comics on c-d rom

[Lew Stringer]

Not necessarily. Demand for older strips is dwindling every year. Most collectors are only interested in their own nostalgia unfortunately. Strips of more recent vintage (eg: the last 10 years) are submitted to the publishers in digital format anyway.

I understand what you are saying Lew about the demand for older strips & yes it prob is for our own nostalgia that is why im worried about future generations never seeing or knowing what we members of this forum love because when we are all gone what will they yearn for in 40 -50 years then,it certainly wont be comics like busters or film fun then.

They'll yearn for the comics of their own childhoods, just as collectors have always done. A few will be interested in comics from earlier than that, just as they are now. You seem to think that these future generations will be aching to read the comics we grew up with, but, apart from a few people, I doubt that'll be the case. For example, I ran a poll on my blog last year to see what decade of UK comics readers were interested in. Most voted for the years they were already familiar with:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/ ... re-in.html

I'll bet that if a similar poll is run in 40 years time the comics of the 60s/70s would score low.

But would it not be easier to produce reprint specials & annuals if the strips were scanned, im saying this because i enjoyed the special Dandy 75 anniversary special & enjoy the Beano/Dandy reprint annuals every year.But i may be wrong because i don't know how comics are produced when it comes to old material anyway.

If they're not already scanned, they either have the original pages and comics or have artwork on film to use. Other publishers? Well, that may be a different story.

[Phoenix]

If you don't and wouldn't buy e-comics, then perhaps you are not best placed to determine the market value of e-comics.

I assume that an e-comic is a digital version of a paper equivalent, and it has to be read on some sort of digital reader. I don't want any, but if someone else, for example, was in the market for a single issue, and decided to buy the e-comic version as a filler until an actual paper version became available, then I can't see why he would object to paying £1.99 for it. It's not a lot of money, and the content will be identical. If a production company were to price it any lower, how exactly would they make sufficient income from it to cover their production costs? And as for going to all the trouble of scanning every page of every issue in a year of Lion or Roy of the Rovers, and then selling the lot for a tenner, I have to ask, Why on earth would they bother? There can't be that much of a market for old British comics or story papers, now or in the future, and you certainly can't assume that many of the people who refuse to pay £100 for a printed yearsworth of a particular title, will jump for joy on discovering that they can get them in e-comic format for a fair bit less than the £100. They will just keep on searching for cheaper printed versions.

You say you are a publisher and a comics retailer. Can you please tell us what you publish and where your retail outlet for comics is.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

All I can say on 'comics before I was born' is that I found looking through 1950s EAGLE or TV COMIC to be well worthwhile----it's more for the period charm than anything else. The styles are often very dated, but it's good to see how the industry worked and what standards of decency/acceptable violence, etc etc were back then---the 'race' issue of course is often the most jarring aspect of earlier era comics.

But yes, the comics from the first decade we were around especially have the most 'magical' factor I do agree.

The very early comics with the over-elaborate graphics and endless text are just too removed in time for me to appreciate, but even these have their younger followers [hi there, felneymike!

[starscape]

if someone else, for example, was in the market for a single issue, and decided to buy the e-comic version as a filler until an actual paper version became available, then I can't see why he would object to paying £1.99 for it. It's not a lot of money, and the content will be identical.

It's such a limited market and I believe the wrong market. Mass sales would be achieved more by nostalgia and casual browsers. I simply think this is the wrong business model. You wouldn 't buy e-filler issues. Nor would I. But both myself and Rab seem to say we would be interested in large volumes. I think it's the way to go.

If a production company were to price it any lower, how exactly would they make sufficient income from it to cover their production costs?

They don't have production costs. It's already done. People would be overjoyed to give out scans to get these comics more widely read. Titan didn't scan The Spider and Steel Claw issues by themselves for instance.

you certainly can't assume that many of the people who refuse to pay £100 for a printed yearsworth of a particular title, will jump for joy on discovering that they can get them in e-comic format for a fair bit less than the £100. They will just keep on searching for cheaper printed versions.

That was the argument against Spotify. But it seems to work very well. htmlcomics brought in income by providing comics for free with advertising (it was all illegal but the owner was adamant it wasn't, so think of the model, not the site).

You say you are a publisher and a comics retailer. Can you please tell us what you publish and where your retail outlet for comics is.

More fair to say I used to be a publisher and comics retailer. There are still some remnants floating around. I'd like to get back to it if I can get a little less busy. But:
Retail: I sold comics via the Superhero Store, online, festivals and in Cornwall during the last decade. That led me to discover a few diamonds in amongst the dross of small press (not being nasty but that's the way of most art). Wanting to give them a higher profile led me to...
Small press: and the birth of Starscape comic, where I had the cream of the small press, such as Gary Simpson, Paul Scott, Lee O'Connor and Grant Springford, along with classic stories from the golden age and I licensed the Leopard from Lime Street from Buster (here's the ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPeI7GCUB9E)
Comic shops: I had someone from Diamond contact me, saying he was impressed by the content. If I could alter it for comic shops, he would be interested in distributing it. So, I began releasing comics and graphic novels, including Action's most popular character, Hook Jaw. They all sold out and had re-orders. They are also on Amazon (e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Starscape-Prese ... 286&sr=1-1)
I had intended (as had Egmont) on Hook Jaw being the first of many, as Titan were not interested in 70s/80s comics. That changed when I released Hook Jaw, then Titan moved back in. I did try to get the license for a collected Billy the Cat (still think this would be immensely popular) and Grant Morrison's Starblazer but DCT had no interest in outsiders at that time. I also tried to get rights from the Dan Dare Co. to produce 2000AD's version, including finishing off that final story but since DD moved licensing to a PR company, they were impossible to talk to (previously very friendly, although they knew nothing of the 2000AD version).
I also made headway with IPC regarding reprinting Adam Eterno and a new Vulcan annual (old and new stories) but, as with DD, they moved licensing from friendly British to a more corporate DC Comics and emails went unreplied to.
Online: I moved abroad and couldn't continue the business, so I then moved everything online. I have some on Amazon Kindle (e.g. Dead http://www.amazon.co.uk/Starscape-prese ... B0048EKM3O) but without the time, went free - it was never about profit and even less so when I dissolved the business. The upshot is the comics are now read by more people than read many Marvel/DC comics (e.g. Guard Dogs http://www.myebook.com/?option=ebook&id=36273)
Now: my last venture was the Starscape Storypaper. A pocket book of stories with spot art - 50 pages for £1.50. I found this really difficult to get distributed as it was in a different format (although well received by reviewers/readers). I'll try it once more with another distributor soon. Shame it didn't catch as it was to be the vanguard of a Commando style line (called Warpsite) of historical action comics (Romans, Vikings, Celts etc.). Currently, I'm just trying to wean my way back into writing by doing some Captain Britain fanfic (the follow up to this opener in the Darkmoor Saga http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6302894/1/C ... the-Reaver) but just so busy these days, it's a slow process.

[Lew Stringer]

Online: I moved abroad and couldn't continue the business, so I then moved everything online. I have some on Amazon Kindle (e.g. Dead http://www.amazon.co.uk/Starscape-prese ... B0048EKM3O) but without the time, went free - it was never about profit and even less so when I dissolved the business. The upshot is the comics are now read by more people than read many Marvel/DC comics (e.g. Guard Dogs http://www.myebook.com/?option=ebook&id=36273)

Unfortunately, for companies like Egmont, it is about profit, so if your e-comics are "read by more people than read many Marvel/DC comics" but you don't make a living from it, why should other publishers follow that business model? Or are you saying you choose not to profit by it? Sorry if I've misunderstood your point, but I would have thought that any comic that is read by more people than a Marvel title (eg: sales in excess of 20,000 copies) could easily make its creators a comfortable living? Like you said, an e-comic has few overheads, so even at something as low as £1 a copy you'd be well off even if you only published three or four comics a year.

[paw broon]

Not quite sure if some of you picked up on my examples of King Features Syndicate, Izneo and Comixology, or perhaps, apart from Phil, most of you considered them unworthy of consideration. So, at the risk of boring you or annoying you, let's have another go. My preferences for paper originals do not preclude me from using digital comics and so I find myself gravitating towards the likes of Dailyink and Izneo as, certainly in the case of KFS/Dailyink, I can find, like thousands of others, for a reasonable fee, piles of newspaper strips that I would find extremely difficult to read otherwise. KFS are a big company with a huge archive and have been producing/syndicating strips all over the world for decades. Their offer seems fair and they make money from their scanned archives. In the process allowing a world wide audience the chance to renew acquaintance with, or discover, ancient and bang up to date strips. Including The Phantom, Mandrake, Juliet Jones (which is well worth it for the art alone), Hagar, Hi & Lois etc. The business model is obviously there and as for Egmont and DCT, you are probably aware that 30th Century Comics and others post piles of Bunty and other weeklies to Australia and other countries as soon as they come into the shop. So, with a huge archive, it seems an odd business model not to utilise it digitally to sell on the net to allow re-acquaintance with much loved publications, or introduce those titles and characters to a whole new audience. As 30th Century have proved there is a market for this outside the U.K. and not exploiting it as a digital offer is at the least, complacent and, at the worst, bad business.
Izneo sell and rent G.N.s from most of the main French and Belgian publishers and their offer is very worthwhile in my opinion and I'm currently reading the first vol. of Fog - read a few pages here:
http://bdcomics.izneo.com/fog-tumulus-tome-1-A7152
These are all scanned from the hard originals, which are also available if, unlike me, you have the space to store them and the reason they cost less than the originals is that there are much lower costs in producing them as they can be scanned as they are printed. All very sensible. Doesn't replace the feel, smell and experience of a physical copy but the story and art are all there and it works for thousands of people.
Lets not assume that old British strips will not be of interest outside the U.K. The opposite is perhaps more true, given the diaspora and the reach of the internet.
Sorry to bore you again with this.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

The most extreme case of scanned cybercomics I have heard about thus far is of complete external hard-drives of many thousands of comics stored in one 'archive'. I can't remember the exact numbers, but it was something like 60 -70 years of comics from many different publishing houses.

Yes, such a phenomenon is available, but you won't find this on e-bay----not yet, anyway.........

I think this was 'terrabyte territory', an aspect of computing technology I have only heard of, and as yet to catch up with.......the ultimate in cybercrime, it appears, comics-style.

[starscape]

Lew: I wasn't relating my site as a model for other publishers. Simply answering a question about my material. My reason for publishing is completely different from Egmont's (I'm also a wildlife consultant that makes me money but also am involved in conservation that doesn't make me money - in fact, I often pay for the priviledge: same avenue, different motives). I gave up the business side (which did have to make money, was tax-registered, business bank accounts etc.) a number of years ago. I just don't have the time and energy. Maybe in a few months though.

But I have stated where I think there is a better solution for publishers, i.e. advertising-based websites and low cost mass volume products for nostalgia and casual purposes, rather than individual issues for a dwindling collector market that doesn't seem interested in e-comics. If they don't have that ability/enthusiasm, then licensing seems the way to go. 2000AD collections were too small scale for IPC/Fleetway but the right size for a small Titan organisation. Perhaps it's time for Egmont to license theirs too.

That said, credit to Egmont for trying. I've already said that (I just think there is a better business model). It's IPC that's the problem. I see no interest in either reprinting or licensing their material, in the way that Egmont and DCT do. I hope they change their mind as they have a wealth of material that I think would be of interest.

[Lew Stringer]

Lew: I wasn't relating my site as a model for other publishers. Simply answering a question about my material. My reason for publishing is completely different from Egmont's (I'm also a wildlife consultant that makes me money but also am involved in conservation that doesn't make me money - in fact, I often pay for the priviledge: same avenue, different motives). I gave up the business side (which did have to make money, was tax-registered, business bank accounts etc.) a number of years ago. I just don't have the time and energy. Maybe in a few months though.

Am I right in thinking that once an e-book or digital comic is up and running it doesn't need any more work? People just pay to view or download and the fee goes into the publisher's account doesn't it? As you said, yours was being read by more people than most Marvel & DC comics, so it sounds like it could potentially bring in considerable income. I might try doing an e-book myself if they're that popular. I must admit I haven't really looked into that market.

That said, credit to Egmont for trying. I've already said that (I just think there is a better business model). It's IPC that's the problem. I see no interest in either reprinting or licensing their material, in the way that Egmont and DCT do. I hope they change their mind as they have a wealth of material that I think would be of interest.

Yes, as 'pawbroon' suggested, it'd be worth at least trying, but IPC (or rather DC Comics/Time-Warner) don't seem bothered for some reason. Odd, when Fleetway/IPC used to license their material out all over the world. Perhaps DC/Warners were only interested in modernizing the characters and as those they tried (Thunderbolt Jaxon, Battler Britton) didn't set the world alight they've given up? Or perhaps there's another reason entirely. Time will tell.