A Diamond Contradiction – What’s Going On Over At Diamond?

So a few days ago, after DC already announced they were proceeding with new distributors besides Diamond to start pushing comics out to retailers, Diamond sent a followup to retailers claiming basically a don’t worry, orders already placed will be fulfilled type of email.

Yet, now it appears almost everything in the FOC monthly at Diamond for DC has vanished.



So this raises the question, are orders already placed going to actually get fulfilled? Is DC having Diamond cancel so they can ship the products back (any they might have on hand already) to fulfill orders through UCS or Lunar? What the heck is going on that were not being told?

We can probably assume that right before the shutdown, Diamond likely had April 1st shipments already on hand to ship out.

This issue now particularly raises the question with Batman #92 which was going to be a huge book for DC (with Jim Lee claiming 200k+ print run), did they print more just to distribute through the new guys? Are we doing to see the supposed print run increase just to fulfill orders through the new distributors?

Here is the email from 2 days ago from Diamond about DC books.

BREAKING NEWS:
DC Comics Ordering Update

We appreciate your patience as we work with our longtime partner, DC Comics, on details following their recent announcement regarding their upcoming slate of weekly periodicals.

We have confirmed that the orders you placed with Diamond Comic Distributors for upcoming products are still in our system and will be fulfilled when we resume the distribution of new, weekly products.

As we mentioned in our COVID-19 update last week, we are working toward a mid- to late-May resumption of operations and look forward to helping our retailer partners recover from the business effects of this outbreak and related quarantine measures.

We have heard from many of you already, and wanted to take this opportunity to answer some of the most frequent questions:

Q: What is the status of orders I placed with Diamond Comic Distributors?
A: All orders are still in our system, and we have inventory that will allow us to fill those orders when we resume distribution of new, weekly product.

Q: What if I want to adjust my orders for DC Comics product?
A: We will announce an updated FOC date once we establish a firm date to resume distribution. We will provide the schedule for the release of products offered during our pause in distribution so that retailers may plan accordingly. Orders for DC product may be adjusted at that time to meet expected demand. We will also have product available for reorder.

Q: Will Diamond have access to all the products that DC Comics offers?
A: We will offer all DC Comics products that are offered to the Direct Market through our usual solicitation, FOC, and reorder processes.

Q: Will the products released during Diamond’s pause in weekly distribution all be shipped at once?
A: We are working on a schedule to address the release of any comics and trades that are released in other channels while our distribution is paused. We expect to spread those products out over a period of weeks, in addition to the new titles that will be shipping each week once we resume the distribution of new, weekly product. We believe that spreading this product out, rather than releasing it all at once, is better for retailers who will be ramping up operations slowly and at different speeds throughout the country.

Q: Are products from DC Comics still returnable?
A: DC Comics will continue to honor their offer of returnability for products released between March 18th and June 24th, 2020.

Q: What day will DC Comics go on sale?
A: We will continue to work with the team at DC Comics to clarify the release schedule for their products before we resume distribution of new, weekly products. As more information is available, we will provide updates via Diamond Daily.
While we look forward to the resumption of weekly new product, we know that many retailers continue to take advantage of restocks of backlist product via Diamond’s Retailer Services Website.

We encourage retailers to ensure their Comic Shop Locator Service listings are up-to-date with services offered, such as delivery or curbside service, and that store hours are accurate. This will help direct customers to stores that can continue to meet their needs through this time.

Please also continue to consult our Coronavirus Resources page for an ongoing list of resources available to retailers. Additionally, you can click here for a single source of other Coronavirus-related information from Diamond and our publishers.

Thank you for your continued support as we all plan for our future. We are committed to communicating with you during this process and look forward to our continued partnership.

So if you read that letter, now look at this screen capture from their FOC Monthly ordering within Diamond (click the image for a larger view):

It’s only displaying a hardcover that is available.

But here is part of an email that came directly from DC Direct 3 days prior to Diamonds email about fulfilling orders:

What does everyone else think?



Editors Note: I clicked publish too soon without adding the DC Direct email as information about this whole situation.

13 thoughts on “A Diamond Contradiction – What’s Going On Over At Diamond?”

  1. Hmmm..Well, I have copies of Batman #92 preordered via DCBS, TFAW, & my LCS (before any of this went down). I’ll keep an eye out/report out on where they get fullfilled first.

  2. The big initial order that got postoned now due for today or tomarrow had alot of DC stuff in it….there are no weekly FOC’s right now?

  3. Diamond has effectively shut down the FOC process until they know they are within 4 weeks of shipping product again (since FOC is 23 days before release and the FOC list locks in 26 days before release). So it isn’t a surprise that they aren’t on any list because Diamond doesn’t want to be forcing customers to change their order for the same book 16 times as things get pushed back. They’re already having to do that with the March 2020 initial order (originally due 4th Thursday of March, currently due 4th Thursday of April).

    I cut back my order on Batman leading up to the quarantine because I expected a falloff on shelf sales. So instead of my normal 70 copies I cut back to 50. But here’s a screenshot from 5 minutes ago showing my Diamond orders are still waiting for me.

    1. But what do you think about the DC Direct email basically contradicting your order at Diamond? They claim all orders for 4/1, 4/8 and 4/15 were canceled at Diamond and will need to be resubmitted. That’s what doesn’t add up. DC is saying one thing, Diamond says another but ultimately DC I think can call the shots with their books being released. IDK though.. I think there’s more going on behind the scenes than we are being led to know..

  4. I’m not reading too much into either side. But it’s noteworthy that the Lunar dates are 30 days out (29 because of the change to Tuesday) rather than 23.

    If Diamond were planning to ship Batman 92 for release on June 2nd-3rd, their FOC date would be May 11th. And the FOC list wouldn’t even be finalized until May 8th. We could still very well wind up with Diamond shipping these for release the exact time and still not see them on FOC lists for 16 more days (which is a lifetime in quarantine time).

    It was barely a month ago that it was announce FCBD was gonna be “Free Comic Book May” (still the worst idea I’ve heard yet). I’m not making too many plans until the winds blow the same direction for a while.

    Current guess: my shop reopens June 15th, we don’t see another big Comic-Con until June 2021, universities have no students on campus until January 2021, we don’t have fans in stands at sports until April 2021, movie theaters aren’t open at full capacity until April 2021, and this time next year there are 1,800 comic shops in North America (down from 2,800 last month). But I plan to be part of the 1800.

    1. T.O.G.W.O.A.S. – I disagree. every week i look at the FOC and see all the publishers with the same solicitations over and over again. Then Diamond deletes that weeks. BUT they are all on the Monthly FOC list. Even marvel. Now DC is not on ANY of the FOC lists yet you look at UCS website and its there? . I like conspiracy’s and I’m telling you, this stinks of one!

  5. IMO, just another indication that Diamond is flying by the seat of their pants .. and they are scared ..

  7. I wanted to see how dcbs (lunar) did thier website but they havent approved my application yet. Midtown was far more laxed in the process. Its kinda scarey.

  8. It’s asinine that Diamond stopped all shipments when they still had two weeks worth of comics in their warehouse they held onto, presumably to strong-arm the companies into not doing this. “Hey, we have your Batman 92 copies hostage, so you need to wait for us before you distribute 93 yourselves.” Is it possible DC is asking them to reimburse them for it if they have to print again? Bear in mind that even if we went back to Diamond at some point, they could easily drag their feet and hold onto the copies forever if they really wanted to make a problem.

    1. I’m fairly certain that Diamond stopped business due to state wide lock downs in the state where there major distribution hub(s) are, and not because they were looking to hold publishers hostage.

      1. Gee I didn’t know that clu, tell me more.

        If you look at what I said again, the bullet point is “don’t stop shipments when you have two weeks worth of books hostage, and assume that gives you power to keep publishers stuck with you.”

  9. New email from DC. Confirming all previous Diamond orders have been deleted (and that Diamond has “agreed”).

    I still don’t plan to order from LunarDCBS. At this rate the FOC for Diamond may be after the books are already released which means I could fine tune at my leisure.

    We are one of those shops that guarantees all sub pulls. If I forget to pull a book and it’s $30 now, I go buy it for $30 to sell it at cover price. But I suspect I’ll be comfortable running near zero shelf copies through July 1st and just orders extras of spec-worthy books. I’ll have enough deadbeat subs and kickouts to have back issues eventually anyway.

    Interesting times.

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