By Gabriel Perna: Subscribe to Gabriel's RSS feed
June 28, 2010 12:14 PM EDT
It's not a bird nor a plane, it's Superman and he's being featured on an iPad, as are most of his comic book companions.
DC Comics' announcement that it's launching its own app store for Apple products means the comic industry's big two have officially gone digital. DC's rival, Marvel, has had a digital presence for nearly three years. Both offer per comic purchases through their app stores while Marvel also has a subscription service through its website.
"It's a classic genre on an exciting new medium," John Rood, executive vice president of sales and marketing at DC Comics, said via email.
Marvel and DC built their app stores through comiXology, a New York City developer that has brought the comic book store to web 2.0. Along with producing Marvel and DC's digital presence, comiXology has its own separate app and web store with titles available on a per item purchase.
ComiXology Chief Executive Officer David Steinberger said the iPad in particular has expedited the sales of digital comics. "Once the iPad came out, where the whole page was readable and close to what the artist originally intended with vibrant colors, it took off. It has the right technology to make comics shine," Steinberger said.
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The growth of digital comics begs the obvious question of whether or not printed comics will see a drop-off in sales. While many say it's too early to compare, the beliefs of all the comic book publishers are clear cut.
"I honestly believe digital is helping print," Ira Rubenstein, executive vice president of Marvel Entertainment's Global Digital Media Group, said. Rubenstein noted that for collectors, physical copies are far too important to become extinct.
"People like to have the complete physical set. I don't think that's going to change. With digital, people will have chance to discover other characters they don't know about and then go back to stores to buy them."
DC and comiXology share this viewpoint and want to ensure there is no cannibalization effect. As a show of commitment to retailers, their recent deal came with a guarantee to invest a portion of digital revenues back to comic book retailers.
"Our goal is to ensure the brick and mortar stores feel engaged and part of this new comics econo-sphere. We are moving into the digital arena from a position of strength as our core marketplace, the direct market, remains healthy, stable and vibrant. This isn't about replacing, it's about growing the entire business and taking into account these local comics ships is paramount to our overall strategy," Jim Lee, co-publisher of DC, said via email.
Meanwhile, Steinberger and others say digital comics address the industry's biggest problem today: distribution. More people than ever before are interested in comic books, mostly as a result of movie and television franchises. But the number of specialty comic book stores hasn't kept pace. "Comics are sold in specialized stores, which do a great job of offering a unique experience that's very important to the industry. The challenge is there's not that many of them," Rubenstein said. "Any typical town, outside of Los Angeles and New York City, has no more than four shops at most. You don't see comics in every Target or Wal-Mart like you do with other entertainment content such as music and videos."
Steinberger said digital distribution could benefit lesser known independent comic book publishers that otherwise wouldn't get noticed. "This is a great way to experience a comic book you can't find in retailers. I have literally gone to countless stores where all they have is Marvel and DC Comics," he said.
He used the comic series Atomic Robo from Red 5 Comics as an example of a publisher that's benefited from digital. "They launched that early on the iPhone, before most comics went digital. They got noticed on the iPhone and suddenly started getting huge reorders of new material. It was a complete success story."
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