Spider-Man swinging to a computer screen near you
Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man and his friends are making themselves at home in cyberspace. In November, Marvel Comics launched Digital Comics Unlimited where fans can catch their favourite webhead and the company's other stars in digitized versions of back issues. While as of late November there were some free samples, a pass to read issues that are at least six months old will cost you $9.99 US a month or $4.99 US monthly if you sign up for a full year, according to a Nov. 13 Associated Press story. The comics are available only for viewing and cannot be downloaded.
In Victoria, B.C., where ParetoLogic is proudly based, comic book sellers are welcoming the initiative. Bill Rice of Curious Comics, which has three Vancouver Island locations, and Gareth Gaudin of Legends Comics don't see the website having a negative affect on their businesses.
"As owner of a comic shop, I love that Marvel has put their back catalogue online," Gaudin wrote in an email interview with the ParetoLogic newsletter. "Back issue prices, especially those of 1960s Marvel, are way too high for any newcomers to afford. This probably leads to the vast majority of potential new readers avoiding jumping onto current titles like The Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, etc. Anything that Marvel does to increase sales of new books is all right with me."
Rice agrees having back issues available at a low cost could drive the sales of new comics. He believes that cyberspace will not be replacing paper anytime soon for most comic lovers.
"Reading comics on a computer screen will never capture the feel of curling up on the couch with one of your favourite books," he wrote in an email interview with ParetoLogic newsletter.
Gaudin agrees. He feels that while the website will be a great place for people who want to check out back stories, it will not replace buying books for collectors.
"The people who buy vintage comics certainly don't do so in order to read them, as there are many forms of reprint material they could get instead. No new technology is really going to put a damper on 'artifacts' such as old comics. Collectors like old things. Readers just want the information."
As well as co-owning Legends, Gaudin also works as a cartoonist. He creates the Magic Teeth Dailies, which he has vowed to draw every day for the rest of his life from July, 2004 onward. The comics feature Perogy Cat, who has received some attention when a member of Barenaked Ladies sported a button with the character on it during an early 2007 appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman.
The first 200 days of Gaudin's "comic a day" venture are available on his website. He strongly believes the Internet can be very helpful to artists like himself.
"The Internet is a wonderful tool for cartoonists. The greatest tool since the invention of ink I'd bet."
Marvel is not the first comic book company to head online. Its longtime rival, DC (which features such heroes as Superman and Batman) has put some issues on MySpace and with its mature Vertigo line offers weekly sneak peaks of the first five or so pages of upcoming issues. As well, it has launched Zuda Comics, which has users rate each other's work. Dark Horse Comics uploads its monthly anthology, Dark Horse Presents, for free viewing on MySpace, according to the Associated Press article.
Some have suggested Marvel has plunged into cyberspace to defeat bootleggers. However, Rice and Gaudin don't feel bootlegging is a major issue.
"Bootlegging is the illegal scanning and distribution of comics on the web and Usenet," Rice wrote. "It happens with all entertainment media but I see it being less of a problem with printed media. Occasionally customers will tell me they located an issue online that they couldn't find at a local store."
As for Gaudin, he said he has never heard of bootleg Marvel comics. The only situation he could recall was rumours of Cerebus, an independent Canadian comic book, reportedly being bootlegged in the late 1970s.
