Beano and Dandy digital editions launched

[rossmac]

I don't pipe up much in here, but this I felt deserved a pipe.

This seems like such a good idea- and hopefully one that will help the Dandys distribution and sales. However it's for selfish reasons that I really like this idea! Living in Australia the Dandy is even harder to find in newsagents than it is in the UK. I have managed to track it down in one newsagent on my side of Melbourne. Of course then, it's an issue from about 2-3 months ago, and the price isn't very comparable to £1.50- that should be no more than A$2.50, yet I pay $5.50... So although I have to forgo the physical product, I can get issues of the Dandy the very week they are out and for only A$1.99. Nice!

Of course having looked at the free issues they have on offer, I think that there's one thing that would be nice to have improved and that's the ability to zoom in and not have the quality degrade. At the moment you can zoom in, but it get more pixellated rather than a higher res image, which would be nice especially for detailed panels and small writing. Oh and the tall cover issue cuts the bottom of the page off sadly.

Otherwise, a brilliant move, and great first step and I hope that it helps improve sales,

Ross

Ps- just had another look and the zoom thing seems to work as I wanted. Must have been a glitch before... It now loads in high res when you zoom in.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

No harm in trying this---and it probably is the future---but the technology is still pitifully poor and irritatingly clumsy compared to handling a published item.

This has to start somewhere though: early TV, radio , music recording playback and video technology wasn't that great compared to what we have today. [I don't use mp3 etc for music, as it's still not nowhere as good as hi-fi quality using a proper system at home ]: for the time being, handling paper comics is easier and more enjoyable for me at least.




I'm sure digital comics will be the mainstream medium come time, though, once it becomes more comfortable to read.

To be honest i dont know how i survived without my ipod & laptop full of mp3 songs i have even downloaded music i would never have bought & have replaced/sold every single cd i owned which in turn replaced my cassetes but i cant see me getting rid of my comics,I got rid of 1000s of american comics about 15 years ago and have regretted it ever since.So I have started buying the black & white essential collections which kind of remind me of reading the old black & white weeklies marvels used to do in the 70s & 80s.
But if i was ever fortunate enough to afford an ipad i would download beano & dandy but i would still buy the physical copies.

I do use youtube and spotify to discover unknown music, bri, simply because it doesn't cost me any extra than my internet charge: but if I want to listen to music properly I will listen to it at home using a 440 watt amplifier as there is no comparison in quality compared to mp3; nor was it especially expensive to put together a decent sound system if the listener is prepared to do their homework.


If mp3 suits you though, all fine and well.

[felneymike]

If my car had space for several hundred tapes I'd probably still use them, the MP3 player is just a matter of convenience there. But you don't read and drive so I'll never be switching to digital comics!
I've been getting more into Japanese comics recently, and Forbidden Planet was selling the US version of Shonen Jump (which is monthly and runs about 6 stories, as opposed to the Japanese version which is weekly and runs about 20 stories!). But I got there too late as that publication has just gone digital-only, though it is now also weekly (but still has far fewer stories! Basically only the ones that are released in English already as collected books!)

[Digifiend]

Beano web team are slow this week. They just added a post on Facebook about the digital version, as well as a link to the preview for the current issue - five days late.

Here's some news to make Beano fans very 'app-y' - The Beano has gone digital, with app subscriptions available for the digital editions, and it's already a top seller! Are you ready for a digital Dennis?

App Store - The Beano Comic
itunes.apple.com
Read reviews, get customer ratings, see screenshots, and learn more about The Beano Comic on the App Store. Download The Beano Comic and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

[Tin Can Tommy]

Im still waiting for the entire DC Thomson archive to go digital. I know its very unlikely to happen but i'd pay good money to be able to have access to a potential DC Thomson Digital archive. However it would cost quite a bit to put together (not a ridiculous amount though) and maybe not enough people would pay to go on it to make it profitable unless it was advertised well. It's not like DC Thomson are making much money off their back catalogue apart from reprints in The Beano, The Dandy and Commando and the annual Dandy Reprint Book. I doubt a digital DC Thomson archive would even eat in to the sales of those aforementioned things anyway.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I've long agreed with your viewpoint, Tincan: I have very good copies of old Sparkys from the late 60s and early 70s, and it's a shame that most people don't get to see them, other than the real enthusiasts who have the originals...I'd be prepared to put them onto a permanent archive [even 2 copies a week, it would soon build up] and if we all done the same with our disperate collections, a good archive would soon build up of much of UK comics history.

If D C Thomson and whoever owns the copyright to the other publisher's comics [IPC/Odhams/TV 21 etc etc ] are not prepared to do this themselves, they should at least let enthusiasts found a digi-archive themselves, even if the organizers have to pay something to DCT etc: funding could come through subscriptions.

The quality wouldn't be as good as owning the physical copies, but who on Earth on here can afford a truly comprehensive UK comics archive?


Recent comics [say even from 2010] could also be added, to appeal to contemporary comics fans: I'm not really a fan of digi-comics in general, but I'd make an exception with a proper comics archive online.


Who knows, it may even become a massive success.

[swirlythingy]

Im still waiting for the entire DC Thomson archive to go digital. I know its very unlikely to happen but i'd pay good money to be able to have access to a potential DC Thomson Digital archive.

Oooh - now that's something which would fill a genuine gap in the market, and at very little cost to maintain, too (unlike the late lamented Classics from the Comics). They've also reprinted so much stuff, not just in Classics but also the retro annuals, that they must have a fair amount digitised already to bootstrap the enterprise with.

Would it be a case of ordering batches of comics featuring a certain character, or could entire back issues be made virtually available? I'd prefer the latter, but I'm not sure whether there would be problems with redistributing third party (i.e. advertising) material, as well as some licensed strips they may straight-up not have the rights to.

On a related note, I've often thought it's a shame that, if you miss an issue of the Beano, you'll never see the stories inside except by accident. Maybe it could start off as a 'catch-up' service - like iPlayer, but for comics? I should think anything printed in the last seven years is digitised by default anyway, and in some cases physical copies may never have existed.

Could back annuals and specials - as well as other products, e.g. novels - be made digitally available as well?

That'd be much more interesting than simply the same old business model - weekly grind, throw everything away every week - in a new medium.

On the downside, nobody here would be able to be quite so triumphant about 'completing their collection' any more!

[Digifiend]

Hey, having a complete print run is still a remarkable feat, even if digital re-releases were to become available.

[Jonny Whizz]

On a related note, I've often thought it's a shame that, if you miss an issue of the Beano, you'll never see the stories inside except by accident. Maybe it could start off as a 'catch-up' service - like iPlayer, but for comics? I should think anything printed in the last seven years is digitised by default anyway, and in some cases physical copies may never have existed.

I agree. Whenever I've been abroad for a week or more, I've usually had to get someone to buy the Beano for me - if you go abroad for a two week holiday, then you will miss at least one issue unless you've got someone else to get it. Having a catch-up service allowing you to read strips from a recent issue you've missed would be helpful in such a situation.

[Digifiend]

Whenever I've been abroad for a week or more, I've usually had to get someone to buy the Beano for me - if you go abroad for a two week holiday, then you will miss at least one issue unless you've got someone else to get it.

Or unless you subscribe!

[Jonny Whizz]

Good point, I completely forgot about that . I've never been a subscriber so that's probably why I didn't think of it, though I feel my point is of more relevance to people who buy the comic from the shops every week, but who can't get a particulra issue due to being out of the country.

[presterjohn]

I love the concept of digital comics. The convenience of them is undeniable. For me though as one of life's collectors (hoarders) I like to own the physical copy of comics. For people like me the best approach from publishers both book and comic would be to let me have all formats with one purchase or subscription. I could therefore have the choice that suited me best of how I wanted to read any particular book or comic at any given time. Publishers still win because product is shifting in higher numbers than it was before.

[Digifiend]

That's exactly what they're doing, you get the digital version free with a print sub. Other companies should do likewise, IMHO.

[AndyB]

Has anyone tried contacting DC Thomson or the Beano or Dandy offices to see if they can magic up a recent back issue?