DC Comics announced that it would not participate in conventions in March due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. In other words, they will not be attending Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con on March 12-15. A spokesman for DC Comics issued a statement to the Hollywood Reporter saying the following:
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.
The Emerald City Comic Con is one of the largest, more prestigious comic conventions in all the land. One of the big-two publishers is refusing to allow its employees to attend. This has to be a major setback to the event’s organizers.
I expect other publishers, including Marvel Comics, to follow DC Comics’ lead. How can they not? DC Comics announced they decided because of concerns about their employee’s safety. If other publishers don’t pull out of the Emerald City Comic Con, they’re saying they don’t care about their employees.
As of this morning, nine people in the Seattle area have died from COVID-19.
Emerald City Comic Con would be a perfect incubator for COVID-19
On a good day, comic conventions are quite a germ-laden place to be. A good many people in attendance don’t practice good hygiene. If someone doesn’t bother to shower and wear deodorant, what are the chances they’re vigilant about washing their sweaty, nacho-cheese stained hands?
People who attend comic cons routinely complain afterward about getting sick. They refer to it as “con crud.” Replace the normal con crud with COVID-19 and watch a pandemic unfold.
A person would have to be nuts to fly to Seattle and attend a major comic convention right now.