The future of comics.

[You know, I kinda sorta already buy my comics this way. Be nice if it was all legal though.]

Pulp 2.0 (formerly DISContent): That Sound You Hear is the Comic Industry Petrifying...:

"The answer to all of this is of course, to shift all comics to the web... and to make them free. Yes, you read that right. Free downloads of comics that have advertising in them (just like they do now). Right now, the comics industry would cut off their left testicle (or other organ - take your pick) to get a regular readership of 100K for their comics. As Rich points out - they have that - they're just not getting paid for it.

By shifting the focus to the web, they maintain their ad income, increase readership and cut costs. They could actually increase their ad income by charging the rate for a 100K audience instead of the typical midlist audience of 20-35K .

Then, they could print 3-in-1 magazines and distribute those larger, yet cheaper magazines to the comic shop market and newsstands. The new, larger audience would then know exactly where they could go to get the print editions driving sales further without alienating the retail sector.

This of course, could be followed by trade collections.

Some company with forward thinking leadership is going to adopt this methodology. They are going to release comics for free on the web, then print editions, then trade collections. They are going to be near profitable from panel one, and...
Comics readers will be better off for it."