<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>I've also wondered about the future of comic books as printed on paper (or dead trees, as some will have it).</div><div><br></div><div>Back when we first started working on computers to produce Gladstone comics, they seemed to be the answer to time-consuming and increasingly expensive "traditional" publishing production techniques. Only slowly did it start to dawn on us that computers combined with networking combined with the Internet heralded what was, perhaps, the beginning of the end of publishing as we even knew it.</div><div><br></div><div>In many ways publishing on paper has met the future and found it dismal. Whether it goes away entirely remains to be seen, but indications are that the 32-page comic book that I and so many others grew up with is reaching the end of its time as the main medium for comics.</div><div><br></div><div>It's a melancholy thought, at least for old-timers like me. Still, I remain interested in what the future holds. And I think there are some bright prospects there for old friends like Donald, Scrooge and Mickey. The trick seems to be, at this stage, getting a bead on the most effective way to present them.</div><div><br></div><div>Gary</div><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);"><b>From: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><a href="mailto:schulte@teacher.com">schulte@teacher.com</a><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);"><b>Date: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">February 16, 2010 6:04:52 AM GMT-07:00<br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);"><b>To: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><a href="mailto:dcml@nafsk.se">dcml@nafsk.se</a><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);"><b>Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><b>Re: Paolo/Papersera/The Future of Comic Books</b><br></span></div><br><br><font color="black" size="3" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"> <div style="font-family:helvetica,arial;font-size:10pt;color:black"> <div id="AOLMsgPart_9_10ea0bdf-5570-4dae-ac49-6a5d64d88e33" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; "><pre><tt><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Many thanks to Paolo for his efforts at Papersera!</span></font></tt></pre><pre><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As a teacher of Latin, who has some Italian training, I can understand some of the site! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; white-space: normal; "><img src="http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/resources/core/images/smile.png" alt=":-)" height="25" width="25"></span></span></font></pre><pre><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The website obviously has taken many hours to construct! I think of Beru's website with all the scans of stories by Barks, Rosa, et al.</span></font></pre><pre><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">With Kindle and other so-called "e-books" I do wonder if Internet paperless publishing is not the best way to continue the tradition of </span></font></pre><pre><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Disney Comics as handed down to us by Barks, Rosa, et al. On the other hand, perhaps the comic-book story</span></font></pre><pre><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">is obsolescent? Today's <i>Wall Street Journal </i>has an article on 3-D cartoons coming out this Spring and Summer, along with regular movies (over 20 total:</span></font></pre><pre><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> how does a $9.00 comic book compete with a $9.00 ticket to a 3-D movie? To be sure, you can keep and re-read the comic book. </span></font></pre><pre><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">But for the new "thrill me more" generations, that might be a difficult proposition to sell.</span></font></pre><pre><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i></i> <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703562404575067671820288834.html?mod=WSJ_business_LeftSecondHighlights">3-D Cartoons</a></span></font></pre><pre><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br>
</span></font></pre><pre><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Best Wishes</span></font></pre></div></div></font></blockquote></div></body></html>