Will Comics Go Completely Digital?

I learned of a RedditAMA Q&A session with Archie Comics' Dan Parent yesterday and got to watch a couple of the video clips. There was one in particular that grabbed my attention. You can watch it here. I've experimented a little bit, but cannot figure out how to embed there AMA videos. But here is the question that Parent is responding to in this clip:

Do you think that comics will eventually stop printing and become fully digital?

Parent anticipates that there will always be a market (though a shrinking one) for dinosaurs like myself who want to hold their paper comics, but believes that the digital comic book market will continue growing in the coming years.

I think we are already seeing this shift reflected in Archie Comics' sales, which have continued to decline over the past six years. This was depressing to read, but then I noticed that we weren't seeing LIFE WITH ARCHIE reflected in those totals, nor do we see sales for their non-Archie titles such as NEW CRUSADERS or any of their licensed video game titles (SONIC and MEGA MAN). Additionally, we aren't seeing how well they are doing with their various books and trade paperbacks. And, most importantly for this particular blog article, we aren't seeing their digital sales reflected in these downward sale figures.

One of the things that I have noticed about Archie Comics since getting back into them over the past couple years is their prevalent use of digital tools to sell their comics. For a while, NEW CRUSADERS was only available digitally. Almost every day, Archie Comics releases tons of featured comic book releases on their Archie Comics App. And, I've gotta admit, I've bought my fair share of digital comics from the company over the past year -- including a bunch of titles that I missed when I was only reading Marvel Comics.

One of the books that I have been purchasing recently has been REGGIE & ME, which as far as I can tell is a digitally exclusive comic book title. It would not surprise me if we gradually begin noticing much more digitally exclusive comic books being published by Archie Comics and the other comic book publishers.

JUGHEAD ended publication early last year and fans have been anxiously awaiting his fate. Maybe Jughead won't get his print comic book back, but instead will find himself in a new digitally exclusive title? It might not be ideal to fortysomething comic book collectors, but it might be a great option for younger readers who enjoy downloading the latest title.

I still have my reservation about digital comics, but I am gradually coming to accept that they are a viable source for keeping the industry on its legs and its stories in the mind of this new generation of readers.