If you’ve encountered any comic book news or discussion – whether that be through news sites, podcasts, or social media – then you might’ve come across the term “solicitations”. You may know the word in certain contexts, such as the pitching process in publishing or in relation to sex work. But what does it mean when used in a comic book context? Read on to find out.
What are solicitations?
Essentially, a comic book solicitation is a blurb for an upcoming comic book, collected edition, or graphic novel. These include details about the comic that comic book retailers and readers need to know about a comic, often accompanied by cover image(s).
They can also be referred to as “solicits”.
What are solicitations used for?
Comic book solicitations are a pillar of marketing for comic book publishers. They were originally intended for retailers as part of distribution catalogues. This allowed retailers to make informed decisions about what to order and how many copies. However, over time, they became as important to get in front of readers so they could be informed of what publishers had coming up.
When put in front of readers, they serve two purposes:
- They drive buzz for existing comics. Due to the serialised nature of comics, there is always a cohort of readers who are dying to know what happens next for their favourite comics and characters – especially Marvel and DC Comics. The solicitations can offer clues for what they can expect in future comics.
- A tool to discover new comics. By releasing solicitations to readers, they open up the opportunity for readers to discover upcoming comics that may capture their interest. This then allows them to preorder them so they don’t miss out.
A comic book publisher generally releases a month’s worth of solicitations three months in advance. For example, the solicitations for June comic book releases will be released in March. However, it’s worth noting that items like trade paperback collections, graphic novels, and omnibuses may be solicited in advance. In this instance, the solicitations may be released in March, but these items may not be released until July or August. This is because they’re items that require orders to be locked in further in advance as they’re more involved to print.
An example of a solicitation
Here is an example of a comic book solicitation that I’ve taken from the DC Comics May 2026 releases.
ABSOLUTE CATWOMAN #1
Written by CHE GRAYSON and SCOTT SNYDER
Art and cover by BENGAL
Variant covers by DAVID NAKAYAMA, SOZOMAIKA, and KAARE ANDREWS
1:25 variant cover by MATEUS MANHANINI
Foil variant cover by BENGAL
Logo cover
$4.99 US | 32 pages | Variant $5.99 US (card stock) | 1 of 6
ON SALE 6/10/26
Selina Kyle has carved a good life for herself. Through her ingenuity and skills, she’s become the greatest thief the world has ever known. With high-tech gear and weaponry, there’s no place too secure for Catwoman. But when someone from her past comes knocking at her door, Selina’s life comes crashing down around her and she’ll need to get to the bottom of a mystery taking her all around the globe! Written by Che Grayson and Scott Snyder with art by Bengal, Catwoman bursts onto the scene in the Absolute Universe!
It’s worth noting that some publishers will format their solicits differently but they generally look like the above.
The anatomy of a solicitation
For those who look at the above and can’t make heads or tails of it, here’s a quick breakdown of the anatomy:
Cover image: In this instance, I have included the main cover for Absolute Catwoman #1. I didn’t include the multiple variant covers in this example, but they would accompany the main cover image, too.
Title: This is the title of the comic and its issue number.
Creator credits: This part highlights the people involved in creating the comic. Each publisher has a different way of crediting. All of them will include the writer(s), artists(s)/penciller(s), and cover/variant cover artist(s). Some will go further and list others involved, such as the inkers, colourists, and letterers.
Price: How much the comic will cost. In this example, there are two prices – the regular price of $4.99 and a $5.99 for variant covers that have a thicker stock cover.
Page count: How many pages the comic will have.
Series status: This indicates how long the comic will run for. In this case, Absolute Catwoman #1 is the first issue of a six-issue limited series – hence the “1 of 6”.
Sale date: When the comic will be released in comic book shops and digital outlets.
Blurb: This is the block of text at the bottom of the solicitation. There’s an art to writing them, with each comic series taking a slightly different approach. Most commonly, they include the premise of the comic book issue – usually just enough to hint at what could happen. They can also be accompanied by publisher hype and any other details the publisher wants you to know.
Where to find solicitations
Comic book solicitations be found in plenty of places.
Comic book solicitations can be found in plenty of places.
Individual solicits tend to surface as part of the news cycle. They’ll be attached to publisher press releases, especially when announcing new and important comics, which are then disseminated on comic book news sites like Comics Beat, AIPT Comics, and others. Solicits will often surface on publisher sites, too. This practice is usually done in the first 20 days or so of the month, drip-fed as part of news stories.
Towards the end of the month, a publisher’s full solicitations will be released. While a publisher might put them up on their website, these will be circulated to the comic book press to be published as well. Comic book news websites like Comics Beat and AIPT Comics will publish these as part of the news cycle. At the same time, there are websites dedicated to housing solicitations, such as Comic Solicitations and Comic Releases.
Finally, at the end of the month, the solicitations are published in the distribution catalogues. How these are presented will depend on the distributor – primarily Lunar Distribution or Penguin Random House.
For Lunar, you can browse on their website, download the PDF version of their catalogues, or potentially get a print version from your local comic book shop. It’s worth noting that Lunar publishes four catalogues a month – one dedicated to DC Comics, one focusing on Image Comics, another one for Titan Comics, and finally a catalogue that contains everyone distributed through Lunar.
Penguin Random House has a similar process, too, creating even more publisher-specific catalogues. There are ones for Marvel Comics, Boom Studios, IDW Publishing, Dark Horse Comics, DSTLRY, and a general one that has all the publishers distributed through Penguin Random House.
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