Saturday, September 17, 2011

Comics!

Years and years ago I read comics, but I fell out of it because I was cash strapped and it was hard to keep up with everything. With the reboot at DC, I figured now was as good a time as any to dip my toes and see what, if anything could catch my eye.

These past two weeks I've read:

American Vampire - #1 - #3
Detective Comics #1
Justice League #1
Ressurection Man #1
Secret Six #1 (2008)

I still have to read:

American Vampire #4-#5
Animal Man #1
Demon Knights #1
Green Arrow #1
Mister Terrific #1

And I've just ordered the first omnibus of Secret Six, which contains #1-#7 which was roughly the same price as buying the individual issues on their own and Mr. Murder is Dead. I hope to do a more detailed review of the comics I have read tomorrow, but in the mean time I want to do a quick review of Comixology, an online store where you can acquire digital copies of various DC Imprints - DC New 52 (for easy reference), DC Comics, DC Universe and Vertigo.

-Pros
1. Ease of acquisition.
Due to the hoopla surrounding the DC reboot, it can be difficult to acquire some of the new 52 issues, and if you can find them, some stores are real asses and jacking up the price on them because of the demand. These are just purchase and download: it saves you the trouble of calling around or running around to no avail and you'll only pay the list price, which is nice!

2. The comics are really high res.
I have a 23" monitor and the artwork is simply gorgeous on these. The files are all high res and nicely fill up the screen without becoming blurry. It's a great way to read them!

3. Easy to use reader.
There's a simple little tutorial and you get the hang of it right quick.

4. You can access your comic wherever you have a connection.
There are readers for both the iOS and Droid platforms and you can access the PC/MAC version right through the store. Convenient!

5. You can support your local comic book store!
You can sign up through your local store and the store will get a percentage of the sale. It's likely not the same as what they'd get if they sold you the actual comic, but it's still nice to be able to support them. :)

Cons
1. The website can be a bit slow to load.
The comics all pop up as rather large thumbnails and the site isn't always the most responsible. I wish you could load as a list instead, it'd be quicker and easier to browse.

2. The website (at least in Firefox) seems to have issues closing out once the credit card processes. Mine seems to hang, but I'll get the e-mail confirmation that the payment went through and the comics will be there. Odd, and minorly annoying. I haven't tried it in IE yet.

3. You don't have a physical comic.
Reading on a monitor will never be the same as holding the comic book in your hand.

4. Although you can read it on a mobile device, it's not as accessible.
Unless you have an iPad, I don't know how viable it really is. You have to scroll panel to panel which I find distracting. There's an option to view the full page when you first turn to it and before you turn away from it, but it's not the same.

All in all, I'd say the service is probably best for getting the one-off comic to check it out. My local store offers a subscription service if you read 5 or more titles. If I decide to follow 5 series - and I may well might (I'm already at 4 on my list) I'll probably join my local stores subscription list to make life sane, but I can still see myself using this for the one off that I want to check out. I'd say this is a nice alternative to a brick and mortar store if you don't have ready access to one, but it just doesn't replace it - you don't get the physical copies, you don't get the benefit of the advice and recommendations of the staff, you don't get access to the comic community either - and it's them that will turn you on to titles you otherwise wouldn't have considered. Pretty much my entire list above has come about due to the recommendations of several people, and I have yet to be disappointed! At the end of it, I'd say this is a nice supplement to a store, but can't really replace it.

My grade: B