Online comics

Cost-effective & higher quality

By Germaine Choi

Unlimited space. Limited production costs. Publishers are enthused by the idea of putting local comics into cyberspace.

There are about four commercial web sites providing local online comics for readers.

Jade Dynasty Publications was the first comic publisher to set up a commercial online site in Hong Kong. Kingcomics.com was set up by Jade Dynasty in March 2000.

Currently, the site provides more than 90 percent of the Jade Dynasty comics collection.

Fifty thousand pages of comics are uploaded on the site. It also provides e-shopping and comic news.

According to Alan Wan, chief executive officer of Kingcomics.com, expansion to overseas markets is their goal.

Said Mr. Wan: “It took several years to develop a new market in the past. But it only takes a few months to do so on the Internet.”

Mr. Wan said the language barrier can be overcome in cyberspace.

Said he: “A simplified Chinese version of our site will be launched.”

He said they were mainly targeting the China, Taiwan and Hong Kong markets.

Mr. Wan values the halved production cost resulting from the removal of the printing stage.

From March 2001, it has started to charge viewers $1 per view of a comic.

However, the online versions are one week behind the printed versions.

“The delay is deliberate to ensure the sales of the books,” said Mr. Wan.

Meanwhile, other local comic book publishers are also considering putting comics online.

One of them is Culturecom. Ricky Chan, the marketing supervisor of Culturecom, said they were still considering but there was no concrete plan.

Nevertheless, Mr. Chan pointed out the attributes of online comics. He said that online comics are available 24 hours and are easy to access.

Overseas subscriptions and delayed viewing can be eliminated.

Mr. Stanley Yuen, 20, has been an online comic reader for nearly a year.

At first he visited just Kingcomics.com because it was the only one available.

Even though Kingcomics.com has started to charge customers, Mr. Yuen still continues to view comics online.

Said he: “I need to pay $13 for a book. But I only need to pay $1 for reading one book online.”

But Mr. Yuen has not stopped buying comic books.

“I still buy those comic books which have not been put online, like those published before the set-up of the web site,” said he.

As for the quality of online comics, Mr. Yuen said there is no difference between online comics and traditional ones.

“The pictures are clear and the colours are quite good,” said he.

“But indeed it’s not as convenient as reading from books.”

Said Mr. Wan of Kingcomics.com: “The images of online comics have higher pixels than books because they are not printed.

“Online comics have better light contrast too,” said he.

Mr. Kenny Tsang, 29, is a comic fan who has read local comics for 15 years.

“I can read the new comics on the site before deciding whether to buy it or not,” said Mr. Tsang.

He thinks that online comics can open up the Japanese market.

But according to Mr. Wan, entering the Japanese market is not easy.

Said Mr. Wan: “The market structure of Japan is very different from ours.

“It has poor Internet facilities and the cost of going online is very high.

Most people won’t do so to read comics.”On the other hand, both Mr. Tsang and Mr. Yuen think that there is still room for improvement.

“I hope that the online comics can be updated frequently,” said Mr. Yuen.

Said Mr. Tsang: “It would be better if these web sites can provide more news and information about local comics.”

Mr. Wan said the development still had a long way to go.

“More people will get broadband Internet service in the future and then there will be more online comic readers,” said he.

“But it may take 3 or 5 or even 10 years.”