We will be getting new comic books sooner than expected. As reported by Bleeding Cool, Diamond Comics Distributors, the biggest comic book distributor in the business, has laid out a plan to resume operations in May. The company previously closed down temporarily due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“While there are many steps and conversations that need to happen between today and resuming distribution of new weekly product, we are currently targeting mid- to late-May with the hope that, as an industry, we can all work toward that timeframe,” Diamond said. “Of course, as we have all seen, target dates sometimes need to be adjusted in this ever-changing new-normal. But we cannot wait for firm dates. We have started the planning process and are having these important conversations with publishers and retailers so that once we have more clarity, we are in a position to restart and scale operations over time.
“Our intent is to restart the weekly FOC process once we have worked with publishers on a new schedule for product releases,” Diamond continued. “Product that was originally scheduled for release on April 1st and 8th will be distributed over a longer period, allowing publishers to work with printers to deliver new product without further interruption. Retailers will be able to adjust order quantities for those products, making sure that they are receiving quantities that make sense for the current situation in their stores.”
The other good news is that DC Comics has also announced a series of new books that will begin arriving at the end of April. The slight rift in this plan is that DC has formed new distribution partnerships outside of Diamond to get its new books in shops. While that creates a degree of uncertainty for Diamond, it’s good news for DC fans. Here are the new books coming our way, per Newsarama.
April 28 New DC Comics Titles:
Batman #89 (3rd Printing)
Featuring the first appearance of Punchline!
Daphne Byrne #4
Daphne gains a new ally as she continues to wrestle with the malevolent forces within her!
The Dreaming #20
The unbelievable finale to Si Spurrier and Bilquis Evely’s epic tale from the Sandman Universe!
Nightwing #70 (2nd Printing)
The Clown Prince of Crime comes to Ric Grayson and Bludhaven in this prelude to The Joker War!
Batman GIANT #4
Classic stories from the world of The Dark Knight, plus an all-new chapter of the original story “Concrete Jungle,” by Mark Russell (Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles) and Ryan Benjamin!
The big X-factor here is how comic book shops, which are mostly closed at the moment, will handle things. They may be able to offer curbside pickup or fulfill online orders, but we’re still a long way off from being able to just wander into a local shop and browse the new comics.
So what do you think? Are you going to be picking up any of these new DC titles? Are you excited that Diamond will be resuming distribution? Join in on the conversation over on Facebook or Twitter!
