This shouldn't come as a surprise, but CBR is reporting that Marvel Comics won't release any new comic book titles digitally on April 8th. That means it's the second week in a row the publisher has decided against that after Diamond Comic Distributors were forced to halt the shipment in new physical comics due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, Marvel Entertainment President Dan Buckley noted that, "This is a fluid situation with details changing every day, so we appreciate your patience and understanding as we all navigate our way through this. As soon as more information is available, we will outline our longer-term plans and opportunities to support you and the industry."
For now, it appears as if no firm decisions have been made, but this comes at a bad time for Marvel Comics as the upcoming Empyre event was expected to do well over the coming months.
Diamond Comic Distributors CEO Steve Geppi recently released a statement on the pandemic's disruption of the market, and promised, "work with our publishing partners to develop programs that will address product already in the pipeline and what will happen when we resume distribution."
It's clear that physical comic books won't be going on sale for a while (most comic book stores have been forced to close anyway), so we're now forced to wait and see when it comes to whether the big two publishers - Marvel and DC Comics - will change tact and move to digital only sales for a while.
Are you guys missing your weekly comic books?