There has been a great deal of talk in the comic book community over the past week or so about the “call to arms” video Robert Kirkman posted on CBR.  Bendis responded…as did pretty much everyone who cares about comic books on the Internet.  

I have thought  a great deal about for the last several days.  In fact, I think its safe to say that I’ve obsessed about it over the last several days.  It has literally been keeping me up at night.  The reason for that is simple – I love comics.  I have loved comics since I purchased my very first one back in 1992.  I was 11 years old, and I read an article about Todd McFarlane’s upcoming book “Spawn”.  I had never read comics, but the story of Spawn was one that I found fascinating.

That’s right.  My first comic book was “Spawn #1″ – and I bought it because of the STORY.  

I didn’t know who Todd McFarlane was, nor did I know anything about the creation of Image Comics.  At least, not when I picked up that first book.  After reading it, I was immediately smitten with the medium, and I began life-long obsession with the past, present, and future of comic books.   

Over the last 16 years comic books have been a part of my daily life, and the current trend of comic sales has me more concerned than ever that one day that might change.  With the summer that comic book movies have had, it is slightly mind boggling that at least SOME of the people that spent $1 Billion + dollars on comic book movies haven’t found their way into a comic book store.

But, when you really sit down and think about it – it really isn’t all that surprising, is it?  

People have TV, Internet, Movies, Books, Magazine, and (occasionally) athletic actives that keep the occupied.  They might BE interested in reading more about Iron Man or Hellboy, but with all those other things going on why on Earth would they seek out a comic book store?

What are they going to get when they get there?  Chances are they’re going to walk into a place that looks like a toy store, and somewhere in the back they’re going to find shelves of comic books.  They’re going to pick up that “Galaxy Quest” comic they’ve been dreaming about – and they’re going to find out that its $3.99.

Then they’re going to leave without making a purchase.  Because they can buy DVDs at Wal-mart of less than the price of two comics.  They can go back to a Saturday matinee of that movie they liked for less than the price of two comics too.  32 pages of comics are only going to provide them with (at most) 10 minutes of entertainment.  

So what we’re asking of a new comic book fan is that they seek out a specialty store, then pay an increasingly ridiculous amount of money for a comic book that is going to entertain them for about 10 minutes (if they’re lucky).

When you look at it like that, it’s pretty easy to see why people aren’t beating the doors down at your local comic shop.

So that covers new customers, but what about all the customers that comic book stores already have?

Well. they’re into Marvel and DC books.  Seriously.  Most independent books these days are struggling to get a 5,000 copy print run, while the latest minor spin-off/companion piece thingy from Marvel or DC is selling at least 4 or 5 times that.  I think that’s a pretty clear message that the people currently walking into the comic book store want superheroes.  They want the characters they have loved for most of their lives, and they are going to spend their money on those books first.  If there is any left over, maybe an indy book will get a chance – but its Marvel and DC first and foremost.

I don’t think for one second that the reason for this is because the indy comics that are being produced are not as marketable, not as good, or not as viable as the Marvel and DC titles.  I believe the reason the books don’t sell as well is not because the audience for them doesn’t exist.  I think its just because the audience for them doesn’t go to the comic book store.

So we have to find that audience.  We have to stop waiting, wishing, and working towards getting them into the comic book store.  We need to bring the comic book store to them. We need to put the comic book store in their pockets. 

We can do that with the iPhone and iPod Touch.  We can literally put a comic book store into the pockets of the almost 10 million people that own iPhones.  We can make them cheaper too.  We can make comics so cheap that a customer can buy them without a second thought.  We can make them .99 cents again. 

The more I think about Kirkman’s call to arms, and the resulting conversation, which almost always spills off into low independent comic book sales, the more I believe that one of the answers to the problems is what we’ve been working on here at iVerse over the last few months.  I’m not saying we have it exactly figured out, and I’m 100% we’re not going to be the only ones to give it a go – but I do firmly believe that the future of comics is digital.

If we put the store in their pocket, and make the price the same as a song, people that have never read comics will read them.  New readers will find the digital books, and hopefully, they’ll want to take a look at the print books as well.

I don’t know that digital comics are going to sell monthly issues.  I don’t think they will if monthly titles are $3.99.  I do think they’ll sell trades though.  Just like when you go to the movies…if you like the flick, you buy the DVD.  People will buy reasonably trades to put on their bookshelves.  

I don’t believe there is any one answer that will “save” comic books.  I think there are many things that can and will be done.  I believe digital comics is one of those things that MUST be done…and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.