How NFTs Are Impacting The Comic And Art Collecting World

How NFTs Are Impacting The Comic And Art Collecting World

The Internet is abuzz with chatter about NFTs, but just what they are isn’t always clear. Are NFTs a fad, and what impact might they have on comics?

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How NFTs Are Impacting The Comic And Art Collecting World

The world of comics is experiencing a major shake-up thanks to “NFTs,” but just exactly what’s happening and how it will affect the industry and hobby is up in the air. NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, are a relatively new type of blockchain technology, coming from the Ethereum cryptocurrency, which has exploded onto the scene in 2021 following several high-profile digital art sales. They’ve ranged from special Wonder Woman gif sets to cash-ins from notorious Youtubers to museum-level “High Art.” As is often the case with young technologies, it’s clearly useful for something, but what it’s truly good for has yet to appear.

Blockchain technology has expanded rapidly in recent months, finding new applications in areas far beyond cryptocurrencies, but the terminology of the field is often opaque to newcomers. Non-Fungible Token is simply a term that refers to things that aren’t interchangeable – each NFT is utterly unique, and as such can be used to represent ownership of digital “objects,” whether those are works of digital art or items in an online game or a video clip. In that regard, it’s similar to a certificate of authenticity or the serial numbers of a limited run collectible. Like with cryptocurrencies, it’s possible to trace the transaction history of an NFT using the public ledger, which can also help to verify ownership and authenticity and prevent theft and fraud. Two NFTs can represent the same kind of thing – for example, a mint condition copy of Action Comics #1 and a highly damaged copy of the same issue – but just like those two comics, that doesn’t mean they’re functionally identical the way two $1 bills are.

Where this gets complicated is the fact that NFTs are being used to represent digital goods, not physical ones. While a buyer can look those two comic books over and examine them, two copies of a digital piece are perfectly identical to each other, and to the “original” file. To use the terms of the trade, all copies of a digital artwork are, essentially, fungible. So how can NFTs be used to represent art?

How NFTs Are Impacting The Comic And Art Collecting World

This is actually the whole point of bringing NFTs into the realm of artwork – with a physical painting, there’s always an original piece, and all other versions are prints of varying size and quality, but that’s not the case with digital art. But, if an NFT is attached to represent “ownership” of that digital art piece, then it functions as proof that the owner of the NFT now possesses a legitimate print that can be traced back to the artist. It offers artists a new way to make money off their work and helps to combat the infinite replication (or piracy) of digital files. And, as the world of digital works and products continues to grow in prominence, it helps to maintain part of what people enjoy about collecting in the first place.

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The direct impact of NFTs on the world of comics so far has been fairly small, but the potential is immense and constantly growing. Former DC Comics artist José Delbo sold NFTs of Wonder Woman artwork in the form of the aforementioned gif sets, raising nearly $2 million for charity through their sale. DC, of course, hasn’t been too pleased about this, banning other artists against any attempts at profiting off of their intellectual property. But an NFT doesn’t represent the copyright to something, and in that regard, it’s no different than selling prints of fan art at a Comic Con’s artist alley. According to some internal documents which were obtained by Bleeding Cool, DC already has plans for NFT collectibles on their own, including both original artwork and artwork from comics. NFTs for comics might also allow for digital “first editions” that have collectible value in the same way that physical first editions do now. No doubt Marvel and other comics publishers will not be far behind.

There is reason to be skeptical, however; NFTs are almost certainly in a bubble right now, as speculators just learning of their existence flock to the markets in hopes of making a quick buck. And for many, owning a digital token that represents something that anyone can download for free just won’t make for a compelling collection. Those Wonder Woman gifs? They can be found easily with a quick search. Even the Beeple artwork which recently sold for millions at a Christie’s auction was openly posted on Instagram (and can be seen, in part, above). While some NFT sales have also included physical swag to help sweeten the deal, that’s not something that can be relied upon forever if these are to become more than a curiosity. And like cryptocurrencies, there’s an ecological impact to worry about, as the electricity consumed in the process of crypto mining isn’t negligible. Increasing that consumption simply for digital collectibles just isn’t a wise decision as a society as it is a net harm to the environment. There are also ownership issues for what goes on sale that are also proving to be problematic.

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What are the other issues? Crypto Art is not regulated and has no quality control. This means that anyone can mint an NFT and attach “The Mona Lisa” (for example) and sell it. No one will check, if the person selling it, was the original artist. That’s an issue.

On the other hand, NFT collectibles have already been a proven concept, as one of the first implementations of NFT was “Crypto-Kitties,” collectible digital pets tied to these tokens. And just because someone else can have the same thing doesn’t mean that the object loses any value – after all, counterfeit trading cards have been a problem for years, but authentic cards still hold value, even if anyone can get a bootleg for cheap. This can even apply to digital goods, as there are entire communities dedicated to confirming and accounting for the legitimacy of Pokemon when trading, even if there’s functionally no difference. NFTs lend that legitimacy to the sale and trade of digital art, and there’s definitely value in that. Some NFT artwork has already been designed to change with each transaction, evolving in different ways over time to create something even more unique and potentially valuable than before. For creative minds, the sky may very well be the limit on NFT’s applications, and there’s plenty of possibilities that have yet to be discovered, much less explored.

Whatever the future may hold for NFTs, the comics industry will surely see a greater impact from them in the coming months. Whether that’s in the form of collecting digital comics or offering new income streams to artists, or entirely different uses that haven’t even been thought of yet, the industry will adapt, just as it has through the decades. Maintaining that collectible status as the comic medium transitions to more digital sales is important, and if NFTs can offer a solution to this problem, then the industry is likely to embrace them more – but still, a number of questions remain before they can be fully embraced.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/nft-comic-art-impact-marvel-dc-comics/

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