Michael: You and I have discussed this issue before...and since then, I think I've come to decide that the 'availability' of scanned/electronic comics isn't anywhere near as detrimental to the comic industry as illegal mp3s are to the music industry or pirated videos to the motion picture industry.
Now, maybe it's just me and my 'collector mentality', but a comic book...unlike a movie or a song (or a tv show or computer application) is a collectible item. I've downloaded digital versions of books...most recently Identity Crisis. Not because I didn't want to buy the book...but because (at the time), I was ordering my books from a mail order place on a regular basis. This meant I didn't receive my books until a couple of weeks after they hit the stands. I knew I had the books on order...but I knew I could grab a copy online and read it instead of having to wait. I've done this with a few books, actually. I recently got into "Y The Last Man". Wanted to be able to read them from the beginning, so I downloaded them. I've read them all electronically...and have since been scouring ebay to pick up the actual issues. I believe the people who buy comics will always buy comics. I believe a majority of those who download comics are either those who would normally read their friend's copies...or those who wouldn't have ever read the books at all. I think it's collectors...people like you and me...that have supported the comic industry. I think collectors will continue to support the comic industry. Hell, maybe those who are just 'casual readers' might get hooked on a series or two and decide to actually start buying the books on a regular basis. I don't think it's that far fetched to consider that it could happen. I'm still not 'back into collecting' on the same level that I was 12 or so years ago...so I don't really think I can comment on the state of the industry with as much accuracy as I once could have. But I do know that there are regularly 2nd and 3rd printings of books coming out now (especially if it's a Michael Turner or Jim Lee cover). The Big Two are still doing multiple cover gimmicks...and -still- selling out and going to 2nd, 3rd printing (if not further in a few cases). The music industry was able to say that sales dropped a specific percentage once P2P tools like Napster gained popularity. Can the comic book industry say the same thing? In the past (let's say) 6 months or so since bit torrent has become popular, have sales in general declined noticably? At all? On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 06:50:54 -0400, Jochem van Dieten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Michael Dinowitz wrote: > > I sent an email reciently to a list of writers I'm on about the > > massive copywrite infringment going on with scanned comics. I have a > > full T of comics already and there's still more coming down. Comics > > come out Wensday and I have 60%-80% of them by Wensday night. > > That is not uncommon. How do you think I keep up with the US TV season :-) > Usually TV series have 12 hours delay. Point Pleasant takes a bit longer > because they have real HDTV encodings, but with Buffy & Angel there were even > occasional 0-day releases. > > Jochem > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Sams Teach Yourself Regular Expressions in 10 Minutes by Ben Forta http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=40 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:146428 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
