Trouble is brewing in the comics world…especially at Diamond Comics Publishers.
According to numerous reports, Diamond has been unable to get comics to stores in a timely manner, missing Wednesday release dates for the past three weeks and causing Lots and lots of complaints from retailers…and customers. The holiday shopping season is right around the corner, and it’s too bad.
The problem stems from a recent shutdown Damon’s Plattsburgh Warehouse Come back in October. While this may have been a planned cost-cutting measure, it now appears the move is happening much sooner than expected. In a letter to comics retailers, Diamond Chief Sales and Service Officer Chris Powell wrote:
While we have decided to consolidate our distribution centers, the intention is to do so over a longer period of time during a slower time of year. Surprisingly, the owner of the Plattsburgh facility chose not to extend our lease on a month-to-month basis because he had secured another tenant without even advertising. This significantly reduces the time required to plan and execute these changes. Our accelerated relocation timeline, combined with holiday schedules and necessary invoicing/reporting adjustments, created a perfect storm that impacted you in an unacceptable way. We are committed to getting things back on track, and our operations team is working every day except Thanksgiving to help us achieve that goal.
Numerous comic shops on Facebook and elsewhere have reported these unacceptable ways of shipping comics several days late. as One retailer tweeted:
So first of all, the 12/11 version of Lunar and Penguin shipments will arrive before the 12/04 version of Diamond, and now the 12/11 version of Diamond shouldn’t arrive until 12/17 or later? This is completely out of control!
Powell updated the store with another email:
While the distribution center team has been working over the past two weekends and on additional shifts, the account integration outage at the Diamond Olive Branch distribution center continues. More details about the transition can be found in a separate email sent earlier today (December 10). Or Friday. Products with a December 18 release date may be pushed back to next week. Our operations team has been able to get closer to a schedule that allows us to deliver goods by Wednesday, and our long-term goal is to deliver earlier. Some retailers are seeing issues with invoices not being posted on the retailer services website. Our developers have discovered an issue that they believe has been resolved, so current invoices are expected to be available on Wednesday, December 11th. Shipping information. This page has the latest information from the retailer, so please check it each morning for tracking information. We appreciate your support and patience during this complex change and are working hard to resolve these issues and return to the reliable schedule we have maintained in the past.
It should be noted that the store gets titles from DC, Image, Dark Horse, IDW, Mad Cave, and other smaller publishers, and those using PRH for Marvel should get them on time. However, Boom, Dynamite, and books wholesale through Diamond (including many retailers that use Diamond to sell Marvel comics) will be delayed until next week. as comics headquarters wrote on Facebook:
We have this week’s DC and Image titles and last week’s Diamond merchandise up and ready to ship. This week’s diamond shipment has been shipped and will be checked in immediately upon arrival. When we get information, we want to keep everyone informed. If anyone wants to wait until this week’s Diamond Comic comes out, I’ll post a story as soon as it’s released.
The Great Escape from Louisville has a spectacular post with some of the most dedicated whiteboard notes I’ve ever seen:
But tagging jokes aside, this is extremely troublesome for Diamond. To add insult to injury, a long-awaited initiative was announced this week: Boom Studios to relocate to Penguin Random House Comics and books will be released starting July 1st. Public housing buying boom Come back in July.
“Everyone at BOOM! Studios would like to thank Diamond Comic Distributors and Simon & Schuster for their enthusiastic support and service over the years,” BOOM! Studios president, executive director of business management and publishing operations Jen Harned said in a statement. “We are unable to Oversell the importance of both partnerships in building our business in direct comic books, book trade, library, international and mass markets as we integrate BOOM! Studios with Penguin Random House to leverage our new parent company. of scale and global reach, we remain grateful for all they continue to do for the comics and picture book industry.
Diamond returned with a brief note for retailers:
Following the recent announcement from BOOM! Studio, we want to confirm You can still order BOOM! Works published by the studio through Diamond Comic Distributors.
This includes their comic books, graphic novels, and related products. We will deliver BOOM! Products as a wholesaler, just like we do with many other product lines we carry.
We remain committed to supporting your business and ensuring you can maintain your existing ordering process and access the books your customers rely on.
Beginning with product launch on July 2nd, you will be able to order BOOM! Studio productions are available on the same terms as Marvel Comics productions.
If you have further questions about this information, please contact Diamond’s Retailer Services Department. Thanks.
Everyone was anticipating this move, including everyone at Diamond, but it only leaves Dynamite as a top ten comics publisher, joining DSTLRY and a few smaller publishers exclusively with Diamond.
What happened? I contacted a lot of people and the situation is still emerging, but Popverse’s Chris Arrant vaguely booked it on LinkedIn:
The current context for print comics distribution is undergoing significant changes. Industry giants have engaged in layoffs, consolidations, streamlining and shaky financial operations. Most of it is happening behind the scenes, but I feel like there’s some damage control and posturing going on now.
This is starting to feel like a prelude to the massive changes that comic book publishing will undergo in 2020 – and with players now involved, the changes are likely to be even greater.
I don’t have a complete picture of it all, but I did wake up yesterday to a bunch of anxious DMs asking if Diamond was going bankrupt. I haven’t heard of it, but it seems like a legitimate question.
One thing I did learn is that Diamond has been cutting costs across the board — there were some quiet layoffs about a month ago, and some open positions have yet to be filled. Another speculation I’ve heard is that Diamond may be cutting expenses in preparation for a sale.
One representative of a small publisher I spoke to called Diamond’s lack of communication “horrible.” Many book and award covers are also missing, so it’s not just store customers who are affected.
I’ve covered Diamond as much as any other reporter over the past 20 years, and I’ve heard all the good, bad and damaged corners of Diamond. Even a few years ago, Diamonds were viewed as a benevolent monopoly and people complained about it, but they were definitely an integral part of the comics ecosystem. People just want them to solve the most obvious problems. Brian Hibbs Over the years, he has covered many aspects of the retailer’s love/hate relationship with Diamond in his books. Windmill columns tilt,besides. One thing he mentioned several times was that Diamond had been the retailer’s “banker” for many years. Stores experiencing cash flow problems can expect Diamond to offer generous credit terms while they try to balance their books.
Everything changed on March 23, 2020, When Diamond announced it would stop shipping new comics due to the pandemic lockdown. This is either the thing that saves comics (many stores had to close during lockdown anyway) or the beginning of a new era of turmoil…or, more likely, both. As Diamond lost publisher after publisher, a new picture emerged: Far from being a bad monopoly, they were a company that actually understood the comics business and was committed to it.
One year after the “Great Lockdown,” I surveyed retailers to see what it meant and You can see some evolution of thinking there. DC has gone to the moon (and briefly to Midtown), but soon the dominoes will start falling, Marvel moves to public housing,final image, dark horse and inverse distance weighting method All partings. Now, boom.
While the idea of selling diamonds is radical, I have often pointed out that distribution is not an industry you can easily get into. It’s a fringe industry and comic shops all have their own peculiar needs – e.g. PRH learned quickly. As comics publishers drift away, Diamond adapts, strengthens his business Alliance Games Publishing business, as well as transporting more toys and other items. They’ve been trying to change tactics, but the current situation sounds out of control.
How this all ends, I don’t know, but I’ll keep digging. But I definitely agree with Arant: Big changes are coming. Don’t worry, readers, Brian Hibbs tells me he’ll be launching his own explainer column soon.
