JManga Shutdown, comiXology #1s Snafu Throw Spotlight On The Formatting Of Digital Comics One “Owns”

So apparently the web site JManga has announced it is shutting down after about a year and a half in business. It is generally believed that the site never gained traction with its potential readership, although for all I know about that kind of business the real reason is "werewolves." Derik A Badman notes in succinct, funny fashion that any comics content you purchased from that disappears along with the site. My basic understanding has been that when you buy comics from these sites you're basically buying access to read these comics on their site. My further impression has always been this is at least partly due to the notion that giving people the actual comics will only facilitate more sharing of same through uploading and even direct transfer, although I suppose there are other factors in play.

This basic set-up is also as I understand the way the popular comiXology site works, at least in broad terms, and thus the JManga closure raises the question for some folks as to what happens if that site goes away, or any of the other sites like it. (I would also imagine that this also puts on the table what happens if a publishing partner ends their partnership, but maybe that's been covered somewhere.) Anyway, this set of issues gets a workout here, with the added oomph that the writer believes that truly downloadable comics would be less of a strain on servers than the current system, and that this would have helped comiXology avoide their #1 promotion difficulties. If massive and complex pricing variations are going to be inherent to that business model moving forward, that's something to be considered.

I think where this gets a little tricky for me in terms of the rhetoric involved is that I don't really believe I'm being sold a false bill of goods. I'm far from a sophisticated customer for these sorts of products and comics on-line generally, to the point I've made some spectacularly poor readings of Kickstarter projects, but I still sort of fundamentally knew with these kind of comics that I've only ever purchased the right to read something for the lifetime of the service from which I purchased it, sort of but not entirely the same way I'm reading free comics at GoComics.com until they decide they're not free. In other words, I'm not suddenly dismayed by the implications of JManga crashing and burning, as I know on a gut level that this is what I'm in for. I think if people know that, or if they should reasonably be expected to know that, then you kind of shift into the endless backseat driving model for criticism of these businesses, what they should do. I'm always reluctant to pursue this because these companies are generally successful and seem to know what they're talking about, while I'm woefully under-educated on these matters and have made a total of 31 cents as an adult. I welcome the continuing conversation as I ramp up to speed, particularly those that separate the forthright opinions expressed from the thundering certainty with which they're communicated.
 
posted 12:10 am PST | Permalink
 

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