In January, Diamond Comic Distributors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, throwing the comics shop direct sales market into turmoil. In the month since, new business configurations have been announced almost daily, all under the shadow of a ticking clock. According to court filings, Diamond is currently looking for buyers, with an auction scheduled for March 24 and a closing of no later than April 10.
Until then, comics and graphic novel publishers and comics shops are scrambling to find the least painful way to shift their business to other distributors while bracing themselves for lost income from direct market sales, which are unreturnable. (Diamond Book Distributors, a division of Diamond that distributes graphic novels to bookstores on the traditional returnable basis, is also affected by the bankruptcy—but with more bookstore distribution options available for the handful of publishers still at DBD, the industry’s concerns are focused on the market for periodical comics.) A few larger publishers are still exclusive with Diamond, at least on paper: Dynamite, Dstlry, and Titan Books are the largest among them, and none have announced their future strategies.
However, many in the business privately express a surprising amount of optimism. Despite the losses that a major distributor’s bankruptcy can impose, the prevailing feeling among publishers seems to be that the direct market will survive.
Pipeline problems
It’s a hopeful take in the face of inevitable changes in the direct market, particularly for the many smaller publishers that rely on Diamond for distribution. Several are already showing the strain: TwoMorrows, which publishes historical magazines and books, is asking readers to support them directly, and Canadian literary comics publisher Black Panel Press launched a GoFundMe to help them weather the $28,0000 Diamond owes them. Larger publishers are also making cuts: last week alone Dark Horse, IDW, Ablaze, and Alien Books all had layoffs.
Image Comics, the third largest publisher of comics in the direct market, was the first to make a decisive move, ending their wholesaler relationship with Diamond and cancelling orders only days after the bankruptcy filing. Since then, several other companies have loudly announced their departure: Mad Cave Studios, Massive Publishing, and Vault Comics have all announced partnerships with Lunar Distribution, a rival to Diamond that arose during the pandemic and now distributes for DC and Image. (The word “exclusive” is notably missing from some of these announcements, as publishers clearly want to keep their options open, having learned the lessons of a near monopoly.) Massive also announced Massive Indies, a sub-distribution program through which smaller publishers can submit titles to be included in Massive’s Lunar catalog for a fee.
Many publishers had already seen the writing on the wall by the time Diamond began having shipping problems late in 2024, following the closure of its Plattsburgh, N.Y., warehouse. Tom Akel, publisher of Rocketship Entertainment, which puts out print collections of webcomics, said that his company had quietly canceled all their orders from Diamond even before the Chapter 11 announcement. But more moves loom. “Rocketship is distributed by Simon & Schuster and will see no interruption—and we’ll have more distribution news just ahead of ComicsPRO,” Akel told PW.
Bad Egg Publishing puts out comics by YouTube influencers, which can sell more than 100,000 copies outside the direct market, but even it is affected. “For our specific business, Diamond is both our DM partner and our mass/book market partner,” said Bad Egg director of publishing Robert Meyers. “We’ve had an option for direct-to-retail sales since we launched, but working with a distributor is so much easier for the stores. Plus, that model doesn’t translate to the book market.”
Other publishers have fewer options. Matias Timarchi of Alien, which publishes manga, foreign licenses, and Valiant Comics, said that Diamond hasn’t paid them since December, but that he believes the publisher will “be able to reorganize and move forward. Even though the money owed to us is essential for our operations, we’re working to ensure it won’t become critical. This will require restructuring the company and reducing operational expenses.”
Like many publishers, Alien was already adapting to the marketplace tumult by moving toward crowdfunding. But Diamond’s issues hit them at a time when they were planning expansion and new licenses. “This will be a heavy blow for us,” said Timarchi. “We’ll have to reinvent ourselves, but I have faith that we’ll be able to do it and continue on the path we started some time ago.”
Comics retailers are dealing with their own issues in the new landscape. Diamond had been shipping books late since the Plattsburgh closure, which frustrated customers and caused many retailers to take a hit during the holiday sales season.
Though some shops specialize in carrying small publishers, “I can’t afford to individually order directly from over a hundred different publishers,” said Matias Lewis, of Knowhere Comics in San Diego. “If anything were to happen to Diamond, I fear that customers who regularly buy comics from Antarctic Press through Zenescope might lose out, which also affects my sales and overall business model.”
Another issue is how many shops rely on Diamond for toys and games. As publishers moved away from the company for their direct market distribution, Diamond began to shift to selling toys, and most of their top 30 creditors are toy companies, including Bandai, Hasbro, and the National Entertainment Collectibles Association. The toy business softened considerably after a pandemic binge—surely another blow to Diamond’s fortunes—but collectibles still make up a huge part of what comics shops sell, and they will need a new source for those as well.
Buyer’s market
How publishers and retailers will cope with the chaos remains in question, but the biggest question of all is: who will buy Diamond? According to court filings, the distributor has been looking for a buyer, with Raymond James as agent, since last September. Another filing reveals that 30 companies are currently investigating Diamond’s assets.
Neither of Diamond’s current competitors is considered a natural candidate, according to observers. Penguin Random House is Diamond’s biggest creditor, with more than $9 million in outstanding debts, and it entered the comics distribution fray in 2021, now handling Dark Horse, IDW, Marvel, and some manga publishers. But it’s unlikely the house will be interested in the crazy quilt of tiny comics publishers—some of them one-person operations—that Diamond has long carried. And while Lunar Distribution, to whom Diamond owes $500,0000, has already taken on many Diamond refugees, adding scores of additional publishers seems more than its current infrastructure can handle.
Many in the business suggest that the most likely candidate is Canada’s Universal Distribution, which has already signed a letter of intent to buy Diamond UK and submitted a $39 million stalking horse bid for Alliance Games, the division of Diamond that sells hobby games. Headquartered in Montreal, Universal sells a Diamond-like array of pop culture products, including comics, in Canada, and has been making moves toward the larger North American market for years, including a distribution deal it inked with DC Comics in 2022.
Another potential buyer mentioned in idle speculation was S&S, which distributes many graphic novels into bookstores—but without a direct market presence, would they be interested in getting into the periodical business? (Diamond Book Distributors has attracted less speculation, but in theory could be split off for a separate sale to a Big Five publisher with distribution operations.) ICv2’s Milton Griepp speculated on other possible bidders, including Entertainment Earth, Asmodee, or even venture-backed capital. But the complexity and low margins of comic book distribution make it a challenging business for newcomers.
Diamond’s downfall is particularly shocking given its near monopoly of the direct market for more than 20 years. Despite consistent complaints from the comics business, the company remains an industry institution: it runs Free Comic Book Day, a huge program for retail awareness; its Previews catalog is considered the bible for buyers at comics shops and beyond; and for years, it worked directly with stores to extend credit during rough patches. Diamond’s extremely publisher-friendly payment terms are another perk that will be hard to replace.
Whatever the missteps Diamond made along the way, and despite all the anxiety and uncertainty, everyone PW spoke with expressed hope, either publicly or privately, that Diamond would survive.
“I don’t want Diamond to go away,” said Lewis. “They provide a lot of key services that are integral to the industry as we know it.” Akel agreed: “I want nothing more than for Diamond to come out the other side of this. I think every creator and publisher remembers their first listing in Previews. It was a point of pride and accomplishment, and I still have tucked away my own first listings from over 20 years ago.”
Still, all these good wishes don’t change one thing: according to a statement from a Diamond spokesperson given to the Baltimore Banner, “Although we are hopeful to locate a buyer, if our efforts are unsuccessful, Diamond will unfortunately have to cease operations.” The clock continues to tick.