How will the coronavirus affect comics?

[Cville]

So Diamond is shutting down and they ship comics.I hope Marvel gives us a statement about this.So if you get it online you wont get comics.Is diamond the oney way or not.

If its true about no solicits for July and August, then no comics online either, but Mavel and DC might make a power move and use this as an excuse to convert to full digital for new books and TBP for Barnes and Nobel. If DC and Marvel add new books to their subscription services, it over for brick and mortar.

[Mike_Murdock]

Marvel experimented with some digital first comics (such as with Jessica Jones). I don't get the impression it hit the numbers Marvel was hoping for.

[omegafix]

If its true about no solicits for July and August, then no comics online either, but Mavel and DC might make a power move and use this as an excuse to convert to full digital for new books and TBP for Barnes and Nobel. If DC and Marvel add new books to their subscription services, it over for brick and mortar.

So wait there is no July and August Solicits and the updated shipping will be: Aprils books to ship in June, Mays books to ship in July, and Junes books to ship in August?

[Immortal Weapon]

Until their printer shuts down, like DC's did. Then they are in the same boat. Not to mention, bookstores closing. Somewhere I read even Amazon is cutting back on what it is accepting into it's warehouses.

Amazon is prioritizing essential and medical supplies orders. Anyone orders that don't fall under that will get delayed.

[krazijoe]

DC may go under if there is a long distribution in distribution but it will push more people towards Digital.

[SanityOrMadness]

Amazon is prioritizing essential and medical supplies orders. Anyone orders that don't fall under that will get delayed.

Amazon aren't even restocking most stuff (either sold directly or "fulfilled by Amazon"). Once anything which isn't on the priority list you mention sells out - like TPBs - it'll stay sold out for who-knows-how-long.

[Snoop Dogg]

digital first would be a disaster

[skyvolt2000]

digital first would be a disaster

Well do digital first and later do a physical trade.

All you would be doing is bypass the floppy during this time and ensuring folks a physical copy later but as a trade.

[Digifiend]

This is a no-win situation. They screw over shops by doing digital first, or screw over readers by delaying stuff until the virus is over.

[Cville]

So wait there is no July and August Solicits and the updated shipping will be: Aprils books to ship in June, Mays books to ship in July, and Junes books to ship in August?

The solicit issue was posted by someone earlier, I was just commenting on it. You'd have to ask him what article he saw. What I'm seeing is Diamond does not keep a a lot of new books in there warehouses, so they may only have books for the next two weeks or so. So we wont be getting any new books for the next five to six months if the solicit rumor is true. I dont have much experience with digital, but if it doesn't go to shops, it probably won't be released online either.

[Cville]

Marvel experimented with some digital first comics (such as with Jessica Jones). I don't get the impression it hit the numbers Marvel was hoping for.

If was Jessica, Luke, and IF. Books that normally get cancelled after twelve issues. I'd want to see numbers from Empyre and DoX digital only before I threw in the towel.

But Im thinking unlimited access for a surcharge to the subscriptions services they already have. So people who like waiting can pay the same price and if they bungle it with Disney+, if its less than what I traditionally pay monthly for comics, I'd sign up.

[Digifiend]

The solicit issue was posted by someone earlier, I was just commenting on it. You'd have to ask him what article he saw. What I'm seeing is Diamond does not keep a a lot of new books in there warehouses, so they may only have books for the next two weeks or so. So we wont be getting any new books for the next five to six months if the solicit rumor is true. I dont have much experience with digital, but if it doesn't go to shops, it probably won't be released online either.

Not even that - they only have this week's, and those have been sent out already. They'll be clearing out their warehouses (merchandise, re-ordered back issues, etc) but not getting new comics from the printers.

[Triniking1234]

Well do digital first and later do a physical trade.

All you would be doing is bypass the floppy during this time and ensuring folks a physical copy later but as a trade.

And how much money do you think they make from the trades? The comic book industry makes their majority of sales from the initial release floppies.

Harleen Black Label TPB was the top selling TPB in February at 6,121 units at $30 equaling $183,630
But the #1 back in September sold 84,785 units at $7 equaling $678,280.

The piracy issue with digital releases cuts into those sales. It's gonna be a bad hit.

[babyblob]

I dont see why they wouldnt put out digital it would at least be some cash flow while they have to take a break from floppies.

[SuperiorIronman]

Yeah they're just going to move to digital for the duration of the crisis. Yeah piracy is going to happen but it's no different than if somebody has a physical copy. You can still put scans online even if you picked it up physically and major spoilers hit within the day anyways.

It's going to hurt the shops but every brick and mortar store will be affected during the pandemic.