The Digitalization of Comic Books

Podcast of this blog entry 

            With the digitalization of books and novels, and the newest in portable electronic devices, it is not surprising that comics have been trying their hand at it as well.  The advantages of digital comics outweigh the traditional paper format as far as durability and longevity, but does it take away from the traditional reading experience?  Some purists think so.  But there is more than one way to read a comic book.  A digitized format just needs to cater to the uniqueness of that experience.  In respects to this, the movement of comics from paper to a digital screen has changed the way comics are to be read.

            At first, comics put in digital format were no more complex than a scanned page.  This seemed the way to go, as enthusiasts still looked to the paper format as their original, while the digitized version would be a sort of archive.  However, if one wanted to read the comic on their computer, the limitations of this format were apparent.  The mise-en-page hardly mattered as much because of all the challenges the digital format posed.  The readability of a scanned page tended to be too small when seen in full-page view, and the clarity deteriorated the more the reader zoomed it in.  There was also too much scrolling around with the zoomed images.  This distracted the reader from the actual comic book reading experience and could have stopped the reading of comics on a screen in its tracks.

            However, techies who were comic book inclined realized the success of the comic book format not only lay in the hands of the creator, but of how it is read as well.  An author not only wants the reader to read a story, they want the reader to be engaged.  There are now specific programs, called readers, which enhance a digitized comic book reading experience.  It is meant to bring even more focus to the action and story that the author is telling.  As a screen is a different viewing format than a comic book page, these readers are typically automated programs that control the panel-to-panel transition speeds.  This helps to convey the sense of emotion in the story.  Other features include action animations and even special effects that would make your reader vibrate when there's an explosion or gunfire. 

            With this innovative way of reading digitized comic books, creators will no doubt find ways to take full advantage of this new reading experience.  This is a positive, as it brings the creators closer to their audience, and spawns more creativity from both sides.