Justice League and Wonder Woman comic book series hit with new delays due to “supply chain challenges”

DC’s comic book publishing company continues to face supply chain problems, which led to delays in the publication of Justice League and Wonder Woman, two of DC’s most prominent titles.

The Justice League #71 (opens in a new tab) was published on January 25, but it was delayed by supply chain issues. #72 (opens in a new tab) also got delayed.

DC has rescheduled Justice League #72 to be released on February 15. This was the original release date for Justice League #73 (opens in new tab). DC has now moved that issue to March 1. The next issue of Justice League #74, the final run by Brian Michael Bendis on the title, is still scheduled for March 15.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact paper mills and transportation companies as well as those who work in them, the entire publishing industry, including comic books, has been affected by supply chain issues. DC completed the first of many significant schedule re-alignments in August 2021.

DC released a statement at the time saying that DC faces an unprecedented strain in its global supply chain. This will affect all of us in comics and beyond. We have been able to minimize delays and shortages up to now, but recent notifications about covid-related port closings, delays in international and domestic freight, shortages of workers, and severe paper allocations mean that we cannot continue to manage this situation.

DC and other publishers delayed the digital release dates for affected issues in order to keep the issue current with the print editions.

DC has big summer plans, starting with April’s Justice League #75’s ‘Death of Justice League’ story. This issue will be a key building block for a large DC crossover event. These supply chain issues could impact these summer plans or force DC to prioritise it over other titles on its publishing schedule.