DC to Promote Bendis' Superman Comics With TV Commercials

DC Entertainment, who have been reaching out to non-traditional comics audiences in recent weeks with announcements that they will sell certain titles outside of the direct market and include digital comics as part of their streaming TV platform, will promote Brian Michael Bendis's upcoming runs on Superman and Action Comics with TV advertising, the writer revealed today.

There are no details of when or where the spot will air, but Bendis noted that retailers and fans are frequently encouraging publishers to spend money to reach outside of the direct market -- and that this is a step in that direction.

"Just approved a cut of the TV commercial DC is gearing up for our Superman titles this summer," Bendis tweeted. "It's the kind of promotion stores have been asking publishers to do for years. So exciting! Promotion! Outreach!"

Bendis, who has been one of Marvel's most prolific and best-selling writers for years, came to DC late last year with the news that he would launch a weekly Superman title called The Man of Steel to run through June, and then relaunch Superman and resume the original numbering on Action Comics with #1,001.

Bendis's final issue of The Man of Steel is just hours away from release, and sets the stage for his Superman and Action Comics runs.

During a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Bendis said that Jor-El, who has been skulking around the DC Universe for years as the mysterious figure known as Mr. Oz, is the "lynchpin" around which the next year of Superman stories will be told.

TV spots are not unheard-of for Marvel and DC, but they are few, far-between, and mostly "air" only online or during one or two comics-friendly timeslots before being shuffled away. One such spot was created for the first volumes of DC's Rebirth collected editions, but that was seen more as a concession to the bookstore market than anything that comics retailers would directly benefit from.

Radio ads, especially on the Marvel side of things, are a bit more common -- but as a rule, comics publishers are reluctant to spend money to advertise outside of their own pages or friendly trade magazines and websites.

The Man of Steel #6 is in stores on July 4.