Daniel McAbee of The Tangled Web in Spartanburg, South Carolina expresses his disappointment with the upcoming cancellation of Shonen Jump ("Why Cancel One of the Bestselling Comics in the U.S.?").

As a comics retailer, I am saddened to see Viz make such a short sighted decision in canceling the US print edition of Shonen Jump magazine.  All of the content contained in the print version of the magazine is available digitally MONTHS before it makes it to print on various 'FanSub' sites and yet they still sell over 120,000 copies of the print magazine.  This shows that there is still a demand for the printed material.  I would imagine that, like myself, there are many people who keep up with the new Japanese material weekly via online sources and then when print editions come available, they purchase them.  I do this to support the creators and companies who work to bring the translated material to the U.S.  I also buy the collected graphic novels for my personal collection for exactly the same reason.  Even though in many cases, I have already read translations of the material, I buy physical copies to keep and collect.  Now, there is one less product for me to buy to support them and one less reason for readers to come into my retail store for product.

Why would Viz give up a revenue stream on a product that is selling very well in printed form?  Do they not realize that the people who already read the translated material from Japan no longer have the option on buying that product?  I would think that the 'tag-along' effect of an anthology magazine alone would be worth the having print version of the book available.  Now that the print magazine will no longer be available, the Bleach fans (or Naruto fans--take your pick) no longer have the other 'free' manga contained in the magazine to read and possibly enjoy.

I'm not advocating the use of Fan Sites who illegally distribute copyrighted material on the Internet, but it would be foolish not to acknowledge their existence and their uses.  I have literally dozens of customers who come into the store to buy product who freely admit, "Yeah I read a lot of stuff online, but I like to buy the stuff I enjoy."  They come in because they want physical copies of the product that they can read and because they can talk to someone about the stories.  They also get recommendations and interaction with others who enjoy the same stuff that they do.  Digital just isn't the same--and it never will be.

...another small step closer to the Abyss.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.