Dark Horse Comics moved quickly Monday to stanch the Twitterstorm that erupted after its digital day and date announcement last week (see “Dark Horse Goes Digital Day and Date”).  The announcement caused heated reactions from retailers over the weekend after word spread that Dark Horse’s digital offerings would be priced at $1.00 to $1.50 less than the print versions.  Some retailers vowed to reduce their support for Dark Horse’s print releases in response to the company’s move on digital.  The rumors on digital pricing, however, were not based on the Dark Horse announcement and turned out to be incorrect. 

A statement from Dark Horse CEO Mike Richardson came out on Monday.  “We apologize for the confusion and concern surrounding Dark Horse’s recent announcement of simultaneous release in print and digital,” he said.  Richardson said that all new single-issue comics would be released in digital form at $2.99 for the first month, dropping to Dark Horse’s “standard digital pricing of $1.99” after that. 

“Dark Horse values our retail partners and is grateful for the twenty-five years of business we’ve done together,” Richardson said.  “We have considered the retail community in all of our digital decisions and look at direct-market shops as crucial to our continued success.”