fan in mind.
Geek Syndicate
As you can see, those professionals that responded feel no ill will toward digital, that it’s only exposing their work to a larger audience and letting readers access it more easily. There are definite points made about how publishers and retailers need to better understand and utilize digital comics, but, for the present, digital comics aren’t doing much, if anything, to hurt prints comics, according to these professionals. As for piracy, it’s a bit mixed. Scott Wegener and Mark Waid both seem to fully embrace piracy, seeing that it helps more than it harms, and isn’t the scapegoat that the comics industry so often claims to be. Everyone else seems to see piracy as something that can’t be changed. It’s almost
a force of nature at this point. Try as they might, piracy will still happen, whether they like it or not. The morality of piracy isn’t so much to be considered as what Rob Guillory said: “Should people pay for the experience of consuming media, the fruit of someone else’s hard work?” The “normal” comic fan may not see quite eye-to-eye with the creators on the subjects, but I think Charles makes a good point about comics being more about collecting than reading, at this point, as so much of the industry is driven by collecting rather than just casual reading. As for me, I have to agree with the creators. Digital is great for comics. Piracy, while not necessarily nice, can’t really be hurting them. I have to admit that I’ve pirated a comic
or two, but I’m also part of the group that sticks by the “if I like it, I buy it” code. The one thing that I’ve found piracy to be good for, if it’s good for anything, is introducing people to comics. Dropping twenty bucks on a trade is a lot less desirable to someone completely new to comics than tying up a few megabytes of space on their computer with some torrented issues. As my friend Michael often puts it when we discuss piracy and digital comics, “I never would’ve bought comics if I didn’t steal them first.”
Leo Johnson
INTERVIEW: Taylor Davis
of the gaming year. As a big music and gaming fan, Geek Syndicate’s head-honcho caught up with Taylor about her music and inspirations. GS: You’ve said that you were inspired to take up the violin after being after being inspired by a young girl’s performance of Silent Night on the violin at a school assembly. What was it about that performance that made you decide to take up the vi ????DC??F????F?Rf?????2??R?bF??6R??7G'V?V?G2F?B6?&V??7F?"F?RV??F???2?F?Rv?6?Rv2????rF?R6??r?W7B&V??6???V7FVBv?F?6??WF???r??6?FR?b?Rv?V???V&B?B?B?Bv2??R?bF??6R??7F??7GV?fVV??w2F?N( ?2?&BF?FW67&?&R?26???26?R7F?VB????r??W7BfV?B??R?&V???VVFVBF?vWB???G2??f????u3?v??F?B??RFV6?FRF?7F'B6?fW&??r?V6W2?b?W6?2g&??F?Rv?&?B?bf?FV?2v?R?Bf????DC??N( ?2F?R?W6?2F?B?2?BF?R??7BV??F??????7B????fR???6?76?6??G&??VB??BF?7F?????6?76?6??W6?2?'WB?BF?W6?( ?B?fRF?R6?R??7B???V??F???2v?V?????B?f?"?R??N( ?2fVV??r?b??7F?v?&V6W6R?( ?fR??VB6?????bF?Rv?W2?6?fW"??BvF6?F?Rf???2?6?fW"6??w2g&?????fW'???F?v??s??( ?fR7GV??&VV?????rf?FV?v?W2???vW"F???( ?fR&VV?????rF?Rf???????B&VV?????p???W&?6?f?????7B?F???"Ff?27G&??W2?R2G'VR?W6?6???6?Rv?G2F?6?&R???W72?B???F?&?Vv??W"?W6?2?6??6R7F'F??r??WGV&R6???V????v??6?6?RW&f?&?2?W6?2?B?VF?W?2g&??f&??W2v?W2?F???"?2W&f?&?VBBF?RS2W???F?R??6?P?`???