The era of uncertainty just when new comic book day has been is over! Wednesday has beaten Tuesday!
WHAT HAPPENED?
During the recent ComicsPRO presentation, DC Comics officially announced that, beginning on Wednesday, July 3, their new comics will no longer be available on Tuesdays!
Wednesday has won the battle of the new comics days, although DC will continue to release new collected editions and graphic novels on Tuesday.
Here’s what DC said in a recent news release:
“Responding to feedback from retailers and readers, DC is returning to the traditional Wednesday on sale timing, with new collected editions and graphic novels continuing to release on Tuesdays. As a result of supply chain disruption in 2020, the publisher pivoted to a Tuesday release schedule for new periodicals. This summer, DC will realign with the industry standard of Wednesday releases, and the New Comic Book Day that fans look forward to each week.”
It’s literally been years (2020) since DC began releasing new comics on Tuesdays, which aligned with general book releases. This happened when DC switched their release company from Diamond to Lunar Publishing. It also took place in response to the supply chain disruption that took place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s anticipated that other companies that originally followed DC’s example will follow suit, so Wednesday will be New Comic Book Day for everyone, most likely!
NEW COMIC BOOK DAY!
Those of us who have been buying comics for a while can remember that Wednesday or Tuesday were not always the day when the books were released, although Wednesday had been New Comic Book Day for about the last 25 years.
It used to be that Fridays were New Comic Book Days. That made a lot of sense to me for several reasons. First, many people are paid on that day, so fans could have more money to pick up their weekly collection of comics on that initial day of release. Second, that meant that many fans would finish up their work week, pick up their comics, then have the weekend to read the new stuff! Personally, I really liked that! I loved not squeezing reading into my busy schedule! Third, Friday nights were a great time for fans to congregate to read and talk comics! I used to enjoy Friday nights at local restaurants or at a fan friend’s home to eat, read, and discuss the comics universes. I still miss that, in fact!
Many local comics shops have been struggling with this change ever since it was first initiated. What was a local vendor to do? Have two days when new comics were available? Or did they hold back the Tuesday books until Wednesday, which some DC comics fans didn’t like because, simply, they wanted the comics they could get as soon as possible! Hey, the books were available digitally, so why couldn’t they access them physically?
So, local shops kind of had to figure out what would work best for them. I know of several shops that literally would put out DC and other books that came out on Tuesday on the stands that day, then would release Marvel and the other Wednesday books out a day later.
Of course, some shops simply couldn’t resist the temptation to, not publicly of course, give some fans their weekly stash on Tuesdays. That happened with a wink, wink, nod, nod that these fans would not ever tell anyone that had happened. Hey, it saved fans money, after all, especially those who purchased comics from several comics companies. If you drove a long way or took public transportation, you lost a lot of money and time going there twice a week!
Now, of course, that point is moot.
HOW LONG IS THIS LIKELY TO STAY IN PLACE?
Like many fans, I have to wonder just how long Wednesday will pretty much be uncontested as New Comic Book Day.
It will likely stay that way for a while, but we need to be vigilant.
After all, it is called show business, and that means that, if it benefits local shops to change days, look for that to happen, and often with little notice.
However, the good news is that social media is making it easier for stores and comics companies to get the word out that a change is happening.
It reminds me of the days before social media (yes, I’m that old) and some of us would go to local shops unaware that a change had occurred. I hated finding out this kind of thing that way!
I remember when there was a companion show to follow new episodes of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer on Tuesday nights. It was a supernatural series called Haunted. It starred Matthew Fox, an actor who would become much better known in Lost on ABC.
It was Tuesday night, and I parked myself before my TV, ready for two hours of new supernatural television shows. I enjoyed Buffy, then was ready for Haunted to come on next. Instead, a rerun of Buffy came on. I was stunned. I pulled out my TV Guide and saw that Haunted was indeed supposed to run at that time.
Since it was a time when we didn’t have instantaneous information availability, I had no idea how to find out what went wrong.
It took combing the local newspapers for weeks before I finally discovered that Haunted had been pulled by the network even though they had several episodes ready that were never to be aired. Eventually, they were released on disc, so I did get to see them, but the show never had a conclusion, which I was sad about.
Today, we’re a lot luckier because we know, months ahead of time, that July 3 will be the first full New Comic Book Day, so we can plan for it!
In a way, I’ll miss my Tuesday drives to get my DC books. I won’t miss the extra trips to get Marvel titles and other comics, though.
So, here’s to Wednesday, the victor in the battle between that day and Tuesdays to be when new comics are on the racks! Long may you reign!
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