Article by Chris Foti
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Diamond Comic Distributors suspended new orders from being shipped to its warehouses indefinitely. Unfortunately for comic book readers, this means their local comic shops will not be getting new comic books anytime soon. As with everything coronavirus related, this has had a cascading effect. No new books means no new business, means no money for comic shops. To try and help combat this, WarnerMedia have announced that DC will be donating $250,000 to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation. The donation is aimed at helping comic book stores and their employees. Here is the statement from WarnerMedia:
In response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and its impact on the comic book direct market, DC is donating $250,000 to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC) to provide support for comic book retailers and their employees during this time of hardship and beyond.
BINC is a 501(c)3) non-profit organisation dedicated to assisting booksellers in need – thankfully this includes comic booksellers. BINC has offered assistance before to comic book shops affected by natural disasters.
On top of this, Jim Lee, Chief Creative Office of DC Comics, will also being auctioning off one sketch a day on eBay for the next two months. He will feature over 60 characters, which currently include Nightwing ($4,300), Bizzaro ($2,400) and Azrael ($5,100).
It’s great to see DC coming together to do this to help those in need, and to keep an industry we all love up and running during this crisis.