Okay so. I just saw someone had straight up posted all 8 pages of the ROTTMNT 40th anniversary comic and like...yo ho and all that, pirating is good and fine...but this is not the time. I have two points:
1: if you want more ROTTMNT, Nickelodeon only measures ONE FUCKING METRIC and it's MONEY. Reading the comic on tumblr, raving about it or trending the tag or engaging with the creators on twitter, none of that matters to them. They don't go on tumblr, engagement isn't actionable and more importantly it means jack diddly squat to board members and investors, who are the REAL target audience of literally everything. If you want more ROTTMNT, you HAVE to buy the fucking comic with your actual money
2: the publishing industry, both of comics and books, works a whole lot differently than the movie and TV industry. Pirating comics and books
a: directly takes money from the hands of artists and authors in the form of royalties,
b: lowers chances of landing on bestsellers lists, and
c: means you are less likely to see more of it because the industry measures success in money!!!!
That goes for all of you who want to see the 2003 series get the Saturday Morning Adventures treatment. You have to show up with cash in hand.
In summary: if you want to pirate the comics because you can't afford it or whatever, that's okay. I'm not making moral judgements here. But you should do it quietly, and wait a few weeks at least. I cannot even imagine being the artist who worked for weeks on that comic to see it on tumblr in full the day of release, that's just fucking awful. Be respectful and remember that if you want more of something, you DO have to pay for it.
