C2E2: DiDio – Only half the teams for September are set

by David Nieves

One of the key events in Chicago this weekend is all about the people who sell comics. The DC midwest retailer summit was once again held right before C2E2. Dan DiDio gave his usual passionate speech about the industry and DC Entertainment’s product. But he did address the concerns from retailers about not having the creative teams set for this year’s September event. None of the Futures End one shots, in September, have creative teams listed and DiDio answered that was because they don’t have all the information. Only about half the teams have been confirmed and DC didn’t want half the solicits to end up being wrong. He argued that having the books solicited five months in advance will do that, even saying that sometimes books three months out don’t have the final creative team.

Dan also talked about the problems behind last year’s 3D covers. DC destroyed 125,000 copies due to “blurry” proofs and some had cover dimples due to heating issues in production. He assured everyone that those problems were fixed. Heating will be set lower during the process and the blur issue was resolved by lowering the number of lines on the cover.  DC will have gif files of every cover for retailers to view before the May 27th order deadline. 

With Batman’s 75th anniversary landing on the Wednesday of Comic Con International, DC has plans to make it a huge event. A free Batman promo comic will be out just before the craziness of the show starts. It will be available for all retailers to order. San Diego will also see the replica Joker face from Death of The Family sold at the Graphitti Designs booth with an MSRP of $30. This will be something only available during SDCC. Otherwise, fans will only be able to purchase this in the Death of The Family set (mask and book) at retail for $50