Digital Comics and the iPhone

[Michael Murphey]

I'm trying to find a goo place to hop in around here, and I can't seem to find a good thread to get started on, so I thought  would start one up on something I've been thinking about for a while.

Digital comics are something that people have been trying to get right for years now, and I don't think its really worked yet.  I really liked Scott McCloud's infinite canvas idea, but that seems to have fallen away to simply scanning pages and posting them online. 

Everyone is trying something now, though.  Marvel is doing their Digital Comics subscription stuff, DC has the Zuda thing, Image and Dark Horse books are appearing on MySpace, and so on - but I think the only digital comics that have been truly successful are the comic strips, not the comic books.

Don't get me wrong, I think putting entire issues online, or even 5 page previews before a book comes out is a great idea.  I can't tell you how many books I've jumped on because of that.  Digital Comics by themselves, however, haven't ever really been a success that I know of.

Wowie seems to be doing the best right now, with books like TMNT coming out ONLY on Wowie for the time being, but that is still a very niche industry thing.

There's this new device you may have heard about called the iPhone, though - and I really think comics on that thing could reach a MASSIVE audience.  You have direct access to customers through the iPhone App store, and a user base in the millions - all who are used to watching or reading content on a screen they carry around in their pocket.  Plus, they're getting used to paying for content on that device, both as cheaply priced applications, and in the form of music. 

Would comics really be a stretch?

Sure, they watch movies and listen to music - but comics still have a place on the iPhone.  There are plenty of times where sound isn't an option for you, and something like comics won't drain your battery life. 

I feel like the iPhone, or a device like the iPhone, might be the thing that finally makes digital comics profitable on their own. 

What do you think?

[Jim Valentino]

This is being discussed in earnest throughout the industry.
We were approached a couple of years ago about offering content via phones.

At this point everything is in place except for the business model.
We're actually having meetings about that and other digital avenues in San Diego.

So, don't think that we're unaware of it, we're not.
It's just going to take the business a bit to catch up to the technology.
(This is what the writer's and impending actor's strikes in Hollywood are about--even the movie industry is trying to figure all of this out).

We're workin' on it!!!

jim

[Michael Murphey]

@Jim

Do you think phones (large touch screen phones like the iPhone, and the LG Dare specifically) have reached a point where they are a viable place for comics?

I remember when Godland was added to that Go Comics cell phone deal.  I was running a Godland fansite at the time, and I tried it out on my phone.  It wasn't a very pleasurable experience...but phones have changed A LOT in the last two years.

I think the iTunes business model would work.  $.99 to $1.99 for digital comics that were formatted for the device they were appearing on would certainly be something I could consider purchasing.

[Jim Valentino]

I think iphones are a lot closer to it than anything we had before.

Downloads on phones are hugely popular in Japan and they're readily accepted by GenerationText (hey, did I just invent a new catch phrase?).

The technology is there, the business model isn't...yet.
It will be and soon.
That's what I think.

Your mileage may vary.

j

[Jimmie Robinson]

Yes, this is always being talked about.  It's the goldmine that everyone wants a map of.
Even back in the 1990s I was approached about comics on phones - by Deni Loubert (Dave Sim's ex-wife) no less.  So it's out there.  A lot of folks are waiting.  I think the payment & rights will be an issue, depending on the company that really kick starts it.  Someone, somewhere will take some slings and arrows and a few sacrifices before a real effort is successfully made.

[Aurora Borealis]

I can't imagine reading comics on such a tiny screen. Perhaps something formatted for these, like one panel at a time. I guess once they improve electronic paper (add color and faster reaction time), you might have ebook readers that you can open/fold in half like a brochure out of two sheets of paper... or perhaps a hardcover book lookalike.

Then again I don't even have a cellphone and I won't buy one until I absolutely need one, so maybe I am biased against

[Jimmie Robinson]

Soon, eye glasses will be made with HUD (heads up display) that will connect to cellphones.
At which size will never be an issue again when you can create screen dimensions as big as your field of vision.

Of course the lawmakers will be all over this banning it while driving, or doing anything remotely fun or stupid.

Live long enough and you'll be able to just 'jack-in' content directly to your head.

[Len Kody]

The iPhone is the just one of the first and best of the "internet appliances" that'll be getting better, sleeker and more portable in the coming years.  Entertainment content on the internet is just starting to come into its own.  Sites like YouTube and all the webcomics communities that've sprung up recently have changed the internet from something you just use to check your email into an actual source of entertainment that can compete with TV (well... broadcast TV, anyway).  But so far, as in the examples I've listed, most of the entertainment content available on the web has been people putting it up there for free.

But like Jim said, actually creating a business model to pull revenue from the content is still in it's infancy.  It's coming along.  Ad revenue and merchandise sales alone are how a lucky few webcomic guys make a living.  But right now, for most of us, it's like you're sitting on top of a gushing oil well a couple years before the automobile was invented.

As soon as someone other than Steve Jobs figures out a way to make money from web content, cheap, portable, easy-to-use ways of getting to that content will flow into the market place like Texas Tea.

The Amazon Kindle is a step in the right direction.

[Michael Murphey]

In an interesting note, Warner Bros is apparently taking a stab at this with "Motion Comics" in iTunes.  An episode is 25 minutes long, costs $1.99 and looks FANTASTIC!!!!!

They're starting with "Watchmen" - and you can download it for free for the next few weeks.

just search for "Watchmen Motion Comics".

It kind of reminds me of those old Marvel Cartoons from the 60s.  I don't know if this is going to work - but I'm pretty impressed with it so far.  It's still not really "comics" since we're talking about a voice track, motion, and music - but its interesting.

[Len Kody]

Yeah.  I read about that in this Wall Street Journal article -- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121634908179464605.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

They also talk about a similar Joker/Batman "motion comic" that folks'll be able to download via their Xbox 360 or Verizon Wireless cell phone.

And isn't Mtv doing this with Invincible too?

I'll definitely be checking out the Watchmen.   

[cleasterwood]

Options, options, options.  Everybody wants them.      Even ComicPress has options for IPod versions, cell phone versions... geesh. 

Soon, eye glasses will be made with HUD (heads up display) that will connect to cellphones.
At which size will never be an issue again when you can create screen dimensions as big as your field of vision.

Live long enough and you'll be able to just 'jack-in' content directly to your head.

I'll take 2 of each please.    

But right now, for most of us, it's like you're sitting on top of a gushing oil well a couple years before the automobile was invented.

I have to agree about the oil well.  I just have trouble reading comics on my laptop, but on i-Phones and cell phones?  My eyes would cross inside 10 minutes. 


Lynn

[comicbookgazette]

I've heard about McCloud's infinite canvas idea and while it is interesting in theory, in practice it's kind of annoying to be scrolling for a long time as it starts to give the illusion of a tedious task, and I'm personally kind of annoyed when I have to side-scroll. (It's kind of cool when web-comics use it to demonstrate the passing of time as someone is falling, though).

The iPhone, and a few other next-gen phones, would be a lot better for reading comics but inferior to reading them on a computer screen, let alone on paper. I feel like it'd take a while for it to catch on and be perfected, but what new technology doesn't?

And a iTunes for comics (talking comic books here, not webcomics) is something I would really like to see. We have a bunch of free and pay eComic services popping up here and there (Wowio, Pullbox Online, My eBook) and each of them has their own companies' books that they publish. It seems to be a bunch of smaller companies: IDW, Heroic, Shoulders of Giants (the Hero Initiative's comic publishing division), Devil's Due, Nautilus, AAM/Markosia, etc. None of the major companies -- Marvel, DC, Image, or Dark Horse. The last four seem to be trying out but as far as I know haven't done anything more than dip their toes in the water. Marvel has their half-@$$ed subscription-based service, Image has first issues of a lot of their series', Dark Horse has samples and full-issues of a lot of their books but they're on a reader on their site (other companies that use a reader to post online comics are Virgin and Top Cow). DC, as far as I know, doesn't have anything. Marvel and DC also seem a bit paranoid about abandoning their print-only comics.

Newer creators and companies are a lot more open to eComics, though, and I applaud them for that. It'll take a lot, though, not only for older companies to shy away from print-only, but also to work together and offer their comics online on one definitive service. But hey, if the music industry was able to do it...

[comicbookgazette]

In an interesting note, Warner Bros is apparently taking a stab at this with "Motion Comics" in iTunes.  An episode is 25 minutes long, costs $1.99 and looks FANTASTIC!!!!!

They're starting with "Watchmen" - and you can download it for free for the next few weeks.

just search for "Watchmen Motion Comics".

It kind of reminds me of those old Marvel Cartoons from the 60s.  I don't know if this is going to work - but I'm pretty impressed with it so far.  It's still not really "comics" since we're talking about a voice track, motion, and music - but its interesting.

I've heard about this and seen this format in these little CD-Rom's that Marvel released -- there were about five issues of Spider-Man and while I wasn't a huge fan of them, they were pretty cool (only difference that you read the Marvel ones -- they didn't record the voices).

I'm excited that Watchmen will be free, that could potentially get a lot of kids and teenagers to try them out, if handled properly. And hey, if we get them reading Watchmen it can only help the comic industry!

[Rantz]

In an interesting note, Warner Bros is apparently taking a stab at this with "Motion Comics" in iTunes.  An episode is 25 minutes long, costs $1.99 and looks FANTASTIC!!!!!

They're starting with "Watchmen" - and you can download it for free for the next few weeks.

just search for "Watchmen Motion Comics".

It kind of reminds me of those old Marvel Cartoons from the 60s.  I don't know if this is going to work - but I'm pretty impressed with it so far.  It's still not really "comics" since we're talking about a voice track, motion, and music - but its interesting.

'Motion Comics' reeks of Flash v1 or 'interactive content' circa 1996... it wasn't engaging then, it sure as hell hasn't aged well...

[Mark_S]

  In this case I think it might be the reverse of what happened before.  I'm thinking of how the adventure strips of the 1930's through the 1950's faded as the comic gag strips increased, because the gag strips could take advantage of minimal space as the panels shrunk.  I think that a strip like Girls With Slingshots, Dork Tower or others could work well on the iPhone, but something like Batman would not. 
  Part of the problem may be that not everyone has the iPhone, I have a cell phone but while the screen would be good enough for a gag comic I'd balk at paying any extra per month for it. 

Mark_S