In shocking news, the iconic monolith Diamond Distributors files for bankruptcy, but Brigid Alverson writes there is so much more to the industry today than before. Thinge are going to be alright:
What has happened to Diamond is, ironically, an unraveling of the exclusives that allowed it to dominate in the first place. In the mid-1990s, Diamond signed exclusive distribution agreements with Marvel, DC, and a number of smaller publishers, effectively locking other distributors out of the most lucrative part of the market. From 1996 to 2020, Diamond was the sole distributor to the direct market, but in 2020, history started to reverse itself as first DC and then Marvel left for other distributors, and most of the mid-size publishers followed.
The change was spurred by the pandemic. In March 2020, Diamond notified its business partners that it would stop distributing to the direct market as of April 1. Owner Steve Geppi cited closures of comic shops and its own distribution centers, as well as disruptions in the supply chain and freight networks, as reasons for the closing.
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Five years ago, Diamond’s Chapter 11 filing would have been disastrous for comics as a whole, but the industry has not been standing still. With the boom in manga sales, bookstores and mass market outlets are carrying more graphic novels than ever. Kickstarter and Zoop have emerged as important platforms for funding individual projects, with Patreon as a way for readers to directly support creators. Publishers sell comics and exclusives from their own web stores, and ICv2 recently launched ICv2 Direct as a platform allowing them to sell small-batch comics and collectibles directly to customers. Marvel and DC have both leaned in on their digital services, and webtoons are reaching readers directly through their cell phones, much as the teens of a generation ago found manga in the Waldenbooks in their local mall. The comics industry, which has been growing for decades, is bigger than ever before, but it has also expanded far beyond the brick-and-mortar stores of the direct market.
Read the whole article here: https://www.tcj.com/a-new-chapter-11-for-diamond/
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