This might be the most shocking week to be a weekly comic book reader as single-issue comics seem to have been halted until further notice. Publishers have remained mum–largely due to the rapid change in news and information–after Diamond Comics Distributors revealed they were stopping shipments after the March 25th new comics shipped. A few have revealed they will not release comics digitally until print distribution continues, but it still remains a question mark for some.
Today, Newsarama has reported DC Comics will continue to sell comics digitally. According to the article this information was shared via DC’s private Facebook page for Direct Market comics book retailers. This is unsurprising since most of the information we do know has come from correspondences between publishers and the Direct Market retailers. In the Facebook page the Director of Marketing Services, Adam Phillips explained why DC Comics would continue to sell comics digitally:
“All our data shows the digital consumer and the physical consumer are two different audiences. For now, we’re going to continue to release digital comics, but will revisit this if the pipeline for physical distribution continues to be challenged and disrupted.”
The article doesn’t get into specifics about when DC Comics might start selling digital comics while shipping continues to be delayed, but the April 1st comics scheduled to release include premiere titles like Strange Adventures #2, Batman #92 and Harley Quinn #72.
If Phillips is right, selling comics digitally shouldn’t affect local comic book shops, but that isn’t to say dedicated readers who only purchase comics at their local comic shop won’t be inclined to purchase comics digitally if this is the only way to continue reading for the time being. Readers who tend to buy their comics online, however, will likely see this as great news.
DC Comics publicity did not immediately respond to us for comment.
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