Last week, Dark Horse Comics announced that they were going day-and-date digital for all new comics going forward. Most notably, they were even going to cut prices on their digital releases to $1.99, which is $1 to $1.50 less than their average release.
They’re the first publisher to do that. It was received badly by print retailers, who believe that Dark Horse is effectively abandoning ship and selling them down the river in the process. So, feeling mistreated, those retailers fought back by dropping their orders and saying “sayanora Dark Horse!” while sitting solemnly on their high horse.
My take differs entirely than those retailers, and you’ll find it after the jump.
Every week I go to my same shop on Wednesday and buy my comics. It’s been that way for a long, long time, as I’ve been a regular denizen at Bosco’s Comics in Anchorage, Alaska since I was a little kid. It’s the way it was, it’s the way it is, and it’s the way it will be. I love the experience of the comic shop — walking along the racks, flipping through books, talking to employees and customers about what they are into that week — and it’s something I am willing to pay a premium for.
However, I’m not necessarily representative of the whole of the comic book reading community.
There are a number of people out there who think the idea of going to a shop to purchase a hard product that is easy to damage is foolish and downright archaic when you have an iPad or a similar tablet to read your comics on. When you can get the comics on the same day at the same price without having to even leave your humble abode (and without adding to the clutter of existing long boxes), why would you even consider going to the shop?
I understand that idea too, because while traveling around the world recently I only had an iPad with me and used it to keep up with my favorite titles digitally.
Anyone who has worked in retail or really any line of business knows that no two customers are alike. By taking their product — comics — and making them available the same day as print releases for a lessened price, Dark Horse is taking a large step in the right direction of targeting the needs of two of their potential client bases.
Meanwhile, seeing that as nothing less than a declaration of war, certain retailers have pulled Dark Horse titles from their shelves, stating effectively that if Dark Horse doesn’t want to work with them, they won’t work with Dark Horse.
And that is crazy talk to me.
Do you want to know what is going to happen if, let’s say, Larry’s Comics follows through on their plans and pulls titles like B.P.R.D. or Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Dark Horse Presents off their shelves?
Their customers are likely to either a) go to one of the shops in the towns surrounding Lowell, MA to get them or b) go to digital to get them cheaper than they would otherwise. Either way, that shop is doing a disservice to their customer base while potentially pushing them to a different place to acquire their comics.
Let’s say theoretically, the customer goes with option A and heads to another shop. Are they going to go, get only Dark Horse books at this other shop and then head to Larry’s to pick up the rest, or are they just going to get everything at that other shop? Likely the latter, because bifurcating your shopping experience because of a grudge held by the retailer seems frankly silly.
The whole deal does.
When iTunes and Amazon MP3 and things of that sort came around, did music stores countrywide stop selling the music sold through those likely more inexpensive and easier to access outlets? No, and the reason why is simple.
Every customer is unique. Every customer has different values. Some music fans only buy on vinyl. Some only buy digital. Some only buy CD’s. Some only illegally download. They’re all different, but the idea is that retailers in each of those niches target their audiences the best they possibly can.
Continued belowThe idea that the currently dominant distribution channel in comics — retailers — would boycott a company who is simply trying to remain solvent in an increasingly competitive (and shrinking) market is so backwards I can barely wrap my head around it.
Those who are going to buy digital are going to buy digital. There is nothing Dark Horse, comic retailers or I can do about it.
Those who are going to buy print are probably going to continue to buy print, but not if the product isn’t there.
There is one other thing that these retailers are missing out on, and I will illustrate that using a personal anecdote: When I was on my aforementioned trip, I was reading a lot of the comics I loved digitally. Upon my return, even though there were a great many I had already read, I went to Bosco’s Comics and I purchased print copies of favorites like Hellboy or B.P.R.D. because print is the way I do things. Digital drove me to print, and my iPad drove me to Bosco’s.
But if I was a regular at one of those boycotting shops, I would have been out of luck. That wouldn’t have done anything for them; it would have just done something for their competitor.
And to me, that seems like bad business by the retailers.
Cheers to Dark Horse though, as they’re taking a risk in alienating aspects of one channel to try and cultivate another. In my mind, it’s every bit as audacious — and necessary — as DC’s complete reboot.
Their digital offerings may not get my money — I am a print guy after all — but I can’t imagine a slew of readers out there won’t try more Dark Horse with the more forgiving price point. That sounds like a win in my book.
