#personal yap

even working at a comic shop with better access to works and a significant discount on purchases + a pretty good local public library selection accessibility remains a big issue in my experience with comics. if older patrons at my library growing up weren’t so invested in having green lantern and fantastic four comics available, my childhood self wouldn’t have even had a chance to encounter or become involved in comics as a hobby. and that’s all from my position within a u.s.american metropolitan area.

online archives were the only way to access so many indie comics from small or now defunct publishers, making a whole genre essentially lost media beyond the odd issue rotting in some attic long box. even if dc and marvel decide to make each and every work they’ve ever published available through their official digital libraries, that still leaves thousands of independent projects lost in this scorched earth anti-piracy crusade. independent projects that were more often able to tackle subversive or taboo subjects the big 2 weren’t willing to back, by creators driven by their need for expression instead of pure financial gain. all that creativity being erased like it never mattered is what i mourn the most.

but even for big 2 comics that have technically been afforded a print run, obtaining floppies or collected editions just to read is a complicated and expensive process. for example — milligan and ribic’s sub-mariner: the depths is a five-issue horror mini put out in 2008 for the marvel knights line.

the least expensive way to obtain all five issues used (and a complete story) legally hypothetically costs $18.49 via poshmark ($6.49 shipping) if bidding goes uncontested. i know this and have been looking for a physical copy of the depths extensively because of how much i enjoyed reading through it online via an archive. just like how i bought dc’s bodies tpb a few months ago after reading and really liking the first issue behind the counter at work. for dematteis’s 2001 spectre, one of my all time favorites and not available in any collected editions, i’ve spent over $70 just to own physically. without any avenue to access the spectre beforehand i would have no knowledge of something i’ve come to love nor would i have a reason to spend money on it.