Usually I side with the internet comic book community on the bigger issues of the medium. When Joe Quesada decided to retcon everything about Spider-Man in Brand New Day I was pretty pissed. When I saw that Spider-Man, She-Hulk, Magneto, and Psylocke were thew new X-Team for “We Are the X-Men” I shared their confusion. But there’s one recent issue that I will break from the pack on: digital distribution of comics.

Upon the arrival of the iPad many in the tech-blog community touted the ability of the iPad, as an eReader, to download and display comic books. As a user of the Marvel iPhone app I can see how this software, applied to the iPad, would be great for someone who wants to read comics but doesn’t have the time to hit up a comic book store every Wednesday. In fact, one of the biggest reasons I’m considering an iPad is to use the Marvel (and hopefully soon DC) app to read comics.

But all was not well on the internet. The hardcore comic book fans decried digital distribution of comics as some sort of plague. That there is nothing like the feel of a real comic book, that distributors should not try to replace physical books with digital copies, and that digital distribution is bad for collectors. I want you to read that last sentence over a bit, because all of it is pretty ridiculous. I’ll address it point-by-point.

No, there is nothing like the feel of a real comic book. But I don’t know how many people over the age of thirteen carry comic books on their person, let alone multiple books. Digital distribution allows the average person to carry several “books” with them in one device. A corollary to this argument was that it didn’t allow a person to share their comics with someone else. Again, fair point. But you know that going into the purchase. They don’t try and trick you into thinking that you can share the comic with someone else. If you’re looking to share and trade comic books then digital distribution isn’t for you. Aside from that, I just hate loaning stuff out to other people. It’s a hassle, you may not get it back, and if you do get it back it could be in poor condition.

Regarding the replacement of physical comic books, that is a silly notion. Physical books of any type will never go away. Textbook publishers offer both print and digital copies of their works, as do any publisher with an eBook store. Even webcomics, whose primary means of distribution is on the internet (for free, no less) sell physical, paper copies of their books. Off the top of my head I can tell you that I have several books from rstevens, John Allison, and Mike & Jerry from Penny Arcade. Long story short, digital distribution hasn’t killed regular books yet. I wouldn’t be worried about comics.

The final point is about the effect on collectors. Which, if you’ve been paying attention the last few paragraphs, you probably already know I disagree with. Digital distribution will have NO effect on collectors. None. Know why? Because the people that read digital comics aren’t collectors. Even if they are, they would purchase both the digital and hard copies. Actually, that’s a pretty sound idea. One of the first principles of comic collecting is that you buy one to read and one to put aside. I’m not a huge comic collector, but I’ve got copies of the Death of Superman, Superman and Lois’ wedding, and even a 1960s Superman comic I bought off of eBay and all of them have never come out of the plastic. If anything digital distribution will help collectors because it provides them a redundant copy that will never lose quality.

The problem with niches like the comic community is that they lose sight of the bigger picture. If you’re someone who waits outside the comic shop every Wednesday for every single pull then digital distribution isn’t for you. Digital distribution is for the average Joe, who may just be getting into comics or is not a hardcore fan. The real problem these hardcore comic book fans believe that the whole of the comic medium is for them and no one else. They want to close off the community because they believe only people like them, who know every continuity of every character, deserve to even touch comics. If digital distribution opens up comics to a new audience that is good for the medium and the publishers but bad for the die-hards. Suddenly they can no longer wear the “Comic Book Nerd” badge of honor. If “normal” people are reading comics then the nerds are no longer unique.

My only advice to people who actually spent the time getting angry about digital distribution is to sit back and ask yourself why. There’s no need to go on a crusade. For you there will always be the local comic shop, ready and waiting for you. For me there’s an iPhone app, so I can read comics while I poop. Everybody wins.