ComicBitsOnline.com

There is,at the moment,a great deal of debate going on over Marvel lawyers clamping down on  internet groups and their content.

Specifically,obviously, Marvel comic scans.

Now,Komics Live and other groups have in place a system whereby,on the day that new titles appear in comic stores they receive scans.  So,when The Twelve #0 came out I got it from the store and checked a certain site -there it was. The same can be said for JLA,Avengers,FF,JSA et al.

There are,I know,parts of the world where there is no access to Marvel or DC comics,or no regular access to them.  There is the problem where the cost of a comic will copst you almost a week’s wage.  India and “Third World” countries you can throw in the fact that there might be access to a computer and maybe a printer but a comic store?  Credit card to order over the internet?  Forget it.

There is also the fact that there are people in the West who may be on no wage or spendable income and comics are a form of entertainment they can get via the net. 

I know people in the UK who can no longer afford to buy comics because of increasing cover price -even I only buy a few selected titles now.

Marvel and DC are major world wide companies who,via comics,licensing,merchandise,films,TV and much,much more,make so much money that my numerical dyslexia could not handle the number of zeroes!!!

Now,cheaper cover prices would -would- help but I cannot see that happening because even if the editorial management thought it worth trying there are “The Suits”.  Those number crunching accountants to whom even a penny going astray is a major disaster.  They would NOT approve and as for the board members they sure ain’t going to lose any money through choice -company can always be sold off [again] if things go hinky.

Now,my own policy has been to not download new comics. I could quite well expand my reading and cut spending to zero but my eyes and computers….besides I like to hold and feel the comic.  Comics that you cannot get or even afford to purchase -Diamond,Gold or Silver Ages I do grab scans of,especially when in the UK very inflated prices are asked by dealers.  Example?

Okay,I wanted a certain Charlton horror comic from 1974.  Nothing special.  Not a rarity.  When I could find it in the UK I was asked for between £15-20 [that’s roughly $30-40US] but people I knew in the US were picking up the issue for 50c-$1.   Eventually,an old guy running a table at the UK Comic Expo give me the issue and sold me quite a few others for £5 [about $10]!  A bargain.  I could have gotten the issue for nothing on the net,but I wanted to buy it.

But,and we need to remember this:scanning and distributing  can be classed as piracy if you want to get awkward.  I can tell you,though that “piracy” usually involves making money from illegally copying things -I have not come across a group asking for money for the scans.

The people on these groups,the members,whether scanners or not,all have a love of comics.  They are comic fans.

As soon as Marvel or DC lawyers stop one group then another will spring up -did they learn nothing from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s battles with Hydra?!  [in case you didn’t get that joke;in legend if you cut off a head of the Hydra then another grows.  sheesh].

Let’s face it,in legal fees alone is going to cost Marvel Comics thousands of dollars to get the ball rolling and I’d hate to think of how many thousands a legal team  is going to cost just to write a letter and say “You don’t stop -we’ll sue ya!” Maybe $30,000 minimum,depending on the law firm involved.

Marvel might as well make donations to the groups involved for promoting their products!

You’d need totally incompetent people in charge to say that Marvel is suffering financially from these scanners and that it could not take the financial loss.

My sympathies lie more with the smaller independents who cannot demand more and more shelf space and dictate your order size or cover prices. 

Image Comics produces great titles yet,suffer from lack of prominent display in many UK stores.  Publishers like Ape Entertainment,Archaia Studios and even AC get little if any prominent space on shelves -though Forbidden Planet in Bristol has given space to titles like Hybrid Bastards.

I recall a certain period 2-3 years back when Marvel and DC were being delayed and distributors then panicked and tried to get Independent publishers to fill the shelves -but the distributors had never tried that hard before or since;once DC and Marvel were back it was “**** off and get back in line!” to Indies.

For many of these Independent publishers every single penny counts.  I know this from publishing and as a creator who has Royalty based contracts.

I think that most groups I know of,though they provide scans,do carry the legend:”If you like it -BUY it!” and this is okay and is helping promote in a way distributors do not.

Again,with Independents there is the fact,if you cannot get Marvel or DC comics where you live then you are certainly not going to get AC or Archaia comics.

So,there is the part of me that thinks Independents do require more sales but the other part of me knows that most of the Indie titles might never be seen or purchased unless first seen on a scan group.

Groups should keep promoting the “If you like it -buy it!” idea but Marvel could,honestly,spend millions and never stop scan groups.  Far better to try to use them to promote their titles.

Scan groups are here to stay.