DC Cuts Ties with Diamond

[Hypo]

THR: DC Cuts Ties with Diamond Comic Distributors

[Frontier]

Oh...well, I imagine this will be impactful to the industry in some form or another.

[Digifiend]

Nobody can say the monopoly hasn't been broken now. End of an era.

[9th.]

[Lvenger]

My exact response to this news. This is going to be a game changing move for the comics industry.

[Vordan]

53AD50F3-C63F-42E7-9970-D2B3E033CA5D.jpg
Yeah this is a gamechanger. The industry is going through another watershed moment and it looks like DC will be leading the charge.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Right? About time though. I wonder what Marvel plans on doing.

[Kevin Street]

I'm starting to understand the Joker's point of view.

THR: DC Cuts Ties with Diamond Comic Distributors

We recognize that, to many of you, this may seem like a momentous decision. However, we can assure you that this change in DC's distribution plans has not been made lightly and follows a long period of thought and consideration. The change of direction is in line with DC's overall strategic vision intended to improve the health of, and strengthen, the Direct Market as well as grow the number of fans who read comics worldwide.

Pardon me, anonymous email writer (who's definitely not Jim Lee), but I don't believe you. Maybe you've been thinking about this for a while, but I think you've reached the wrong conclusions. It's impossible to see how Lunar and UCS can stay in business with just one publisher, and for that matter it's not even clear that they can distribute DC comics to places like Canada and England. This is bad news for DC comics.

And it's not great for the Direct Market either. Can Diamond survive this on top of the Virus? I really, really hope so, because if Diamond goes down the direct market will go down with it. And if the direct market goes down, the comics industry will go down. Comixology is fine and all, but those lost sales from the Direct Market won't shift to digital, they'll just go away. And suddenly it won't be profitable for companies to pay anyone a living wage to make comics. DC and Marvel and most of the other companies will go away, and all that will be left will be a hundred or so writers and artists using Patreon or whatever to make digital comics.

I hope you realize this current plan is a mistake, and reverse course before Lunar and UCS go broke and take you with them.

Edited to add: You know what? I hope I'm wrong. Maybe you know things about The Industry and the long term health of Diamond that ordinary fans like me don't know, and maybe you've got some kind of plan to help Lunar and UCS stay afloat until other publishers join you. I don't want anything to happen to Diamond, but maybe you know things we don't know. I'll acknowledge right now that maybe you're right. But from the outside, to someone with no extra knowledge, this looks like a terrible mistake.

[skyvolt2000]

it won't be profitable for companies to pay anyone a living wage to make comics.

Most folks have other jobs besides comics.

Alex Simmons and Sanford Greene work for colleges as does Khary Randolph.

Noelle Stevenson might be known to comic book fans for Lumberjanes but the rest of the world knows her for Netflix's She Ra.

Dwayne McDuffie-Ben 10, Static Shock and many other cartoons come up before folks realize he started in comics.

Bryan Hill left Marvel because he has to work on Titans tv show.

Shuri's writer left because she had a tv show to work on.

There is a reason so many are running to do creator own work. They want to sell their ideas and get tv shows or movies.

David Walker has a college class to teach, a Bitter Root movie deal and other non DC books to do.

The retailers still have to pay for the books (25c i think?) and the expense of hosting the day (artists in store, gaming events, writers, decorating the store and advertising the event etc)

It's 25 cents.

Most stores just have those books for anyone.

One I go to FINALLY decided to have a sale that day buy 2 get 1 free of any combination of stuff. The owner was against it until it became very profitable for him. Stuff he couldn't sell finally got sold.

Another one does an event. Because most of the folks they get are from the area. Last one they had-Tee Franklin, the guys behind Image's Lark & IDW's TMNT and one of WW's artists (she did the covers in the early Rebirth run. I want to say she did Wonder Woman 16 cover).

And he did 25 cent books (to the tune of 50 long boxes). No it was not packed with Ms Marvel and the books hated by gators (the few copies there did not last long). It was Batman, Doomsday Clock, Superman (WAY TOO MUCH and no it was Bendis's run), Flash, Hal Jordan and some others. Lets just say there was enough to where it saw some books get on pull lists to get the remaining issues of an arc. Except Shazam-those delays did not help it.

[captchuck]

I've been reading DC Comics since the 1960's. I buy issues every week from the same comics shop. I don't care that much about who distributes them. I'll continue buying my favorite characters until they stop printing DC Comics. (The same for Marvel) None of us has any control over these million dollar deals, but I hope the comics continue being printed. When that stops, I'll stop. I won't switch to digital.

[superduperman]

I'm gonna throw a not so controversial idea out there. People don't need comic books to get their super-hero fix anymore. Want Marvel characters? You've got the MCU. Want Superman? He's getting his own show next year. Want Batman? He's got a new movie coming out along with god knows how many cartoons. Wonder Woman? Most popular movie hero right now. Spiderman? Ditto. None of which requires knowing decades of backstories. Flash? His own show. Green Lantern? Getting one. Stargirl is a huge hit and she's not even that well known. We're in an era where if you like a character, odds are you can find some kind of other media that has them.

DC sees this. They know that the world doesn't need them. They may have fallen into accepting their role as a supplement to other media. Disney may see Marvel as just an IP farmhouse and with over 75% of the marketshare they don't need to worry about losing money right now. Down the road? Who knows. DC may be looking into the future and realize that, with a much smaller market share than Marvel, they don't really have a future in it and have decided to gamble on something else.

[Kevin Street]

There is a reason so many are running to do creator own work. They want to sell their ideas and get tv shows or movies.

That's like winning the lottery, though. Very few comic book creators get their ideas turned into TV shows and movies. It's just not a viable reason to pour your heart and soul and limited time into a creative work.

And as for other ideas I've seen in this thread and elsewhere, OGNs wouldn't save the comics industry. They're a different form of publishing that mostly appeals to a different group of fans. But the good news is that OGNs aren't a threat to the industry, either. Both can make a profit without cannibalizing the other.

And digital only... I've already said what I think about that. It would only support a small group of hobbyists, with a much smaller group within that group earning enough to do it full time.

The thing that monthly comics have that no other publishing system has is a built-in market. These days there's so many different ways to spend one's time, it makes it nearly impossible to rise above the sea of entertainment options and find a fanbase. If someone's only buying one or two books or games each month there's almost no chance to catch their attention. Theatrical movies have to do it by spending billions of dollars on publicity. But direct market comic fans have been conditioned to look for new comic books every week. That means you have 52 chances every year to catch their attention, and they want to keep buying from you because their appetite for new stories is voracious. The monthly pace trains consumers to build a loyalty to their favorite characters or creators or companies in a way that non-serialized formats never could. It isn't like an OGN that comes and goes and is quickly forgotten.

It's a little like the difference between streaming movies and TV shows. On streaming new movies come out, are quickly forgotten and fade away. TV shows do better because they have more episodes and feel like more of an investment for the viewer. When the viewer has to watch at least ten episodes of a show there's a greater chance they'll become a fan and want to watch the next season. Monthly comics are like that, but the potential investment is even greater, because the number of "episodes" (issues) is unlimited.

[Vampire Savior]

That's like winning the lottery, though. Very few comic book creators get their ideas turned into TV shows and movies. It's just not a viable reason to pour your heart and soul and limited time into a creative work.

Somewhat true...but not quite as true as you may think. See, the way it works is like this...

Companies are hungry for specifically comic content now more than ever. However, WB and Disney have locked up all of Marvel and DC. So, for...I don't know, I'm going to pull a studio out of a hat...Lionsgate, they cannot touch any of those properties. They are completely off the table for Lionsgate, but I'm sure Lionsgate would love some comic stuff to adapt, because that's really hot right now, and has been for decades. That's how Bloodshot wound up getting a movie, and Locke and Key a show. You don't have to have a comic selling on the level of Batman (or any DC comic, for that matter) to get someone's attention, because they cannot adapt Batman.

So, it's always going to be a crap shoot. There are always very many factors a writer can't control, but if someone wants to get big in this field, there has never been a better time than now to attempt it.

But hey, don't listen to me. Don't ever try this, and stay out of this field, because there is absolutely no hope for any of you in it. That's just less competition.

[Gaastra]

Manga uses many distributors and many were still coming out after diamond shut down. You can still get the newest manga trade of case closed or one piece. It's never good to have all your eggs in one basket.

As for monthly (and weekly!) comics manga has them in black in white 200 page mags in little chapters with many stories per book on cheaper paper to cut cost.

There is a sunday mag also that's the size of a phone book and people get them sent to their house the same as newspapers!

You then get the trades for better papers! Japan has manga vending machines also at bus and airports and some airports have a manga area with bookcases of manga you can read for free! (and no one steals them!)

Also movie chains will see manga and toys based on the movies that are out! New detective conan movie out? There will be a display of toys, manga and other things based on it when you see the film! Why are there no spider-man or batman trades set up when their movies come out here?

American comic companies may want to look into what japan is doing.