IPad and the Future of Comic Books

The recent arrival of Apple's iPad has the world buzzing over this new fancy must-have gadget. In all fairness this is really the iPod Touch magnified with extra features. Keep in mind what the iPad is truly designed to do-it's bringing eBooks to the forefront. Oh yes, people forget why the iPad even exists. Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's nook, and countless other eBook readers are the ones that the iPad is really competing against. The fact that it also carries over the iPhone and iPod Touch applications is a bonus. But why is there such a hoopla over this particular device?

The majority of the design world is pro-Apple. This includes the comic book industry that has been waiting in anticipation of the iPad's release. This is a big deal because now there is an opportunity to properly release comic books online and have the impact it needs to be successful. The iPad can do that and reinvigorate the comic book world.

I'm of the old school mentality of actually collecting comic books and making collections. Part of the excitement is searching for issues to help complete that collection but it does get pricey. Over the years the cost of comic book collecting as skyrocketed to the point that it is becoming harder and harder to get all the issues that you want on a weekly basis. Now comic book collectors have to really choose what issues they actually want to purchase in fear of wasting their hard-earned money. I remember when comic books were sold at a staggering 35¢ each. It stayed steady at 75¢ for a while, and then started increasing to $1.00 and beyond.

These days an average comic book costs anywhere from $2.99-$3.99 an issue. I used to be able to buy at least six issues for under $4.00. Now it costs me $4.00 to get one issue. This is why my comic book collecting has dwindled severely over the years. I have a collection that is in the 25,000+ range but it hasn't increased that much in the past five years because of the rising cost of these issues. More and more I have been waiting for the collected trade editions in order to fulfill my satisfactory needs. The cost of the trades is cheaper than the individual issues combined. The sacrifice is waiting at least six months to a year before getting a new trade to purchase.

So again, what does this have to do with the iPad? If comic book industries can quickly market itself for the new iPad-and I know they have been closely looking at it-they can seriously open up a whole new interest in the medium. People will have the opportunity to purchase individual issues and bundled collections in the same vein music and movies has populated iTunes. And this hasn't hurt any of these industries for people still purchase CDs and DVDs.

Comic book collectors will still buy comic books but now they have a choice in doing so. By keeping these comic book issues affordable online makes it much more enticing for fans and new readers alike. A lot of purists are afraid the digital avenue will be the ruin of comic book shops. I disagree. I think it will only enhance it. The collected editions that are sold in book stores has only opened an awareness to a medium that has been around for a very long time. Hollywood has only really gotten a handle on it and has brought comic books to the mainstream audience. Curiosity has only increased awareness to this seemingly new material. The iPad really has a chance to take the comic book industry into the next level. The only question is how long before the comic book industry will react.