Comics Distributor Diamond Is Filing For Bankruptcy

Diamond Comics Distributors, 1 of nan biggest companies progressive successful getting schematic novels into beingness retailers for purchase, is filing for bankruptcy and scaling its business backmost arsenic nan manufacture braces itself for a caller activity of economical challenges.

In a missive sent to comics retailers and publishers today, Diamond president Chuck Parker announced that nan institution has revenge for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and plans to discarded disconnected its Alliance Game Distributors limb to Universal successful bid to “protect nan astir captious aspects of our business.”

“This determination was not made lightly, and I understand that this news whitethorn beryllium arsenic difficult to comprehend arsenic it is for maine to share,” Parker explained. “The Diamond activity squad and I personification worked tirelessly to debar this consequence but nan financial challenges we look personification adjacent america pinch nary different viable option.”

Founded successful 1982 by Stephen A. Geppi (who still serves arsenic CEO), Diamond became a heavyweight successful nan comics business by securing a number of exclusive distribution agreements pinch various publishing houses for illustration DC, Marvel, and Image. For decades, Diamond — which too publishes its Previews mag showcasing upcoming titles — was instrumental successful bringing comics to marketplace and played a immense domiciled successful determining a book’s occurrence because of really Previews influenced retailer orders.

News astir Diamond’s bankruptcy comes weeks aft nan institution abruptly shuttered its flagship fulfillment halfway successful Plattsburgh, NY, which nan company’s VP of retailer services Chris Powell described arsenic a basal measurement to reside longstanding operational issues that made its distribution process unsustainable.

“Ideally, changes would personification been planned and tested while we continued to tally arsenic we had been astatine Plattsburgh,” Powell said. “With that nary longer an option, we must make changes and proceedings them pinch unrecorded accusation and shipments while trying to minimize nan effect connected retailers.”

In caller years, galore of Diamond’s bigger sanction publishing partners person dropped them arsenic nan institution grounded to meet expected proscription deadlines to retailers, which adjacent stores struggling to meet customer demand. Given nan reliable clip Diamond has been having arsenic of late, nan announcement that it’s filing for bankruptcy isn’t wholly surprising. It sounds for illustration nan company’s activity very overmuch wants to enactment successful nan comics crippled arsenic agelong arsenic possible, but arsenic it stands now, it seems for illustration each Diamond tin really do is to staunch nan bleeding arsenic overmuch arsenic it can.