Hot on the heels of Rapid City Below Zero digital comic – here are 10 questions about digital comics!
1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)
My name is Josh Dahl. I am working on an ongoing super-villain comic series called Rapid City Below Zero with artist Shawn Langley.
2. What drew you to digital comics?
Ease. I can read things that I would not otherwise have access to. As a creator, it is the potential of limitless distribution. I want people to read my comics, and digital eliminates barriers.
3. Webcomics or digital comics?
Digital. I don't quite GET web comics. I have largely experienced them as bite-sized portions, and that doesn't really satisfy me. I enjoy those bites, but I don't really seek them out often or consider myself a fan of them.
4. What do you think works with digital comics?
Color. Color and details … even without “special effects” are breathtaking in digital. There are certain story telling moves you can make when you know that your reader can not FEEL how close the end of the book is.
5. Can digital comics replace print comics?
Completely? Probably not. Digital will never replace the thrill of pulling something off of a shelf… especially when it is a book you made. And populating and sharing a bookshelf in your own home is something that digital will never be able to match. But, the people who value those moments are far fewer than the people who simply want to read the thing and be done with it, or who don't want to seek it out.
6. How can print comics work with digital comics?
Print comics will likely become a collectible “extra” for the fans who want the expanded experience. It will be similar to the way that movies will be released in a special collector's edition with an ornate case. Or an album comes out on vinyl. I don't really care about those things. I just want to see the movie or hear the song. But for those specific fans, digital downloads will never replace the tactile experience.
7. What don’t you like about digital comics?
Psychologically, they seem to have less significance. They seem less like a book that I have taken in and more like a web page that I browsed for a while.
8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?
I read a lot of different comics through Comixology. As of last month, I read almost all of my Marvel comics digitally. I also read Our Valued Customers, XKCD, Gutters, and other stuff at random.
9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?
I have no idea. The obvious answer is “everywhere”. I don't have that specific breed of imagination. But whatever it is, the parts currently exist and are starting to come together.
10. Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?
I know you mean that in a positive way, but I don't know the answer so I will instead read it in the negative. Who should you “look out for”? Look out for those that are trying use digital comics to polish and repackage things that have already run their course. Also, look out for those who think that combining old ideas is the same thing as integrating new ideas.
Having a comic where you suddenly hear a song or play a video game does not re-energize the comic. It changes it into something else that we have already opted to not engage when we chose to read a comic.
In the positive way, then, watch out for those people who are integrating new ideas to create new experiences and doing old experienced really well.
For more information, or to buy comics, find Rapid City comics online:
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