DC recently announced a "robust" expansion of its Digital First program -- seemingly with an aim to get a new title onto the digital shelf every day. As I mentioned in the Walmart thread, the initial stories are drawn from the new content in the Giants, and will appear in the following titles:
- Superman: Man of Tomorrow
- Batman, Gotham Nights
- Wonder Woman: Agent of Peace
- The Flash: Fastest Man Alive
- Aquaman: Deep Dives
- DC Superhero Girls: Infinite Frenemies
- Swamp Thing: New Roots
But will that be enough? At a story a day, a rotation of those titles will burn through their inventory pretty quickly.
There's also Batman: The Adventures Continue, the animated series-style comic that's being released digitally. And there's also RWBY and Gen: Lock, two non-DCU books that DC releases digital-first. (I'm unfamiliar with them, but it looks like their most recent releases where at the end of March and the beginning of April, so they could still be ongoing.) With those two, that would bring us up to 10 titles, which, without weekends, could fill a two-week rotation. Is that DC's plan? Or do they have something more in store -- as this Newsarama article suggests?
I'll be following these releases here, updating each week's entries.
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Monday, April 20: Superman, Man of Tomorrow: "Power Play," from Superman Giant 1
Tuesday, April 21: Batman: "Medal of Honor," "Honor Code" from Our Fighting Forces Giant 1
Wednesday, April 22: Wonder Woman: "Commitment to Chaos" from Wonder Woman Giant 1
Thursday, April 23: Aquaman: "Double Edged" from Aquaman Giant 1
Friday, April 24: Flash: "All the Teeth, Glittering and Sharp" from Flash Giant 1
Saturday, April 25: DCSHG: "Bird Brained" from ... I'm not sure; I can't find it on Comics.org.
Sunday, April 26: Swamp Thing: "The Beet Goes On," from Swamp Thing Giant 1
All the stories in these releases are from the most recent volumes of the DC Giants; they were all renumbered last year when they underwent a slight format change that bumped the new content pages from 12 to 24.
So we might actually have NEW content with DC Superhero Girls. If anyone knows the series, let me know!
And soon, we'll see what next week brings!
Most of next week's Digital Firsts have been announced. They're not immediately accessible on the Read DC site (the easiest link to find them), but when you click on the individual issues, you can seen that next issues are planned for the following dates, just where you'd expect them to be. (The second issues of Batman and Swamp Thing haven't shown up yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.)
Monday, April 27: Superman: From Superman Giant 2
Tuesday, April 28: Batman: From Batman Giant 1
Wednesday, April 29: Wonder Woman: From Wonder Woman Giant 2
Thursday, April 30: Aquaman: From Aquaman Giant 2
Friday, May 1: Flash: From Flash Giant 2
Saturday, May 2: DCSHG: "Panicked at the Disco" I'm pretty sure this is from SHG Giant 1
Sunday, May 3: Swamp Thing: From Swamp Thing Giant 2
At this rate, we're going to run out of material for some of these titles quickly. Superman will be the first to go: Only 3 issues of this volume of Superman Giant have been published yet -- and what's more, some of the titles have 8-page backups that can double-up to form an issue, which could stretch the runs of Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the rest a little. Superman has been all 24-page stories so far.
So will we get true digital firsts? Will we get stopgap issues, like the Green Lantern story in From Beyond the Unknown? Will they delve back into previous volumes of the Giants? We'll see... and we'll see soon!
Hmmm.. the Swamp Thing and Batman issues are listed now... from Batman Giant 1 and Swamp Thing Giant 2.
Graeme McMillan, who covers comics for the Hollywood Reporter, has been doing some digging and on the new Wait? What! podcast that dropped today he says DC are really ramping up the production of new material and very soon stories that haven’t run elsewhere will appear, so it really will be a case of DC Digital Firsts. I am beyond excited!
That was interesting stuff, Mart, thanks! Although at one point McMillan said he didn't have much inside information on the program -- he was extrapolating from the pace of it, and the fact that DC hasn't issued a "pencils down" order, but has shunted some people into other projects. We'll see soon enough -- next week's Superman: Man of Tomorrow 3 will be the last of the previously published stories from the Giants (although there might be a few non King/Kubert ones from the previous volume that can be used).
Even more interesting was the Marvel info -- so much of the company furloughed, and with so many freelancers told to stop work, what books will be coming back when Diamond starts shipping May 20?
I read the preview pages for Birdbrained, the story in DC Super-Hero Girls: Infinite Frenemies #1, and it was new to me. Which doesn't mean it's completely new -- though I can't find it on GCD -- but it wasn't in the first Giant -- which at the very least, breaks the pattern of these other titles. So it very well might be the first "new" content in the DC Digital Firsts. (The story in this week's issue looks like it was taken from DCSHG Giant #1.)
Next week's DC Digital Firsts lineup:
Monday, May 4: Superman: From Superman Giant 3
Tuesday, May 5: Batman: From Batman Giant 2
Wednesday, May 6: Wonder Woman: From Wonder Woman Giant 3
Thursday, May 7: Aquaman: From Aquaman Giant 3
Friday, May 8: Flash: From Flash Giant 3
Saturday, May 9: DCSHG: "Gone to the Dogs," from SHG Giant 2
Sunday, May 10: Swamp Thing: From Swamp Thing Giant 3
This is the last week for previously published "new" material for Superman: Man of Tomorrow... and probably DC Superhero Girls: Infinite Frenemies as well, since there's only been two Walmart Giants for them. It will be interesting to see what gets published next week: Superman 4 might have the contents of Superman Giant 4, which are probably done. But will DC hold that back, wanting to avoid cannibalizing its Walmart sales. (Though if I were DC, I'd figure that Walmart & digital buyers are two different markets, aside from outliers like me.) Will DC turn to a new story from the Titans Giant as a stopgap? Will it combine a couple of the 8-page DC Superhero Girls stories into one issue?
Mystery solved! "Bird Brained" -- the first DC Superhero Girls Digital First -- will appear in the upcoming DC Superhero Girls/Teen Titans Go Giant #1.
OK, now things are getting interesting. Superman's an all-new story. Aquaman and DC Superhero Giirls are doubling up with 8-pagers (and one of the Aqualad stories is new). Here's next week's lineup:
Monday, May 11: Superman: "Buried Past," as yet unpublished
Tuesday, May 12: Batman: "The Dragnet" from Batman Giant 3
Wednesday, May 13: Wonder Woman: "Hope Springs Eternal" from WW Giant 4
Thursday, May 14: Aquaman: Aqualad stories: "Worth" from Aquaman Giant #2 and "A Father's Favor," as yet unpublished.
Friday, May 15: Flash: "Flash Forward" from Flash Giant 4
Saturday, May 16: DCSHG: "Fall Festival" and "A Sticky Zit-uation" from SHG Giants 1 & 2
Sunday, May 17: Swamp Thing: "Strategic Outcomes" from Swamp Thing Giant 4
Next week, we're pretty much out of the full-lengthers. There's room for Flash, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman to all double up on 8-pagers for 2 more weeks. Aquaman also has two published 8-pagers in reserve. Batman is in the best shape with inventory. It has one more 16-page story, plus four shorter stories to run -- and maybe even more if it wants to re-use a couple Batwoman stories from the Supergirl/Batwoman Giant and the Our Fighting Forces Giant.
But Superman's already on new material, and DC Superhero Girls should be next week, too. And then Aquaman the week after (although it's dipped its toe into new material already this week). We're getting actual digital firsts now. This is exciting.
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