Wired makes the case for going digital

Product editor Mark McClusky makes the case for comics going digital in a great article over at Wired.com:

The two biggest comics publishers, Marvel and DC, control huge back catalogs - as in 70 years of content. But if you want to read old issues of a venerable franchise like Spider-Man, your choices are either to hunt down expensive original copies or to buy costly paperback compilations. The comics companies love these trade paperbacks: They can charge a premium for old content and sell them in mainstream bookstores and specialty comics retailers.

But imagine what these publishers - and smaller imprints - could do in the digital realm. Last year, thousands of readers snapped up The Complete New Yorker, a $100 DVD set containing scans of every issue of the magazine (which, like Wired, is published by Condé Nast). If DC were to release The Complete Batman, fans wouldn't just be excited - there would be mass hysteria. Comics lovers aren't averse to spending money; it's easy to imagine them happily paying $300 for such a compilation. I would. And while it might cannibalize sales of the trades, the radically lower production costs of a DVD set would offset the difference.

McClusky talked to both Marvel and DC, who gave him a "no comment":

So what's the holdup? I asked representatives at both Marvel and DC. Their answer: "No comment." No condemnation of piracy, no acknowledgment of what's happening, no tip of the hat to the vigorous world of independent online comics. Nothing.

Which is kind of interesting, considering it wasn't long ago that Marvel sent out a survey to subscribers of its weekly Pulse email newsletter asking them how they felt about digital comics, not to mention the fact that Joe Quesada has confirmed that Marvel.com will be launching digital comics in the future, over at Newsarama in his weekly "Joe Fridays" Q&A:

NRAMA: Well, one more on something covered in the press conference, then. While it wasn’t gone into in depth when a question was asked, you (collectively, Marvel) mentioned that you'd be launching a new digital comic book format at Marvel.com soon...

Can you tell us how this will be different than say your previous "dotcomics", and will it be used any differently in terms of marketing than that previous effort.

JQ- We’ll have more news on this as it gets closer, but I think what’s important to note is this, there is a new breed of fan who is going to be looking for their comic fix in a different way and it’s going to happen very soon.

Maybe Marvel held off on commenting until all the details are worked out. And with their fellow Time Warner company getting into digital content delivery, you have to wonder how long before DC gets in the game as well.

Me? I figure I'm a paper guy, but then again, I also figured I'd keep buying CDs even after I bought my iPod, which hasn't been the case.