It's Simple: Stop Pirating Comics

Your favorite comic Aunt is back and this time here with one extremely hot take. STOP PIRATING COMICS. You heard me stop pirating comics, and support your favorite series and creators.

While it’s something I’ve been wanting to talk about for a while it’s the recent tweets from Ted Brandt, who has inking credits on titles such as Image’s Crowded & Marvel’s Unstoppable Wasp that finally rekindled the fire and inspired my call to action.

This is a serious epidemic that’s taking money away from the writers, illustrators, inkers, editors, colorists, designers and letterers that have so lovingly created these stories for you. In an industry that already doesn’t compensate it’s creators nearly enough, stealing the works that have taken them literal months to create for you only adds insult to injury. Not only that but did you know that when you pirate a series versus supporting one with sales, that runs the risk of a series being pushed to a trade format, or even worse canceled, because it is no longer deemed profitable by the publisher?

And if it wasn’t already obvious pirating comics, massively hurt your local comic book shop. Now take it from someone who previously worked at her LCS, we depend on these sales. You deciding that you’re just gonna pirate an issue, or two or three is massively hurting our business and the ability to thrive.

Now I get it, you love comics and want to read and experience all they have to offer. I also totally understand from the perspective of someone who has spent a lot of money on comics that they can be expensive as hell. And from a casual reader’s perspective that can come off as extremely intimidating. However pirating comics, is not the way to approach and fix this “issue.” There are several alternatives where you can still support a creator and their work in a legal manner without breaking the bank.

So let’s talk about some alternatives.

With streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ on the rise, did you know that there are also a few “streaming” services for comics as well? No? Well let’s talk about them.

Comixology Unlimited

As far as I’m aware Comixology is pretty much the go-to service when it comes to digital reading. Much like going to a comic shop, you can purchase individual issues and even whole graphic novels/trades and have those books right at your fingertips. Not only that but they often offer pretty killer deals nearly every week. But that’s not why we’re here, we’re here to talk about Comixology Unlimited. Comixology Unlimited is pretty much a comic book streaming service that offers, over 20,000 digital comics, graphic novels and even manga across a bunch of popular publishers including DC, Marvel, and Image. With titles like the most recent run on Batman, Archie, and one of my personal favorites, Saga, it’s honestly such a great resource for comic fans both who read on a regular basis and on a casual one. Not only can you read some of your favorite stories and characters but it’s a great way to be introduced to new stories as well without running the risk of paying for something you might not love. The best part, Comixology is free for the first 30 days and after that, it’s only $5.99 each month. It’s cheaper than both Netflix and Spotify and has about the same cost as buying two regular comic issues.



Marvel Unlimited

Marvel has its own digital library available on your smartphone or tablet. As the title suggests your are restricted to just Marvel titles, but that includes Star Wars too! Marvel boasts a catalog of over 25,000 issues ranging from those classic stories to the more modern ones. What’s great about Marvel Unlimited is that they are constantly adding new issues each week, and even have new releases readily available as soon as 6 months after they first hit your local shop. To put it into perspective, War of the Realms, a massive Marvel event that started back at the beginning of summer has it’s first issue readily available for you to read, with more soon on the way. While Marvel Unlimited is a little more expensive at $9.99 a month or $69 per year it’s honestly the perfect go to for any Marvel super fan. One of the things I personally really like about Marvel Unlimited is that they have really awesome breakdowns for popular characters, including some must reads that you might not have been aware of. It’s a really great tool for those wanting to get into comics or even to try out a character they’ve been reluctant on just because they didn’t know where to start.

DC Universe

DC Universe started a streaming service for its movies, shows, and original series but quickly moved into offering an expansive digital comic library as well. Much like Marvel Unlimited, DC Universe hosts over 20,000 comics available to you that also range from the classic to modern era. If I’m being honest DC Universe and Marvel Unlimited are both extremely similar with DC Universe instead also offering access to other classic media and content from it’s characters. DC Universe is available to you for $7.99 a month or $74.99 for an annual membership.

So maybe streaming isn’t your forte. Maybe you just don’t read enough comics to justify an annual or even a monthly membership but still want the ability to experience everything comics have to offer. Well you can love and experience those comics, while still supporting those creators without any cost to you.

It’s called your LOCAL LIBRARY!

That’s right, your local library also offers comics, typically in the form of collected graphic novels/trades. I won’t go too much into detail, (if you’re interested I wrote all about the importance of comics and the library in another post) but your local library more than likely has an excellent selection of books for you to read and enjoy. The best part about it is that while it might seem free to you, those creators are still being compensated because at the end of the day someone is still buying those comics.

The moral of the story is comics are great. I love comics more than anything in the world and I stand by the fact that comics are for everyone and should be loved and shared as such. But there’s a proper way to do it an industry where it’s creators already struggle and hustle to make ends meet. So please, for the love of everything don’t pirate these books that these people have poured all their time, love and effort into. Instead utilize the streaming services, your local library, even each other to support and share the series that you love.

The Importance of Preorders at your LCBS: Advice From a Former Employee

Comics, there's a lot of them. There are literally hundreds of comics that drop each month from over a dozen publishers. These range from full-blown graphic novels, anniversary issues variant covers and of course your monthly issues. Now if you've ever been to your local comic shop I'm sure you've had someone ask if you'd like something on your pull or even if you want that special cover preordered for you. Now typically these preorders don't require any sort of deposit but instead just a commitment to pick up said book(s) upon release. To some, it may come off as abrasive or even pushy but I can assure that is not the case.  As a former employee at my local shop, there are so many reasons why we ask this of you.

Did you know that comic shops have to order their books for each week an entire month in advance? Sometimes, even more, when it comes to those fancy prestige formats from DC Black Label. Let's start off with a little comic shop terminology. FOC. Comic retailers order via one distributor and their FOC each and every week. So what is FOC? FOC stands for Final Order Cutoff. What that means is once FOC comes by those numbers are locked in. Some shops can get away with ordering a few extra issues if they're still in stock but you're probably not guaranteed those issues upon release day, but rather a few weeks after. Shops do their best to rely on the numbers from their subscribers but what about that gorgeous Artgerm variant or that new first issue everyone keeps talking about that you might pick up outside of your weekly pull. Well, you're probably not the only one thinking that and with this mindset that can lead to shops running low on a particular issue and missing out on those much-needed sales. I hate saying this but from first-hand experience, comics are a huge gamble and put small and newer shops at such a risk. It feels like more and more shops are ordering fewer copies to help curb the risk of being left with unwanted issues years later. Not everyone can be Midtown Comics and order a ton of stock.

Speaking of limited stock and the importance of preordering your comics is that you're pretty much guaranteed a particular issue or variant once you've preordered (aside from maybe some of those wild incentive variants). This means you'll no longer have to worry about rushing to your local shop first thing Wednesday morning, picking up your books at your convenience and can avoid eBay scalpers later on.  It also means you won't have to worry about missing out on a first printing of a new series or even a key issue. From a former retailer perspective, it honestly feels like Diamond (the sole distributor for comics) isn't stocking comics the way it might have used to. This means more and more comics are seeing second and even third printings. Preordering your comics helps you avoid later printings unless of course, you're into that sort of thing. Please don't feel obligated to subscribing to an entire series either especially if you don't know what you're getting into. Even if you just preorder the first issue of a new series and decide to subscribe later on it's a huge help to publishers and retailers alike.

Something I personally didn't realize until recently is that series can actually get the ax due to low orders on FOC.  Recently, Spell on Wheels 2 from Kate Leth, Megan Levens, Marissa Louise and published by Dark Horse had its single issues canceled due to low preorders and will luckily be published in an original graphic novel format instead. Publishers use the preorder numbers entered from retailers via FOC to determine how many copies of a title to publish, if at all. That being said it makes me wonder how many other smaller series and even smaller publishers were left vulnerable, and instead were just straight-up canceled. That being said these numbers affect your favorite ongoing series too! So if you love a series make sure to subscribe to keep the title going.

 So what happens when you preorder a comic. Well lots of things actually, it's kind of a domino effect. You get the books you want, and in turn not only are you supporting the demand of a particular title but you're also helping to keep a small business afloat. Don't know what's coming out? Well, let's fix that. Previewsworld.com is a great and free digital resource available to you that lists everything releasing within the next three months. Previews also has descriptions, additional variant covers as well as preview pages for selected series. It also includes fun and quirky comic-related merchandise including apparel and collectibles, all available through your local comic shop. Alternatively, comic shops typically have a physical version of the Previews Catalogue available for purchase and also usually have a store copy of the catalog which is available for you to browse while you shop. Personally, this is my preferred method of viewing just because there is so much to see.

What are you waiting for? Make sure you call, email, or even head out to your local comic shop and tell them all about the fantastic books you want to preorder!