Opinion: The case for going digital

Comics initially came out of the pages of daily newspapers.

The prelimary comic strips established key features of the medium, like speech bubbles, and genres, like adventure tales.

Popeye Daily, 1985

And, for nearly a century -- seeing as the first independent comics launched in the early 1930s -- comics have been read in the magazine/issue format, as well as collected editions, like graphic novels or trade paper backs.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #17 / Back in Black

I first picked up a single comic issue in about 2007, around the time that Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy was coming to a close. I loved the trilogy, and I didn't want my consumption of superhero content to end with that movie.

I got my parents to take me to a local shop, and I picked up some issues of Spider-Man: Back in Black. They took me a few other times, but the shop was nowhere near my house or any other thing my parents had to do, so it was hard to get there consistently and I eventually lost interest.

Fast forward to about 3-and-a-half years ago, and the MCU again had me wanting to consume more superhero content outside of movies and TV -- and there was a new comic shop much closer to my house that I had been dying to check out. DC was only about 6-to-8-months into Rebirth, so I started with one of my all-time favorite heroes, Batman, and picked up the first few volumes of his Rebirth run so I could catch up and read weekly. I did this with other heroes like Nightwing, Green Arrow, Batman Beyond and eventually Superman.

At the time, Marvel wasn't doing very well -- and they were nearing a relaunch -- so I just picked up The Mighty Thor, which is one of my all-time favorite comic arcs, and other mini-series here and there.

I was excited for Wednesday (New Comic Book Day) to roll around every week so I could go talk about arcs with shop employees and other customers, as well as pick up my new books.

But, getting wrapped up in it, I was spending sometimes $60 a week and running out of closet space for books.

I also started at university, and my money and time became much tighter while adjusting to a new school environment and busy work schedule, so I eventually fell off and couldn't keep up with comics anymore.

Late in my first semester, I started reading graphic novels here and there, and realized I much preferred that consumption method to buying 8-to-12 books a week and having to deal with taking them out of their bags & boards, putting them back in, and organizing all of them.

But now, with my first year of university behind me, and a much better, less stressful job, I felt I was once-more ready to dive a bit deeper into comics -- but I wanted to avoid, if at all possible, all of the negative side effects of buying physical, weekly books.

Enter: tablets.

I have read books on my phone here and there, but it's not ideal. It just really doesn't deliver the experience of reading a comic. But, I started looking into tablets, and realized there are some really good options for consuming comics.

The Kindle Fire comes in an 8" display for around $80, as well as a 10" display for about $150. RCA also makes a pretty decent 10" tablet for around $100-$110.

The Kindle Fire HD 8 and HD 10 are competent comic readers at great prices.

The caveat is that all of those tablets run Android. If you're already a native Androider, then I'm sure that it won't be an issue for you. If you're more of an Apple consumer but you don't quite feel like spending a brick on a comic reader, then get over it and buy one of those great Android tablets.

If you have, like, triple the amount of money to spend on the tablet and you're strictly Apple, then the iPad Mini is a great option, starting at about $400 for a 7.9" display.

But, if you're not only in-need of a new reader, but something that can be used more for business or academics -- and you have eight-to-ten-times the amount those Android tablets cost -- I would recommend the 11" iPad Pro, which starts out at around $800.

The 11" iPad Pro is the one I eventually settled on, and I don't know if I will ever buy another physical comic, save for key issues or older/rarer books I come across.

Reading comics on Apple's new Liquid Retina display is something to be marveled, and I truly feel like reading digitally is the next evolutionary step to comic consumption.

You just cannot beat this digital display.

Hear me out.

First of all, I hate to be that guy -- actually no I don't -- but if we just happen to start consuming less paper, the environment will only suffer less, which is a good thing no matter how you look at it.

Secondly, one of the experience-altering changes this tablet has brought to my life is that I can read. At night. In my bed. With absolutely no lights on. This has effectively eliminated me from getting on my phone and browsing social media before going to sleep, which is honestly something everyone could do a little less of.

*Insert stock photo of a man reading a tablet at night.*

Thirdly, my comic library is becoming more mobile, which is cool for a few reasons. For one, I can take my tablet anywhere and read wherever I want without lugging around all of my physical books for the week, or worrying about potentially ruining those said books by having them crushed in my car or backpack. And, for two, when talking about comics at my friend's house or at lunch, I can just pull out my tablet and point out exactly what I'm talking about.

And, finally, it makes reading those old books I pick up much more enjoyable. Once I buy the book in-store or at a con, I'll instantly purchase the digital version to read so that I don't have to worry about tarnishing the value of the book or touch those rough pages that make my skin crawl.

Another big plus is that I have found some great, even relatively new graphic novels in the $3.99-to-$4.99 price range, which is less than half the price of what you would pay for a physical graphic novel.

All-in-all, digital sales of comics contributed to the industry having a record-setting financial year in 2018, and as long as you're purchasing your books, you're consuming them the right way.

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