For Sale: Print
Marvel Comics on iPad
I have seen the future…and I am selling all of my books.
Okay, not all of them, but an awful lot of them. Books, comic books, magazines, and just about everything print. Y’see, I’ve had an Amazon Kindle 2 for over a year now. And don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing little machine.
But then I saw the iPad, and it changed the way I thought about books, particularly comic books.
Tablets have been around for quite a while. In fact, at work, we run tablet PCs with Microsoft Windows. It’s a nice technology, but for whatever reason, it just didn’t lend itself to reading full novels. Even comics were a little awkward, since you had to use a little stylus to turn the pages of a digital comic.
Apple’s iPad interface is amazing. It’s intuitive, pleasant, and fades quickly into the background. Admittedly, it’s not quite as good as the Kindle when it comes to reading plain text books. But it’s terrific for reading comics. And if they get that screen just a tiny bit larger on the next version — without increasing the total size of the device — it’ll be about a darn near perfect comic book reading experience.
Lots of comic book friends think this is just crazy, but I happen to think that it’s the way I’ll be consuming comics in the future. Sure, part of the comic book hobby is bagging, boarding, and saving your comics. But if you think about it, that’s just a tradition rooted in print and distribution.
Back in the early days, comic books were distributed on the news stand. If you wanted comics when you were a kid, you went to the nearest news stand, pharmacy, or convenience store and got your issues. The problem was that there were very few comic book stores, so it was difficult, and often very expensive, to find back issues of comic books. Scarcity increases price, so that’s the short version of why some old comics are expensive. More people want them than there are comics to buy, and suddenly, people are paying a million dollars for a single issue of Superman.
Because of this relative scarcity of back issues — and the fact that some comic book stories are one long serialized saga — people learned to buy and collect comics. A supporting industry sprung up that supplies bags, boards, boxes, and just about ever variation in between. Multiply that by a few decades of my personal collecting fervor, and I have a room that’s seemingly overrun with white boxes.
As I stare at the iPad, I wonder how many comics will fit on this device? Better yet, how many will fit on my Mac, which I can transfer over to an iPad or whatever device? How many boxes can I possibly clear out of my collection, and how much of my man cave will I be able to reclaim?
One by one, I have been getting rid of my regular books. I’ve donated them to book sales, shared them with friends, and have basically just purged many of my bookshelves. There are still keepers, but the vast majority have found a second life somewhere else.
High quality digital content is easier than ever to find. You can even do it legally through Amazon and Apple, which means that you’re not stealing from the pockets of your favorite writers or artists. The only thing that is changing is the distribution channel, and bookstores, comic stores, and newsstands are scrambling to adapt to this new profit model. Some will survive, but many will not.
In the meantime, I’m trying to figure out what to do with my comic book collection. It’ll be a few years before everything in my current collection is ready in the digital format. It’ll start with the mainstream publishers like Marvel and DC Comics, but it will move quickly to independent publishers. I’m a traditionalist, so if publishers offer comics on DVDs
The way content — including ebooks — is popping into the Apple iTunes store, I think the future is happening sooner rather than later. And that’s just fine by me.
In the meantime, does anyone want to buy some classic comics? Cheap.
Superman, Journalism, & Next Generation Media
Check out this panel from an old comic book. It’s a great reminder of the how society’s view of the media has changed over the years…and how that has helped fuel online news growth.
Superman debuted in 1938. The creators clearly wanted him to be a paragon of American virtue. He was, of course, the ultimate illegal alien. But like many foreigners of the time, Superman wrapped himself in the flag and declared himself a proud American.
Since they were creating an icon, the comic book creators made Superman’s alter ego a newspaper reporter. At the time it made sense, since newspapers were symbols of truth. Papers required balanced, honest reporting from ethical journalists.
There was a time in recent history when Walter Cronkite — the CBS News television anchor — was named “the most trusted figure” in the American public.
Flash forward to today, and Jon Stewart of the Daily Show was named the most trusted newsman. What does that say about the state of news in America?
If Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegal were creating Superman today, it’s unlikely that they’d make Clark Kent a reporter or any part of the mainstream media. The news has become so editorialized…and polarizing…it’s hard to imagine people looking at the profession as trustworthy or ethical. These days, journalists are considered among the least trustworthy of all professionals.
There are honest and trustworthy news professionals. Yet, it’s the public perception of the media that matters in this case. It’s perception and how customers interpret the product.
Let’s cut to the heart of the issue. Namely, journalists have an image problem. It’s a marketing and branding challenge. This is particularly ironic, since they (theoretically) control the media.
This poorly regarded public perception of the media may have even helped fuel the demise of print.
- Print folks were dreadfully late to the Internet. As the Web was developing, many news organizations tried to pretend it didn’t exist. Few created decent brand footprints online, which allowed upstarts like the Huffington Post to grab a foothold on news reporting.
- Traditional media failed to recognize the power of citizen journalism. Instant broadcast platforms made it possible for anyone with a keyboard, a digital camera, or a mini camcorder to play reporter. They failed to leverage the cheap, easy news right in their own backyards.
- Many stories are simply a headline and two paragraphs, which satisfies the basic need to know what’s happening. Depth and breadth of reporting comes later. Newspapers made a terrible mistake when they moved to bite-size news stories in print. Suddenly, the print newspaper was reporting the same stuff that was online the day before. For free. And that depth and breadth stuff? That was cut out of the paper.
- Newspapers drifted away from being impartial journals that worked to get both sides of the story, no matter how difficult. They replaced it with lazy advocacy journalism that was barely better than the basic blog.
People aren’t stupid. They know when something doesn’t smell right. If the paper was going to offer opinions and recycled stories, it was destined to lose value in the eyes of the community. Why pay for lazy reporting and opinions…when you can get it online for free?
In marketing terms, newspapers lost their unique selling proposition. They lost their mojo.
What was left was the tattered remains of the mainstream media. But don’t get me wrong, it has been a long, long time since journalists were considered trustworthy. This is not a recent problem.
Newspapers today are a mere shadow of their former glory. Many of them now just reprint news stories from the Associated Press or Reuters or some third-rate wire service. A few hang on, but it’s just a matter of time before they simply fizzle out.
That’s the bad news. There is, however, a glimmer of hope.
From the ashes of this pyre, it’s likely that some ember will spark a new journalistic flame. It’s possible that the old guard reporters will team with next generation journalists to build a new style of news reporting. Perhaps they will redefine what content, news, and balanced reporting is in today’s modern society.
It could be something that reports news of global significance, offering a view of the world beyond our neighborhood. At the same time, this new media can help us stay in touch with the local issues that affect us directly.
With newspapers dying, someone is going to have to pay for genuine news content. Perhaps one day, we’ll actually find a way to fund good journalism. You know, pay for stuff that has value. Remember when we used to do that?
And, if we’re all lucky, the next generation of inventive minds will create another archetype Superman character who represents rock-solid ethics and legendary strength.
If we give them the next generation of journalism, young idealists may again view journalists as a benefit to society. Guardians of truth who get both sides of the story, and allow us to formulate our own opinions. A friend to the community they serve.
And symbol of truth, justice, and the American way.
iPad – Content, Marketing & Comics
Steve Jobs presents the iPad
If you’re a Macintosh fan or a Steve Jobs zombie (Jobzie?) today was like Christmas. Maybe even better. Today, as if you didn’t know already, Apple finally announced the long-awaited tablet device “iPad.”
If you follow this blog, you know that I primarily talk about content, interactive media, and marketing. Oh yeah, and occasionally comic books. So let’s talk about what the iPad means for each of my favorite topics:
- Content: Well, as I’ve said before, it all comes down to content. The best device in the world will only go so far on mediocre content. Touch screens are cool, but they need to be worth the extra cost.
Positive: As usual, Apple fully delivers on the iPad. Right out of the gate, you’ll be able to tap into the iTunes store for eBooks, videos, games, and music. Plus there’s probably a lot more content on the way. You can buy the iPad knowing that Apple will provide plenty of content in full, brilliant multimedia and color.
Negative: It’s hard not to compare the iPad to the Kindle when it comes to reading ebooks. At this point, it looks like Kindle’s e-ink has an advantage over the iPad’s screen. It’s just nicer to read books on a reflective surface, as opposed to an active matrix display. Sorry, color just isn’t that important for the enjoyment of text, particularly long-form prose.
- Interactive media: We’re now in a society where we fully expect to be able to interact with a certain amount of media. And Apple doesn’t disappoint here. The iPad is packed with nifty new tech that will allow us to touch, drag, scale, and game. We are at the tip of the creative iceberg, and it’s exciting to just dream about the amazing applications that will take advantage of the iPad platform.
Positive: What’s not to like? It’s going to revolutionize gaming and allow you to take your fun wherever you go. As a parent, I love portable movies and games. Apps are what made the iPhone special, and the same tech will work on the iPad. Nice.
Negative: It looks like I may have to re-purchase movies that I have on DVD so they play on the iPad. Something tells me I will be buying a lot of stuff to feed my iPad.
- Marketing: At the core, Apple is an electronics manufacturer, but somehow they have managed to position themselves miles above the rest of the industry. Their brand is huge. No other manufacturer can launch a product quite like Apple. Plus Steve Jobs knows how to give a presentation. If you’re a marketer, take a close look at your lame PowerPoint decks and ask yourself if you can somehow do better. (You can.) Apple’s marketing is a brilliant mix of art, science, and magic. This is what they should study in universities.
Positive: Apple breaks many marketing rules, but somehow they make it work. We can all learn from them when it comes to branding and event marketing. Apple makes it look easy, even though they are probably working like mad in the days leading up to the event.
Negative: What they do as marketers isn’t really taught in school. And try as they may, very few marketers can match their magic formula for generating excitement around product launches. But is this really a negative? Nah, it gives us marketers an achievement goal.
- Comics: It’s hard to say how this will affect the comic book business. Comics are already being pirated and distributed through torrents. Up until now, people had to buy printed comics to get a decent experience. Sure, you could read a pirated comic on your computer monitor, but the mechanics were wrong. Monitors are horizontal, while comics are vertical. Marvel’s Digital Comics actually give a pretty good experience, but it still required you to be sitting in front of your computer. I work in front of a computer all day, so sitting at my desk to read is a bit unappealing. Printed comics are still my favorite way to read full-color comic books. But for how long?
Positive: The iPad could make reading comics really exciting. I would love to read my monthly titles on a nice, clear tablet. I could store them on the device (as opposed to reading them in the cloud), that would free up a lot of space in my house. Set the right price, and I will pay for a digital subscription to my favorite comics. I’m ready, let’s go.
Negative: The pirates are already killing comics the way they nearly killed music and movies. If piracy doesn’t stop, it won’t make economic sense to create comics. Easy file sharing and torrents could kill mainstream comics as we know them today. The iPad just gives the pirates a better platform for sharing files.
So that’s it. The ‘Net and the pundits are already buzzing about the iPad. I’m going to immerse myself in the excitement and optimism.
Merry Christmas, Apple fans.
5 Reasons Disney Digital Matters
Disney Digital Publishing Interface
It’s unlikely that kids entering elementary school today will graduate with a backpack full of books. eBooks are quickly becoming a more cost-effective way for schools to distribute educational materials to students. Books and kids? That’s history.
Disney recently launched the Disney Digital Books service, making a portion of their back catalog available online. Disney, which is associated primarily with movies and theme parks, also has a pretty active publishing division.
Here at Words + Pictures = Web, we’ve listed five reasons that the Disney Digital Publishing portal is going to be pretty darn important for consumers, marketers, and content creators:
1. Tiny steps to a world of paid content.
Like most content creators, Disney wants to get paid for their content. This is a tough concept for many people, since we’ve grown accustomed to getting everything free online. At $8.95 per month, this subscription feels a little high for a new launch, but many parents are willing to plunk down serious cash for anything that seems to have some educational value. This subscription model is retraining people’s expectation for free content.
2. Traditional media begins to strike back.
Disney has a huge backlog of content. They’ve done a pretty good job of getting movies out of “the Vault,” but they haven’t done as much with the publishing division. They are launching with 500 title with a promise that there’s more to come. For the past dozen or so years, new media companies have enjoyed a pretty competition-free environment. Now that Disney and traditional media companies are getting smarter about their backlog of content a lot more content will be moved out of the archives.
3. EReader technology inches forward.
Disney is acknowledging the inevitable future of ereader technology. Even though this is launching on the browser, the digitized assets will probably be reformatted for the next generation of ereader devices. Disney’s relentless quest for customer experience will push the boundaries of ebooks and influence improvements in ereader technology. Disney’s branded content will expose more people to digital books. When the right ereader is available, Disney will modify their content for that platform. With Disney’s connection to Apple, we’d expect to see a content deal through the iTunes store, especially if Apple releases the mysterious iTablet.
4. Story extras are no longer extra.
Disney’s digital books are multimedia enhanced, offering more than a flat, linear experience. Kids today expect to interact with their content. These books offer interesting features, including an integrated dictionary. That’s the kind of minimum experience it’s going to take to engage the next generation of readers.
5. Traditional media wants you back.
Disney’s purchase of Marvel Comics opens them up to a gigantic library of titles and characters. It’s unlikely that Disney will put many Marvel properties on the Disney Digital Books site, but they will probably share technical expertise. Last year Marvel launched the Marvel Digital service with thousands of back issues of Marvel comics titles. Disney isn’t satisfied with the silver screen and the TV screen. They want your computer monitor and your mobile devices too. And for the younger audience, they’ve got stuff for boys, girls, parents, and young-at-heart adults. Traditional media companies want you back, and they are going to work hard to win back your attention.
So, even if you don’t watch Disney movies or plan to read Disney ebooks, the Disney Digital Books portal will probably have some impact on your content-consumption habits. Not today, of course. But this business initiative opens the doors for other content companies to get more aggressive online, particularly with their formerly printed materials.
Depending on how you look at it, this may be the next generation of The Wonderful World of Disney. But if you’re Disney’s competitor, it may be the scariest story you’ve read in a long time.
Amazing 600
Amazing Spider-Man #181
In June, 1978, I went to Collector’s Comics in New Jersey and bought a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #181. On that day, I promised myself that I would buy every issue of this comic for the rest of my life. (Taking an oath at 11 years old is a quaint notion, but bear with me, this story goes somewhere.)
Flash forward to 2009, when I recently bought a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #600.
Let’s consider a few things about the comic series Amazing Spider-Man, which was originally launched March, 1963.
- The original comic (cover price 12 cents – March, 1963) is now worth an estimated $40,000.
- Issue #600 was cover price $4.99 (in 2009) and can probably be purchased for about $4.99 today.
- Both Stan Lee (writer) and Steve Ditko (interior artist) of Amazing Spider-Man #1 are still alive today. (In fact, I recently saw Stan Lee at the Long Beach Comicon.)
- Despite a few starts and stops, Amazing Spider-Man has been running one consecutive story line about the same cast of characters. Amazing Spider-Man #600 featured characters and situations that were originally started in the 1960s.
Amazing Spider-Man #1
And here’s the point I have been working toward. For the most part, Amazing Spider-Man was published as a monthly print magazine. Recently, Marvel Comics has accelerated that schedule, but the majority of the issues in this series were monthly.
From the year of my personal oath to buy every issue of Amazing Spider-Man (starting with #181) until roughly now (#600), approximately 31 years have passed. On a monthly schedule, it takes Marvel Comics around 8 years to reach a 100th issue milestone. Looking forward, it would take Marvel Comics until around 2017 to release Amazing Spider-Man #700.
And that makes me wonder…
- In what format will I buy Amazing Spider-Man #700? Will it be a print publication? Or will it be an eBook? An eComic? Or something else entirely new and unique?
- Considering the ages of Stan Lee (born 1922) and Steve Ditko (1927), is it possible they will be alive to celebrate issue #700 in 2017? With modern medicine, this is no longer unimaginable, right?
- If the first issue was 12 cents and the 600th issue was $4.99, how much will I pay for the 700th?
- If it’s an eBook, will it be less expensive, since there’s no printing and distribution cost?
- Will Marvel Comics print an electronic version and a print version for nostalgic purposes? Certain musicians still release vinyl albums, despite the fact that most people buy CDs or just downloads of their music.
Amazing Spider-Man #600
When you consider this accomplishment, it’s amazing (pun intended) that the mainstream media didn’t make a bigger deal about issue #600.There were a few news stories and articles, but not much, considering how much impact the Spider-Man character has had on popular culture.
From a pop culture perspective, Amazing Spider-Man #600 was a pretty impressive milestone that probably should have made the cover of Entertainment Weekly. Speaking of Entertainment Weekly, the July 24, 2009 cover featured the cast of the Iron Man 2 movie. Iron Man is yet another Stan Lee creation that was published by Marvel Comics. Also published in March 1963, the same month as Amazing Spider-Man #1.
To make it even more significant (and newsworthy), Stan Lee even wrote a short Spider-Man story for the 600th anniversary issue. Not bad for an 87-year-old guy.
If you’ve made it this far in this post, you may be wondering if I kept my personal promise to buy every issue. The short answer is “no,” I did not. I stopped reading comics for many, many years and rediscovered them in college. I’d missed a lot of those comics when they first came out, but went back and bought them as back issues.
It would be silly of me to try to estimate the impact Stan Lee’s Spider-Man has had on pop culture, and what sort of significance the character will have in coming years. From comics to movies to television to toys, Spider-Man is just about everywhere in pop culture.
Flash forward. And in 8 years, I’ll be buying a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #700. The issue will probably be an eBook. Hopefully there’s a print version for nostalgia buffs like me. But either way, no matter what it costs, no matter how it’s delivered, no matter how it’s written, I’ll buy it.
I promise.
Old Videos from Wizard World
Back when I was at Wizard Entertainment, we produced a bunch of videos to promote the Wizard World Chicago Comicon, which the company had purchased. It was a great experience to produce these videos. Here are two that I uploaded to my Flickr.
Wizard World Chicago 1999
Wizard World Chicago 2000
See more stuff at http://www.buddyscalera.com
McCloud Talks Tech on TED
Scott McCloud is a comic book creator who wrote a brilliant book called “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
A few years back, McCloud gave a talk at TED (Technology Entertainment Design), which is an annual conference in California. Not only is McCloud a smart guy who knows a lot about comics, technology, and science…he’s a terrific presenter.
Check out this video as he discusses how comic books and computers are evolving to leverage new technology. Good stuff. It’s especially compelling considering the implosion of traditional print publishing.
Men & Boys Book Promotion
Just did an interview with the Pulse to promote my new book Comic Artist’s Photo Reference: Men & Boys. This is my third pose file book for comic book artists, illustrators, animators, and everyone else who wants to improve their artistic craft.
Hope you like the article: The Boys of Scalera’s Comic Artist’s Photo Ref
Comic Artist's Photo Reference: Men & Boys
Batman Isn’t a Comic Anymore?
In “Why Comics Are Doomed,” I argued that for comics to survive, we need to stop marketing them as “children’s entertainment.” We need to position comics as entertainment for adults.
Here’s proof why. In the newspaper, there are “movie capsules” that encapsulate the movie. Here, dear friends, is the description for:
“The Dark Knight”
Batman isn’t a comic book anymore. Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes and engrossing tragedy. It creates characters we care about. That’s because of the performances, because of the direction, because of the writing, and because of the superlative technical quality of the entire production. The key performance in the movie is by the late Heath Ledger, as the Joker.
The first sentence reveals a preconceived notion shared by many people. They expect comics to be campy, mindless entertainment for kids.
The second sentence goes further when it notes it is “a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes and engrossing tragedy.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t Batman always been an engrossing tragedy? Not every issue, sure, but some of them, right?
To this writer, “The Dark Knight” and “Iron Man” are simply grown up versions of comics. Storytelling flukes created by sophisticated master filmmakers. Nothing in traditional comic books can come close.
For all of you 40-year-old virgins, this is how many people think about comics.
How many people saw “The Dark Knight” and then went to the comic book store to buy Detective Comics? Probably not many, since the assumption is that the movie is for adults…and the comic books are for the kids.
If we keep marketing comics as children’s entertainment, the medium is doomed. Even Hollywood cant save us from ourselves.
Why Comic Book Publishing is Doomed
Here’s why comic book publishing is doomed…
Stopped at the local library today and thought it would be fun to see what comics and graphic novels they had on the shelves. And for some reason, I made the mistake of asking the aging librarians where to find…well, let me just tell you how it went.
ME: Hi, I’m looking for comics and graphic novels.
LIBRARIAN: What?
ME: Comic books, graphic novels. Do you have a section for them?
LIBRARIAN: (loudly to other librarian) He wants to know if we have “comic books”?
And in that moment, I regretted even asking. I could feel their harsh literary judgment scalding me, and I wished that I’d asked if they had a porn section.
LIBRARIAN #2: Graphic novels? YA.
ME: Thanks. I see it…
LIBRARIAN: Go over to that section marked “YA.” That’s for “Young Adults and Teens.” That’s where we keep graphic novels.
ME: Thanks.
LIBRARIAN: Teen section.
ME: Thanks.
Okay. Back to the “doomed” part.
Comic book publishing is doomed if the industry continues to market comics and graphic novels to kids. Kids don’t buy comics like they used to. By and large, adults are buying comics. Don’t believe me? Go to the comic store and observe who is going up to the register to buy comics.
And let’s face it, what adult wants to be shopping or even browsing in the “teen” section of a bookstore or library.
Stop marketing comics as teen literature and make it easier for adults to shop for comics.
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