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Comic book publishers are super interested in the iPad
- Thread starter DrStrange
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Hopefully "Choose Your Own Adventure" books make a comeback with the iPad too!
You jest, but I think they are ripe for a comeback with the emergence of eBooks... the nostalgia factor alone will sell them and the new format and self publishing possibilities will make them not suck.
As for comics, this is something that I was really looking forward to with the iPad... as long as publishers don't f' it up too badly. I'm not sure what it costs to print and ship a $4 comic, but I'm not paying $4 for the same thing in digital format. I hope that some avenue comes along and lets indie creators self-publish right next to the "big guys". Most of them will be crap, but there will be plenty of gems (not unlike the big players lineup).
This is something that has fascinated me, and pretty much everyone, about the app store: it's all on the same "shelf". If MS wanted to release Office for the iPad it would be sitting right there next to Flight Control as a best seller, which is something that does not happen with retail shops, or even online sellers who deal in physical product.
I'm not really jesting..... I loved those books!
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I'm really hoping for day-of-release comic books that are in a format very similar to the e-books Jobs showed at the demo -- a full page on screen, with the ability to zoom in if I want, and a simple action to flip to the next page. But no motion comics! I want to read them, not pretend they're some crappy movie.
I don't do monthly books anymore because it's just too much paper, so I end up with lots of collections -- but then I don't get new story for months at a time, and I'm at the mercy of the publishers' decision whether to collect something or not (or whether they'll skip issues when they do collect them). I would love to be able to just subscribe to titles I like and have notifications delivered automatically when they are ready for download, and also be able to download single issues.
I don't do monthly books anymore because it's just too much paper, so I end up with lots of collections -- but then I don't get new story for months at a time, and I'm at the mercy of the publishers' decision whether to collect something or not (or whether they'll skip issues when they do collect them). I would love to be able to just subscribe to titles I like and have notifications delivered automatically when they are ready for download, and also be able to download single issues.
Only problem is, you wouldn't be able to cheat so easily. I used to always keep a finger marking the previous section just in case I fell off a cliff on my next move!
Anyway, you can already find plenty of old skool adventure books rebirthed in HTML. My fave was Lone Wolf...
http://www.projectaon.org/en/xhtml/lw/01fftd/sect1.htm
Back on topic, hopefully there will be a good CBZ file viewer for the iPad. I've got volumes and volumes of Judge Dredd to get through!
It's also a great way to hook reluctant readers into the fun of reading.
I sure hope so. It has a lot of potential. Most comic book sales in recent years have been in graphic novels and collections, not in individual "issues." This could be a new and more economical way to publish issues of comic books which can later be sold in paper (or digital) collections.
What it really needs IMO is for there to be a new app or service that centralizes payment and delivery. Scott McCloud wrote a lot about the future of comics books in his book Reinventing Comics, and a central "micropayment" store equivalent to iTunes or iBooks could bring about what he predicted.
Mllions of Marvel, DC, Naruto, Anime fans out there are going to love the iPad.
I'll be one of them if Marvel comics are available outside the US. I currently have the Comixology app on my iPhone which works great on such a small screen but Marvel isn't available in the UK.
Would probably start buying comics again if I could get them on my iPad.
Just out of curiosity, what do my fellow ecomic readers think a fair price is for an electronic edition of a standard single issue comic?
Personally, I think $1 for an indie, self published title, $2 for an established IP without any ads in it ($1 if they put in ads). I have no idea if that's a reasonable price from the publishers point of view, but it's about what I would feel comfortable paying.
Personally, I think $1 for an indie, self published title, $2 for an established IP without any ads in it ($1 if they put in ads). I have no idea if that's a reasonable price from the publishers point of view, but it's about what I would feel comfortable paying.
No lie, I thought about comic books the day this thing was annouced. I can only imagine reading Watchmen on something like this.