands up for that. So, paper aint dead or dying. But there's no doubt that a Apple eBook reader could change EVERYTHING. I could well imagine going to a 'book store' online at Apple iTunes and browsing the latest cool comics and discovering a gem and putting in on pod cast subscription. As opposed to driving down to P.45 in Nottingham. (If you're in the midlands in the UK and get the chance to go to P.45...do. One of the best comic shops in the UK.) Sure, nothing ever beats the real thing...but if anyone can come close? Apple.
My recommended read to Mel: 'Strangehaven' by Gary Spencer Millidge. It's a cross between Prisoner and Emmerdale Farm and a weird old Hammer House production. It's the only thing that's keeping me reading comics at the moment. I can also heartily recommend Dave Sim's Cerebus the Ardvark. Can an Ant Eater be corrupted by power? And if you haven't read Watchmen by Moore and Gibbons? Do so. Far better than the 'died at the last hurdle' movie.
Comments
Which writer are you referring to; Neil Hughes or Andy Ihnatko?
Andy Ihnatko, I just don't see what kind of agreement Longbox could make w/ Apple that would allow them to continue developing their application. If I were the CEO of Longbox, though, I also would make it sound like it COULD be Apple that I've partnered with. Get some investors.
and Disney DID just buy Marvel Comics.
It makes sense... I have looked at a couple similar items on my iPhone and although the screen quality is great, it is too small.
Still can't understand why anyone would want a tablet over a laptop though - unless it will be a niche product.
Well, Jobs is a major shareholder of Disney and on the board...
and Disney DID just buy Marvel Comics.
It makes sense... I have looked at a couple similar items on my iPhone and although the screen quality is great, it is too small.
Still can't understand why anyone would want a tablet over a laptop though - unless it will be a niche product.
I think the only way for the tablet to be successful, if and when it comes out, would be if they have in fact created an iTunes Book Store. I have an iPhone/touch and would have no use for a tablet.
IF they create an online book store WITH deals with Marvel, I would snatch it up instantly.
It has to be marketed as a Kindle/Nook competitor or it's going to be the next Apple TV.
Superhero comics have always been considered as mature material. Back in the 60's super hero themes and their battles with right and wrong were considered too challenging for kids in developing moral values.
Comics are a dying art form. Very few kids are interested anymore, no thanks to the high cover prices and the focus on "mature" audiences. Maybe if they priced the digital copies at 50 cents or something, but $2 or more with virtually no distribution costs is ridiculous.
... The profit margin on a comic book is pretty small, I think it would make better business sense to distribute Pornography. ...
A lot of today's comics are pornography though in that the sales rely on mega-violence, nudity, and selling to distinct groups like the gay and psuedo-gay markets.
Also, I think when you say that the profit margins on comics are small, you are forgetting that a big part of that is printing and distribution. The eComic would not have that cost.
As a comic collector myself, I find it impossible to afford (or find) most of the older comics that I'd like to have now. Most of today's comic "collectors" just collect what's coming out now and ignore all the old comics. The idea that, like iTunes, I could possibly get digital versions of my favourite old comics is very appealing to me.
The thing I worry about here is the closed nature of the deal. The author of this article is actually wrong to state that there are no comic book readers that sell new comics and to imply that all the eReaders are for old (torrented) stuff. There is a comic book "reader" in the app store right now that does exactly this, but the downside is that you cannot use it to read the old content you have (torrented *or* purchased). It's a closed system wherein you have to buy comics through the app and they only work on that app.
What's really needed here if eBooks and eComics are to catch on is an open standard, just like any other technology. Let's hope these guys see that.
Standing, of course. Sitting is not an issue unless you have trouble with books and magazines, too. But is most common for people to stand on trains in the US and Europe, Apple?s largest markets? Would this be the most common place it would be used. I see your point, and this may make Japanese trains a poor place for this device, but overall I don?t think it?s a problem.
There's a lot of assumptions in this line of argument. We don't really know how big the tablet is going to be (although we can have a good guess at it). More importantly we don't know how thin or how light it may or may not be. At least I haven't heard anything like a scientific assessment of same.
Just for a data point, I sit in a chair for half the day at work so I make a point of always standing up on the train both to give my back a bit of a break, and also to let the seriously tired have a seat. I usually read, write, or watch podcasts on my iPhone and my hands never get tired or even notice the weight.
i think the tablet would have to be at least twice as heavy as the iPhone for this to be an issue for me.
I think the only way for the tablet to be successful, if and when it comes out, would be if they have in fact created an iTunes Book Store. I have an iPhone/touch and would have no use for a tablet.
IF they create an online book store WITH deals with Marvel, I would snatch it up instantly.
It has to be marketed as a Kindle/Nook competitor or it's going to be the next Apple TV.
Do you think that it wont have an online book store? I don't know why Apple would choose to avoid the textbook market, the comic book market, or any other printed market for that matter.
One big advantage of an Apple tablet would be the ability to bundle different media formats together as we've seen with iTunes LP and Extras. The tablet should be the ultimate convergence of these ideas. Buy a movie, have iTunes offer to bundle the book or manga with it. Have Genius start recommending similar books/manga/comics to you, and before you know it, you are hooked on comics. Or something like that. As someone else mentioned you could have more interactive comics too, although I would have to see one before I decide if that idea is more than a gimmick.
Do you think that it wont have an online book store? I don't know why Apple would choose to avoid the textbook market, the comic book market, or any other printed market for that matter.
One big advantage of an Apple tablet would be the ability to bundle different media formats together as we've seen with iTunes LP and Extras. The tablet should be the ultimate convergence of these ideas. Buy a movie, have iTunes offer to bundle the book or manga with it. Have Genius start recommending similar books/manga/comics to you, and before you know it, you are hooked on comics. Or something like that. As someone else mentioned you could have more interactive comics too, although I would have to see one before I decide if that idea is more than a gimmick.
I think it totally will have a new Book section in iTunes, and digital comics will be a part of it. I just don't see where Longbox plays into that.
Marvels digital offering so far is complete trash. If Marvel somehow get's into iTunes though, it would cause a sh*t storm with the direct market. But I think it could only help that market in that most of the people buying comiXologys 'Comics 'app, are people that don't go into comic shops, or haven't done so in years.
Their "guided view" makes viewing on the iPhone totally worthwhile.
Except in Japan manga is usually pocket-book sized. They are sized so you can read them on the train. Kind of hard to hold up a 10" ebook reader and hold onto the strap at the same time for an hour.
many people like the appeal of an ebook reader because it is smaller and easier to carry several titles in a smaller bag.
as for the strap issue. depending on the design of the reader it can be no more difficult than holding the strap and a book where you have to turn the page every few seconds.
Even the regional chain book stores I see like Hastings continues to make room for this growing area.
What ever it takes to stimulate people to read authors stories all the better.
SJobs owns Disney owns Marvel= Comic Books!
Steve does NOT 'own' Disney...
Well, not ALL of it anyway
Pretty freakin amazing... the man who was shoved out the door at Apple those many years ago sure has come back into his own hasn't he?
Beyond the goodness of such a device for narrative/storytelling, think what you could do in the interactive learning realm (imagine a touch/tilt/combine virtual physics/chemistry lab), not to mention all sorts of information and reference guide concepts (think: Fodors on Steroids).
If interested, I have done some further analysis on what Book 2.0 looks like in a post called:
Rebooting the Book (One Apple iPad Tablet at a Time)
http://bit.ly/zOoEu
Check it out, if interested.
Mark
Still can't understand why anyone would want a tablet over a laptop though - unless it will be a niche product.
Two words: Portrait Mode.
Also actually swiping to move the pages as well as pinch-zoom is so much more enjoyable than keyboard controls.
Still can't understand why anyone would want a tablet over a laptop though - unless it will be a niche product.
What do you consider a niche product to be? It could be a rather large niche. Besides you're thinking about it wrong. Apple wont market this as a laptop replacement, it will be designed to supplement whatever computer you have.
...and the Cupertino, Calif., company have reportedly had disagreements over the business model to adopt.
Sorry to be so picky but that abbreviation of California was discontinued in the 1950's. One should either spell it out or use CA as an abbreviation. Of course, if neither of those suit your taste, you could always use "Cali" like everyone else who doesn't live here.
Sorry to be so picky but that abbreviation of California was discontinued in the 1950's. One should either spell it out or use CA as an abbreviation. Of course, if neither of those suit your taste, you could always use "Cali" like everyone else who doesn't live here.
Who discontinued it? Since when can language can be discontinued? I understand that the post office wants two letter abbreviations for mail, but that has no baring on the rest of written language. In fact, from Wikipedia...PS: The source on the Wikipage isn?t working so take it with the usual grain of salt, but it is how i learned it.
many people like the appeal of an ebook reader because it is smaller and easier to carry several titles in a smaller bag.
as for the strap issue. depending on the design of the reader it can be no more difficult than holding the strap and a book where you have to turn the page every few seconds.
Agreed.
Except I stated a 10" ebook reader in my post, the reported size of Apple's pad, much bigger than a Kindle. I would be exhausted holding something bigger than a Kindle and there isn't the physical space to hold up something that large.
I just measured one of my kids' manga, it's 4.5" x 7".
I spent 7 years riding the Tokyo rails. Japan is 120 million people, relatively affluent, who for the most part, have a lot more technology in their daily lives than most Americans.It's not a market to be discounted.
Comics are a dying art form. Very few kids are interested anymore, no thanks to the high cover prices and the focus on "mature" audiences. Maybe if they priced the digital copies at 50 cents or something, but $2 or more with virtually no distribution costs is ridiculous.
You are flat out WRONG! EH-URRRR!
Oh boy!
Are you ever wrong!
Just go to any Barnes and Nobel. What's the fastest growing segment?
MANGA!!!
What is Manga? Japanese, or Japanese inspired comic books, graphic "novels", magazines, movies, video games and the like.
Over the past five years, I've made many props like swords, broaches, armbands, shields, breastplates, helmets, and other props for my daughter and her friends, as they've first gone to the various manga and comic conventions here in NYC, and then, as they got older, around the East coast.
I've also spend more than a few nights, until the next days' dawn, sewing costumes. We've had our entire first floor of the house covered with cloth, and our dining room table used as a sweatshop with as many as three sewing machines, as we've made costumes. Nothing like having a half dozen girls (and a couple boys) over for two days straight doing this.
Believe me, if the tablet is going to get teenagers reading from it, comic books are the place to be.
Locked down, nailed on 100% agree with that guy Melgross post. The tablet and full blown digital distribution will change EVERYTHING! Read Scott McCloud's 'Re-inventing Comics' for the forward thinking ideas that are only now on the cusp of being realised. Hot read.
Secondly, Manga is obviously huge in Japan where they sell more comic books every year than American and Europe put together, I think. They sell hundreds of millions if not a billion of the bleeders every year. And they're far bigger than the pamphlets you get in the states. Plus the genre diversity is amazing.
'Dying artform'? I think not. Ironically, while the big publishers like Marvel and DC have seen some success with Movies and constant reinvention of older Intellectual properties eg Ultimates...we have see a general trend to Independent publishing houses AND Johnny Appleseed Small Press publishers style creators who are just 'putting it out there on the web' and collecting their dailies into print format collections later on. Individual creators are flourishing on the web. There's a veritable GOLD MINE of comic stuff on the Web. It's like the wild frontier. For me, the big publishers have been slow to exploit the web. *Shrugs. Let's hear it for the little guy. It's been a 'two horse' race for too long.
And...to add to Melgross' post. I had to smile as he told us of helping make costumes and props for his daughter and friends. I used to attend the United Kingdom Comic Art Convention many, many moons ago. Highlights are myself dressing up as 'Solar, Man of the Iffy' (Complete with 'hose'), The 'Rowenta' WarMachine (no, that was my wife...I think), AND the 'Silver Cullonder (Where I dressed in silver foil, a real collunder on my head...AND a childs inflatable surfer board also attired in foil. I had to shuffle on stage..and under the stage lights I got cooked. And when I won a prize for it? Hassan threw my prize on the floor for me to collect it...which means the gaffa tape holding me together exploded...) You think that's bad? I had my ex-wife go as Ms. Swamp Thing in hessian potato sack and mouldy tea-bags (my idea...) and me as the 'Murphy Richards' Iron Man. Big embarrassment was carrying the 'box' around London and bumping into Dave Gibbons (Watchmen Artist) in a lift. I smiled at him weakly. He smiled back sympathetically. I think I looked like a yellow and red lego brick in that one... Crazy? Hey, sane people don't post on boards like this...
and Disney DID just buy Marvel Comics.
Noted. Good catch. Smiles. IF that isn't part of the Job's master plan...
Originally Posted by Marvin
While I don't think comics are a big deal these days, I think it's the distribution format rather than the content that's dying. As mentioned in one of Apple's keynotes - people just don't use books that much any more. They waste so much space in our modern minimalist homes and trading them is almost impossible so it's not environmentally nor wallet friendly.
Newspapers, comics, magazines, educational texts, fictional novels - they all need two things: a profitable distribution method and a client device.
Stores + physical format don't work because foot traffic in dedicated book stores and even libraries is so low. Check your local ones and see how empty they are. People don't have time to waste referencing text in books without search or finding well-reviewed novels.
Amazon + Kindle doesn't work that well because although they are a high profile distributor, the client device is poor (dedicated is not enough) and so expensive for what you get.
Apple + tablet does work because they have 50 million+ people at least in this eco-system buying games, movies, apps etc. I read comics on the iphone - daily web comics - and I love it. Same with a few books. However, a tablet works better for sitting down for hours and engaging with this type of content. I have read a few books on the iphone and while I don't mind it, having to scroll pretty much constantly isn't ideal.
Even better is the idea of interactive comics - if you've seen a motion comic e.g:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ipt9hJud8E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ_wuEMwBUo
then you can see the possibilities. It brings comics to life for kids whose imaginations have been rotted away by endless hours of watered-down Disney slapstick entertainment and engages them in some thought-provoking narrative. But the key point is that it's not limited to this function. If you want to do something else you can and this is where so many devices fail.
It doesn't matter if comics would be enough to sell a tablet or if the tablet is enough to sell comics, they would give a significant boost to each other and you may for example buy the static comic and find out you want the motion comic/the movie or check out the website and buy products or review it online. It can all be done on the tablet.
I think Bill Gates is correct that it will be the most popular form factor sold eventually - he was a little off with the timing and that it would be a PC.
I am amazed!
Don't you guys ever go into bookstores anymore?
Comics and Manga, in particular, are the biggest growing segment.
Grins very broadly. A very, very, very perceptive post, Marvin. Excellent analysis. You seem to have the knack of nailing it on the head every time. Very rational and well thought out.
Yes. distribution of comics has long been a thorny issue. I suspect that a ubiquitous tablet/reading device will not only benefit print delivery in general but add a real boost to comics, an area which has been quite conservative over the years when it comes to 'new thinking' or genuine innovation. Too much me too-ism goes on there. And yes, distribution gets a real shot in the arm. If people can go with micro payments and add a few bells and whistles to the digital format, 'reading' can once again be fashionable to our children once more. Because, like the app store, things will be cheap! Accessible. £3 for a comic? Or 50pence? Or less? You don't mind wasting more on 6 comics for £3 if you can fully harness the leverage of the net's scale of economics. Kids play games, sure. But the net is all about pictures and words. That's comics, more or less.
This thread is the most pertinent (to me) thread of Appleinsider I have ever come across. And I have enjoying the read. Keep it coming.
As for Melgross and people going into stores and actually reading books/comics. Sighs wistfully. I know the feeling. You can't beat the smell of paper, fer me. And many of the children at my school agree. When the 'book club' is in town...we always have loads of sales. Did £500 plus of business in one week. Not bad for a generation of illiterates? And ironically, after years of being in the wilderness, comics are coming back to my school! We've got graphic novels aplenty! Jason and the Argonauts, the classics, some donated from my collection, my English head of dept is very aggressively pushing this to help the boys at our school get into reading! And what's more the girls are getting in on the action. A girl said to me today she'd ordered 'Jason and the...' at her local library. I was amazed at her reading a comic book. A girl. Now I think back to this morning...I'm quite shocked I guess. When I asked who wanted to go down to the library to go on the waiting list for it? An avalanche of children put their hands up for that. So, paper aint dead or dying. But there's no doubt that a Apple eBook reader could change EVERYTHING. I could well imagine going to a 'book store' online at Apple iTunes and browsing the latest cool comics and discovering a gem and putting in on pod cast subscription. As opposed to driving down to P.45 in Nottingham. (If you're in the midlands in the UK and get the chance to go to P.45...do. One of the best comic shops in the UK.) Sure, nothing ever beats the real thing...but if anyone can come close? Apple.
My recommended read to Mel: 'Strangehaven' by Gary Spencer Millidge. It's a cross between Prisoner and Emmerdale Farm and a weird old Hammer House production. It's the only thing that's keeping me reading comics at the moment. I can also heartily recommend Dave Sim's Cerebus the Ardvark. Can an Ant Eater be corrupted by power? And if you haven't read Watchmen by Moore and Gibbons? Do so. Far better than the 'died at the last hurdle' movie.
Lemon Bon Bon.