Digital Comics Wars on Infinite Tablets!

Well, it is officially on. The tablet wars are in full swing, as Barnes and Noble has announced that their new Nook Tablet and Nook color will feature exclusive Marvel graphic novels. This comes in retaliation to the soon-to-be-released Amazon Kindle Fire, which will launch with 100 DC exclusives.

Barnes and Noble's first response to this news was slightly less dignified.

But now they've joined what, for a while at least, may be an actual tablet war, though it all comes across as a bit shortsighted and, unsurprisingly, nobody seems to have taken the consumer into account. The idea that in the worst economy since the Great Depression all comics fans will need at least two tablets in their possession, to purchase comics laden with crippling DRM insuring that they won't be readable if either tablet is discontinued, doesn't seem to bother Marvel, DC, Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Although all parties are handling the digital war about as poorly as one could imagine, here are a few facts about the really unlikable actor here, Barnes and Noble:

Barnes and Noble came to New York City when it was populated with many colorful independent bookstores. It promptly declared war on them and ran them out of existence. When citizens complained, Barnes and Noble played the "healthy free market, give the people what they want" card.

Then Amazon happened. Barnes and Noble began leaking money like a sieve and shuttering many of it's stores. It played the victim card, dressing itself up as a small business and mourning what would become of the world without "brick and mortar" stores with an independent identity. These were of course already long gone, as a Barnes and Noble in Greenwich Village looked exactly the same on the inside and out as a Barnes and Noble in Sheboygan.

Then, after throwing a hissy fit over the Amazon/DC deal, screwing both their own dwindling bottom line and their customers by removing 100 of the most popular DC books from their shelves, they entered into a similar arrangement with Marvel. So, as a man who has witnessed their business firsthand from the first day that they landed in New York City, I need to say something that's long overdue.

Fuck you very much, Barnes and Noble.

That said, let battle commence! Here's hoping that whoever wins, the consumer will be more than just collateral damage.