This is a fun week in Comics Disassembled, as we get to cover the last remnants of news from ComicsPRO (which, if you’d like a nice recap of, make sure to read Heidi MacDonald’s piece on the annual meeting over at Publisher’s Weekly) and a whole bunch of other interesting things. So, let’s get straight into it, as we cover ten things I liked or didn’t like from the week of comics, with it all led by a rather hotly anticipated crossover.

DC and Marvel, Crossing Over

In news that’s massive even though there’s no real information about it quite yet, the heads of Marvel and DC respectively in C.B. Cebulski and Marie Javins took the stage at this past week’s annual meeting for the comics retail trade organization ComicsPRO to announce something many have been salivating over for decades: a new crossover is happening between the two publishers. It seems as if there will be a pair of one-shots at some point in 2025, with one produced by Marvel and the other by DC. What will they be about? Who will be working on them? What will they actually be? Will Stilt-Man be in either of them?

No one knows. Or at least no one outside Marvel and DC knows. But the point is that they are happening, and probably at the right time. Coming on the heels of the successful reprints of previous crossovers — including 1996’s DC vs. Marvel and the Amalgam Universe that came from it — and with the direct market in a position where everyone would be much happier if they had a couple comics that they know will sell big, this makes sense. That said, while this is a notable thing, how interesting it actually will be remains unknown, and will remain so until we learn details about what they entail.

Digital Comics, Seeing Changes

It was a busy week in news about digital comics, one that was a bit of a mixed bag as well. On the downside came the news that Dark Horse Comics would be closing its iOS app — it already closed its Android one last year — on March 31st, with users likely losing access to comics they previously purchased on there unless they download them to their iPhone or iPad by that time. This isn’t surprising news. That space has been trending away from publisher specific digital offerings of late. What was surprising was an email I received about a “burn event” that is happening today, where Marvel and its digital comics/collectibles partner VeVe will “permanently burn” all “unsold” digital editions of comics from the publisher. On top of that, going forward, all digital releases on the platform will be burned after 30 days. If that sounds like bizarre efforts to stoke the flames of artificial scarcity to you, you’d be correct. I do not like that one bit.

Needless to say, the digital comics space is in a weird position, as platforms close, bizarre tactics are embraced (by some), and ComiXology exists in name only. But there is good news out there as well. One builds on this week’s episode of Off Panel with Sweet’s Kenny Meyers, as the first publisher on the company’s upcoming digital comic store Sweet Shop was revealed. It’s Image Comics, which makes a ton of sense, as they’re often one of the earlier adopters in this space. That said, the most intriguing part of the announcement wasn’t even about Image, or at least in my mind. It was from the final paragraph, where it was noted that Sweet Shop will include vertical scroll comics. I like that! The big question, of course, is whether it will only be comics designed for vertical scroll or if Sweet Shop will have the ability to adapt comics to be read in that way. That much is unknown!

Speaking of adaptations to vertical scroll, DC continues to impress with its digital moves, as the publisher shared that its DC GO product from its all-you-can-eat digital comics app DC Universe Infinite is expanding. That product is its vertical scroll comics label, and it will now include the Absolute Universe titles, with the first issues of Absolute Batman, Absolute Wonder Woman, and Absolute Superman now available to read for free in that format on the app. That’s pretty cool, and reflective of the forward-thinking place the publisher finds itself in.