madelf

I agree.
I just don't picture DC as the ones to force the adaptation. They'll cater to the status quo, I'm betting.

And it's an odd enough format it might even make some customers look at it funny too. Generally (though I'm sure there are some exceptions) only children's books are printed wider than they are tall, so that might effect the way people perceive the comics if that format is used.

Edit: Apparently "kid's book" is a perception that's even being felt here. I don't think the reaction would always be as positive as it seems to be here, though.

Mr.Musgrave

Except people need to re-learn that comics ARE for kids, not just us Peter Pan complexed 20-30 somethings.

Kids not reading comics is going to kill the industry. Without kids there ARE no 20-30 somethings to read comics in 10 years.

Erik Roman

AMEN to that.

THAT is why we need to get comics out of specialty shops and into places that kids go with their parents like walmarts and grocery stores. So kids can discover comics the way we did - on the spinner rack next to the sodas.

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Scott Story

Thing is, I think a lot of kids do read webcomics. The demographic for webcomic readers is younger than the print comic demographic. There are a lot of teenagers who read Drunk Duck comics, for example.

Quite a few print comic strip cartoons are collected in horizontal format, like Doonsberry, For Better or Worse, Prince Valient, and so forth. Sometimes they are done in the vertical format, sometimes the horizontal. I think both do well, and no one says "Jeesh, I like Bloom County, but this wide book must be for kids. I won't get it."

I think comics can change. Largely, I think that because they are changing, and the indy comic scene is, to a great degree, the webcomic scene. Some indy comic hold onto the old print paradigm, and aren't really well represented on the web, but that's changing.

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MatthewMonster

4:3 is perfect.

A. its a screen.

B. Stack two of em on top of each other and it about the size or a traditional comic. So when you wnat to collect em all..its ESAY to sell to the print people.

madelf

Well... they're not on a spinner rack next to the sodas, they're in the magazine section, but most of the grocery stores around here carry comics already (I think the local Walmart does too, though I can't recall for certain). Naturally they're not carrying a terribly broad selection, but comics are readily available outside of specialty stores.

madelf

Yeah, that's what I said.

Mr.Musgrave

A spinner rack with a handful of ultra-mainstream comics in one or two places is hardly readily available.

3'LL

I'll be hitting this. I've gotta find an idea I'm willing to relinquish though.

Ugga Bugga

4:3 format

www.awesomestormjustice.com

has worked well for storytelling.

illojik

exactly. Been reading that for a while. I think the format works GREAT. I bet the iPhone thinks it looks great too. Widescreen format is a NICE format for a lot of reasons I think.

Phatman

Are you high? Most people don't even know comics exist anymore, much less what is actually on the market.

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Phatman

Great point. This doesn't mean that material needs to be dumbed down, just receptive and geared towards new readership. Putting some fun back into comics would be a good place to start.

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madelf

Dude... I'm 40 years old. And that's as good as its ever been.

I was an adult before I ever saw a comic specialty shop, and the newstands never carried anything but the mainstream comics. The local Price Chopper carries as many comics as the local newstand (long since gone) ever did. The only thing missing is the spinner racks of two year old third rate comics that used to gather dust in the corner of the mom & pop groceries (which are almost extinct themselves). Graphic novels are in every book store these days, and some libraries even carry them - both of which never did when I was a kid, so that's actually increased availability. Seriously, the only thing that would get comics more readily available than they are is if someone managed to get the convenience stores to carry comics.

Now if you want the entire spectrum of comics available in anything but a shop specifically dedicated to comics... that's just a pipe dream.