CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP)— Starting on April 1, many comic book shops will not have a fresh crop of issues, which are released weekly, for the first time in recent memory—making purveyors of masked superheroes and illustrated stories the latest industry to face big changes due to the novel coronavirus.
Most publishers have paused both physical and digital releases following the decision of Diamond Distributors— which has exclusive rights to distribute big labels such as Marvel Comics, DC Comics and Image comics—to indefinitely pause shipments of comics to distributors.
According to a statement from Diamond last week, the decision was influenced by the global coronavirus pandemic.
Kate DeNeveu and David Murray, owners of Telegraph Art & Comics, which has two locations in Charlottesville, said that while losing sales from weekly issues will have an impact, they’re focused on moving a swath of other products.
“We tend to order pretty tightly when it comes to new issues—around 90% of the issues we order go directly to subscribers,” DeNeveu said. “Right now we’re focusing on keeping up relationships with subscribers through email and social media and helping them find new stories.”
DeNeveu and Murray opened a second location near Hillsdale last year, allowing…
