How will the coronavirus affect comics?

[Digifiend]

IDW is also suffering and they’re the ones Disney has been outsourcing comics too right? I can’t believe that Disney would totally shut Marvel Comics down when they’re basically IP farms for outside media. But Disney is really hurting with all of their parks and cruise ships and whatnot shut down so who knows? They picked a terrible time to buy Fox and take on all that debt.

IDW was already suffering before this crisis, don't the current owners want to sell up?

[Username taken]

Rather than laying folks off, they need to get all hands on deck and figure out why the books just aren’t good and take action to fix the whole line.

They’re not distributing new comics because of the lockdown. Apart from DC, this is industry and nation wide.

It has nothing to with the quality of the comics. I’m also curious how you want them to take action to “fix the whole line” when comics aren’t even being sold right now.

[Digifiend]

They’re not distributing new comics because of the lockdown. Apart from DC, this is industry and nation wide.

And over in less than a month. It's too late to furlough staff now, they need to get back to work.

[Gaastra]

If other magazines could continue, and comics in other countries like the UK could, there's no reason US comic books couldn't. This was a complete screw up by all concerned.

Manga is still coming out also.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases/books/4367

[skyvolt2000]

Wait a minute, I’m reading that Diamond is resuming next month...if they are resuming next month, why is Marvel furloughing their staff????

They can’t pay wages for a few more weeks??

Key item in that release-staff can use personal time to keep getting a check.

So if one had tons of days-you use those, especially if you were looking to retire soon. Gotta use those days anyway if the company does not pay for them.

Also do those folks have contract or are regularly employed folks? If they have contracts don't those have to be paid out no matter what?

Also would the unemployment check be bigger than what they normally made? We have heard of stories like that.

[skyvolt2000]

They’re not distributing new comics because of the lockdown. Apart from DC, this is industry and nation wide.

It has nothing to with the quality of the comics. I’m also curious how you want them to take action to “fix the whole line” when comics aren’t even being sold right now.

And how do you address quality when most of the complaints target the race, gender and sexuality of the leads way more than actual story content?

Can't tell me about my books if you haven't read a Marvel book in 20 years.

[gurkle]

Arguments about whether comics have become too PC seem so, so 2010s.

I mean those arguments won't stop, but that era is over. This is the era when comic stores are going to be fighting for their lives and every entertainment business will be trying to figure out what their future will look like.

[Anthony W]

Arguments about whether comics have become too PC seem so, so 2010s.

All new! All Different! All fans will be bickering all the time!

I mean those arguments won't stop,

I blame Twitter.

but that era is over.

It's never really going to end, it just waxes and wanes.

This is the era when comic stores are going to be fighting for their lives and every entertainment business will be trying to figure out what their future will look like.

Magic 8 Ball says....what does it mean when the Magic 8 Ball catches on fire?

[Steel Inquisitor]

And over in less than a month. It's too late to furlough staff now, they need to get back to work.

It won't end in a month, this is a pandemic - not the flu. We haven't finished the first wave yet, this'll continue until the end of the year if we're lucky and we're not that lucky. Comics may have an ace in the hole in that they can switch to digital in theory but this isn't as simple to accomplish this industry wide due to how the industry is structured. Distribution systems which live or die and Diamond has been obsolete for years. "Getting back to work" sounds easy but in practice it's not that simple to just do it. Because it's a pandemic. Comic stores have difficulty accepting new shipments in print now and their stock won't last forever. Many small shops will die from this, it's unavoidable.

[scourge]

Magic 8 Ball says....what does it mean when the Magic 8 Ball catches on fire?

Time to buy a new Magic 8 Ball.

But seriously, with how likely it is that this pandemic isn't even close to being finished...Marvel and DC need to do something to get new comics out there. Both to keep their own lights on and keep from losing all their employees. Not to mention keeping fans invested and reading. And if that something involves cutting loose Diamond and any LCS that refuse to adapt...I guess that's how it'll have to be.

[JKtheMac]

It won't end in a month, this is a pandemic - not the flu. We haven't finished the first wave yet, this'll continue until the end of the year if we're lucky and we're not that lucky. Comics may have an ace in the hole in that they can switch to digital in theory but this isn't as simple to accomplish this industry wide due to how the industry is structured. Distribution systems which live or die and Diamond has been obsolete for years. "Getting back to work" sounds easy but in practice it's not that simple to just do it. Because it's a pandemic. Comic stores have difficulty accepting new shipments in print now and their stock won't last forever. Many small shops will die from this, it's unavoidable.

You are the first person in this thread who seems to have noticed what is really happening. This is not a ‘time to get back to how it was’ situation. This is a ‘nothing will ever be the same’ situation. Most of the press, including the comic book press, is living in the past or focused on sensational story angles to feed a population that are anxious and confused.

We need to focus on reality. We are all trying to negotiate a delicate path between walking into the biggest economic crash for a century and avoiding the largest death-toll in peacetime. Comics are insignificant in this struggle. Different companies are going to have different strategies and the only certainty is uncertainty.

Will Diamond actually survive? We don't know, Marvel don't know, DC don’t know.

Will comics survive? Of course they will. But we can be pretty certain they won’t be the same. Companies will fail, IP will get moved around yet again.

Will retail survive? This is questionable. The only retailers making money are the supermarket chains. Small independent retail has been struggling for over a decade. This is a stark reality for comic stores. The ones that survive will have to embrace whatever changes happen because to repeat, nothing will ever be the same again.

We don’t even know enough about this virus to predict if vaccines will ever be effective, if antibodies are even persistent (some initial studies suggest they are not in older people) or that any of the possible treatments will impact the spread. How can anyone make a prediction about a non-essential thing like comics when we don’t even know what working practices and quarantine procedures may be necessary in the years to come?

[Digifiend]

It won't end in a month, this is a pandemic - not the flu. We haven't finished the first wave yet, this'll continue until the end of the year if we're lucky and we're not that lucky. Comics may have an ace in the hole in that they can switch to digital in theory but this isn't as simple to accomplish this industry wide due to how the industry is structured. Distribution systems which live or die and Diamond has been obsolete for years. "Getting back to work" sounds easy but in practice it's not that simple to just do it. Because it's a pandemic. Comic stores have difficulty accepting new shipments in print now and their stock won't last forever. Many small shops will die from this, it's unavoidable.

So you expect them to not publish anything for the rest of the year? I meant the comics stoppage would be over, not the pandemic, Diamond are resuming next month. The lockdown can't continue much longer, it's destroying the economy. The shops will reopen soon if they didn't stay open throughout, everyone just needs to continue social distancing.

[Charlie_1981]

Anyone is worried about the fact that this is the first month without any kind of news about solicitations?

Of course, Coronavirus is affecting it in many ways, after all, live is more important than anything but people have to eat and pay tributes.

If this means a change, welcome it, maybe things will never be as it was before (hope is for good for everyone in the whole chain of comics industry)

[Drops Of Venus]

Anyone is worried about the fact that this is the first month without any kind of news about solicitations?

Of course, Coronavirus is affecting it in many ways, after all, live is more important than anything but people have to eat and pay tributes.

If this means a change, welcome it, maybe things will never be as it was before (hope is for good for everyone in the whole chain of comics industry)

I wouldn't say I'm worried about solicitations because it was pretty obvious they would have to hold them back as soon as books started to get delayed. They had 3 months of released solicits and probably none of them will stay the same, so they have to update all of their publishing line for the next months. It's probably a lot of work to do, specially for a publisher like Marvel that has sooo many different books out every month. We'll probably get solicits again when their reschedule is done. DC's solicits will probably come out first, since they are way far ahead of anyone.

[CentralPower]

omic stores have difficulty accepting new shipments in print now and their stock won't last forever. Many small shops will die from this, it's unavoidable.

Exactly.

I live in an area with multiple stores. And, while I am not hoping for any to go under, I fully expect at least one of them to collapse.

Most of those stores rely almost exclusively on new product. (At least one does not bother bagging back issues, because they are not worth it.)

I am honestly wondering if I will be reading comics at the end of this. Everything on my pull-file is likely to be cancelled or retooled in to something nearly unrecognizable when/if the industry starts again.