Comics and COVID: A Roundtable Discussion

[Header image from Cory Turner and Malaka Gharib’s COVID-19 comic for NPR’s Goats and Soda]

The COVID-19 pandemic was the top story of 2020, and will certainly continue to be at the forefront in 2021.  No industry was spared the effects of this global pandemic, including comics. From postponements and cancellations of series to the entire Diamond direct market shutdown in April and May, comics will come out the other side of the pandemic a changed industry.

We asked several of our staff members for their reflections on the pandemic and the world of comics: what trends they see coming out of this year, the response from publishers and retailers, how certain series and events were affected by these changes, and even how their own reading and purchasing habits changed throughout the year.

Kate Kosturski: The shutdown definitely weakened an already weak Diamond dominance. Publishers had always been experimenting with new means of content like digital first, and this is just going to accelerate that trend. Speaking personally, I’ve been buying primarily digital since mid-March since my two preferred shops are in New York City, and I haven’t been in the city since my company moved us to remote work in March. Certainly I will go back to that when I’m regularly commuting again, but the convenience of digital is here to stay, I think.

We may also see more trends catering to the trade waiters and binge readers. Think more TKO Studios-type titles, or another publisher doing what Archie did with their comiXology Unlimited deal. Why risk waiting for your books bi-weekly when the conduit between your shop and your publisher could be shut down at any time?

I also wonder if content like manga and 2000 AD will retain any new fans they picked up in the shutdown period. They were still publishing when Diamond wasn’t, and manga’s star has been on the rise for several years.

James Dowling: In our freelancing-based comics industries, the hardest impact of the pandemic was almost definitely the loss of opportunity. There are probably hundreds of projects we will never even hear about that were stymied by the Pandemic in their early stages just because of the frustrating little individual ways each publisher shit the bed. I feel like that kind of rigidity will continue on with the major publishers, who have pretty good odds of staying stubborn in terms of insular advertising, an emphasis on selling single issues, and myopic obsessions with sale bumps through relaunches and variant covers.

Still, I absolutely agree with Kate that we’re moving towards a market that’s more and more appealing to trade-waiters, I know that I’ve definitely become one of them in this sluggish year. We’re seeing so many more OGNs appealing to a far wider audience, plus Marvel and DC have both cut down their time to release collected editions significantly. I think though, as much as I’ve ragged on major publishers, DC have actually seemed to have some kind of forward motion editorially recently (if you put aside the fact that they fired half the editors who helped make that change). It’s still too early to say if it’s efficacious, but their new emphasis on anthology could make them more shutdown-proof in the future. Plus more characters and creators get a spotlight, seeing as a chance at participation doesn’t hinge on getting your own title anymore. That, plus the shift towards any kind of distributor other than Diamond, is a big win, I don’t think Lunar or UCS are really better on merit but any kind of variety and plurality is better than the incompetent monopoly of Diamond.

The future absolutely lies in the world of digital self-publishing, with established creators making waves on personal platforms like Panel Syndicate while growing artists create treasure troves on Patreon. 2020 was just about the most shitty year comics have seen since the Comic Book Crash, but you have to hope that its left behind a more adaptable medium. On a personal level, if you’re looking for some publishers that did do a good job with the pandemic look to our small press publishers of the year for some strong starting points. Happy Holidays and a happier new year to you all.

Kate: I agree on the OGN side. When an OGN (Raina Telgemeier’s “Smile”) tops the New York Times bestseller list for several weeks, that says something. Heck, I bought my mom her first ever graphic novel this year for Christmas! (“Drawing the Vote” by Tommy Jenkins. She had been asking a lot of questions about the U.S. election and I figured this covered all of them better than I could have.)

I think we’re going to see a lot more self-funded comic projects – – Kickstarter, etc. – – and then perhaps a partnership with a publisher later down the line. That itself will also challenge creators to be creative with their offerings to get people in early.

Christa Harader: We saw Kickstarter explode during the shutdown, and some bigger name creators brought some attention (good and negative) to the question of equity on that platform. When the primary direct distribution hub isn’t distributing, people have to do what they have to do. Kickstarter’s traditionally been a way for indies to raise capital, however, and industry juggernauts using it had more than a few folks raising their eyebrows – despite Kickstarter’s recommended campaign function.

Per Kate’s notes above, digital is absolutely here to stay, and I don’t think we’ve seen the full effect on brick-and-mortar shops yet. Some of them have been able to stay afloat for a variety of reasons (fundraisers, curbside pickup, etc.) and some are barely hanging on, and were before the pandemic hit. The first half of next year may see a spate of pretty grim closures, unfortunately, and digital always gets a bump when our LCSs dwindle.

The shutdown reminded us that Diamond’s had a monopoly for, frankly, far too long, and that other distribution methods are needed when your one conduit shutters for whatever reason. Competition in this space is healthy, and exciting. We’ll have to wait and see how DC’s new model works, and that’s likely what other publishers are doing before they make a similar move

I caught up on a backlog during the shutdown, and pretty much abandoned Big 2 content for the foreseeable future. There’s so much good indie stuff out there, and so many creators self-publishing or smaller presses (Vault, Scout, etc.) expanding that I don’t personally have a need for that regular superhero injection unless something of note comes along. I discovered some of my favorite comics during the shutdown – both of this year, and in general.

I already wasn’t a firm LCS patron for a variety of reasons, but for me, it’s not worth the risk. I feel for my local shops, but physical comics aren’t a good reason to break my quarantine pod. I’m buying a lot more from ABEBooks and Bookshop online, and find myself hunting down more recent traded minis that I might not have bought otherwise. I miss dollar bin trawls, but my family’s safety comes first.

Kate: Certainly the bigger shops a la Midtown Comics in New York City will stay, but I sadly don’t see much of a future for the lone comic shop we have in my town in Connecticut. What I think you’ll see shops doing is a pivot towards event spaces, something that started pre-pandemic and will accelerate more post-pandemic. Shops that also reacted quickly to pandemic conditions will also survive, since they’ve become rather pandemic-proof. In both these cases, I think of Anyone Comics in Brooklyn. They sold comics, but also turned their basement into an event space that has hosted game nights, burlesque, comedy, and much more. And when New York City shut down non-essential businesses, the owner got a more robust web presence up quickly, did bike deliveries for the neighborhood, and when summer came around, hosted several socially distant comic swaps and Magic: the Gathering events.

Elias Rosner: I definitely see many of the major comics companies start to think about diversifying their lines in terms of the format in which they release books (shifting to digital, adding more OGNs to the mix over the traditional monthlies, more quarterlies or bi-monthly books that can more easily shift should the need arise.) Honestly, though, I think the shut-down won’t change much with regards to, like, Image publishing every book that shows up on their doorstep or Marvel/DC trying to put out 100+ books a month, it’ll just take a while to get back there. That’s not what I hope from them but it’s what I think will happen. As Christa said, though, maybe kickstarter will become a bigger part of a series’ survival or creation, though I suspect it’ll be used more for projects like “Curse Words: The Hole Thing” omnibus than Snyder & Daniels’ “Nocturne” or whatever it’s called now.

Interestingly, I worry about digital now more than I have before. Not that it’s going away, far from it, but the current methods of distribution for digital comics are…well, they cut out a whole section of the supply chain. I’ve always been a big proponent of digital as a viable method of comics transmission and eventually being the first run location of many stories, especially for Marvel & DC since they already have their own unlimited service which is tailor-made to become something like Shonen Jump, kinda like how magazines used to be the place to find chapters of novels during their serialization. With the increased restrictiveness of digital’s licensing terms and Amazon’s absolute stranglehold on the marketplace though, I have a less rosy picture of it and the pandemic has brought that into sharp relief. We need a digital (comics) marketplace that allows people to benefit from it rather than companies.

Like, if I have a local games shop that used to have a collection of comics, I’d want the profit of my sale to go to them and not the company running the site, reasonable transaction fees not withstanding (think like Bookshop.) Also, and I know I’ve spoken a lot already, but I think comics shops will need to innovate coming out of this. Unless you’re in a big city, the comic only experience really only appeals to a small subset of people. Having it more of a nerdy community space, in the same way a sports bar is to sports fans, complete with Childrens and YA sections, will diversify the client base and help raise that bottom line so that they’re less reliant on the notoriously tiny margins of comics, especially if digital is where the companies shift to. Once the shut-down is over, obviously.

I dunno if any publishers will actually follow DC, honestly. Marvel tried it way back when and they may still be smarting from its failure. Do I think they should? Considering the Diamond horror stories I hear and the archaic and frankly impossible to figure out ordering system, yes. Force them to finally innovate instead of being the monopoly they are. I do think DC going to Tuesday was a bad move though. Not for them but having all books released on the same day has always been a good way to have all books on pseudo-even footing. DC is not James Patterson. They don’t get to be special like that.

As for the shutdown, honestly, I think every book suffered. There was a distinct lurch in the pacing and writing as the creative teams tried to figure out how to get back into a groove and it was detectable in all books from the Big 2. As for any other books, I think the nature of Image titles and the shorter nature of most other publishers’ books meant that the pencils down order didn’t change their flow as much. “Billionaire Island,” as we’ve charted before, was hurt only because it became a lot less fantastical and series that got cancelled like “John Constantine: Hellblazer” were tragic cause they were forced to end way too early.

I read far less during this time, mostly because I was really deep in the throes of my Masters program and any free time I might have had kinda evaporated. That said, I found myself revisiting a whole lot of my favorite books and finally reading up on what came next. Like, I re-read “Batman: New Gotham” which led me to read “Bruce Wayne: Murderer” and “Fugitive” for the first time which then led me to re-reading “Gotham Central” and then “52.” Started my complete “Terry-Verse” re-read. Eventually, though, I did go back to my previous levels of current comic reading, mostly so I could remain up to date for the Pod and reviews.

Vault & TKO by far had the best responses, I felt. They seemed to care about the comic shops that, you know, were their gateways into many communities. But, as I try to think back all those years ago between March and July, I have a hard time grasping the responses. I remember vaguely some companies being hamfisted and really not grasping the situation but on the whole, I think the community stepped up to support the places they felt connected to.

Not much has changed with my relationship to an LCS. I have started ordering hardcovers from my LCS but I was starting to go there because I wanted access to the Bad Idea books anyway but otherwise, I’m still a 95% digital reader (purchases, streaming, and library) who gets the rest from his library.

Kate: A Bookshop for digital comics would be a great idea.

One title I think had an uphill climb thanks to the shutdown was “Life Is Strange.” The ten month gap between story arcs, with such an intricate story, could have killed momentum for some readers.

I also wonder as well if this killed large events with all those tie-in issues. I think somewhere around 30% of Marvel’s ‘Empyre’ titles they had planned for spring and summer got scrapped. And anything that got tied into a movie release got retooled or put on the shelf. DC of course is still going forward with their ‘Future State’ event in January, but that’s across a smaller set of titles. I think we’ll see smaller multi-title events in the future . . . which might not necessarily be a bad thing.

James: Yeah, I really hope we can see the concept of a tie-in comic just slither away to die. Other than in merchandising, you really don’t see that idea of the tie-in issue anywhere else in media, mainly because it’s just frustrating and obviously exploitative.

It says a lot that the big event comic of 2020 which profited from the pandemic, rather than suffering under it, was ‘X of Swords’ which abandoned tie-in issues in favor of a linewide format. I guess ‘X of Swords’ and ‘Future State’ have that in common, a predominant focus on a range of creators, rather than on their flavor-of-the-month-characters and concepts. Have to hope that’s a growing trend and not a fluke.

I also agree with Elias that way too many comics became victims of early cancellation. Marvel have been pretty infamous of the last few years of cancelling books before their time, but cutting loose “Valkyrie,” “Hawkeye: Freefall,” “The Amazing Mary Jane” and “Doctor Strange: Surgeon Supreme” all at once was really brutal. They were all really targeted stories that felt like there was longevity and ambitions in their concepts and creators.