Diane Nelson, Gary Groth and More On the DC Comics/Diamond Changes

So many people have been commenting on the DC Comics decision to drop Diamond Comic Distributor in favour of new distributors set up by DC, UCS and Lunar, created by big comics retailers Midtown Comics and DCBS. We mentioned Brian Hibbs comments last week, but the comments under those comments reveal a few very interesting takes. Such as that from Diane Nelson, the former President of DC, who had an interesting observation concerning Diamond's financial situation.

I'm afraid I've not been privy to this recent decision. I can say purely as a private individual that Diamond has, for a long time, been unwilling or unable to modernize and support and grow the biz as needed for a healthy direct channel. And may not even be solvent.

It would be imprudent for any publisher to not have a distribution contingency plan. I am disappointed by the communications roll out if the decision, as it seems (from my admittedly removed and limited POV) not nearly robust enough and to not have offered retailers sufficient notice and explanation as to what I'm sure is a reasonable and probably even advantageous decision for them.

It's never good for any company to have a monopoly on a business and Diamond has for too long. I'm optimistic DC will help retailers understand how to navigate the transition. And I'd almost guarantee (I would guarantee but as I say, I'm not privy to this) that there's no way DC or WB have a financial stake in these distributors.

Then there's Gary Groth, publisher of Fantagraphics Books, whose Comics Journal covered the last Distributor Wars of the nineties better and more thoroughly than anyone.

All the distributors in the '80s and (early) '90s carried the same comics, there were no exclusivities back then, so retailers could buy all their comics from a single distributor. There was about a 99% overlap among distributors. So, there were Diamond retailers and Capital retailers and Friendly Frank retailers, and many retailers established a loyalty to their distributor of choice. Some retailers had accounts at multiple distributors, but usually only to get the few comics that one of the distributors handled that others didn't. You'd have to be pretty hardcore to do that.

Anyway, I don't know what everyone's complaining about. Seems like a good time for DC to change distributors. We have plague, racial strife, Trump. Why not add destabilizing the comics market to the mix?

While after a lot of consultation, mulling it over and running back and forth I thought I'd throw in my own take.

Diamond Comic Distributors has suffered from a lack of competition over the decades, the biggest issue for retailers being damaged stock. It can be returned but it takes up time, effort and money to do so. While the premium variant covers, often a part of retailers deals with publishers, and highly valued by collectors, seem most vulnerable to be damaged. One thing that Lunar and UCS have shown is a greater desire to keep damages down, which premium variant covers are shipped bulletproof.

But the only direct competition being experienced in the current situation is between Lunar and UCS. Diamond is no longer distributing DC titles and they have no competition for the rest of the monthly comics they are distributing. The only possibility is that other publishers could jump to UCS or Lunar – but they may have trouble ramping up to the whole of DC Comics distribution, they are not going to be taking on other publishers so soon.

The other aspect is that Diamond plays much more of a role in the direct market than just a distributor. The reason why so many comic stores owe them such fealty is that Diamond often keeps comic stores alive by operating as a de facto bank. Diamond has given extended terms to many a store to stop them going out of business.  If sales are slow, and big accounts can't pay, what happens when DC comes to collect from UCS and Lunar? Will they have the cash on hand to pay DC and float default accounts? And if it all goes south, what pressure will they be able to bring to bear if those shops can still get product from every other company to keep customers coming and in and the lights on? Especially when they are retailers themselves and will still, supposedly, rely on Diamond for 75% of their product?

And that's without the worry that non-US retailers are suffering. One retailer, their details redacted, passed Bleeding Cool their own expressed concerns – no reply yet. Maybe Bleeding Cool can help. We are meant to hear something regarding international shipping this week…

DC need to know the following concerns UK retailers have that MUST be answered within 7 days before the first FOC closes, but which are not currently being adequately addressed by UCS (Lunar not really an option for the UK, unless we prefer to pay for an additional 2,500 miles in air freight):

1. Will we get credit / replacements for damages? *
2. Will there be UK customer support in our time zone?
3. What exactly are our discount tiers? – we've now had unofficial sight of the US discount tiers, but we need to know what will be applied to our first few deliveries in lieu of any Diamond US sales history
4. How much is shipping charged at?
5. Will our consignments be shipped in time for New Comic Book Day each week?
6. Will you match the credit terms we've been receiving from Diamond UK (e.g. I get EOM + 30 days)?
7. FINALLY – would you PLEASE consider using Diamond UK as a distributor for the UK, in the interim at least, if none / any of the above concerns cannot be addressed before FOC ON MONDAY. We are flexible – please can you be too?

* Damages are of particular concern for us, as instead of our boxes travelling no more than 200 miles across the UK, they will instead experience an additional 4,000+ miles that previously would have been part of a pallet, and therefore better protected.

Could this all just a big negotiation tactic by DC to get better Diamond terms? Oh yes, UCS is now also selling comic book long boxes. So there's that too.

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