2 features October 19, 2001° Over the Edge

T like comic books. Okay,
let's face it, we all do. We're just not all
willing to admit it. Take, for instance, the amount of
critical acclaim leveled at 2008's “The Dark Knight", based
on the Batman series of comics. Take the amount of love for
the “Iron Man" films. Hell, you can look at any popular super-
hero movie of the past ten years and easily see that
people love comic books.

o why aren't they selling more?

A lot
of these fans moved
on to pirating the books. There exist
scan sites and torrent sites that specialize
in getting those issues individuals want to them

ASAP - the minute one person buys a single issue, it
can be scanned and uploaded to one of these sites for

all to see. A bonus here is the lack of pointless ads, g
though this can also lead to the realization that
not every comic book is as filled with
entent as one would like.

Like physical novels,
and indeed print journalism before
it, the comic book is trying to find a com-
fortable place for itself. Certainly, like those
previously mentioned media, it has made quite the ef-
fort to adapt and change in this near-mercurial market:
attempts in the past at digital distribution were hampered
by the fact that comics weren't receiving same-day digital
publishing. This was a massive hindrance to the popularity
of digital distribution of comic books. The very nature of a
comic book is such that those who follow them want thg
next chapter in the story the day that it's releasedf
and as such, having to wait for digital distrib
Pwtion managed to lose the industry a goog
mber of fans.

It's come to the point that a best
selling comic book has been defined, of late, as an issue
that sells over 200,000 copies - a ridiculously small number. Mar-
vel Comics, for one, has begun to fight this with same-day digital distri-
bution and keeping their comics lean and easy-to-follow; that is to say, if a
story arc begins in one title, it remains in that title, for the most part.
Comics has taken a completely radical approach to this drop iy
gles, and this has generated plenty of attention thg
cover.

DC, how-
ever, has introduced The
New 52, a massive marketing strategy
that involves digital distribution, heavy market-
ing, and a gigantic relaunch of every title in their
library. The name refers to the fifty-two titles they
are working with. In short, DC decided to start all thei
long-running titles at issue number one, with the intent
o either reboot certain characters and storie
or provide a clear beginning for readers tg
jump right into the stories.

In essence, DC Com-
ics have taken a slice of cake and
begun to chow down on it. They're able to
retain their readership while making it easy for
new readers to jump right in without worrying about
backstory and continuity. Whether they succeed or not
remains to be seen; The New 52 continues this month,
with almost fifteen titles being released.
I'm not sure if it's the best idea, but I know,
one thing for sure: I still like the comj

; The idea of continuity fo

comics has resulted in some interes
ing experiments. Marvel launched their Ultim-
ate line of comics that took well-known characters
and gave them a fresh start. So, for example, the X
Men are still in their late teens and early twenties, not;
bogged down with years of stories to become familiar
with. The Ultimate line was a reboot that man-
waged to maintain the status quo of the regu-
“Jar Marvel line-up while creatingv

WRITTEN BY BEN FILIPKOWSK!, ILLUSTRATED BY TRAVIS HOLMES

RBC Royal Bank®

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