COVID-19 And The Comic Industry
The COVID-19 pandemic is one that has affected the lifestyles and business functions of many groups on a global scale. As people prepare to focus on the necessities during this time, the entertainment industry is taking a large hit in business. One subdivision of the entertainment industry, comics, seems to be getting hit particularly hard. Recently in light of the pandemic, the CEO of Diamond Comic Distributors (which holds a near-monopoly on all North American comic book circulation), announced the closing of their comic distribution system. Since the 1970s new comics have been set to release every Wednesday for “New Comics Day”. However as of March 23, 2020, for the first time in 80 years, no new comics will ship to comic shops.
Problems due to COVID-19 were cited by CEO of Diamond Comic Distributors, Steve Geppi, as retailers being unable to service customers, shipping delays, and supply chain issues. To put this into perspective, it is said that even historic global events such as World War II and 9/11 have not interfered with the comic industry’s ability to operate. The immediate consequences are wide-reaching as publishers alert printers to halt operation. A large concentration of comic freelancers on twitter has received “pencils down” messages from their hiring publishers, calling an end to comic production even on the artist’s end. Publishers such as Archie comics have announced the release of April titles digitally while others such as DC and Marvel plan to follow suit.
As other businesses close due to the pandemic with plans to reopen, some have questioned the odds of the comic book industry making a return post-COVID-19. With particular concern for smaller, independently owned comic shops who are at greatest risk. This speculation comes after much decrease in interest of American comic books in recent years. While digital sales have been the obvious next step for these comics, they haven’t been seeing the same sales figures as physical copies, which have already been on the decline. While many factors such as, other modern forms of entertainment, controversial practices within the industry, and comic releases that seem to push away longtime fans have been attributed to this decline. A large contender to American comics has been the wild popularity of Japanese manga titles. Not only their popularity but the low price points of reading subscription services for manga through publishers such as VIZ Media. Which allows readers to access their entire vault of the biggest titles for 1.99 a month compared to purchasing a physical marvel issue for 3.99 per unit. With so much stacked against the North American comics industry, it’s hard to paint a bright future for comic publishers who aren’t acquired by larger, monetarily abundant companies such as Marvel’s relationship with Disney.
