Last week’s SuperMassive one-shot from Image Comics ended with a surprise appearance by Medieval Spawn.
Turns out that would only be the second-biggest surprise from Image that day.
On Wednesday, comics’ third largest publisher announced it had inked an exclusive direct market distribution deal with Lunar, taking monthly titles like Spawn, Saga and Walking Dead Deluxe out of the hands of former distribution kingpin Diamond Comic Distributors.
(Note: According to The Beat, Diamond Books will continue to distribute Image products to bookstores. Diamond Comic Distributors also will act as a wholesaler middleperson between Lunar and comic shops, much as it does between Penguin Random House and Marvel, IDW and Dark Horse.)
The move takes effect in September, with Image orders opening through Lunar in June.
Image is leaving Diamond for Lunar roughly three years after Lunar was created as an offshoot of DCBS to distribute DC Comics after Diamond effectively shut down the industry at the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic.
Over time, more and more publishers migrated to Lunar, some exclusively, some not. Come September, Lunar will distribute books from DC, Image, Vault, Oni Press, AHOY, Mad Cave, Scout, AWA, etc.
According to Comichron, Diamond has lost 84% of its pre-pandemic direct distribution sales.
For the record, Image’s executives were highly complimentary of Diamond in crafting their Dear John press release.
Said President and Chief Spawn Officer Todd McFarlane: “For over three decades, they have been at our side, supporting our books from the moment we founded our company back in 1992. Every Image comic published, since our inception in ’92, has been distributed to thousands of retail outlets by Diamond, and they have played a very important role in our company’s evolution.”
Said Chief Financial Officer and Vice President in Charge of Savage Dragon Erik Larsen: “We have enjoyed our relationship with Diamond over the decades and we have made some wonderful friends there, so this decision has been a difficult one.”
Said Publisher Eric Stephenson: “This is a big change, but we will still be working with Diamond in other capacities and look forward to maintaining those relationships with the Diamond team for years to come.”
Very sweet, guys. Nice job.
For his part, Diamond founder Steve “Mamanook” Geppi said in a statement: “While their announcement today marks a new chapter in our partnership, I am delighted that Diamond will continue to play a vital role as a key source for Image Comics to the Direct Market.”
While it’s another loss — and a big one on its face — monthly comics are but one part of Diamond’s business. It also distributes books, magazines, toys, games and other merchandise under its various subsidiaries, and in past statements when comics publishers have migrated to other distributors, Geppi has struck a tone intended to convey that it was little sweat off his brow.
Also its continued wholesaling of bigger publishers for other distributors means it still has its fingers fairly deep in the comics pie.
And hey, they’ve still got BOOM Studios and Dynamite.
(ComicsXF reached out to BOOM and Dynamite, the last two A-tier publishers exclusive to Diamond, for comment and will update this editorial if either of them responds.)
Still, one has to scratch their heads at Diamond’s recently announced “Deluxe Publisher Tier,” which recognizes a dubious roster of exclusive second-string clients and offers them preferred placement in the Previews catalog. Those “deluxe” publishers include AfterShock Comics (best known recently for declaring bankruptcy), Titan Comics (best known in the U.S. for publishing Doctor Who comics), Ablaze Publishing (best known by CXF for publishing Mark Russell’s Traveling to Mars), Frank Miller Presents (best known for having Frank Miller in its name), Opus Comics (best known for … um … I genuinely don’t know) and, most recently, Massive (best known for also going by Whatnot and therefore being confusing).
As ever in these times of uncertainty, it’s good to turn to the people such moves affect most, so we asked John Bush, manager of Dewey’s Comic City in Dover, New Jersey, to shed some light on what this all might mean.
Question the first: Might this latest move lead retailers to cut ties with Diamond in favor of PRH and Lunar like millennials ditching Comcast for streaming?
“I don’t know if this will persuade anyone who stayed with Diamond before to leave,” Bush told CXF. “Many stores I know stuck with Diamond for their Marvel books because it was easier than switching and having to track orders and payments for a third distributor. So for the stores that have already decided to roll with Diamond and had Lunar for DC, I don’t think anything will change except what they order from where.”
But, “For stores that do have accounts with all three distributors, this does present a difficult choice. Image and BOOM were the two best reasons to stick with Diamond at this point, at least in my view. Lunar has already been expanding to carry other small publishers and would probably welcome a few more if it came to that. After this announcement, at my store at least, the best reasons to stick with Diamond are BOOM and toys. And frankly, the costs of toys have gotten so out of control I could easily be persuaded to give them up. It’s a tough call, but I think most stores stick with Diamond for now — at least until or if BOOM makes a move.”
Diamond also has certain technological advantages, Bush points out:
“Diamond also has decent market saturation with ComicSuite, its ordering and pull list management software. I use it, and it makes ordering so much simpler. A good alternative in ComicHub is also available, but switching away from Diamond could also mean migrating software for ComicSuite users. That could be a big deterrent for now.”
Question the second: How has Lunar been as a distributor?
“I haven’t had the problems with Lunar that many other stores have. I see a lot of damaged shipments on social media and hear about them anecdotally, but I’ve never had a catastrophic damage issue with Lunar and we’ve been with them since the start.”
Of course in the end, it all comes down to dollars and details:
“The last important issue for most stores is going to be shipping costs,” Bush said. “Losing a big seller like Image will likely make Diamond’s shipping costs even more unpalatable. I get roughly the same amount of product through Lunar and Diamond right now, but I pay four or five times as much in shipping on Diamond orders. And that’s even after they recently reduced their costs by 20%. With a dwindling selection of books, the shipping costs are going to have even more of an impact on margins.”
In the end, it’s a baby step toward whatever the industry is going to be next. Lunar gains another big publisher and a larger share of comic shops’ inventory orders. Diamond continues transitioning to a wholesaler that takes its cut how it can. Retailers who sell new comics remain entrenched in having to order from two or three different distributors. And you? You still get Spawn.
Everyone wins?
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts WMQ&A: The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
