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

Justice League #72 cover
Justice League #72 cover (Image credit: Yanick Paquette/Nathan Fairbairn (DC))

Supply chain issues continue to plague DC's comic book publishing line, leading the publisher to announce delays to two of its higher-profile titles, Justice League and Wonder Woman.

Justice League #73 cover (Image credit: Yanick Paquette/Nathan Fairbairn (DC))

The most recent issue of Justice League, #71 hit stands on January 25 - itself delayed a month due to these same supply chain issues, which led to #72 being delayed as well.

But these new, unspecified supply chain wrinkles have led DC to once again reschedule Justice League #72, now to February 15. That was the originally-planned release date of the next issue, Justice League #73, leading to a cascading delay with that issue now being moved to March 1. The next issue, Justice League #74 - the finale of Brian Michael Bendis' run on the title - remains scheduled for the moment for March 15.

DC's Wonder Woman ongoing title's schedule changes are relatively minor in comparison, with Wonder Woman #784 pushed back one week to February 15. The next issue, Wonder Woman #785 (which is part of the 'Trial of the Amazons' crossover) remains on the schedule for March 15.

Wonder Woman #784 cover (Image credit: Terry Dodson/Rachel Dodson (DC))

The entire publishing industry - comic book included - has been suffering from supply chain issues as the COVID-19 pandemic has longer-term effects on paper mills, transportation companies, and the people who keep them running. In August 2021, DC made the first of many major schedule re-alignments as a result.

"DC faces an unprecedented strain on the global supply chain, affecting all of us in the comic industry and beyond," read a statement from DC at the time. "Up to this point, we've been able to keep delays and shortages to a minimum, but with recent notifications about covid-related port closures, international and domestic freight delays, workforce shortages, and a severely allocated paper supply, we are unable to continue to manage this situation without disruption."

DC and other publishers have delayed the digital release dates of affected issues to remain day-and-date with the print editions during this period.

DC has big plans for this summer, beginning with April's Justice League #75's 'Death of the Justice League' story. That issue is anticipated to be a major building block into a big summer DC crossover event. If these supply chain issues do persist, it could affect these summer plans - or force DC to prioritize it over other titles in its publishing schedule. 

Here's a list of the most impactful DC events in the comics themselves.

Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)