Over the past few weeks, I’ve been going through some of the ways to read digital comics through both free and paid services. In the first round, three of the most prominent players: Marvel Unlimited, DC Comics Infinite, and Comixology Unlimited.Next up were ComicBook+, Global Comix, and Hoopla. This time, I’m tackling something I had concerns about: Internet Archive.
Okay, I admit this one sounds a little sketchy, and it involved some legal challenges. The non-profit organization Internet Archives, founded in 1996, was created and today holds 835 billion web pages, 44 million books and texts, and 15 million audio recordings. There are some pros and cons to weigh in.
Since 2020, it has been sued by music labels and book publishers over alleged copyright infringement. A recent ruling a few months ago found the Internet Archive culpable, and the fallout has some doubts about its long-term survival. However, there remain some concerns because it does provide an invaluable public resource, and IA is, for all intents and purposes, a digital lending library.
Here is one of my sticking points—I can read comic book-related materials via Internet Archive, but I can’t download those copies. All I can do (or anyone) is actually check them out and read them on the website. After a certain amount of time—it gets returned to the library.
If I truly wanted something for my collection, we all know there are plenty of piracy sites out there. Personally, for many reasons, I think those piracy websites are wrong and hurt both big and small publishers. But, I do believe there is ONE exception, which I’ll get in a moment.
I get some publishing houses believe that copyright infringement harms the writers and the books. However, it also denies researchers tools to understand problems and, often, what is available via the Internet Archives. If well-funded universities already use the archives, can you imagine how difficult it is for some less-privileged universities that lack the infrastructure?Researching is my one exception.
Years ago, DC had a line of black and white trades called DC Showcase Presents. These collections were unique because they reprinted things one might consider not exactly what comic fans were buying. One such volume was The Unknown Soldier, and as a fan, I’m interested in seeing how Bob Haney or Archie Goodwin wrote war stories. Let’s not forget both Joe Kubert and Robert Kanigher did DC’s war comics for decades.
It is long out-of-print, and DC doesn’t see the point of archivingsome lesser-known genres. I think that’s wrong: the DC Legacy was not built only on heroes. I noticed that the recently completed Avengers story continues into a new Infinity Comic on Marvel Unlimited. Obviously, their digital services are growing and making money—they take the time and resources to archive more comics.
Like Marvel’s Millie, the Model. Now, newer fans are clueless. It was a comic that ran from the Golden Age and straight into the Bronze Age. Again, it was part of Marvel’s bread-and-butter before the Silver Age heroes. Also, a lot of the comics had work by the underappreciated “other Stan”—Goldberg. For newer fans, Google his name, and you’ll understand his importance at Marvel.
Big companies run both Marvel and DC, and each company has a complete run of all of its comics. As a fan and one interested in the history and legacy of each company, I would vastly enjoy seeing more non-hero stuff. I mean, how much does it cost to scan and turn a comic into a digital format? The lack of older comics is the main reason why they no longer subscribe to their digital platforms.
So, yes—I do recommend you check out the Internet Archives. They definitely have things available that are hard to find. Andmaybe there will be something that gets into your fanboy bones so much that you go seeking more of a particular genre or creator at your comic book shop. The future of comics cannot and won’t survive on the latest Buzz Comics. We, as fans, owe it ourselves to constantly look for more fantastic reads!
About Author
