Digital Comic Books: would you read or collect them? Also Humblebundle comicbook offering

gorfias

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I have some die hard comic collector fans. They have signed first editions of all sorts of Marvel comic books going back to the beginning of that publisher.

I stopped collecting years ago but have reason to like reading them again. Especially if there are crossovers of the property (Bloodspot movie based upon comics).

Do you/would you read them if available? Are you more a collector of physical books?

Also humblebundle.com has a huge deal for "The Boys" volumes. $15 gets you 26 titles... not all "The Boys" books. I think Alex Ross involved in some. I got it this AM. I've read the 1st one. I have to write I prefer the Amazon series so far, but I'm sure I'll enjoy this set.
 

Breakdown

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I've started reading digital comics, they save space and I generally stick to the sales on Comixology instead of paying full price. Although If I'm a big fan of a series I'd rather buy the paper copy.

I prefer the Boys comic to the TV series. The series feels a bit tame and worthy and generally watered down. The comic does get a bit repetitive after a while though.
 
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Kae

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I used to be more of a collecting type, but I lost all of my collection in a fire, since then I've pretty much stuck to digital and it's generally cheaper and as @Breakdown mentioned they save space.

It's cool I guess, my first digital comic was actually Scott Pilgrim vs The World through Humble Bundle and that was pretty good, but I do have a few comics on Comixology.com, though I'll admit I haven't read or purchased any comics recently.
 
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SupahEwok

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There's very few comic books I wish to read, and if I do read them, I prefer comics in particular in print. Basically the only series I'm interested in are Sandman and the 90's run of Starman. I collect the Omnibus volumes just to have a simple, complete source, but it's expensive. The Sandman is broken up into 3 volumes that are a hundred bucks apiece, and 90's Starman runs into a problem that of its 5 book Omnibus run, they were all released in hardback, but only the first 2 for paperback. This has contributed to a severe shortage of the 3rd volume, where finding it for a whopping $200 is actually a really good deal.

I consider purchases of installments in these series as treats for life milestones or on a tax return, so I'm collecting them very slowly.

There's a couple of other series I may wish to check out. Planetary is only a single book for the omnibus, and fairly affordable.
 
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faeyr

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I got into digital comics in a big way a few years ago when Amazon/Comixology was trying to undercut Marvel and offering most of their trades for a dollar a piece. I've stuck with it because I just don't have any more room for floppies and trades of stories unless I really care about them. I actually read a lot more comics now, and prefer the digital experience in terms of image quality and ease of access/reading.
 
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faeyr

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Oh, I also think the device you're reading on makes a huge difference. I read on a 10 inch Galaxy Tab A now, which is just about perfect. I started reading with a laptop and it wasn't anywhere near as immersive, and reading on a phone is a non-starter for me.
 
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Xprimentyl

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Ugh, the digitization of everything cuz "CONVENIENCE!!"

If you're in it purely for the stories and visuals, fine; have at your screens. But when I collected comics as a kid, along with the stories and visual, it was a hobby, not just a pastime. Trading with friends valuing rarity, quality, attending conventions, getting a coveted signed copy, and knowing that one day you might be able to see your efforts as an investment. Apparently he's died about a dozen times since, but back in the '90s when Superman died [the first time, I guess], it made news that that issue was hitting shelves; people wanted THAT book despite knowing the ending; my dad stood in line and got two copies for me!

So, no, were I to delve back into collecting, I'd want my analogue comics.
 
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Ezekiel

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I used to just read everything for free on my computer, but I've assembled a modest collection of complete physical graphic novels the last few years. I still read some stuff digitally, but definitely prefer paper. I spend like sixteen hours a day looking at monitors and my TV as it is. Stepping away to enjoy a story once in a while is relaxing. I also have to zoom in with my 1440x2560 monitor to view high res comics without them looking all scratchy and shit. Stretching bigger pictures to a smaller resolution or maximizing smaller pics to a bigger res never looks as good as the native res, and who wants to constantly zoom in and pan?
 
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Hawki

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So I prefer physical media to digital media across the board. However, over time, I've had to rely on digital media more - it's cheaper, I'm running out of space in my room, and it saves paper (and therefore, trees).

I download a lot of comics from Humble Bundle, where I spend a dollar or so and get a few (this is similar to why my Steam library is so large). I also rely on Dark Horse Digital a lot.
 
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happyninja42

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Do you/would you read them if available? Are you more a collector of physical books?
Yes I've read the digital comics before. One of my friends had an account with marvel that gave him access to digital copies of comics, and that's where I picked up reading the Miles Morales origin arc several years ago. I think I read a few other runs for a bit using that service, but I quickly grow tired of the ongoing natures of comics, and how they ultimately hard reset everything back to zero eventually. So I don't stick with them for too long. One of the side effects of working in a comic shop back in the 90s I guess. I saw how samey they all were.

But for someone who wants to read the stories, and isn't worried about the collection side of it, it's a great resource. Just pull up the site on your device of choice, get comfy, and comic away for several hours. See a reference to another comic? Pull that one up next to see what they're talking about. Never even have to leave your comfy chair.
 
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Ezekiel

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I'm running out of space in my room, and it saves paper (and therefore, trees).
Don't care about trees, since I'm pretty sure they have tree farms for this. But my far more expansive movie and TV show collection is fast becoming a nightmare. One of the things I hate about living in an apartment: how little space you have. I have more and more movies sitting on top of other movies and will soon have some lying in front of other movies, blocking them. Sooner or later I'm gonna rip almost everything, which will be expensive, but at least it will mean I'll never have to dig through my collection to find something or worry about disc decay.
 

SckizoBoy

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I've gotten used to reading from my computer/tablet screen because for a now defunk't publisher whose output is attached to a setting I'm heavily invested in, digital release is all I can get. I much prefer paper and ink, for anything I want to read and that extends to comics.

I'm no collector, however, since my comics collection is pretty small, but I know what I like and I get the TPB releases of what I like if I can. If not, I'll begrudgingly get the digital copy and bemoan the gap in the shelf. If another print run comes along, I'll happily get what I'm missing.
 
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Kae

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I've gotten used to reading from my computer/tablet screen because for a now defunk't publisher whose output is attached to a setting I'm heavily invested in, digital release is all I can get. I much prefer paper and ink, for anything I want to read and that extends to comics.

I'm no collector, however, since my comics collection is pretty small, but I know what I like and I get the TPB releases of what I like if I can. If not, I'll begrudgingly get the digital copy and bemoan the gap in the shelf. If another print run comes along, I'll happily get what I'm missing.
Same, I find reading from a physical copy much more enjoyable, particularly comics since some of them seem to be distributed at relatively low resolutions (Depends on when it was originally published digitally), which loses some of the detail on the art and in some cases I've seen it can even make the text hard to read.

However it's just such an easy and convenient way in which you can acquire out of print books and it is generally so much cheaper than physical copies.
 

SckizoBoy

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Same, I find reading from a physical copy much more enjoyable, particularly comics since some of them seem to be distributed at relatively low resolutions (Depends on when it was originally published digitally), which loses some of the detail on the art and in some cases I've seen it can even make the text hard to read.

However it's just such an easy and convenient way in which you can acquire out of print books and it is generally so much cheaper than physical copies.
Don't know what your take on it is, but I like reading books for very sentimental reasons. There's nothing like a freshly printed book, the crisp feel of the pages and the distinctive smell of ink on paper or a gloss finish without that unrefined odour of an hours old newspaper. There's also nothing like an old used book that's been obviously read a lot yet taken care of, like those faint crease lines along the spine, the ever so slightly dog-eared pages, the mildly faded cover and the mustiness of age. Very good reason why my favourite book mark is one I place right in front of me declaring in big letters: WHEN MY BOOK IS OPEN, YOUR MOUTH IS SHUT!
 
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Kae

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Don't know what your take on it is, but I like reading books for very sentimental reasons. There's nothing like a freshly printed book, the crisp feel of the pages and the distinctive smell of ink on paper or a gloss finish without that unrefined odour of an hours old newspaper. There's also nothing like an old used book that's been obviously read a lot yet taken care of, like those faint crease lines along the spine, the ever so slightly dog-eared pages, the mildly faded cover and the mustiness of age. Very good reason why my favourite book mark is one I place right in front of me declaring in big letters: WHEN MY BOOK IS OPEN, YOUR MOUTH IS SHUT!
Wow! That sounds absolutely lovely ♪, but no, I'm actually not very sentimental at all my preference is purely practical, though what I do like about physical books is that I can just go and read them away from everything and just block everything else from existence while you just get immersed in the book, leaving the phone in another room, maybe even going to the park to read it on fresh air, that's something that's really hard to do from an electronic device, like messages from discord, or sms will constantly distract me at the computer but with a book I just get to ignore everything.
Oh yeah, books also don't run out of battery when you're travelling that's also great, one of the things that I do miss from travelling with my parents was just hanging out on the backseat reading a book and looking out of a window, that was great.

But yes, physical books are wonderful things even if we maybe like them for different reasons.
 

Hawki

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Don't care about trees, since I'm pretty sure they have tree farms for this.
It's hard to get accurate statistics, but from what I can tell, pulp is sourced 66% from tree farms. That's 33% from logging that isn't deemed sustainable. Now admittedly, I can't claim to be morally pure on this (again, prefer physical media), and there's far bigger drivers of deforestation out there (e.g. cattle ranching and palm oil), but, yeah.

Could go on more, but it's not the thread for it. And frankly, depressing enough to just think about the issue of deforestation.
 
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SckizoBoy

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But yes, physical books are wonderful things even if we maybe like them for different reasons.
In fairness, I like physical books for those reasons too, especially where zoning stuff out while reading. I find that much easier to do with ink on pages in hand and equate the page turning with development of a scene/scene change played out in the imagination (even comics, in animating the on-page events). And then there's finishing a book and turning it so that you're looking at the front cover once again, which gives that niggling desire to read it all over again. Granted, this is the result of many years of unconscious conditioning, but it is nonetheless true for me.

On the silly side, thick paperbacks make a good novelty fan when it's toasty out, no tablet can do that!
 
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WindKnight

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The nearest comics shop to me is about 26 miles away by bus, so I've largely embraced digital comics. Mainly through comixology.
 
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faeyr

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Comixology is giving away all of its Black Panther single issues for free right now, apparently as a celebration of Chadwick Bosman, so there are sometimes some perks to going digital, even though it will never be the same as paper.