DC to Reprint Two Fan-Favorite Graphic Novels in Single Issues

Two original graphic novels from DC — Batman and Robin and Howard by Jeffrey Brown, and Primer by Jennifer Muro, Thomas Krajewski, and Gretel Lusky — are set to be released as single-issue comic books. The plan comes as DC has been working on a number of new ideas, including a “pocket book” style line of graphic novels, that blur the line between the direct market comic book store and the bookstore market. This move is likely to convince some direct market-only shoppers to give these books a try, in a way that they might not have when they books were available exclusively for $20 or so. 

Per DC’s March solicitations, both books will be translated into serialized format, and sold as 40-page comics for $3.99. An excerpt from Batman and Robin and Howard was previously released as a single-issue comic on Free Comic Book Day, and a sequel — Batman and Robin and Howard: Summer Breakdown — is coming next year.

The expected business model for superhero comics in the direct market is to release them as 20-ish page monthly comics, then collect a number of them later to release as a trade paperback. Those trade paperbacks can sell both in direct market comic book stores, and in the bookstore market, and in the recent past, the collected editions have become more and more important to the health of the comics industry. That is, in part, because the bookstore market represents a much larger share of the market than it used to, pushing the comics market to be bigger overall, but also less monolithic.

You can see the solicitation text below.

BATMAN AND ROBIN AND HOWARD #1

Written by JEFFREY BROWN
Art and cover by JEFFREY BROWN
$3.99 US | 40 pages
ON SALE 3/12/24

To Damian Wayne, there is nothing more important than protecting the streets of Gotham City as Robin. But when he makes a critical mistake while out on patrol, Damian finds himself benched, on top of transferring to a new school. When his new classmate Howard offers to show him the ropes, Damian finds himself in a challenge he never expected…

PRIMER #1

Written by JENNIFER MURO and THOMAS KRAJEWSKI
Art and cover by GRETEL LUSKY
$3.99 US | 40 pages
ON SALE 3/26/24

With a father in prison, Ashley Rayburn has bounced from foster home to foster home and represents a real challenge to the social workers who try to help her—not because she’s inherently bad, but because trouble always seems to find her. But her luck might just be changing when a new couple offers to take her in.