Transformers questions by newbies, and not-so-newbies

[GoktimusPrime]

So what does everyone else do??

I go to my nearest comic book store. I still prefer reading comics in physical print over on a computer.

[Trent]

You can read the comics full screen on your computer via the Comixology website which has a similar interface to tools like Comicrack.

The Comixology app is also available for Android devices too, just not the dedicated TF comics app. You can buy all the TF comics through that master app.

Comixology is the only way you can legally get the TF comics digitally.

Damn. I was hoping to buy them and save them as a file on my puter.

I go to my nearest comic book store. I still prefer reading comics in physical print over on a computer.

Yes well, my nearest comic book shop is parramatta. Quite the trek for a comic every month. And if I buy comics that take up actual physical space, that's less room for actual physical transformers. Hence why I'd like to give the ecomics a go.

[UltraMarginal]

You can read the comics full screen on your computer via the Comixology website which has a similar interface to tools like Comicrack.

The Comixology app is also available for Android devices too, just not the dedicated TF comics app. You can buy all the TF comics through that master app.

Comixology is the only way you can legally get the TF comics digitally.

Damn. I was hoping to buy them and save them as a file on my puter.

I'm pretty sure what Paulbot is describing does save them to your computer, you just need the Comixology software to read it.
I get the digital only comics and read them on my Samsung phone, and collect trades of everything else.
The eVersions though I use the App to read, and have to wait for them to download only the one time when I purchase them. I was under the impression that Comixology was available for PC/Mac but I've never looked. In theory, I can download to my computer and read them from there using comixology software and only have to pay the one time from when I purchased for use on my phone.

Hope this helps

[Paulbot]

I'm pretty sure what Paulbot is describing does save them to your computer, you just need the Comixology software to read it.
I get the digital only comics and read them on my Samsung phone, and collect trades of everything else.
The eVersions though I use the App to read, and have to wait for them to download only the one time when I purchase them. I was under the impression that Comixology was available for PC/Mac but I've never looked. In theory, I can download to my computer and read them from there using comixology software and only have to pay the one time from when I purchased for use on my phone.

Hope this helps

The web version of Comixology is like YouTube (that's probably the closest comparison I can think of). You go to their website, open your purchased comics and click and zoom through the pages within the web browser (using Java or something). No extra software downloads are required. There may be some underlying file being transferred (like YouTube) but it's probably just the separate image files being displayed one by one.

Once you've purchased anything with a Comixology account, you can view it on the website or any version of the app as long as you've logged in first. So if you own something on your phone, you wouldn't have to transfer the file, you'd just log in on the computer with your account and be able to view it on the website, not transfer files directly.

Here's a screenshot of what it looks like reading a comic on their website. (You can zoom in and everything too)

Hence why I'd like to give the ecomics a go.

The eComics are also much cheaper. Wait a month and every new release IDW comic is $2. I buy with iTunes credit that I get deals on, so I usually pay about $1.60 per issue or less. And then they have regular sales. I got most of the ongoing series digitally for $1 each issue.

Then I buy the IDW Collection volumes for the hard copy later.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yes well, my nearest comic book shop is parramatta. Quite the trek for a comic every month.

You can get a standing order and they can hold the comic for you to pick up -- say once a quarter at the Parra Fair. I've had a standing order for Transfomers comics since 1990. #ooold

And if I buy comics that take up actual physical space, that's less room for actual physical transformers. Hence why I'd like to give the ecomics a go.

Fair point. I have 2.5 shelves full of Transformers comics alone. But I personally like the look of having books and comics on shelves.

The eComics are also much cheaper. Wait a month and every new release IDW comic is $2. I buy with iTunes credit that I get deals on, so I usually pay about $1.60 per issue or less. And then they have regular sales. I got most of the ongoing series digitally for $1 each issue.

Then I buy the IDW Collection volumes for the hard copy later.

Hmm... didn't know that. Can't argue against saving money.

[UltraMarginal]

Fair point. I have 2.5 shelves full of Transformers comics alone. But I personally like the look of having books and comics on shelves.

Is that 2.5 metric shelves or 2.5 Imperial Shelves ?

[griffin]

The digital comics format is a good thing for the short-term collector, as it gives you a cheaper, more convenient format for reading the comics once or twice and probably never going back to them... or ever considering them to be an asset to want to keep to resell later.
If you are wanting to have the comics for more than 10 or 20 years, buy the printed versions. If you don't see yourself doing much with them after you've read them once and don't value them as an investment (or have the storage space), buy the digital version.

For me, the thing I worry about with digital comics is their longevity.... as in, how long you will be able to access them.
As technology and the subsequent visual media is always being improved, I'd be worried that after a few generational upgrades of computers and media-viewing programs (which forces file-format changes), I'd end up losing access to all those comics I bought as a single-format collection. There are very few file formats or base programs from 20 years ago that are still being used much today.
This new comixology may be the current preferred standard for the comics industry, but what happens if a new company comes along, offering a better return to the comic companies with their new and improved (program) format. Those comic companies wouldn't hesitate to change, and then look at re-releasing all the back catalogue in the new format.
Yes, you'd still be able to view your old-format digital comics, until the operating system of your device or computer goes through a couple major upgrades (as they do every couple years), preventing you from using that viewing program.

For example - computer games I've bought since the early 90s, I can't play most of them on my current computer, because they are no longer compatible with the base operating systems (like Windows, etc). There are probably some sort of emulators out there, to play those older games (if I had a disc drive that could still play the format they are recorded on), but once those recording devices (and the software the games are built to operate on) were obsolete, the companies start releasing their products in the new/current formats and softwares. Often to compete with something new, rather than improve on their existing formats.
Or in more simpler terms - a person with a VHS collection will eventually have to throw away and replace that collection because of DVD/Bluray, because some time soon we won't be able to buy new tapes or players.
If in 5 or 10 years time there is a new and better comic viewing program or file format that the entire industry is then using "to keep up", does that mean having to re-buy the entire collection if you don't want to end up losing easy access to the new and old comics you've bought? It may be a long way off, but no matter how long it takes to eventually happen (and it will if it is a computer/digital/technological concept), at least the dusty old printed comics are there to easily pick up and flick through.

We might say that printed comics degrade over time, and that digital lasts forever, but accessing those digital files wont (or won't be easy to do over time).... and that's what's holding me back from considering having a digital comic collection.

[Paulbot]

I generally agree, but a few notes. With Comixology you don't buy a particular version/format/file, you buy access to a particular comic book issue.

They upgraded many of the digitial comics to a HD format after one of the iPad releases, if you owned the comic next time you accessed it you got the HD format. You didn't have to rebuy it, you might have to re-download it though.

Presently, if Comixology upgrades their systems/format, you will still have access to the comics your purchased in their new systems/format. There is still the risk of Comixology going bankrupt etc. That's the biggest long term concern.

For a $1-$2 per issue I find it an acceptable price to pay for some comics to read once or a couple of times in the forseeable future, and generally to read sooner than waiting for the trade/collection.

But I still get the hardcovers (IDW Collection) and trades (Marvel) for the series I want to own long term. And I buy the single physical issues of Regeneration One (to go with my 80 Marvel comics) and MTMTE (because its absolutely fantastic!).

[GoktimusPrime]

Is that 2.5 metric shelves or 2½ Imperial Shelves ?

^fix'd

It's 2.5 Rebel Shelves. No Imperial entanglements.

[Jetfire in the sky]

Why is G1 Perceptor worth diddly MIB or loose, it doesn't matter, seems to be good for a paperweight thesedays when he was such a rad toy that worked as it should in diguise.