I came across an interesting article on a blogsite, which made me realise something that I didn't even think about before.
As convenient and space-saving as they are (and can offer higher detailing with the artwork), Digital comics have no resale value when you no longer have any interest in keeping them (or need to sell them off). Even if a number of comic issues in your possession were over-printed or deemed "worthless", you'd still be able to get back some money on a printed comic collection (later, when you want, or need, to offload them).

This isn't a criticism of Digital Comics, as I've already mentioned their benefits.... but "investment" reasons aside (for buying certain issues, only to resell later for profit), I really hope that comic companies don't eventually end up going Digital, just because it will be a lot more profitable than printed issues (which have a set, smaller profit margin, and unsold issues cost them money). Because when the I buy comics, not just Transformers, I eventually lose interest in them or need to thin out a collection... and the printed versions give me a little money back to invest into more comics.


As for the article I found, it actually compares the value increase of a particular comic in 12 months, to the value change of Gold, US Shares, and US Inflation in that same time. But to be fair, he's only comparing a single comic issue to the entire Dow Jones Stock Market. An objective comparison would be the average comic value change of several hundred comics with the entire Dow Jones. Otherwise, you could find a single Stock that improved more than that single comic issue, and at least disprove that portion of his argument (because most comic issues depreciate in the short term).

It was still a fascinating article.