They sure don’t make comics like they used to. Any old hand at your typical comic convention will tell you that and be met with solemn nods by their compatriots scrambling through the dollar bins. But let’s clue you in on a little secret: they never make comics like they used to. That’s part of the beauty of the medium. Comics, and the way we read them, have been constantly evolving before our eyes. The concept of the monthly comic book itself was an innovation in the 1930s, evolving from daily newspaper comic strips, meeting readers in the media they already had on hand.
In all that time, the way we read comics has continued to change. Comics have evolved from newsstand and drugstore items where we got those same papers they once came from, to publications with their own specialized stores where you could meet your fellow readers. With the wide accessibility of the internet, comics would soon become democratized through the concept of the webcomic, as independent comic creators used this new public resource to platform their own daily or weekly comics. Major comic publishers would eventually turn to join comics where they lived, releasing digital versions of their titles on the same day and date as publication.
The next step from there? Comics accessible for all through the online subscription model. DC launched what would become DC UNIVERSE INFINITE in 2018, allowing readers to pay a monthly or annual fee for unlimited access to DC’s vast archive of digitized titles. One of the first promises made with the launch of the service was brand new comics you could exclusively read on the platform.
Just as webcomics brought the medium to the internet, the ubiquity of smartphones has changed the way we read them. The global popularity of platforms like WEBTOON has proven it, evolving comics into a vertical format that accommodates how the modern reader scrolls to advance a story. DC joined that movement in 2022 with a title that’s still going strong as their flagship in the vertical scrolling form, CRC Payne and Starbite’s Batman: Wayne Family Adventures—a weekly slice-of-life comic exploring the dynamics of Batman and his family in the quiet moments between their harrowing crusades against evil. Today, the series has 1.7 million subscribers. (For comparison, the recent Batman #1 turned heads by selling 500,000 copies.)
That brings us to DC GO!, exclusively available through the DC UNIVERSE INFINITE platform. Earlier WEBTOON titles like Batman: Wayne Family Adventures and Vixen: NYC are here, joined by not just a wave of brand new titles, but classics like Batman: Hush, the DC Pride anthologies, and even the new Absolute comics reformatted for vertical scrolling, panel by panel. Naturally, DC had to bring along pioneer CRC Payne for this new chapter, launching her second vertical-scrolling series with 2024’s Harley Quinn in Paradise.
“Working on Harley Quinn in Paradise for DC GO! has been such a joy,” Payne shares. “There's so much creativity that goes into crafting a vertical scroll comic. This format is perfect for surprise twists and comedic punchlines, and it's been so fun to play in that space with all the incredible artists working on this project. Siobhan [Chiffon] and Cathy [Le] have created such a beautiful world for our reality show gone wrong and have brought to life Harley's romances, her relationship dramas, her ridiculous antics and so many mysterious murders. Every week we get to come up with new ways to surprise our readers and hopefully keep them coming back for more!”
The special, frantic magic of the weekly format isn’t lost on Josh Trujillo, writer of DC GO!’s piratical reimagining DC’s King of Atlantis. Aquaman: Yo-Ho-Hold Onto Your Hook! is arguably the title in the DC GO! line that most embraces the form, taking full advantage of the new format to explore new modes of visual storytelling.
“52 is maybe my favorite comic book series,” Trujillo reveals, referencing the boldly experimental yearly week-long comic series from 2006. “So, I’ve always dreamed of doing a weekly book...be careful what you wish for!”
Trujillo quickly adds, “Honestly, it’s been a lot of fun to work on DC GO! and also a lot of work. Deadlines can be tricky, but it has taught me discipline and how to work more efficiently. The vertical format presents new opportunities for storytelling. For example, we lose classic print tricks like turn-page reveals and splash pages. This creates some challenges, but we also have access to this modern format that is very intuitive for new readers to digest.”
But just as comics are always evolving, they’ve always been a medium of legacy and tradition, where new creators stand on the shoulders of those who came before them. Longtime DC writer Steve Orlando pays tribute to comics’ humble beginnings with his vertical-scrolling series The Magical Mysteries of Shazam!, translating the wonder and whimsy of the earliest Captain Marvel comics of the 1940s.
“DC GO! is an absolute blast!” Orlando exclaims. “The vertical format is something I've come to deeply know and love over the past few years, but that I've never had a chance to bring to DC—until now! And it's the perfect format for Magical Mysteries of Shazam!, which is a love letter to the days of CC Beck, where comics were ubiquitous and reached folks far and wide. Going digital, going weekly—these are the ways we inch closer to that reality today. Thanks to DC GO!, Captain Marvel and the Marvel family are accessible to a whole new audience, and we're lucky to be there in the trenches, delivering action and wonder every week!”
If you’re a longtime Wednesday Warrior, the format and wide tonal variety of DC GO! may not be what you’re used to. But comics, as a medium, have always had the ambition to meet readers where they are. This latest frontier is where DC embraces the ever-changing winds, charting a new course towards the future. You’re bound to find a title among them that will keep you coming back every week. Let’s DC GO! forward.
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, Harley Quinn in Paradise, Aquaman: Yo-Ho-Hold Onto Your Hook!, The Magical Mysteries of Shazam! and other DC GO! titles can all be read for free on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
Alex Jaffe is the author of our monthly "Ask the Question" column and writes about TV, movies, comics and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @AlexJaffe and find him in the DC Official Discord server as HubCityQuestion.
