DC Universe Sees 35% Jump in Readership During COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted a lot of aspects of our everyday life, as countless businesses have been forced to shut down for the foreseeable future. One industry that has been particularly affected by this ordeal has been the direct market of comic books, with stores, publishers, and distributors all taking precautions to encourage social distancing. As a result, no new comic books were physically published for almost a month, but it sounds like that wasn’t stopping fans from checking out new content. According to new numbers recently released from DC Universe (via The Hollywood Reporter), readership of their digital comics library increased a whopping 35% between February and April. The service, which serves as DC Comics’ digital hub for comics, movies, and TV shows, reportedly crossed a milestone of 18 million comics read at some point during that period of time.

The service also shed light on what comic issues were the most popular for April, with 2017’s Batman: White Knight #1 and 2018’s The Batman Who Laughs #1 topping their charts for the month. This provides an interesting indication of what readers are gravitating towards on the service, which features decades of comics from DC’s history. The service adds titles on a weekly basis, with newer releases being added twelve months after their publication date.

While this increase in readership is largely due to unprecedented circumstances, it still is a fascinating look at how DC Universe is resonating with subscribers. It also adds a new layer to recent rumors that have surrounded the film and TV side of the service, especially with the pending launch of HBO Max.

In addition to plenty of comics, DC Universe also boasts an array of original TV shows, including Doom Patrol, Titans, Harley Quinn, Stargirl, Swamp Thing, and Young Justice: Outsiders. It also features quite a lot of legacy films, TV shows, and short films inspired by DC’s roster of heroes and villains.

What do you think of the newest readership numbers for DC Universe? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!