It
seems everybody is talking about the rising cost of gasoline these
days, and with good reason. Almost everything we do is somehow based
around oil in some way or another. Whether it's used in the
production of products we purchase every day or the shipping,
receiving or most modes of transportation we use to go and purchase
these products, oil is somehow involved.

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Gasoline
now costs between $3.50 and $4.00 per gallon in the United States and
between $1.25 and $1.50 per litre (between $4.75 and $5.70 per
gallon) in Canada. At these prices, and the still higher prices
predicted to come in the near future, many consumers have already
begun changing their driving and purchasing habits. As we well know,
the price of gas does not just affect where we are willing to drive
to purchase the products we desire, but the cost to the
manufacturers, distributors and retailers to ship those items to
those retail locations as well. As the cost of gas rises, so to does
the cost to ship the item and, usually, the cost of the item itself.
With
all of these factors in play, it is quite likely that many consumers,
even a number of avid comic book collectors and enthusiasts, will
begin reconsidering that trip to their favourite comic shop. If these
places are well out of walking or the average person's biking
distance, that trip may no longer feel cost effective, especially
with that gallon of gas costing almost as much as that latest issue
of your favourite comic book.
However,
the solution for publishers is simple when compared to possible
solutions for other industries, because their products, like those of
other print publishers, don't have to come in a physical form. And
that's where digital distribution comes in. A number of comic book
publishers have already begun publishing their properties online, as
part of subscription services. Marvel Comics has its
Marvel
Digital Unlimited
subscription service, giving users access to a number of Marvel Comics
titles online, and DC Comics runs
Zudacomics
,
which uses
crowdsourcing
to give unknown comic creators the chance to be seen and, possibly,
published, while giving readers an easy way to view and vote for new
comics.

Following
a similar model to what Web comic creators have been doing for years,
major publishers are just now beginning to give their readers access
to their favourite comic books in a digital format, though they are
actually making readers pay to read. Most Web comics, on the other
hand, are available to readers anywhere at absolutely no cost, and
they are extremely easily accessible, which is why they are the
future of comics.
With
Web comics, there is no need for readers to travel anywhere to go and
find the comic they are looking for, often wasting time and gas in
the process. Instead, all they need to do is head to the website of
that Web comic and pick the strip they want to read. Not only that,
but most Web comic websites give all readers complete access to that
comic's entire strip archive, unlike subscriptions, which only allow
users access to comic book issues they have purchased.
Digitally
distributed comics also have the benefit of being able to be accessed
from anywhere. While on a trip to New York City recently, I wanted to
keep up with the latest comics from
Penny
Arcade
,
Ctrl+Alt+Del
and
No
Reason Comics
and,
of course, that was no issue because they are all available online.
You can be anywhere on the planet and, as long as you've got an
Internet connection, you can stay up to date with your favourite Web
comics. The same can apply for digitally distributed comic books from
major publisher, as long as they use browser based viewing, even with
subscription services. Even if you're traveling far away from home,
if you've got Internet access you can log in and check the latest
issues.

As
gas prices continue to rise, comic book publishers will continue to
find it more difficult to sell their wares, especially with less
consumers willing to make the trip to go purchase them. Digital
distribution will make it considerably easier and more appealing for
consumers to begin reading those comic books. The Web also opens up a
whole
new world of fresh readers
for these publishers to which they can market their characters. This
is not to say that comic shops will become a thing of the past
though. Physical comic books will still be quite collectible. But in
a reality where it's starting to feel to expensive to make a trip
around the block, comic book publishers would be foolish to look away
from the Internet as the future of distribution.