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DC Comics ends its business relationship with Diamond Comic Distributors and retailers are NOT happy!


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For local comic stores already strugging in the throes of the "COVID-19 Crisis", this was the LAST thing they needed.

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Direct Market comic book retailers polled by Newsarama are stunned by the sudden move by DC to sever ties with Diamond Comics Distributors, the company who distributes the vast majority of comic books to stores.

 

DC has chosen to instead sell their books through the distribution network they set up and announced in April 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis that shut down Diamond’s network — leaving stores no choice but to buy from two of their competitors for DC titles. 

 

"It was a nice gut punch after we just reopened our doors for the first time in two months," said J.C. Glindmyer, owner of Earthworld Comics in Albany, N.Y. of Friday's surprise news. "As most retailers, I’m not going to cut off my nose to spite my face, I’ll order for my regulars, the minimum for racks, but [I’m] not putting any significant resources in their future projects."

 

"The timing of this is terrible and shows a blatant disregard for concerns of comics sellers," said Benn Ray of Atomic Books in Baltimore. "So I say this as a lifelong DC Comics fan as well as a retailer — screw you, DC Comics. I wish them every bit as well as Marvel did when they did this back in the '90s. Whoever is calling the shots at DC, if there is anyone, should be sacked immediately."

 

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Retailers we spoke to said the move means higher shipping costs to stores, lower discounting from Diamond, and even thinner profit margins. 

"Without the DC purchases through Diamond, my discount will be less, making my business no longer profitable or viable," said Charlie Harris of Charlie’s Comic Books in Tucson, Arizona. 

 

 

"I don't believe that it will be profitable or practical for most retailers to order low return-on-investment periodicals from a second distribution source," Hibbs wrote on Facebook. "The extra shipping and handling involved is going to melt profit, while the endless extra hours trying to enter and massage data into point-of-sale systems that were not designed to quickly process mass data dumps from anyone other than Diamond is going to be nothing but waste for thousands of individual store fronts — when what they need from their suppliers is nothing but dishearte

 

Really not trying to be a dick here but if your profit margin is so slim that you are staying afloat due to the discount the the distributor is giving you or the extra time in learning a new POS is going to wreck you, you are likely already on the precipice of closing down. Comic shops seem to be in decline for years as the customers disappear and the market changes.

Comics are rolling down the same path music and games have already ventured, the industry really needs to figure out future  or they are going to die out.

 

 

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10 minutes ago, SimpleG said:

Retailers we spoke to said the move means higher shipping costs to stores, lower discounting from Diamond, and even thinner profit margins. 

"Without the DC purchases through Diamond, my discount will be less, making my business no longer profitable or viable," said Charlie Harris of Charlie’s Comic Books in Tucson, Arizona. 

 

 

"I don't believe that it will be profitable or practical for most retailers to order low return-on-investment periodicals from a second distribution source," Hibbs wrote on Facebook. "The extra shipping and handling involved is going to melt profit, while the endless extra hours trying to enter and massage data into point-of-sale systems that were not designed to quickly process mass data dumps from anyone other than Diamond is going to be nothing but waste for thousands of individual store fronts — when what they need from their suppliers is nothing but dishearte

 

Really not trying to be a dick here but if your profit margin is so slim that you are staying afloat due to the discount the the distributor is giving you or the extra time in learning a new POS is going to wreck you, you are likely already on the precipice of closing down. Comic shops seem to be in decline for years as the customers disappear and the market changes.

Comics are rolling down the same path music and games have already ventured, the industry really needs to figure out future  or they are going to die out.

 

At least in my area, that transition has essentially taken the form of stocking far fewer new comics and reducing the retail space devoted to comics as a whole and instead focusing on tabletop games.

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1 hour ago, Emperor Diocletian II said:

 

At least in my area, that transition has essentially taken the form of stocking far fewer new comics and reducing the retail space devoted to comics as a whole and instead focusing on tabletop games.

This is my LCS. They shouldn't he called comic shops, really. Probably something like "Board Game Store and Geek Hangout" but less stupid.

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2 minutes ago, Remarkableriots said:

Comic collecting always seemed too expensive and time consuming. I actually preferred the novels over comic format like Death of Superman i read the novel. @skillzdadirecta do you read any of the Superhero novels?

Na. I've been a monthly comic collector since I was about five but I HAVE reduced the amount of monthly books I buy by a lot recently. 

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3 hours ago, Emperor Diocletian II said:

I've been following the whole "DC SUCKS" thing online the last couple of days. This is a GREAT video that explains the whole problem with the current distribution model and how we got here.

 

 

This video is from 2018 and he predicted that doing things the way we were doing them could lead to trouble.

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Mile High Comics, The Second Largest Comic Retailer in The Country Launches 50% Off "DC SUCKS" Sale  :lol:

 

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 I am beginning a 50% off back issues sale today with the codeword DCSUCKS! I make no apologies for the forthrightness of my codeword choice, as I am rightfully and truly pissed off. The 50% off DCSUCKS! Codeword applies to all ten million+ of our back issue comics and magazines, including an awesome collection that Pam purchased this morning. Those key issues will be in our Premium New-In-Stock link at about 10 AM tomorrow (Saturday) morning. Only new issues, my few variants, and our professionally-grade comics are excluded. Please stay safe, and have a great weekend. We will all survive, because, love is love…

 

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2 hours ago, Remarkableriots said:

When i was a teenager i collected Star Trek and Star Wars novels which you wouldn't believe how many Star Trek novels they have released.

And with the Star Trek novels there is no continuity no canon, and they all practically contradict each other, the movies, and  the TV series.

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How much influence does WB have wit the actual distribution side of DC Comics? I know Disney influences Marvel on content, but as far as how Marvel distributes their comics in physical and digital form, it's pretty much up to them and not the mouse. Could this new deal be a WB decision?

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1 hour ago, Emperor Diocletian II said:

 

He tried to explain the various levels of Star Trek canon, correct?

Exactly right... and how your knowledge of that determines whether or not you are a "Trekkie" which is seen as kind of a casual fan or a "Trekker" which are the "Real, hardcore fans".

 

3 minutes ago, IdeaOfEvil said:

How much influence does WB have wit the actual distribution side of DC Comics? I know Disney influences Marvel on content, but as far as how Marvel distributes their comics in physical and digital form, it's pretty much up to them and not the mouse. Could this new deal be a WB decision?

 

By all accounts it was AT&T's decision...  They bought Time Warner which owns Warner Bros and DC Comics. This is coming from them... the rumors have been running since AT&T bought Warners that they were going to get out of comics publication all together and that they would license the DC characters to Disney/Marvel for publication if at all. I was skeptical of  this rumor when I first heard it but now? I'm not so sure :hmm:

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2 hours ago, Emperor Diocletian II said:

And with the Star Trek novels there is no continuity no canon, and they all practically contradict each other, the movies, and  the TV series.

 

But with Star Wars it was always that the books are canon until they're not. Which used to just mean that you were safe until your favorite book got contradicted by one of the movies (or TV shows--I think those were on par with movies as "screen continuity" for Star Wars, right?), but then got you Disney completely wiping the slate when they bought Lucasfilm. It seems way more manageable to just say "if it's not on screen it's not canon" than to have that weird no man's land between alpha and beta canons.

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2 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

I have friends who are Trekkies... or Trekkers? One of them tried to explain the difference to me once.

 

I don't remember which is which, but I think one term was the original term, and then a group of fans decided it was derogatory and started using the other one.

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1 hour ago, Jason said:

 

But with Star Wars it was always that the books are canon until they're not. Which used to just mean that you were safe until your favorite book got contradicted by one of the movies (or TV shows--I think those were on par with movies as "screen continuity" for Star Wars, right?), but then got you Disney completely wiping the slate when they bought Lucasfilm. It seems way more manageable to just say "if it's not on screen it's not canon" than to have that weird no man's land between alpha and beta canons.

 

You can always cherry pick. Shadows of the Empire is perfectly fine for being the in-between from ESB to RotJ. Knights of the Old Republic is fine for everything in that era. Nothing has to be 100% lined up anymore. Even if Disney jsut revealed how Luke got his X-Wing back after he left it on Cloud City, and by proxy interferes with SotE, it doesn't mean all of SotE is now debunked =)

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4 hours ago, Jason said:

 

But with Star Wars it was always that the books are canon until they're not. Which used to just mean that you were safe until your favorite book got contradicted by one of the movies (or TV shows--I think those were on par with movies as "screen continuity" for Star Wars, right?), but then got you Disney completely wiping the slate when they bought Lucasfilm. It seems way more manageable to just say "if it's not on screen it's not canon" than to have that weird no man's land between alpha and beta canons.

Didn't George Lucas say he NEVER considered anything outside of the movies canon including the books? Even BEFORE Disney bought Lucasfilm?

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1 hour ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Didn't George Lucas say he NEVER considered anything outside of the movies canon including the books? Even BEFORE Disney bought Lucasfilm?

 

He said that after heavily promoting Shadows of the Last Empire as THE story that bridges ESB and RotJ - which I guess he conveniently forgot about once he started working on the prequel movies.

 

At this point, just consider what you enjoy to be cannon. George made it so the original theatrical releases of the OT aren't even cannon anymore, and Disney will do the same with these new three one day - so f' it :shrug:

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3 hours ago, IdeaOfEvil said:

 

He said that after heavily promoting Shadows of the Last Empire as THE story that bridges ESB and RotJ - which I guess he conveniently forgot about once he started working on the prequel movies.

 

At this point, just consider what you enjoy to be cannon. George made it so the original theatrical releases of the OT aren't even cannon anymore, and Disney will do the same with these new three one day - so f' it :shrug:

latest?cb=20070914210621

I loved that novel.

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