The Decade Comics Went Digital - Part 2

...picking up from Wednesday's look back the the decade. As you might guess, the last five years made the first five seem quite tame...

2004 - Z-Cult fm Comics Torrent site begins.

Z-Cult was a members only messageboard forum and torrent tracker started by a young man simply known as Serj. Members could post their torrents of shared digital comics. Just as Rich Johnston predicted, this was when downloading comics reached epidemic proportions.

At it's peak Z-Cult had over 70,000 members and new weekly comics were downloaded by the 40,000 people. The all time champ was Sin City with almost 100K downloads. Weekly DCP (Digital Comics Presevation) torrents of the new Wednesday comics reach the 40K range of downloads.

Eventually, in 2007, the site was asked to stop all torrenting of Marvel and DC comics. The site tried to make a go of it as a legitimate source of comics from other companies, as Serj explained, the site was not able to sustain itself.

Well, a decision was just made to call it a day. We had no legal threats since all those ones you covered but the site was dead in the water due to no Marvel or DC comics etc. After Marvel and DC tried to sue us, we decided to remove those [links to] comics, then every other publisher started sending us e-mails so we removed those too. In end we were left with a tracker but not many torrents on it. ~torrentfreak

Here is one members memories of Z-Cult:

Right up until Z-Cult received the simultaneous letters from DC and MARVEL a member could find absolutely anything there. Whether it be just released and still on the comic book shelf for you to go and buy if you so chose, a few months old, a few years old, still in print, now out of print, even items from the silver and golden age of comics. You could find all of them in it's place on Z-Cult. In some cases you may have needed to ask an admin to re-host it, a request not for the newly minted or weak of heart mind you, but if you wanted it then someone there had it or knew the person who had it.

I didn't discover Z-Cult until just a few months before it's demise and even then I got the feeling that the long term members knew it would all come crashing down as if the genie had been let out of the bottle. In a way it had. You see, Z-Cult was a bit like Fight Club in that, it's first rule was to not spread the word or talk about Z-Cult out in the open, in places like public forums or large chat sites like Twitter or Facebook.

It quickly became evident that everyone feared the worst. Newly uploaded comics lacked descriptions of any kind, in their place instead would simply be simple phrases such as: "Download it while you can." or "Don't wait, it won't be here forever." and nearly every post had at least one comment about not telling non forum members about Z-Cult or the comic.

Then one day a board wide post, readable on every topic, told the story of the letters and how they had stopped all activities while those in charge "figured out what to do". There was plenty of chatter about what might be done to sideline DC and MARVEL and keep Z-Cult open and functioning. There was talk of moving the entire community to another site, talk of this, talk of that, but Z-Cult would stay down for quite a while (I don't remember exactly how long somewhere between 3 - 6 weeks) before there was new chatter about all the comics that they could host legally.

There were comics they could host legally, older properties that were now in public domain, and even limited titles from other publishers such as number one issues, previews, and specials that a publisher would give permission to Z-Cult to host but as the genie had truly been let out of the bottle the magic was now gone.

2005 - Flashback Universe started

Yeah, I know what you are thinking - "Hey man, you can't put your own site in this article. That's like totally gauche!..." To which I would say, let's review a few facts...

Fact 1: We were the first people to specifically design comics for cbr format.

Fact 2: Over 123,000 comics have been downloaded from our site

Fact 3: We originated the term Paper Comic DeathWatch

Fact 4: Our comics are now distributed via iPod and Archos Tablet

So, yeah, I think it's safe to mention the creation of my site when talking about events that impacted digital comics. :)

Part 4 - Three Sites Begin Selling Downloadable Comics

2006 - Wowio launches

"WOWIO is today the only source where readers can legally access high-quality copyrighted ebooks from leading publishers for free. Readers have access to a wide range of offerings, including works of classic literature, college textbooks, comic books, and popular fiction and non-fiction titles." ~Wowio

Where are they now?

Caine asked them that very question on this site in August...


2006 - PullBoxOnline launches

Remember PullBoxOnline?

No, you don't.

And you know how I know you don't? Because not a single solitary soul has mentioned PullBoxOnline in any of the articles talking about LongBox. (Even though they are very similar) Observe...




So, let me refresh your memory - PullBoxOnline was established by Devil's Due Publishing to be their answer to be the comic book version of iTunes. (A phrase that keeps coming up in all the LongBox articles.)

From a PullBoxOnline Press Release

PULLBOX ONLINE features exciting titles such as Zombie: Feaste and CVO from IDW Publishing, Hack/Slash, Voltron, and Family Guy from Devil’s Due Publishing, Jim Mahfood’s GRRL Scouts and Stupid Comics, and coming soon, Nexus by Steve Rudeand, plus much, much more! New publishers and creators are popping up weekly! ~BrokenFrontier

Is PullBoxOnline still a live site?
I don't think so.

My attempts to download comics from them a few years ago was a complete disaster. (they charged my visa card, never sent any comics and then never responded to email inquiries about my order.)

You'll notice I don't have a link to the site...here's why...



2007 - Eyemelt launches

EyeMelt.com is your best bet for downloadable comics! We offer comics and graphic novels in a variety of genres, from established SLG creators as well as new artists you’ll want to check out. Prices start at only 69¢! ~Newsarama

Started by Dan Vado of Slave Labor Graphics, EyeMelt was a great step in the right direction for digital comics. The site was easy to use, and you could pick the format you wanted to read your comics in (pdf or cbr).

However, Dan later decided that having a separate site for digital comics ran a little cross purpose with his business, so he rolled EyeMelt up into the main SLG site where you can still buy digital versions of many SLG comics. :)

Part 5 - Digital Comics Hit the Big Time

2007 - Marvel Launches Digital Comics Unlimited

I covered Marvel's DCU pretty well here back in 2007. What I'll say today is I am VERY impressed with how well Marvel seems to be doing keeping this site going and putting new and/or original content on the site. (like this cool free Preview of the Siege Prologue )

I would love it if it weren't in Flash. I've grown accustomed to how the site works, but I still think the Flash thing is going to be a showstopper if and when the iTablet (or is it the iSlate now?) finally gets sold by Apple. I say that because you still can't view Flash on an iPhone or iPod Touch. Still, maybe Apple (or is it Adobe?) will have worked out whatever the problem with Flash is by then.

2008 - 2009 - Comics in your Pocket

And speaking of iPhones and iPods, I think it's safe to wrap up this decade long look back with a few links to some of the Comics on iPhone/Android phone articles that came out in the last 2 years...

Early 2008 - ComicZeal launches - ComicZeal gives people a way to read cbr files on their iPods or iPhones.

October 2008 - PanelFly launches - PanelFly begins selling single issue comics via the iPhone.

November 2008 - iVerse Comics launches - Like PanelFly, iVerse begins selling single issues of comics via the iPhone. Most notable are the huge success they had with Atomic Robo and the Star Trek Movie Prequels.

December 2008 - Comixology's iPhone App launched - sort of app version of a social networking and news site for comic fans.

March 2009 - Robot Comics launches - A Comic reader for Android (Google) Phone platform.

July 2009 - Comixology's Comic Reader launched giving users a comic store on the iPhone. iVerse and PanelFly follow this format as well now.

October 2009 - Marvel Comics comes to the iPhone/iPod Touch - on all PanelFly, iVerse and ComiXology. Currently the selection is a bit limited, but the reading experience has been pleasantly enjoyable!

December 2009 - Saturn Knight, Knight Before Christmas distibruted via Robot Comics for Archos 5 MID and Android phones.

What will the future bring?

Here are my predictions for the next decade:

• Apple will announce an iTablet in January, with a target release date of March. Prices will run from $700 to $1000 dollars making the device a little out of the range of most comic buyers. So, it won't be quite the paper comic killer I've expected it to be.
  
• Inspired by Apple, Google will release an Android Tablet device for $500. Other companies will jump on board as well.
  
• DC will finally get off their ass and release comics in some digital format. Either via the web or a distribution deal with Apple (or some other tablet maker.)
  
• eReaders will disappear as people flock to more utilitarian devices, like the iTablet.
  
• One of the big four (Dark Horse, DC, Image or Marvel) will completely stop printing monthly paper comics opting for Digital and/or Trade Collections only.

Have a great weekend!

The Decade Comics Went Digital - Part I

So, as we wrap up 2009, I thought it would be interesting to look at a chronology of some of the digital comic events from the last decade.

First some background info: many people think comic book scanning was something that started in the 2000s. That's wrong. Comic enthusiasts have been scanning their comics for as least as long as usenet has been around.

The earliest online references I can find go back to 1993, but I've seen comic archives that were older than that. For the most part, these early scans were simply people wanting to preserve their collections in a digital format. Reading separate jpgs in the various image viewers available pre 2000 was not a rewarding experience. That would all change in May of 2000.

Part 1 - The beginning of the end

May 2000 - CDisplay is added to CNET

Okay, let's face it - reading comics with Windows Photo Gallery or InfranView sucked. Before CDisplay, there were a few attempts by other developers to create comic reading programs, but most of them were awkward and slow. What David Ayton's CDisplay did was it was simple to use and comics looked great in it. Within a year of its listing on CNET, CDisplay would become the program of choice for reading comic book archive files, saving us from a world of PDF comic book archives.

Inspired by CDisplay, many other developers have created more advanced programs for reading digital comics. At one time there were over 20 different types of CBR readers available on wikipedia page for comic book archives. Good thing too, as David Ayton no longer supports CDisplay, and his geocities site with a link for the program has been taken down.

March 2001 - FastTrack Protocol established. Peer 2 Peer downloading begins for files other than MP3s.

Remember Grokster? iMesh? KaZaa? Well all those programs were riding the wave of the FastTrack protocol. The FastTrack protocol allowed for a more distributed network without a centralized sever. (The centralized server was Napster's downfall.) Two years later, FastTrack was the most popular file sharing network, being mainly used for the exchange of music mp3 files. Popular features of FastTrack are the ability to resume interrupted downloads and to simultaneously download segments of one file from multiple peers.

During the same time, true distributed network protocols such as the open source Gnutella, eDonkey 2000 and DC++ also caught on with mainstream P2P file sharers. Likewise spawning other P2P clients, Limewire, Morpheus, and eDonkey. Compared to Napster, these newer networks were able to attain higher maximum speeds because every client also had the capability to share files. Also, since the copyrighted material were stored on individual computers, with the proper disclaimers, the P2P client companies were able to brush off the majority of legal accusations. ~Wikipedia

2001 Bram Cohen develops BitTorrent

When did you first hear about BitTorrent? I'm betting it was well after 2001. And for good reason - early versions of BitTorrent clients were awkward and not exactly ready for your average user. Also, BitTorrent needed more people with HighSpeed internet access to really shine.

However, as the decade progressed, the advantages BitTorrent had over regular P2P programs became apparent. Plus - no spyware! Within 5 years BitTorrent would become the most popular way to download not only single issues, but entire complete runs of comics.

Part 2 - Failed First Steps

But all this talk of a digital comics underground was just a whisper compared the siren call of the new media marketing gurus - all of them heralding the internet as the new way to sell, well, anything (Hey, remember when they thought you would buy pet food online? )

Well, at the time, comic companies were still reeling from the 90's speculator crash, so it's no surprise that they would embrace the internet as their would be savior. Unfortunately the first attempts at such ventures were just not compelling enough to survive.

2001 Warner Bros launches Gotham Girls

Gotham Girls is a Flash animation series about the females of Gotham City, created and produced jointly by Warner Brothers and Noodle Soup Productions. Episodes starred Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Batgirl, Catwoman and Zatanna in short stories of varying length about the daily lives of the characters (from the DC Comics universe). ~ Wikipedia

Okay, while very cool, the Gotham Girls animations are not comic books by any stretch of the term, but aside from this and a few very random PDF versions of some titles, DC's Digital output during this time period is pretty much nonexistent.

2001 Marvel's Dot Comics Flash based comics

A for effort - D for presentation.

Marvel's Dot Comics was an awkward Flash based application which presented a limited selection of modern Marvel comics in an attempt to drive more readers to current ongoing titles. The combination of limited titles, awkward UI and hard to read text garnered much hate among the messageboards at the time. Yet, despite the haters, the application proved successful in distributing comics to people who weren't going into comic shops during the time of he Spider-Man movie...

At its peak, which was shortly after the film came out, about 100,000 comics were downloaded per day, said John D. Roberts, a senior developer for Marvel's dot-comics. The rate has slowed to about 80,000 per day. Marvel's print circulation, for all its comic books, is usually about 5 million per month*, said Bill Rosemann, Marvel's marketing communications manager. ~Chicago Tribune

I suspect that after the initial flood of Spider-Man movie fans, the site visitors trickled down to nothing. Still, the surge during the movie was most likely one of the driving forces in developing the better Marvel Comics Unlimited website. But more on that in a moment.

*Question: When was the last time Marvel's circulation was really 5 million a month? Doesn't that number sound a little inflated?

March 2002 - CrossGen Comics on the Web

Ah, Crossgen! While we didn't like your comics (okay, some of them were good) we admired your spunk! Ever wonder what type of company you would get if you let an internet millionaire and a Gym teacher run it? Well, wonder no more! Entrepreneur Mark Alessi wanted to make comic books more accessible to the masses by shunning superheroes and aiming at a wider demographic than the Marvel or DC. This was a good thing.

However, where he sort of went wrong was his first wave of titles were too slow and boring to compete in the comic shops. By the time Crossgen was able to figure out exactly how to create more exciting comics, it was a little too late. Arguably, Crossgen's greatest success was their Comics on the Web initiative.

Comics on the Web was a Flash based UI which ran in any web browser and allowed users to subscribe to Crossgen comics and read them online. Developed by famous Flash developer Gabo Mendoza, the CoW system had many advantages over Marvel's Dot Comics, including the ability to hover over small text balloons, which would autmatically enlarge them.

Later versions of the CoW system would bring improved reading enhancements. The online library was estimated at 160 issues and 4,400 pages by the end of 2002. ~wikipedia

Part 3 - Digital Comics move into the mainstream

Around 2003 two things caused Digital Comics to move from a arcane enthusiasts pastime to a watercooler topic at the local comic shop.

The first was the rise of high speed internet connections in homes...

High speed internet access became an extremely rapidly developing market in many regions in 2000. Studies found that broadband internet usage in the United States grew more than 24% between 2000 and 2003. ~ezinearticles

The other was Rich Johnston's famous Lying in the Gutters post of May 14th, 2003. (And when I say famous, I mean I still remember it.) Never before had the topic of comic downloading been discussed in such a widely read venue. In a section called YOU KNOW, WE WERE ALWAYS TOLD TO SHARE WHEN WE WERE KIDS… Rich painted quite an alluring picture of the comic scanning underground...

The internet file-sharing revolution has progressed to such a level that it is possible not only to download 90% of the back-catalogue of DC and Marvel, but also to download more or less DC and Marvel's entire monthly output within days of the in-store dates.

And any Web sites that actually mention it only reveal a tiny part of the actual thing. There's a filesharing app called DC++, which is basically a server/client app where people set up very focused servers that specialise in a particular kind of shared files. There are a handful for comics.

It doesn't grow very quickly because there's no advertising and very little word-of-mouth, but when it hits something a bit more widespread like BitTorrent, suffice to say, DC and Marvel will really have to take note.

In addition to increasing awareness of the practice, a very prescient Johnston correctly predicted that BitTorrent would escalate downloading dramatically - most notably in the form of Z-Cult (which we will discuss later). Within a few days after Rich's article, downloading comics became a hot topic on comic messageboards as posters debated its moral and financial implications. Even comic professionals like Warren Ellis confessed to downloading comics.

2004 - Marvel and Topics Entertainment release 40 years of Spider-Man on CD

Reading Digital Comics took a bit step towards legitimacy with the release of 501 Spider-Man comics on CD. At the SRP of $49.99 it basically worked out to ten cents an issue. Pretty cool aye?

Pros: This was the first legitimate release of a complete run of comics by a major publisher in a digital format.

Cons: It was spread out over 11 cds and in PDF format.

Currently, this set can still be purchased at Eagle One Media (along with a few other Marvel collections) which is strange because in 2007 a big deal was made in the fact that Graphic Image Technology Inc. (GIT) lost the license to sell Marvel Comics collections on DVD.

This article is running crazy long, so I'm going to break it up here.
Come back Friday for part 2, and I'll finish up the decade and also present my predictions for the next decade. :)

- Jim

Mister Crimson Episode 51

Mister Crimson Episode 51
Wherein Mr. C takes a fall

Read it here .:

Frankenstein vs The Prize Universe Heroes

A couple of weeks ago, I featured an issue of issue of Master Comics wherein Captain Marvel teamed up with Bulletman. In thinking about that comic, I wondered what OTHER public domain heroes have teamed up. So I did a little digging around and found Prize Comics 24 which features the Prize heroes (Yank and Doodle, Green Lama, Doctor Frost and the Black Owl) vs Frankenstein.



The actual story is quite short and shows up late in the issue.



[ Prize Comics 24 ]

Thanks to a post from Boox99 over on the Golden Age Comics site, I also found out that Daredevil 1 which features many of the Lev Gleason heroes fighting Hitler.



[ Daredevil 01 ]

I find searching for such stories very difficult as most of my searches return World's Finest or JSA type of results. Anyone know of a nice list of such comics?

Saturn Knight on Android

Flashback Universe is proud to announce a great holiday surprise!

Working together with Robot Comics, Saturn Knight, the Knight Before Christmas is now available on the Android Marketplace for FREE!

Saturn Knight: The Knight Before Christmas details the first team-up with Flashback Universe's flagship super-hero Saturn Knight and Santa Claus. Blogger Chris Sims and illustrator Pierre Villeneuve create a colorful adventure optimized for Android mobiles and tablets.

3 Great ways to enjoy the Christmas Classic!

Read the Web Comic here!

Download the CBR here!

Download the Android Version here!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Mister Crimson Episode 50

Mister Crimson Episode 50
Wherein our hero asks Ace about his family...

Read it here .:

Christmas with Mother Goose

I hope everyone is prepared for the holidays - however you choose to celebrate them. Here are two great Dell Four Color Christmas Comics you can open early!

From ComicVine...

Four Color Comics, or just Four Color is a series that ran from 1939 and ended in 1962, it is known that the series had well over 1,000 issues but exactly how many isn't exactly determined because of skipped issues and reprints. The series finally came to an end with Issue #1354 and so at the moment the series holds the record for having the most issues published of any American comic book series as its nearest rivals are still below 900 issues (Action Comics and Detective Comics). But the series is still surpassed in length by British anthology comic, 2000 AD which is still being continuously published to this day.

~ ComicVine



[ Christmas With Mother Goose - Dell 4 Color 126 ]



[ Christmas With Mother Goose - Dell 4 Color 172 ]

- Enjoy!