DC Comics Direct Channel Special – Updates On New Comics

Not sure about the rest of you folks but this is not surprising, news from DC is that they have the final say on their own products, not Diamond.

Click continue to see the direct market email they just sent out regarding their new comics.



DC COMICS DIRECT CHANNEL SPECIAL
APRIL 23, 2020
818-977-5400

Dear Direct Market Retailers:

Over the past few days, DC shared news regarding new distribution options and comics scheduled to ship in the coming weeks. We’ve heard from many of you and understand the confusion you may be experiencing, and we appreciate your feedback. We’d like to answer some of the most frequently asked questions we’ve received:

1. What is the status of my orders at Diamond? Are they cancelled or not?

We received feedback from many retailers and can confirm that all order quantities for titles for the original ship weeks of April 1, April 8, April 15, and April 22 not fulfilled by Diamond will be reset to zero. We have discussed this with Diamond and they have agreed to this reset.

All order quantities for books on sale Tuesdays April 28, May 5, and May 12 will need to be updated via Diamond’s upcoming FOC or the other distributors’ ordering systems. We’re doing this to ensure you don’t receive double orders (should you choose to order books from one of our new distribution partners) or to allow you to confirm the orders you originally placed in Diamond’s ordering system. Your original orders were placed well in advance of the stay-at-home directives and we understand you may need to make adjustments that best suit your customers’ needs. To be clear, the affected orders include all DC product including comics, graphic novels, and collectibles.

2. Why is now the time to do this?

Our goal is to get new comics into shops that are able to sell as soon as possible. We expect regional inconsistencies as to whether stores will be allowed to open up or remain shut down, and want to ensure we can continue providing comics to stores that can operate during these times. We recognize that many stores are not open for business at this time, but we’ve also heard from many retailers who are open and/or providing mail order, curbside pickup, or delivery, and we need to provide them with product.

3. Why did you only place five comics for sale the first week back?

By starting with a small number of releases we’re allowing our new distribution partners to work through any process glitches. We will increase the amount of product we distribute over the next few weeks. Additionally, retailers have requested we not publish a full slate of comics as businesses reopen to help ease the financial burden on stores.

4. Are these new distributors our only option to receive DC product?

You can choose between three distributors for periodicals: Diamond Comic Distributors, Lunar Distribution, and UCS Comic Distributors. If you are ready and willing to receive product starting Tuesday, April 28, you can order from either UCS or Lunar. You have the freedom to work with either of these distributors or wait until Diamond Comic Distributors starts shipping again.

5. What is the best source for the latest DC product and distribution updates?

When it comes to DC’s business and products, the information you need will come directly from DC. Watch for more updates coming soon!

So we can assume that anything Diamond puts out in regards to orders with DC as moot when it contradicts what DC is stating in their official emails.



24 thoughts on “DC Comics Direct Channel Special – Updates On New Comics”

  1. I love the arrogance here. That publishing 5 titles a week is going to generate any revenue at all for a shop. That these shops are going broke because their shelves are empty and they have customers waiting around for product to arrive so that can buy something, anything.

    New comics are 28% of my business. DC is 30% of that. So DC’s new releases are 8.4% of my revenue when they have a typical 15 titles a week. At 5 titles a week? Lol.

    If I’m able to reopen three weeks before Diamond is shipping I’ll happily do three weeks of sales of back issues, wall books, Funko Pops, trades, statues, etc. I certainly won’t be sitting in an empty store pining for DC to rescue me by publishing 5 titles versus 0.

    I’m absolutely looking forward to returning to seeing 300 new titles on my shelves every month. And all the smiling faces they bring. But in the meantime, no, DC, you don’t “need to provide me with product”. I’ve got 30,000 of your back issues and 1,200 of your trades already in hand. I’m just fine.

    1. That’s pretty much my stance as well .. although I have flouted the lock down somewhat with long time Customers that have called or texted in order to set up an appointment to browse ..

      I am no participating in the “DC Deal” for various reasons .. mainly, what you cited, there is little to no money in it as it stands ..

  2. I touched on this somewhat on the Forum a while back .. in addition, there have always been unsubstantiated chit chat that DC maintained an option to buy Diamond when the original deal was done back in the ’90’s ..

    I’m really against the co-mingling of the new distributors as they have a vested interest in the retail side of things ..

    Although, I’m all for getting the content in the hands of the Fans ..

  3. Looks like retailers who ordered though Diamond has to go back and order the books again. I get it, it’s only five books initially but DC is ramping things back up at least. Waiting for diamond means no new products on the market so at least DC is trying. Yes, comic fans are rabid and looking for comics. I am seeing a ton of books sell on eBay and facebook’s Comic Book Shopping Network.

    1. Problem is my LCS (along with all non-essentials) remains closed and buying online up here will add $15-20 to my weekly bill.

      1. I can wait for my books, as long as I know my shop will eventually get everything that came out while they were closed. I won’t be looking forward to that bill, but it’s money I would have spent anyways.

  4. The big middle finger to Diamond from DC.

    I still don’t understand how this works. The books coming out next week were already provided to Diamond, but are on hold (able to be returned), correct? But Diamond will have a new FOC sometime later?

    But DC has found a different printer to make more copies as long as you ordered before FOC which was this past Monday (?) or maybe it was last Monday….I forget.

    So there must be two print runs for these books, and maybe future books that are released on different dates by the different distributors?

    1. IMO, DC should have demanded Diamond provide a complete database of Retailers unfilled orders, contacted the Retailers and confirmed those orders and at the same time, made the offer to have them shipped by the “new Distributors” or wait for Diamond to resume .. Retailers would then have had the choice ..

      Instead, this general Cluster&%$# of a roll out, which is wrong on many levels as it relates to shops, just throws more confusion out there ..

      1. Cluster &%$# feels about par for the course given just about everything trying to adjust to rapid swings and changes in direction lately.

        I was just told I can work from home starting Monday….first time ever in my 23 years with my company…not complaining but a little advanced warning before I left everything at my desk this afternoon would have been good.

        1. Working from home rocks. This quarantine stay at home suits me just fine to be honest. Before my current employer, I was almost WFH (which was work from couch) for about 2 years straight.. then my current employer I could work from home most days if I desired.

  5. I had Batman on order. If Diamond has canceled them and the status is pretty
    Much “unknown” if i will get them then yes, im going to order from DC.

    I would love to uphold principles and loyaltys and holy horse shit like that but all the B&M people have shown me is that i need to look out for #1. There are a few exceptions but they are few and far between. So yeha im on board with DCs choice.

    1. Let me be clear :: I don’t owe Diamond any Loyalty .. But this half assed plan of DC’s is just not very well planned, IMO ..

      What happens when Diamond resumes .. ?? If they resume .. ?? What happens if Marvel decides to go the same route as DC yet uses different Distributors .. ?? I could throw out a long list of questions ..

      Can anybody in this Industry get together and form one cohesive, overall plan .. ??

      Apparently not ..

      But, I get it .. those of you that do the Spec thing are likely to have a Bonanza over this confusion .. at least, in the short term ..

      1. Maybe. Right now im only concerned with my previous order. I sold these to customers and they are not going to care about the politics of the situation.

        Bith DC and Marvel use midtown as their exclusive subscription provider. *If* marvel wanted to look jnto another distributor, Midtown would be the one. *if* that happened i would expect to see Image and a fee other smaller indies jump on board.

        I like having my comics come from one place. There is no denying that it makes things simpler and cheaper for us in The long haul. But this industry is on the brink of collapse over something that could have been avoided. All because Dinosaurs of the industry are not thinking forward.

    2. I agree. Tired of having to kowtow to retailers and pretend they’re a special class; time to just worry about getting my comics. Harsh maybe, but the world isn’t fair. I mostly read just DC anyway so I’m fine giving up all Marvel if it comes to that.

  6. Fwiw DCBS is actually bigger than Midtown though not by much.

    They’re both dropping 8 figures a year with Diamond. Over triple the volume of MCS. But if I was one of the other 30-odd shops/chains spending 7 figures a year with Diamond I would be furious about my competitors being my suppliers.

    Midtown and DCBS don’t really impact me at my size. My customers have long since made their choice between mail order discounts and in person customer service. And if I lose customers to their mail order operation that’s all on me. But I’m not a big chain. If I was I’d be apoplectic. Imagine if Diamond, who knew all your purchase history, suddenly decided to open a brick and mortar shop in your town? Knew all your product mix data, what sells well locally and what doesn’t. And leveraged that knowledge to compete directly with you?

    There’s a reason wholesalers are wholesalers and retailers are retailers.

    1. Yeah, unless you operate an online shop and or are within a small radius of being near Midtown or DCBS walk in shops/stores, one can’t really call them competition.

      Those who shop online don’t usually order from one location either. I get books from Midtown, TFAW, GrahamCrackers and a few others at times.. and most if not all offer the same discount between one another.

      I think Anthony mentioned that Geppi did own a shop at one time, in the Maryland area where they sell comics and other items.

      Now, if they took your retailer info and opened up shop in the same town, I’m pretty sure the lawsuits would get fired up again for the anti-trust suits for being a monopoly again.

      Also, since Midtown and DCBS did spin up companies, one could assume they’re owned by same people but still operating independently.. (that could be wishful thinking) but that would or could settle the doubts they’re getting an even bigger discount being both distributor and retailer if the distribution is selling to their counterpart as if they’re operating independently.. but yes, being owned by the same person, group or interest, all falls back to the same bank account.

  7. Good news, I guess. Thanks for translating it straight and not confusing the issue, unlike other sites who want to make sensationalist headlines.

  8. well, Diamond did make it relatively easy to re-affirm the DC material ::

    DC Comics Final Order Cutoff Update
    At DC Comics’ request, we have reduced the retailer order quantities of upcoming DC Comics products to zero. As we anticipate returning to the distribution of new, weekly products in mid- to late-May, we must provide DC Comics with updated order quantities.

    DC Comics will be releasing these products through other sources prior to our distribution, but we will have inventory to fill your orders in our first shipment. It is crucial, however, that you submit updated orders for these products by 11:59 EST on Monday, April 27th! To assist you, we are providing custom web tools to facilitate this process.

    IMPORTANT NOTE: DC Comics periodicals with an on-sale date of May 26th will be added to the FOC list on Monday, April 27th, along with a small number of DC Collectibles products. A follow-up email wil be sent Monday with this information, but we wanted to provide access to the currently adjustable items as quickly as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.

    To submit your updated orders for the affected products, you may use this customized FOC page, which displays your original order quantities and allows you to submit them again or provide an updated order quantity based on your anticipated demand for the products:

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