DC Comics announced that the company is canceling all of its comic book convention appearances through the end of March 2020, due to the spread of the Coronavirus in the United States. This announcement came hot on the heels of the company canceling the New York City premiere of their latest animated film, Superman: Red Son, earlier in the week over the same concerns.

The past few weeks have been full of turmoil for DC Comics. The publisher is currently undergoing a major structural shake-up in the wake of the abrupt departure of Co-Publisher Dan DiDio, which occurred in the middle of the ComicsPro 2020 conference. DC Comics has also been dogged by rumors that they are in danger of being sold to Disney by parent company AT&T in the wake of dropping sales and a lower market share, but Jim Lee (now the sole Publisher of DC Comics) was quick to dismiss these rumors at the recent C2E2 convention.

ComicBook printed the formal announcement from DC Comics announcing their decision not to send their staff to any comic book conventions for the rest of the month of March. The first convention to be effected is Emerald City ComicCon (ECCC), which is to be held in Seattle, Washington, on March 12-15, 2020:

This reaction is unsurprising in regards to ECCC 2020, given the large number of Coronavirus patients in the Seattle area. Presently, 30 people have been diagnosed as having the Coronavirus in Washington state and 9 people have died from it. Other publishers, including Dark Horse Comics and Penguin Random House, have also announced their intention to pull out of ECCC 2020, along with several independent artists. Marvel Comics, it should be noted, has made no such announcements, but they were not scheduled to attend Emerald City Comic Con.

As the health and safety of our employees are always our primary concerns, DC staffers will not be attending conventions during the month of March… Future convention attendance will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, factoring in the latest information from a variety of organizations, including the CDC, WHO, U.S. State Department and local health agencies.

While no comic book conventions have been canceled due to the Coronavirus at this time, that decision may ultimately lay outside the hands of convention organizers and be up to the municipalities hosting the events. This could mean a major loss of business for convention organizers, publishers, independent artists and the local businesses that serve convention attendees, with the busy season for comic book conventions fast approaching. DC Comics is to be commended, however, for putting the safety of their employees ahead of any such financial considerations.

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Source: ComicBook