Comic Industry Devastated Over Diamond Bankruptcy News

With Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. recently filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, several stakeholders have reacted to the impact it will have on the comic industry. Lunar Distribution and Penguin Random House currently distribute titles for most major publishers, like DC, Marvel, Image, and Dark Horse, meaning Diamond's absence will be a void smaller publishers and retailers will find harder to fill.

Alan Gill told Bleeding Cool that no entity is currently able to provide the services and intangibles previously offered by Diamond Comics Distributors. "The monthly previews catalog brings all of the toy, statue, and novelty products that are manufactured each month as well as a multitude of comic book publishers into one catalog, who else is going to step up to do that?" Gill stated. "A world without Diamond Comic Distributors is definitely going to hurt not only small to medium-sized comic book retailers by limiting the access they currently have to Funko, Monogram, and other novelty best sellers but the smaller comic publishers will have no one to realistically distribute their books."

Comix Experience's Brian Hibbs believes Diamond's predicament is bad news for the Direct Market in the short to medium term. "Say 'Goodbye' to most smaller publishers, and 'so long' for the right opportunities for a majority of smaller and unproven creators," he wrote. DC Comics was the first to seek an alternative distribution partner after Diamond closed down briefly during the pandemic, freeing the publisher from its contract. Other major publishers eventually followed suit.

Hibbs continued, "Never ever forget that the blame for this falls directly upon DC Comics, and we should never forget this, or ever withhold that blame. My best wishes to Steve Geppi, as well as all of the staff at Diamond — and my most fervent prayers for creators and my fellow retailers that we're all going to be able to navigate this disruption to the market."

Other Comic Book Industry Professionals React To Diamond Comic Distributors' Bankruptcy

Comic book professionals across the industry shared their reactions to the news of Diamond's bankruptcy. CBR's Adam Bandhardt wrote, "While indie stalwarts like Image, Dark Horse, Oni, and BOOM! will always have their own distribution, smaller presses like Band of Bards, Blood Moon Comics, Blackbox, Antarctic Press, and more — the places where many comic creators first break into the industry — may soon find themselves without a direct way into comic shops."

Acclaimed Deadpool writer and artist Rob Liefeld posted, "This is a challenge the industry doesn’t need right now but the industry will overcome." Rippaverse creator Eric July called for introspection regarding current distribution models, writing, "Diamond filed for bankruptcy. The "pandemic" will be blamed and people will write it off to general mismanagement. But the truth is there's a tough conversation about traditional distribution models that most don't want to have. I have stated this a million times."

Deniz Camp reacted, "Marvel already left Diamond for Penguin/Random House. Diamond is a reseller or Marvel through Penguin. So shops will have to order directly from Penguin (which I think most already did)." Christian Hoffer wrote, "Larger comics publishers have mostly moved away from Diamond, but this is a major blow to this industry:"

Source: Bleeding Cool, X