10 questions about digital comics from the creator of Worldwide Odd
- Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)
- What drew you to digital comics?
I live in South Korea where there are no brick n’ mortar comic/book stores selling single issues of Western comics. Trades are available, but I like serialized fiction and prefer following comics as such. So, when digital became an option, I was in. It was the primary reason I bought a tablet.
- Webcomics or digital comics?
Digital mostly. One of my favourites from the medium is a webcomic (see #8), but I generally read digital.
- What do you think works with digital comics?
The greatest benefit of digital comics is the ability for indie creators to self-publish. We’re in the shadow of the Big Two, and as long as heavy weights like Fiona Staples, Ed Brubaker, Scott Snyder, etc. are releasing titles at Image, the creator-owned portion of the market is in their shadows, too. Digital has helped expand the underground, making the comics industry the largest it has ever been. The downfall of that, of course, is it’s difficult to sift through all of those titles to find ones you like, and it’s hard for creators to be seen. But if we keep our ears to the underground and actively support indie creators, the titles that deserve the most attention will get it, and the efforts of the better creators will pay off, despite being in those aforementioned shadows.
- Can digital comics replace print comics?
Yes, in time. There is a major point that needs some advancement, however (see #7).
- How can print comics work with digital comics?
They already are, aren’t they? Print titles are available, and digital versions provide an option for readers, like me, who don’t have access to brick n’ mortar shops but do have access to digital. That option, which is itself part of the relationship between the print and digital, is maintaining long term readerships and creating new ones. If digital wasn’t an option I wouldn’t be reading comics, and the industry would have one less wallet to drain.
- What don’t you like about digital comics?
Power sources. In time as batteries become more advanced and it becomes easier and less frequently necessary to charge mobile devices, this will become less of a nuisance, but for now it’s the one caveat of going digital (and let’s face it, reading on a tablet is much nicer than reading on a monitor).
- What digital comics/webcomics do you read?
The Undertaker Morton Stone, Bloody Dreadful, Bleen, City in the Desert, Who Needs the Moon?,High Crimes, Deadworld: Requiem for the World, Moth City, The Bunker, East of West, and so on. For webcomics I love Hark! A Vagrant. JL8 is good fun, too.
- Where do you see digital comics going from here?
Digital is the future of the industry. File that under cliché if you like, but I honestly don’t see the growing indie/self-publishing portion of the industry going away, especially not with the ease through which comics can be published digitally. Digital comics themselves are already starting to fiddle with interactive interfaces, sound effects, music, and the sort, and while I don’t much care for such gimmicks, it may become the norm by the end of this here the Digital Age of Comics.
- Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?
Us! Shameless plugs are allowed, right? Honestly, we have a brilliant team of artists and I’d particularly like everyone to look out for Brittany Peer and Tim Bauer. On top of that I’d love to see more readers following Moro Rogers.
