Comics Distribution: One Way Please

Print Math – MARK WAID.

In which comic author Waid (he’s kind of a big deal) describes just what a stacked deck comics distribution is. It’s all controlled by one company (Diamond); that company’s practices are monopolistic in a way that makes Amazon look like nice guys; there is virtually no distribution outside of four major markets; and it’s getting worse.

Oh, and as for digital solving everything — he’s skeptical, and so am I, but he plans to find out “face-first” and report back.

I know of absolutely no one in the comics space, from publishers to creators to store-owners, who has a single nice thing to say about Diamond. I’m also somewhat stupefied that a younger, nimbler, more agile competitor hasn’t spring up — but what with print’s embers smoldering and burning out, I suspect anyone who tried to take the reins from them at this late date would simply be harnessing a dying animal.

  • http://www.stevensavage.com/ Steven Savage

    None of this surprises me. In fact, I’m often surprised comics survies in its current form at all – which is probably pretty telling.

    Frankly, I think the industry is set for a kind of implosion in the next 2-5 year, with a lot of stores falling by the wayside, others hyper-diversifying, things moving online, and companies moving to multimedia. That’s going to be a very interesting time indeed . . . because I can see a lot of interesting things happening.

    • http://genjipress.com Serdar Yegulalp

      Most “comic stores” as I know them have already mutated just to stay alive. My local “comic store” is now a general geek-products store, with grimy anime DVDs (legit and bootleg), overpriced Gundam plastic model kits, tabletop RPG tomes and a disused pay phone all cheek-by-jowl in a lean-to of cheery clutter. Nobody goes in there just to buy comics; they go there to get a general geek fix on. They could stop selling comics tomorrow and I ‘spect it wouldn’t be nary more than a hiccup on their radar.