I'm back! Found anything good lately?
#1
Fri, 06/07/2013 - 04:07
I'm back! Found anything good lately?
Hey what's up fellow comic collectors? I've been away for awhile since my laptop broke and the Xbox IE wouldn't let me type messages in 2o2p so I've been gone. Just recently got a hell of a deal on a few autographed comics. I got a Hopeless signed Cable and the X-Force #1, a Scott Synder signed The Wake #1, a Brian Wood Mara #1 and a Brian Wood X-Men #1 all of these still sealed an mint for only cover price!
Anyone else found anything cool recently?
You're in luck then friend! The first issue came out on Wednesday! I think a few places might still have some, now that it's gained popularity, they printed more, and this is supposed to be the final chapter of the series. Although, how they would pass on something so popular I dunno. If you haven't read it, check out Saga, it's a great series, and the 3rd mini series is getting ready to start. It's pretty good, it goes in 5 issue mini-series as well. You can't find any issues of the first series without paying a ton as it's really gained a cult following, however, they have a volume 1 and Volume 2 containing the first two arcs, you could also find scans of the first issue or two if you wanted to see if it was something you might be into without risking money over it.
Saga is a great series and you can get issue #1 for free on Comixology, no need to encourage piracy.
I love comixology and dark horse for digital stuff. There are a ton of freebies on both of those.
Yeah, I use both services for all my digital comics. They both recently had promotions where they gave away hundreds of #1 issues which was awesome. It took me a while to get on board with digital comics but once I got a tablet digital became my prefered way to read comics. They just look so damn nice and no more boxes taking up space in my house.
I was a really late bloomer to comics. I just started reading them within the last year or so b/c of digital comics. If it wasn't for those apps, I probably would've never started reading them. They just weren't on my radar. I gotta say my favorite series right now is Jennifer Blood, and I really like Hawkeye.
That's awesome to hear. That's been a problem for comics for so long, where to find them. There aren't a lot of comic shops out there anymore so you usually have to go way out of your way to buy physical copies. And comic shops have this stigma about them, your average person probably wouldn't want to be seen going into one or just feels uncomfortable in one or most likely doesn't even know where to find one. I've been reading comics my whole life, I work in comics, and I generally don't like going to comic shops. It's rare to find one that isn't full of creepy dudes or obnoxious asshole employees. The one I go to now is a cool place with good people but it's a 30-40 minute drive away so I go maybe once a month. If not for digital I would be buying far fewer books.
Hawkeye's a great book. I haven't read Jennifer Blood but I hear good things. I was actually offered that book to work on at the start of the series but had to pass due to scheduling conflicts... I'm still pissed about that because I really wanted to work with Garth Ennis.
I think part of the problem is that if your new to comics where would you even begin in a brick and mortar store? None of my friends in the real world read them or hell even play games, so I am the "geeky guy" in my group of friends. Your right about the idea of actually going to a store though. I imagine all the douchey people you see on tv/movies being at every brick and morar store making my life hell b/c I have no idea on what I am looking for.
I do think the preview pages for comics do work really well for those apps. In those 2 or 3 pages, I can usually tell by the art work and or dialogue if I would enjoy the rest of the series. I've had some hits/misses but I am sure I would have gotten the same rate of success if I would've bought the paper version too.
I do seem to like reading Garth's stuff though. I really like his artwork and his comics seem to be more "adult" in nature.
B your artwork is amazing, I checked out the deviant link and then went on to your website. Great work.
I don't encourage piracy, in fact, I actually pay extra for all my subscriptions which is currently over 120 different series, all from a small local dealer that Marvel and DC won't give the same discounts to, that bigger stores make. They actually only make roughly 25 cents an per issue they sell there. Diamond the main distributor of comics in the US only gives discounts based on how many issues a store buys per year, after a store has been in business for at least one year. So new stores barely make anything their first year, and need every customer they can get. I spend over $500 a month on my monthly comic subscriptions, so if I wanna read a single issue scan of a new series, a company could stand to make a lot of money off of me if I enjoy it. I didn't tell him to go pirate the whole fucking series, just a single issue that's already free!
I told people if they absolutely refused to pay for the 1st issue or 2 to find a scan, whether it's through a publisher's site, or an illegal one. To me there's no difference in reading a scan of a first issue, or reading the free issue from the site. I didn't tell the guy to go pirate a whole series that I love, I said go download a single issue or two to see if he/she liked the series and then go buy them. If I can get someone to read an issue of a series by any means and then they become subscribers, that's a big win, and helps a company greatly. It's also the reason companies like Marvel, did their 700 free 1st issues, b/c by giving away 1 issue, they potentially gain lots of subscribers.
Comics are going downhill fast, and piracy of them would destroy the medium I love and have been following for well over 20 years. Getting people involved in new series is hard to do for even regular comic buyers. Also, most issue collectors won't buy paperbacks, so... if you wanna get someone to subscribe to a series, but they don't wanna start mid-point, don't wanna pay outrageous prices for the 1st issue or two without knowing if they'll like it, don't wanna buy 2nd or 3rd runs b/c well there's no point as they're worthless, what other options are there to get people into a series. Reviews are stupid, b/c they're stories, so you won't know if you like it, til you read it. So yes, in this extreme case I do support the piracy of a single issue or two, if it leads to further sales.
Piracy is someone who downloads entire albums of songs, entire series of scans, trilogies of games and doesn't support the medium at all. Someone who's scared of wasting money on mediums that don't offer refunds tries a single song, and then buys the album, or reads issue 1 and if they like it subscribes isn't a pirate to me.
Also, digital comics are bombing really badly, and people should be weary of using them. I even lost over a hundred of paid issues when the Sony comic app closed down and every issue I owned is now gone. Marvel and DC have both stated that thier digital services are failing and losing money, which is sad. So anyone who invests in them should be careful. You can't even use the digital codes that come with the issues that Marvel and DC charge you a dollar extra for, b/c using them, it downgrades the comic issue by .2 points. They're going to have to think of something if they want to fix their digital market, or it's gonna be gone soon. Which is a shame, b/c it's nice to read back issues when I'm not home, or find variants of issues and don't wanna ruin them by reading them.
Hey, man. I appreciate your passion for comics. I share that passion, which is why I make my living as a freelance artist in the comics industry and have done so for the last 5+ years. As a freelancer I am personally affected by piracy. It's hard to see companies struggling and to see my page rate drop, to have a series I've been working on get cancelled because of low sales meanwhile the number of illegal downloads is 2-3x times higher than issues sold. It's not Marvel/Disney or DC/WB that gets hurt from piracy, it's all the little guys who toil away for them and the other smaller companies. People who work very long hours, under stressful deadlines, for little pay and no health insurance because they love comics.
Pretty much every issue of every comic has a preview available online before it hits stands. Just google "xxx #xx preview". If someone can't tell from 3-5 pages whether they want to spend a few dollars on it then it's probably not for them and I'm fine with that. The problem with pointing out to people that they can get any comic they want as a scan, online, for free, is that once they download a few and read them it's very unlikely they will go out and buy them. Just because you're not telling them to download the whole series illegally doesn't mean they won't when they learn it is possible. More likely they will just start downloading more comics. I think it's very rare that a person, having already stolen something, will then go out and purchase it. It happens, I'm sure, but it's the exception.
I wasn't trying to call you out as a pirate or anything. I just feel very strongly on this topic and a great book like Saga deserves better. BKV and Fiona Staples are killing it on that book and they only money they earn from it comes from sales. Image doesn't work like other companies, they don't hire you and pay you a page rate. They simply publish and promote your book, usually at a cost to you, and you get paid from sales. I think Saga is the best book out there right now, I've purchased each issue in print and digital format and I love that you're trying to get others to read it too. But it's available legally for free, so let's offer that option first is all I'm saying.
I realize piracy isn't going away and that the comics industry has been absolutely fucking terrible in adjusting to the digital revolution which only helped to make the pirating worse. It still hasn't figured it out yet. I mean, $4 for a digital comic that you don't truly own is insane and even I won't pay that. I'll wait months for the price to drop or for a sale before I pay $4 but I won't torrent it. That's just me though, I'm the guy who waits for Game of Thrones to come out on Bluray before I watch it because I can't/won't pay for cable+HBO. It would be great if I could just pay for HBO GO so I could watch the shows I wanna see but they don't give you that option. So I wait to buy or I don't watch. I feel that if you're not willing or unable to pay for something then you are not entitled to read/watch/listen to that thing.
Previews suck for comics honestly, even the ones Marvel put out that contain previews for 4-6 series in one issue suck. Comics aren't like other mediums where a demo, or trailer can hook you. Most people need a few issues to get hooked into a series, especially now days where every other arc sucks, and publishers depend too much on events. Heck, the local shops I go to often give me literally boxes of preview issues b/c no one wants them.
Digital is failing b/c for the most part, people still want physical issues, that and like you said they still charge $4 for a digital copy. Well $1 if you buy the issue, but ppl cant use those codes. Occasionally Marvel will do stuff like $1 Mondays, and sales but it's never good stuff. On top of that digital just isn't the same as a physical copy. There's too much about them that are just flat better than digital. From the smell of the ink, to the different types of paper used, it's just better. Plus, like we both said, you don't own them, on top of that you can't display them. You don't get the thrill of hunting down back issues, often I feel like the guys on that picker show, lol.
It's cool that you're an artist, what have you worked on? Maybe I have some of your stuff? That'd be neat! If it's a super small team, and might give away your identity it's cool.
I guess it depends on the person. Me, I can tell if I want a book just by seeing the names of the creators on the cover. If I'm not sure about the art team then seeing a page or two of the interior art will tell me all I need to know. But then, I buy comics mainly for the art.
Having a physical copy was what kept me away from digital for the longest time. That and I didn't have a tablet until recently and reading comics at your computer wasn't really pleasant. I bought a handful of stuff from Graphicly when they first appeared but then they quickly disappeared and seemed to take my comic purchases with them. I had/have the same concerns with Comixology but I believe thay have stated that your comics will still be available for download should they go under. And you can always read what's downloaded to your device. Yeah, it's not perfect, but I really love the way the look in HD on a tablet. So much can and does get lost in print. Plus, not having more boxes full of comics to keep stored is really a neccesity at this point. I have been buying comics for 25 years, I have no more room.
You say people can't use those codes that come with Marvel titles now? I guess you mean it lowers the value for collectors. I'm not a collector in that sense so I guess that never occured to me. You'd probably wanna strangle me if you saw how I store my comics. I don't even bag and board 'em. I personally love that Marvel includes the digital copy. I buy the print edition, rip of the tag, get the code and read it digitally. :)
I've been a colorist for the last 5+ years. Worked for pretty much every company at this point except for Marvel. Most recently I've been doing stuff for Dynamite (Bionic Woman, Red Sonja, upcoming Pathfinder mini) but also some DC stuff. I've done Conan for Dark Horse, worked for HiFi doing a lot of DC books when the New 52 launched like OMAC, THUNDER Agents, etc... Kind of on a hiatus at the moment due to the birth of our second child but hope to be on a regular book at DC come Fall. This is me: http://markhroberts.deviantart.com/
That's some serious talent B. Some of those pics in Deviant are ridiculous man. Keep us informed on what you're working on in the future!
Thanks, man!
Thanks, dude.
Nice work! I loved the T'challa, X-Men, Aquaman, Conan, and TMNT artwork! Wish I knew if some were actual covers and which issues to check to see if I had them though. I feel like I have an issue of TMNT with a cover like that, but I own so many comics without specifics, it'd be a pain to sort through, same with the Aquaman and X-Men artwork.
While I do love art, and at one time had a painting in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I get comics for the stories, so usually for me, it does take awhile to get hooked into a series. Like this series Morning Glories my buddy just lent me, had they just shown a few pages, I wouldn't have liked it. But now that I've read 5 issues, I'm hooked and subscribed yesterday down at the comic shop. While art is important, like I hate the art in Batman Inc. it's not my main focus. However, I can see now how someone like you could tell in a small preview, I'm just still not sure that it's the best method of previews. I think what they're trying to do now, with giving the 1st issue or two away for free, is a good direction to go honestly. Free Comic Book Day is huge for a reason, it gets people in shops, and people get full issues to something they might not have given a chance, and this is a similar cheaper way to do that.
Brick and Mortar stores are honestly, the best place to learn about comics, and most of the people are really nice. Like any hobby, they have the jerks, but most honestly love meeting and helping get people into comics and games b/c it means they get to play/talk to a new person about the stuff they love. New people are nice, b/c they don't have any loyalities to anything, so they really soak up your opinions. Most people in the stores are the main followers, that knows what good for beginners and such, and can help people sort through all the titles. Like if I was knew, I'd have no clue which Batman series was technically the main story and in a brick and mortar, there's people who can help you find that stuff out. Brick and mortar people also tend to read a lot of the less well known stuff as well, so often they can help people find out about stuff they might not otherwise hear about.
I know they can be intimidating, but brick and mortars can be a lot of fun if the store is set up correctly with the right people, and it might help you meet a few other people you can discuss this stuff with, so you should give a try sometime! Don't be afraid to ask questions either, most of them really do like helping people.