Out with the old.

So, I'm aware that I don't update this very often. I'm not even certain if anyone reads it to be honest. But, since I've got it, I should probably do something with it. That way I can at least vent my horrific nerdery on the internet rather than my poor girlfriend, who will probably kill me if I attempt to discuss the future of digital comics with her again.

So here are some thoughts on the subject. I like comics. I have the internet. I have yet to purchase a single digital comic. Why is this? For me, it's a matter of cost (and the fact that I use a netbook most of the time, which isn't ideal for reading digital comics). Why should I pay the same amount for a digital comic that I would for a paper copy? Paper copies are more convenient anyway - I can't read the netbook on the toilet with potentially burning my thighs - so why would I pay the same amount? Digital comics are simply overpriced.

Take the difference between mp3s and CDs. Mp3s are generally considerably cheaper. That makes me more likely to buy them, even if it means that I haven't got some nice packaging to look at. I like nice packaging, but I like a medium that allows me to have more music on the cheap better. It's the same with comics. If digital comics were to be significantly cheaper, I'd actually buy some.

My interest in this isn't entirely as a consumer. I'm currently putting together a digital comic that I'd like to sell online. Most of what I've found mimics the print medium - 22 pages, standard cover price, pretty much print comics dressed up like cheap tarts trying to seduce a new medium. While some do innovate (The commentary/art features in Verum Corpus springs to mind) people seem to be stuck in the old routine, seemingly happy to maintain the status quo. I'm not sure that I'm happy to be part of that.

I have something in mind, although it's early days yet. I ant to try something that addresses both the price and format possibilities that digital comics bring. Whether I'm successful or not, I'm hoping that I can at least try to find a new way of doing things.

SVK and funky gimmicks.

I succumbed to my terrible weakness for gimmicks and bought a copy of SVK, the latest offering from Warren Ellis. The concept is remarkably simple: print 'hidden' dialogue (in the form of thought balloons) in UV ink, and provide a UV torch so that you can read it. It's neat, fun and well designed, and is something that can only work in print format, which rather goes against my recent love-in with digital comics over at Bleeding Cool.

So, does it work? After a fashion. The story is what you would expect from a Warren Ellis comic, with great art from D'Israeli. The comic can be read twice, once without the torch and once with and you still get something out of it. Even the ads make use of the UV torch, which takes the idea of hidden advertising to an interesting new level. There are teething problems, of course. My torch didn't work when it arrived, which appears to be a common problem. Full credit to Berg though, they dispatched a replacement that arrived the next day.

I would like to see a few more comics from Berg using the UV treatment, particularly now I have the torch. Maybe that way they won't be horrendously expensive. It is a very good way to show that there are still a few tricks for print comics that digital comics can't match. It may be a gimmick, but it's a gimmick I'd like to see more of.