In light of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Diamond Comic Distributors announced it is suspending new shipments of new physical comics to specialty stores, many of which have been ordered to temporarily close their doors to comply with local ordinances shuttering non-essential businesses.
As one of the comic industry's largest distributors, Diamond is responsible for shipments of weekly titles from Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, Dynamite, BOOM! Studios and more. In response to Diamond's decision, publishers across the industry have responded in a variety of ways. Like some publishers, Dark Horse and BOOM! have decided not to release any of their comics digitally if they are not available in print. Meanwhile, DC plans to continue releasing a weekly slate of digital comics. Now, we're going to break down the best ways to keep on getting new comics, despite the quickly-changing landscape of comic accessibility.
Support Local Comic Shops
While a majority of new single issues will not be physically available on New Comic Book Day, customers can still support their local comic shops while also practicing social distancing. Many stores that are still open offer no or reduced contact services like curbside pickup or mail order. And even if new products aren't available, most comic stores still have a wealth of back issues and collections available for purchase. For regular readers, there's never been a better time to pick up anything a store might be holding for you to catch up on everything you've missed.
Both Marvel and BOOM! Studios have provided resource lists of stores that provide these services, encouraging their fans to support their local shops.
New Digital Releases
Even though Diamond is no longer shipping new comics, both DC and Archie Comics will release a slate of new comics digitally this week. DC is also set to release a slate of new digital titles this week. As Adam Phillips, DC's director of marketing service, wrote in a statement to retailers, "All our data shows the digital consumer and the physical consumer are two different audiences. For now, we're going to continue to release digital comics, but will revisit this if the pipeline for physical distribution continues to be challenged and disrupted."
These comics will be available on comiXology and on their publisher's respective digital storefront.
ComiXology Unlimited
In addition to having new releases for sale, comixology has thousands of digital comics, manga and graphic novels available for individual purchase. Additionally, the Amazon company also offers a subscription service called comiXology Unlimited.
With more than 25,000 comics and graphic novels from Marvel, DC Image and more, this service offers unlimited access to a considerable portion of comixology's digital catalog. For new users, the service currently offers a free 60-day trial. After that trial, the service is $5.99 a month.
Marvel Unlimited
Even if new Marvel titles aren't being released physically, fans have plenty of time to catch up on already published titles with Marvel Unlimited. On Marvel's subscription service, more than 27,000 issues from Marvel are available, and more are added every week. The service also adds newer comics, roughly six months after their initial publication. After a free trial week, the service is $9.99 a month after that.
DC Universe
In addition to featuring original series like Titans and fan-favorite older shows like Batman: The Animated Series, DC Universe has a massive library over 22,000 comics available to subscribers, ranging from DC's earliest days to titles published within the past year. After a free one-week trial, this service costs $7.99 a month.
Image Comics
For anyone looking for a new creator-owned series, Image Comics has made many of its first issues readily available in stores --at sample friendly prices -- or online for free. Image's website offers a range of first issues for free on its site, and Image also provides links to the several platforms that feature the remaining issues digitally, including Comixology, Kindle, Apple iBooks and Google Play.
Dark Horse Comics
While Dark Horse is not releasing new comics, the publisher's digital platform is still up and running. With a free Dark Horse account, readers have the ability to purchase published, digital single issues that are available to read on its site or the publisher's mobile app.
Similar to Image Comics, Dark Horse also has a selection of free issues that can be read online.
Viz Media
VIZ Media offers free chapters for a range of digital manga, including shonen, shojo and more sub-genres. Meanwhile, the latest chapters of the Shonen Jump series are available for free for Shonen Jump members.
For $1.99 a month, Shonen Jump offers subscribers access to a "digital vault" with 10,000 manga chapters, including every part of iconic series like Dragon Ball, One Piece, My Hero Academia, Boruto and many, many more.
2000 AD
The seminal comics anthology 2000 AD will continue to publish new issues both digitally and physically. 2000 AD also has an app with free access to offers a handful of stories featuring Judge Dredd and the title's other iconic heroes from its digital library.
The app also has dozens of digital graphic novels and the latest issues of 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Magazine for sale.
Black Mask Studios
Indie publisher Black Mask has its own online store where readers can purchase titles like 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank directly.
Black Mask Studios is providing free shipping for U.S. orders over $10, and offers customers the option to enter the name of their local comic shop under special instructions so that half of the payment will go to the retailer.
Webcomics
For those who are staying in, webcomics can be a great source of new entertainment. Since these comics are initially released online, new installments will continue to be released on platforms like Webtoon and Tapas -- which are unaffected by distributors halting services.
Beyond those platforms, there are a countless number of webcomics available to read on social media platforms like Instagram and on the sites and accounts of individual aritsts and series.
Go Comics
For those looking for traditional comic strips instead of issues, Go Comics provides classic and more contemporary strips like Calvin and Hobbs, Garfield, Nancy and The Far Side. With a free account with the site, readers can access decades of archives from over 540 series.
The site also offers a 30-day free trial for its premium membership, which includes adless reading and e-mails of the day's new comic strips.