Why is reading Comics and Manga hard?

Recently, I've been getting more and more into comics and manga, with the first problem being the pricing point digitally, especially considering some aren't DRM-free.

What is DRM?

To summarise fast, DRM (Digital Rights Management) is software that is typically used by manufacturers like Amazon and/or copyright holders to manage media distributed by them to try to mitigate unauthorized sharing as much as possible, some good examples include;

• Netflix and Amazon Video, preventing screenshots and recordings of their content often resulting in black screens whenever screenshots are taken.
• PlayStation introducing their 30-day mandatory check-in for digital games.
• Amazon restricting purchased eBooks to specific devices.

(Keep in mind the Amazon one for books, this one is important!)

Digital Comic Options

I'm not financially well off, so as much as physical releases for comics interest me, I primarily rely on purchasing comics from digital retailers such as DriveThruComics, HumbleBundle and Google Play Store. (not a lot is DRM-free, but comics like Robert Kirkman's "Invincible" are DRM-free)

These in my opinion are pretty good for people who like to own their digital comics for offline purposes. Amazon generally apply their own DRM, forcing users to use specific devices to access the content for which they paid for. I'm not in favour of Amazon's style of DRM for a variety of reasons, ranging from not owning any compatible devices all the way to knowing I don't "own" what I've paid for.

As for Marvel and DC's digital comicbooks , they also employ strict DRM to ensure their content is only available through methods they deem viable, such as Amazon, to likely also ensure their respective media isn't accessed by unauthorised means.

There are services offered by DC and Marvel, but I don't even know where to begin when it comes to reading the comics since there's such a wide variety of writing styles for just one character like Batman, let alone a whole multiverse of characters! It just leads to me getting choice paralysis and not trying their subscriptions since I wouldn't even know where to begin.

On the subject of not knowing where to start, I have to say that I've been absolutely LOVING the Absolute Series! (Pun absolutely intended)

As highlighted above, one of the primary problems that arise with getting into comics in general is feeling like you don't know where to start!

With the Absolute Series, all that's needed for anyone new is that "this is a universe where hope needs to burn brighter than ever to survive"; heroes like Absolute Batman and Absolute Superman are at a disadvantagem for they fight against the universe itself. Absolute Batman is arguably my favourite out of the series, even then there are so many great options like Absolute Wonder Woman, Absolute Green Lantern, Absolute Martian Manhunter and even more! Making it much easier for the average Joe (like me!) to come in and started.

With fantastic art and comprehensive starting points, I'd recommend the Absolute Series to anyone interested in starting comics!

Digital Manga Options

Manga however has it's own problems; reading concurrently is great with things like Chainsaw Man, with some good free options internationally! While paperback is arguably more price-friendly in places like the UK and US, in other countries and regions it can prove to be quite expensive.

However, for digital releases it becomes a lot more spotty due to publishers being strict; most digital releases for manga (especially on Amazon) contain DRM and make it harder to do what you want with what you've purchased. If you're lucky enough to find a place selling DRM-free manga, it's either not with the publisher's consent or there's a good chance it won't have what you're looking for. For this reason, some will often default to purchasing paperbacks and play the long game, waiting for the latest volumes to get localised for the sake of owning their media.

If you're in the Latin American community and live somewhere like Peru, it becomes even harder, especially without regionalised pricing. With Chainsaw Man Physical Volumes for example, costing upwards of double the price someone from the UK would pay for paperback without counting coupons/discounts. Causing piracy to become the primary avenue for many in the Latin American manga community.

What do the artists think?

Kei Urana (Author of Gachiakuta) even threw their two cents onto Twitter/X, responding to online discourse, saying the following:

I absolutely believe that the authors likely aren't the reason why the price points of digital manga internationally are insane digitally with crappy DRM; the fault more than likely lies with publishers and/or their investors. The people that berate her for being "out of touch" are rather out of touch themselves; she ultimately seeks to protect an industry and culture that has existed long before them and hopes to exist long after she is gone.

Personally, I'd have no problem paying £1-2 a week just for a downloadable .CBZ/.EPUB of One Piece or Dragon Ball Super since I could purchase them when I'm free to read them or just wait until I'm better off! But with an £8/month subscription, I can't justify paying for a subscription when I'm only interested in a small handful of intellectual properties and already have five other subscriptions for different services, not to mention them trying to coax you into staying longer.

What I read on

While I've been abundantly clear on what services/retailers I go to in order to purchase my comics/manga digitally DRM-free, I also had a big issue of what to read on, since being on Linux provides its own problemsn and wanting cross-platform compatibility without paying for a service pretty much didn't exist outside of one...

Due to being a techie, I'm someone who changes toys and devices almost as much as the average millennial couple spicing things up. I do admittedly need some bells and whistles for reading books but I don't need feature creep; I like being able to know what I've read, where I'm up to, being able to transfer my comics/manga seamlessly. So for a while I was using Atsumeru! While it did work and was great for most of my needs and wants, the Android and desktop were really clunky in my honest opinion. Not to mention the Atsumeru Server Instance was running on Java and I wanted it to be more accessible on crappier hardware, so I began looking more into alternatives.

Personally, I'm trying to encourage my younger siblings to read more, even if it is comics/manga digitally since Generation Alpha already have slipping literacy rates which impact a lot of things in life. So having multi-user support with permissions to also ensure they can't just delete years of collecting is fantastic and helps me bring comics/manga to the family! Except I was now getting into the realm of "this would be nice if it existed", which was a shame. Thankfully, with Claude I was able to turn a multiple-month project into a few weeks of active tinkering in making Rekindle! (Shameless plug time!)

I have a Network Attached Storage with most of my media on there, especially my comics and manga, so running a small server on there was ideal for most home use. With it being made for .NET 10, the overhead was much lower compared to Atsumeru Server, and the UI felt much snappier and reliable compared to Atsumeru, especially with being able to set libraries to either Comics or Manga to help with orienting the reading direction.

If you have a Network Attached Storage device capable of running .NET 10, I'd absolutely recommend using Rekindle and running a Rekindle Server Instance on your NAS. If you're someone who downloads their comics/manga for offline viewing since it's perfect to run on small home labs or inexpensive mini-computers.

If you're on Windows or Android and just keep your files locally, I'd recommend using CDisplayEx since this covers a lot of ground with a lot of the bells and whistles that I appreciate. It just doesn't have Linux support to my knowledge, which is a shame.

Turn an old laptop or desktop into a Home lab!

Home labs or small mini-computers are excellent as a hobbyist way to learn new skills and save money in the long run on services and apps. Personally, I couldn't imagine not having a Network Attached Storage device since it's 24TB of pure beauty.

Conclusion

All in all, I don't think the comic book industry is likely to change anything regarding digital releases anytime soon due to the likes of Marvel and DC's unlimited budget in comparison to, say, Image Comics whom have been doing God's work since 1992.

However, I do believe the likes of digital manga and it's accessibility are likely to change over the next 2-8 years over piracy concerns and regional pricing to help not only bring in more money for everyone associated with the media but also make it more accessible to those that are in less luxurious positions.

Who knows, though! I'm just some moron on the internet. Mmmmmm.... glue...