A few years ago we started to see a new kind of comic emerge, the web comic. The problem with web comics was that it was diferent from traditional comics and that the big two did not support it. Web Comics were the relm of the indee publishers and the solo acts. So for me I was not that interested. Now days we have seen a bit if a change, in the form of digital comics.

These are not to be confused with web comics as they tend to be the same format as the “real thing”, also at least Marvel has embraced this new type of comic. Most the other bigger comic companies have as well(DC being noticably absent)  I have a viable way to consume these digital comcis. I can VPN from my phone to my CPU at home and read form Marvel’s service online.

Also I can use the two apps on my phone that serve as comic sellers and readers. Lastly tablets are onthe rise and I’m sure that I will find the right one for me. So with all of that in mind I am giving up printed comics. I will still get trade paperbacks and hard covers from time to time,
but most of my consumption will be digital from now on.

1. Screen size
This is a big one 10″ is I think, the sweet spot.

2. Software
The os has to be easy to use. I need to be able to use apps that helps me do what I want with the tablet. The web browser has to support flash so I can use my marvel online subscription. Some sort of iTunes for comics is a must as well.

3. Battery life
I need to not worry about pluging in untill the end of the day.

4. Connectivity
I want to have wifi and 3g so I can read and download comics on the fly.

5. HD size
I want to not have to worry about free space on my device. A 100gb to 200gb drive would work well.

Well there you have it this is what I want to see. What about you?

Covers FF #570 to 572

Writer(s):
Jonathan Hickman

Penciller(s):
Dale Eaglesham

Inker(s):
Dale Eaglesham

Colorist(s):
Paul Mounts

Letterer(s):
Rus Wooton

Editor(s):
Tom Brevoort
Joe Quesada
Lauren Sankovitch

Cover Artist(s):
Alan Davis
Mark Farmer

Like iTunes and music, digital comics are a new way of interacting with the media and living with it.

I don’t buy music from Target, or Wal-Mart anymore, I get it from iTunes. Why? because it’s so easy.

I used to go to my local comic shop and get the weekly comics now I get them from a mail service. Why? it’s easier, and cheaper.

Now with digital comics it’s going to be even easier to get my books and cheaper. But there is problem, none of the books I read are digital. The big Two have not signed on with this idea yet. I’m not surprised however. Marvel is going a few steps closer with their online service and motion comics. DC is doing motion comics and they have some webcomics. Both have not really embraced the eventual destination of digital comics.

The upcoming Longbox app is going in the right direction. They are on the desktop and soon after will be on mobile devices. They working off of a iTunes like model, DRMs built in community, and so forth. Once I get my hands on the app I’ll give a full report.

Before I do that I wanted to voice my opinoin on what a digital comic service needs to be in order to succeed.

1) It needs to work cross platform and across all my devices.
this is key as I want to be able to read my comics at home on a big screen and on my iPhone.

2) Keep the prices low
I need to have a good reason to give up paper and the price is big. I had to cut my mail order in 1/2 this month and so going down to $.99 a book would keep me reading all books I fallow.

3) Be up to date with current issues
I don’t like to be behind the times, a week at most. Not 3 months like some of the titles on the Marvel digital comic service.

4) Marvel and DC need to support it.
No brainer here, most of my current books are from them. They get on board, it’s by by to paper comics.

I’d be ready to switch to digital right now if the above points would be reasonably met. Right now I’ll be looking at cutting back my paper dependency and looking to the future of digital comics with much anticipation.

NOTE: We were not able to go to the first day so the experience starts on Saturday.

First some background; I had not gone to a major comic convention other then San Diego. Now if you know anything about San Diego then you know that that con is the biggest and the craziest in the world. So I was ready for a change, especially sense I now have two small children. Now on to the summery.

We got in to town at about 8:30am the doors to the floor were opening at 9:30am so we walked in and picked up our badges. This was my first shock; I was a volunteer at the SD con in the registration department. There we processed tens of thousands of people each day. Now I know Heroes is not as big as SD but I was expecting some sort of line. There was none, I just walked up and picked it up! The line to get in was not bad ether. Once on the floor it was apparent that this was going to be a very different con then I was used to. First it’s smaller, no hollywood (not a bad thing by the way) no major fanfair. This con is truly about on thing, comics. A good half of the floor is taken up by inde books and artists. The other half is vendors. That’s it, no Hollywood, no major anime/manga presence, and no video games. One of the cool things about this is that the only people who are there are comic book fans. This is a pure comic con. Another benefit is that the volume of people is much lower. This allows you time to be slow and talk to the creators you love, and meet new ones. We actually had time to go to a few panels, that was new. At a bigger con like SD you have to show up early for most panels and for some you can’t do anything else but that panel for the day. At Heroes even the Marvel panel was not quite full and we had no trouble getting in.

End Part 1

Posted in Editorial, Jon Towry Tagged: Comic Book Conventions, Heroes Con ]]> http://comictalkcafe.com/2009/06/22/heroes-con-wrap-up/feed/ 0 comictalkcafe http://comictalkcafe.com/2009/06/22/photos-from-heroes-con-uploaded/ http://comictalkcafe.com/2009/06/22/photos-from-heroes-con-uploaded/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 02:50:15 +0000 comictalkcafe http://comictalkcafe.com/?p=263 ]]> Heroes con has come and gone and we were there! Check our the web gallery for now, more content to fallow.

Dark Hawk

The character Darkhawk as always been a fav of mine for a long time. But only because of the costume. It wasn’t till the storyline

league of losers in marvel team up that i saw chris powel as an interesting character. Then in loners another side of the character. He

has a an anger problem and is trying to change. Then in nova we find him working for pegasus trying to turn his life around. But as we find in this story that’s not going to be so easy. I liked the story very much and the art was good but chris’ expressions were kinda strange sime times. I also enjoyed the extra 1st issue of the original Darkhawk comic. That was a treat as I had never read it.