Digital comics (also known as eComics) can refer to either comics created entirely on a computer (as opposed to comics that are drawn with conventional media, scanned and colored on a computer) or comics released digitally (as opposed to in print).
Contents
Digital comics creation
There are several methods of digital comics creation. One is the use of a pressure-sensitive graphics tablet and a computer graphics program. Panels are drawn using the pressure-sensitive stylus, handled in much the same way as a pencil or pen, but the lines are drawn in the image editing software, producing a digital file.
Other approaches include drawing in vector graphics applications, with or without a tablet, allowing for the manipulation and revision of lines after they are drawn, and the use of 3-D computer graphics applications to create characters and backgrounds. Some digital comics include various combinations of these techniques.
History
The first digitally created comic to be published online was Eric Millikin's Witches and Stitches, published on CompuServe in 1985.
The first digitally created print comic was Shatter, written by Peter Gillis and illustrated on the computer by Mike Saenz. Shatter appeared simultaneously as a one-shot special and as a backup feature in First Comics' Jon Sable title in 1985. It was published in its own 14 issue series from 1985-1986. Shatter was serialised in the British computer magazine Big K from the March 1985 issue.
Shatter was initially drawn on a first-generation Mac using a mouse and printed on a dot-matrix printer. It was then photographed like a piece of traditionally drawn black and white comic art, and the color separations were applied in the traditional manner.
Shatter artist Mike Saenz went on to create Iron Man: Crash, the first digital graphic novel in 1988.
Batman: Digital Justice was published by DC Comics in 1990, and introduced a more sophisticated blend of computer graphics techniques.
The Black Diamond Effect was created and started publishing by George Peter Gatsis in 1990, incorporating multiple digital lettering, all the 3-D rendering and 2-D techniques of that time to mimic an animation still.
Mike Saenz and Norm Dwyer created Donna Matrix, the first digital graphic novel utilizing 3-D rendering, in 1993.
Other comics began to appear, both on CD-ROM and in printed form, that utilized computer graphics to manipulate or add to traditionally drawn comic art, and more all-digital comics were published as improvements in software and computing power made this art form more practical.
Notable companies such as WOWIO; an American-based online destination that provides users the ability to share and consume digital media content, has a number of digital comic book publishers like Sword and Labrys Productions, Reagent Press, and Devil's Due Digital.
Chronology
General background
With the growing use of smartphones, tablets, and desktop screen reading, major publishers begun releasing comics, graphic novels and Manga in digital formats. Declining sales and copyright violation have led some publishers to find new ways to publish their comics, while others are just adapting to the digital age while still having great success with the printed comic format. American publishers' attempts at creating digital publishing platforms for local comics and Manga have thus far been more successful than attempts with digital Manga publishing in Japan, which have lacked a coherent strategy to create successful digital platforms in which to publish, and had revenue considerations from the impact of illegal scanlation. Some attempts in Japan have been made, but failed, such as JManga; while others merged with larger worldwide distributors as in the case of Square Enix digital publishing joining the Hachette Book Group for distribution in over 200 countries. Some western notable platforms such as Graphicly have closed down due to the creators getting hired by the self-publishing platform Blurb.
Notable digital distributors
DriveThruComics states that it was the first online retailer to specialize in downloadable comics. It opened its comic store in 2004. DriveThruComics is part of a family of sites operated by OneBookShelf. The store hosts comics from 15 different publishers.
comiXology is a cloud-based digital comics platform that offers material from over 75 publishers and independent creators, which can be bought or downloaded for free. Its publishers catalog includes both big western publishers such as Marvel Comics and DC; and translations of Manga through publishers such as Tokyopop. As of 2014 the platform is owned by Amazon.com.
Marvel Comics launched Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, a subscription service allowing readers to read online many comics from Marvel's history, on November 13, 2007. The service also includes periodic releases of new comics not available elsewhere. With the release of Avenging Spider-Man, Marvel also became the first publisher to provide free digital copies as part of the print copy of the comic book.
Image Comics launched its 'Image Digital Comics Store store' in 2013 which is a part of its company website. It got attention for selling comics digitally that are DRM-free, thereby allowing users to download their comics in PDF, EPUB, and the CBR or CBZ Comic Book Archive file formats to their various electronic devices. It also has exclusive digital releases on its website and offers 5-page previews of its comics online. Image Comics was the first big publisher to offer DRM-free digital comics in the U.S., stating that it believes that consumers should be able to own what they have bought in the case of a platform having major technical problems or leaving the market altogether. It also stated that it does not see infringement as a big problem as most consumers will buy comics that are of high quality.
Since 2012, DC Comics has offered to sell its comics through all three major E-book stores: Amazon Kindle Store, iBookstore and Nook Store, as well as through the site www.readdcentertainment.com and through comiXology. DC Comics was the first to offer readers multiple formats to download and digital issues releases on the same day as their printed counterparts. The company stated that it sees the future in digital comics, but its digital sales also help the printed books.
Dark Horse Comics launched its online digital store in 2011 which supports both computers, iOS and Android devices. The site allows nearly 2000 comics to be previewed.
The website Humble Bundle was originally created in 2010 for selling time-limited pay-what-you-want indie game bundles. Since 2012 it has been putting up pay-what-your-want book bundles, which now and then featured comics. The first fully dedicated comic bundle was in April 2014, hosting material from Image comics. The Humble Comic Bundles are digital rights management-free and support charities. The website has hosted comic bundles from some publisher such as Dark Horse Comics, Top Cow, Oni Press, Boom! Studios and Valiant Comics, among others. The idea behind the bundles from publisher standpoint is to try to find new audiences for their products at heavily discounted prices.