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DC comics to simultaneously release print, digital versions of comic books
May 31, 2011 | 11:00 pm
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By Chris Meadows
DC Comics announced today that, as of August 31, it will be renumbering every single comic book it points out, starting over again from Issue #1 on all of them. It seems like DC does you have something like this every other year, what with Crisis on Infinite This, or Countdown to That, but like it or hate it (and there are plenty of geeks out there who will be happy to argue it either way), that’s apparently just how DC rolls.
But what’s most unusual about this particular reset is that, for the first time, DC has committed to releasing every one of its comic books digitally on the same day as it releases the print version. This will, DC points out, make it the first of the two major American comic book publishers to do so. That will undoubtedly come as good news to all the e-book-reading comic book fans out there.
Of course, in a way the comic book companies have been forced into this. Comic books have long been one of the more-easily pirated forms of physical media—after all, they only consist of a couple of dozen pages per issue, and do not require intensive optical character recognition to turn into e-books. Comics have been floating around on peer-to-peer in CBR format for years, and readers for the format have come out for any number of computer platforms, including the iPad.
If DC wants comic book fans to buy its DRM-restricted offerings rather than download illicit DRM-free versions, making them available the same day as the print version is a good way to start. And it shows that, unlike mass market book publishers, DC does not seem to be under any illusion that it needs to protect its print market at the expense of the new electronic market. It still remains to be seen, however, whether DC can out-compete free.
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Comments:
Worth noting: DC, Marvel and Image have all been doing this with certain select titles via Comixology.
DC committing to do it with EVERYTHING is a pretty big deal, however.
It is indeed, because if it works really well it may force the hand of competitors.
I’m sure DC hopes to recapture many of the sales that they’ve been losing through the dwindling comic store chains, who’ve been hurting for years. Going digital means a much easier access to comics for many consumers in areas where local shops have closed. It also means access to those who love comics, but who might feel uncomfortable about going to a comics shop; like romance and SF, comics still have that “illegitimate” stigma that keeps some away; maybe this will bring more comics lovers out of the closet.
This will certainly put the final nail in some of those remaining physical stores, but the impression that I’ve always gotten from store owners is that the comic publishers have always given the stores the short end of their consideration. Maybe the stores will figure out how to include digital sales in their daily sales activity, but I haven’t seen any indication that they’ve figured that one out yet.