April 2020 has been an unusually dry month for new comic book releases, but that dry spell is slowly coming to an end. DC Comics has revealed it will resume shipping new comics to stores on Tuesday, April 28.
The slowdown began earlier this month when Diamond Comic Distributors announced it would stop shipping deliveries of new books to stores as of April 1. Both Marvel and DC opted not to continue releasing new books digitally, so the only new releases in recent weeks have been trade paperback collections and digital-first titles like Batman: The Adventures Continue. DC previously indicated it was exploring a “multi-distributor model,” and it would seem they’ve found a temporary solution for printing and distributing comics while Diamond remains shut down.
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Unfortunately, don’t expect a full roster of new DC releases right off the bat. The publisher will be shipping a more limited selection of books over the next few weeks, with flagship titles like Batman and Superman still MIA. Here’s the full shipping list revealed so far:
April 28
- Batman #89 (3rd printing)
- Daphne Byrne #4
- The Dreaming #20
- Nightwing #70 (2nd printing)
- Batman GIANT #4
May 5
- Batman and the Outsiders #12
- DC Super Stars #17 (Facsimile Edition)
- The Flash #753
- The Green Lantern: Season Two #3
- Hawkman #23
- House of Whispers #20
- Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity #4
May 12
- Harley Quinn #72
- Justice League #44
- Justice League Odyssey #20
- Lois Lane #10
- Metal Men #6
Marvel has yet to announce when it plans to resume shipping new comics. We’ve reached out to the publisher for comment and will update this story when we learn more.
Limited selection or not, this definitely good news for comic readers starved for new reading material, especially on the heels of confirmation that San Diego Comic-Con 2020 has been canceled. If you’re unsure whether your local comic shop is still open and receiving new deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic, DC has a comic shop tracker tool that should provide more information.
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While the pandemic has caused delays and shutdowns across the entertainment industry, we’re hopeful some of 2020’s biggest comic book projects will get back on track. Looking ahead to the near future, DC is preparing for two major Joker-centric stories. Joker War will chronicle what may be the final confrontation between Batman and Joker, while the long-awaited Three Jokers will finally address one of the biggest mysteries in the DC Universe. Marvel, meanwhile, is gearing up for the Avengers/Fantastic Four crossover Empyre and a new X-Men event dubbed X of Swords.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com DC to Resume Shipping New Comics