

“DC and HBO Max both share in the belief that great storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to engage and connect with people,” said DC Chief Creative Officer and Publisher Jim Lee. “These fun, original stories depict a diverse range of ordinary individuals who are symbolic of the depth and breadth of programming that is available on the platform, driving home the message that HBO Max has something for everyone.” “We are thrilled to partner with the amazing team at DC to present this creative, personification of HBO Max as a team of powerful comic book superheroes,” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, Warner Media Entertainment and Direct-To-Consumer. If anyone knows of any, please let me know.To celebrate the recent launch of HBO Max, the comics are filled with Easter eggs and fun nods to the premium content currently available on the streaming platform such as Friends, Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory, and Sex and the City. I have looked online trying to find recordings of these phone calls, but have not found any yet. Despite this, with some minor exceptions, it would take decades for mainstream media to realize the massive financial and culture-defining power of comics. It was big enough news at the time that it was even covered in newspapers and magazines. A time when technology and comics came together and the world witnessed the explosive potential of its fandom. It was an interesting and often overlooked moment in comic book history. So in August of 1977, the service was ended. It was enough of a problem that the phone company actually asked them to cease operations.Īs the number of callers started to average over 100,000 per day, it was becoming apparent that this was unsustainable. You can guess what happened.Įvery day, after school, thousands of kids would get home and start calling, tying up telephone equipment in the hopes of hearing some tidbit they could share in the schoolyard the next day. It was a single line, and as you can see from the ad, they asked kids to call again when they got a busy signal. So many kids were calling the number that it was interrupting regular phone service.
#Direct connect dc comics free#
By March of 1977, they were getting close to 90,000 calls a month, which meant they had to add a second line, but the growth didn’t stop there.įor a free call try (800) 442-8108 and one thin dime will get you 757-9517 (the 800 numbers won’t work in all telephone districts). It was an overwhelming success, receiving 24,000 calls in its first month of operation. For a free call try (800) 442-8108 and one thin dime will get you 757-9517 (the 800 numbers won’t work in all telephone districts). That month, DC launched a Toll-Free number that would allow fans to call and hear pre-recorded messages from DC staff members about upcoming titles. It was used as a text feature in early comics, it would appear in ads, and probably most famously it was a free monthly newsletter that ran for over a half dozen years starting in the late eighties.Īnother interesting turn that Direct Currents took was in November of 1976.

It has been used as a name over the years to cover many DC products. If you collected DC Comics, you are probably familiar with the many incarnations of Direct Currents.
