Could Digital Comics Revitalize the Collectors’ Market?

Back in the 90s, the comic collecting market was booming. People realized that their parents’ old books from decades past were worth big money because of their rarity. Back issues were selling for thousands of dollars.  But that all changed.

This glut led to publishers taking advantage of readers by putting out special editions of various issues alongside their standard, “newsstand” counterparts. These special, “collector’s editions” were more expensive and often came with foil, holographic covers that fanboys drooled over. Diehards would end up purchasing both editions, and many automatically picked up the pricier versions.

The publishers were raking it in and the fans were happy with their shiny books. But then it became too much. The market became flooded with special editions, and, as the saying goes, when everything is special, nothing is.

Over the past several years, DC has made some moves that may have jump started casual collecting. Stories such as Batman RIP and Blackest Night drew from older stories that current readers might want to seek out. Reviving characters like Hal Jordan and Barry Allen could make their old stories relevant again.

If people stop buying paper books because they’re downloading digital copies, the actual issues will suddenly become rare again.

Then the familiar ploys returned. It seems every week there would be one or two titles with variant covers, for no special reason

The only difference is that this time around, the variants are much rarer compared to their standard counterparts, but since they are regular occurrences, they’re not exactly rare at all.

But now there is a game changer: digital comics. Readers who don’t want to bother keeping space for physical copies no longer have to. Don’t feel like leaving the house? Don’t have to. The convenience of digital comics makes it easy for casual fans of a book to keep up with it without making the commitment of making the trip to the store every month. But there are those who still will, and perhaps they will reap the rewards.

If people stop buying paper books because they’re downloading digital copies, the actual issues will suddenly become rare again. Golden age comics are not worth what they are because they’re so great, it’s because no one kept them so no one has them anymore. If digital comics take off, fewer people will have physical issues to begin with, making them true collector’s items again.

Everyone will have access to the stories and artwork, and greater availability may increase the size of the audience, but a smaller percentage will have the paper stuff. When the new digital-only readers want to learn more about their favorite characters, they’ll have to dig into the back issue bins where they’ll be hooked into collecting like all who have come before them. They’ll grow to appreciate having the paper in their hands and want to buy the new issues to keep their collections going.

Thus, a market may be reborn.