Comments | sinetimore: Those Diamond Days Arrive Just In Time

sinetimore

Those Diamond Days Arrive Just In Time

Feb 22, 2014 07:52

It's always funny to watch people who act like a bunch of shitheads suddenly reel back and go, "What? Why don't people like us?"

The war for control of the digital comic market just saw another side conquered. Diamond Comic Distributors has officially closed their digital comic arm. "18 months after its launch, results indicate that Diamond ( Read more... )

technology is a beautiful thing, computers, wrong on every level, this ought to be interesting, i told you so, wtf, self reflection, drm, no sir i don't like it, haven't we suffered enough, important life lessons, i'll drink to that, portents of doom, infernal gall, stupidity, sez who? sez me!, that had to hurt, digital rights, did not do the research, throwing elbows, things that make you go hmm, comics, just desserts, art, hell no! i won't go!, comic books

Comments 4

mornblade February 24 2014, 03:16:24 UTC

Personally, I think the comic book world needs to go back to selling on newsstands. From my understanding, they sold a lot more books that way. Besides they are struggling to get new readers. New readers don't just drive out of their way to find a comic shop to walk into and say "Hey, that looks interesting." New readers DO look at the spinnee rack at the drug store or grocery store.

Just my opinion mind you.

sinetimore February 24 2014, 11:04:45 UTC

Hey, that was how I got into comics originally, with titles bought off those spinner racks all those years ago.

By removing comics from the newsstand, you are no longer making something not only that the general public can pick up and follow, but is aware of. I firmly believe that quitting the newsstand effectively ghettoized comics. The profit margin is higher, but the audience is shrinking, and nothing is being done to bring anyone new in. And no, the DCnu doesn't count.

mornblade February 24 2014, 19:39:25 UTC

I think that is part of the reason for all of the comic book related television and movies. They are hoping that the silver screen will bring in buyers. I'm thinking that will also fail. Comic related movies are likely to bring comic fans to the box office, but less likely to bring movie fans to comic shops.

I too started reading comics from spinner racks. The "Star Wars" related comics caught my attention... on a spinner rack... in a pharmacy... that I was at with my mother. I didn't enter a comic book shop until I was 14 or 15, and one just happened to open in my little hick town. Before then, the pharmacy and the grocery store were my only options. With the closing of that store many years ago, kids that age in my town only have the newsstand to turn to... oh wait, they don't even have that.

sinetimore February 24 2014, 23:33:46 UTC

A few summers ago, at SDCC, during the Marvel panel, an editor made your very point. He asked the room, "How many have seen Iron Man 2?"

Almost every hand went up.

"How many are reading the comic?"

Almost every hand went down.

Movies and TV are different from comics. You have to understand what the medium does and make things people want to see with it. The Game Boy was a horrible portable gaming device. But designers used it's strengths to create Pokemon, because they weren't trying to duplicate what worked on home consoles, but make something that worked on the go.