Can Comics Go Digital?

As a filmmaker there are a flood of questions regarding film versus digital video being at the heart of our medium's future. Comics are facing a very similar situation but the question that they are facing is "how will the internet affect comics?"

The obvious answers are that there will be online comics such as Penny Arcade and PVP. The internet will also change how people discover talent through sites such as Comics Portfolio.It's also a way that creators and publishers can keep in contact with each other using email and instant messaging. Not to mention websites analyzing comics, like this very website.

Of course there's all those things and for the most part they've all happened. But that's not the revolution that lies in wait.

You seen, whenever there's a new medium introduced it always takes a while for the media makers to figure out to take advantage of it, both artistically and finaically. When radio first came out, no one knew how to market it, product sponsership was the answer. They would have one product which would sponser an entire program. When television was created, they basically made televised versions of radio plays with stagnant visuals but good writing. It also took a long time to figure out that commericals was a more profitable way of sponsership.

The problem the comic industry now faces with the internet is very similar. There's a great deal of content (decades worth of comics sit in publishers vaults) but there's no way that that the publishers know to make money. They could charge a membership fee but then there's no way to ensure that members won't share images with non-members. There's also advertising but there's no guarentee that people will click on them (a 5 % click through rate is considered a success). So until a better method is discovered, online distribution will not succeed.Until then the internet can only be used for promotion of upcoming books and exhibition of creators' talents.

As for the creative impact, the internet has altered our perception of the page. No longer are the limits of the layout set by the dimensions of the page. The layout can be as wide or as tall as the creator wants it to be.

Truly, this is the dawn of a new age and we all stand on the precipice looking into the great unknown. I don't know exactly what the future holds or even how we'll get there but what a bountiful future it is shaping up to be and what a great time we shall have along the way.