Американский дистрибьютор комиксов Diamond Comic Distributors: история и монополия

American comic book distributor
the American corporation

Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. (often called Diamond Comics, DCD, or casually Diamond) is an American comic book distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. They transport comic books and graphic novels, as well as other popular culture products such as toys, games, and apparel from comic book publishers or suppliers to retailers. It is owned by Geppi Family Enterprises, which is also the parent company of Alliance Game Distributors, Diamond Book Distributors, Diamond UK, Diamond Select Toys, Gemstone Publishing, E. Gerber Products, Diamond International Galleries, Hake's Americana & Collectibles, Morphy's Auctions, the Geppi's Entertainment Museum, and Baltimore magazine. Diamond is the publisher of Previews, a monthly catalog/magazine showcasing upcoming comic books, graphic novels, toys, and other pop culture merchandise.

In 1982, Baltimore based comics retailer Steve Geppi founded Diamond Comic Distributors. Diamond became the successor to direct market pioneer Phil Seuling's distribution dream when it took over New Media/Irjax's warehouses in 1982. Diamond further bought out early distributor Bud Plant Inc. in 1988, and main rival Capital City Distribution in 1996, to assume a near monopoly on comics distribution, including exclusivity deals with the major comic book publishers.

By 1981/82 Geppi had four comics retail locations and was already "doing a little informal distributing for smaller retailers." Geppi found himself "one of the biggest accounts" for New Media/Irjax, In what Mile High Comics' Chuck Rozanski describes as an "incredibly risky and gutsy move," Geppi took over New Media/Irjax's "office and warehouse space" and, recalled Rozanski, had to "sort out the good customers from the bad overnight" negotiating with creditors to continue Shuster's distribution business as Diamond Comic Distribution. who had himself bought out Charles Abar Distribution in 1982. Plant had, since 1970, been selling underground comics (a field which Geppi and fellow distributor Buddy Saunders had tended to steer clear of). in 1988 "and went national" Second Genesis had previously absorbed distributors Sunrise Distributors and Comex. One week after announcing the acquisition of Second Genesis, Diamond announced the acquisition of the Seattle based sub distributor Destiny Distribution. Destiny had been started by Phil Pankow in the early 1980s, and was initially supplied by Bud Plant. In 1991, Diamond moved into the UK market, acquiring Neptune Comic Distributors Ltd. (to whom they had formerly supplied US comics for the UK market), in the process creating Diamond UK. In 1993, Diamond acquired the single remaining dominant British distributor Titan Distributors, thus cornering the direct market in the United Kingdom. In 1994, Diamond acquired Staten Island based distributor Comics Unlimited. On April 26, 1995, Diamond reacted by outbidding Capital City for exclusive deals with Marvel's main rivals DC Comics, Dark Horse and Image on July 24, and Valiant Comics in August. Capital City's response saw it sign exclusive deals with Kitchen Sink Press and Viz Comics, but a year later faced the choice between bankruptcy and selling out. Diamond bought Capital City on July 26, 1996, assuming near control of the comics distribution system. The purchase price was not disclosed, but the acquisition brought an estimated $50 million in sales revenue to Diamond. — giving the company its own section of comics catalog Previews (not least because the DC/Dark Horse/Image deal gave contractual prominence to those companies) — making "Geppi the sole king of comics industry distribution in the summer of 1996." on the basis that, although Diamond enjoyed a monopoly in the North American comic book direct market distribution, they did not enjoy a monopoly on book distribution (books including non comic books).

In addition to having cornered the American comics distribution market, Diamond includes a number of subsidiary and affiliated companies. UK and European comics distribution is served by Diamond UK, based in Runcorn, England. In 2002, Diamond consolidated its book trade into Diamond Book Distributors, marketing graphic novels and trade paperbacks to bookstores including Barnes & Noble, Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon. com and Borders. The shutdown took effect on April 1, 2020, and ended on May 20.

On June 5, 2020, DC Comics announced that they would discontinue their distribution agreement with Diamond and that their books would now be distributed by Penguin Random House for their graphic novels and by UCS Comic Distributors (subsidiary of Midtown Comics) and Lunar Distribution (subsidiary of Discount Comic Book Service in Fort Wayne, Indiana). While acknowledging how huge the decision was, DC reiterated that the move was intended to fortify and increase the viability of the comic book direct market while also widening its fan base. On March 25, 2021, Marvel Comics announced they plan to shift their direct market distribution, for both monthly comics and graphic novels, to Penguin Random House. The change is scheduled to start on October 1, 2021, in a multi year partnership. Unlike DC Comics' complete split, Marvel will still be giving stores the option to order comics from Diamond, but Diamond will be acting as a wholesaler rather than distributor. On September 17, 2021, IDW Publishing announced a new deal with Penguin Random House to distribute newly published and backlist comic book periodicals, trade collections, and graphic novels to the Direct Market comic shops beginning June 1, 2022. The deal is non exclusive, allowing retailers to choose ordering from Penguin Random House directly or from Diamond as a wholesaler rather than a distributor in the US and the UK.

In 1983, Diamond was criticized for taking exception to certain "adult" themed titles and scenes, effectively causing the cancellation of a series called Void Indigo for its excessive violence. In 1987, Geppi responded to "a graphic childbirth scene in Miracleman #9 [written by Alan Moore]." Geppi wrote to retailers that:
cquote|"Diamond values its retailers too much to take chances on such a dangerous situation We are not censors. We no more want someone deciding for us than you do. We cannot, however, stand by and watch the marketplace become a dumping ground for every sort of graphic fantasy that someone wants to live out. We have an industry to protect; we have leases to abide by; we have a community image to maintain." led to accusations of censorship, charges the company was forced to address when it criticized or refused to carry other titles, including books by Kitchen Sink Press, Jon Lewis in 1994, and Mike Diana in 1996. Diamond lost customers with this approach, however, "and eventually backed down." Because of its industry dominance, Diamond also faced charges it bullied publishers and discriminated against small publishers. These charges first surfaced in 1988 when Diamond rejected Matt Feazell's comic Ant Boy, and in 1989 when it similarly decided not to carry Allen Freeman's Slam Bang anthology. After the industry consolidation of 1996, Diamond faced similar charges in 1996, and 2000 (when smaller publishers like Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly lodged complaints).

Diamond's monthly comics retail catalog, Previews, has been produced by Diamond for over 25 years for store owners and comic shop customers to order their products. It is additionally available for sale to customers to facilitate pre orders from "pull and hold" or subscription customers who frequent comic shops on a regular basis. Comics publishers vie for space within the publication's pages, with Dark Horse, DC Comics, Image Comics, and IDW Publishing taking precedence as "Premier" publishers. Marvel Comics has its own mini catalog of Marvel Previews available separately, for contractual reasons. Geppi is also owner of Gemstone Publishing Inc., through which he publishes The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. "a 50,000 circulation monthly and one of the nation's oldest regional publications."

Geppi's publishing ventures in the comics field saw him create Gemstone Publishing Inc., which was formed in large part from other purchases. In 1992, Diamond bought Ernst Gerber Publishing (publisher author of the Photo Journal Guide to Comics). E. Gerber Products, LLC is a Diamond affiliated company started by Gerber in 1977 which sells Mylar bags as well as "acid free boxes and acid free backing boards" for comics collectors to store their collection in. In 1993, Geppi bought Russ Cochran Publishing. In 2006, Gemstone began producing a more durable and luxurious series of hardback reprint collections; the EC Archives — similar to the DC Archives and Marvel Masterworks volumes — which reprint in full color hardback ('archival') format sequential compilations of the EC Comics titles. Designed by art director/designer Michael Kronenberg, a number of volumes have been released, with the entirety of the New Trend and New Direction planned for eventual release. These EC Archives volumes have drawn praise for their quality, and feature introductions by such notable EC fans as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and Paul Levitz.

In December 2002, it was announced that "Gemstone Publishing had signed the license to publishing Disney comics in North America," with ex Gladstone Publishing editor in chief John Clark joining Gemstone in the same position over its Disney line. Launched with a title for Free Comic Book Day 2003, the line started soon after with Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge, both described by Clark as "monthly 64 page prestige format books at $6.95, which is the same price they were when last produced, in 1998."

Envisioned to create collectibles for children and adults, DST was founded in 1999 and has since licensed a variety of pop culture properties, including Marvel Comics, Transformers, G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate, Ghostbusters, Halo, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Indiana Jones, Battlestar Galactica, 24 and Back to the Future. While they also make action figures in a variety of sizes, as well as banks, busts, statues and prop replicas, many of their licensed properties are released in the form of Minimates, which has helped make Minimates one of the most prolific and diverse block figure toy lines in the world. In 2007, after years of partnership, Diamond Select Toys made a move to acquire select assets of New York based design house Art Asylum, the creators of Minimates and DST has since developed Minimates based on its own concepts, under the brands Minimates M. A. X. and Calico Jack's Pirate Raiders.

In 1995, Geppi "opened Diamond International Galleries," a showplace for comics and collectibles, part of Geppi's attempts to "see collectibles attain serious respect." The museum's curator was Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg, former editor at Geppi's Gemstone Publishing. The museum closed in June 2018. Geppi donated much of his collection to the Library of Congress.