Niche Chronicles

On April 1st (not foolin’) ComicHub announced a bold plan to save the comics industry. The comics industry is reeling from closures do to the Covid-19 pandemic that’s leading the world economy into a recession.

Not unlike Ryan Higgins plan, ComicHub announced a digital/physical distribution model that allows comic shops to sell digital codes for comics now, and then allow customers to collect said comics once they are available.

ComicHub, itself is a Point of Sale (POS) system for comic shops.

Shortly after the announcement, several around the industry, named ComicHub saviors of the industry. The level of thought is that local shops will make some money during closures to hopefully get them through the next few months.

Readership seemed keen on the idea as it was seen as “let them eat cake” moment.

However a few days later, reality kicked in. Retailers bagan to balk about digital first distribution as their fears may come to fruition, customers leaving shops and physical comics wholesale for the convenience of digital.

Image Comics quickly said they would no be joining the ComicHub strategy.

Now, ComicHub announces their plans will not be moving forward at all.

“The ComicHub advance digital reader copy initiative isn’t going to move forward right now,” retailer John Hendrick of Big Bang Comics told Newsarama Thursday afternoon. Hendrick, along with Ryan Higgins of Comics Conspiracy, took lead roles for ComicHub in communicating the proposal to their fellow retailers and the comic book press Wednesday.

“It’s obvious from the concerns voiced by our peers that this isn’t an initiative they can get behind," Hendrick continued. "This was designed by people who love comics with the best of intentions, to get cash flow back moving in our industry again from the retailer all the way up to distributors and publishers.

“But until such a time as we can all agree on a solution that fellow retailers can support there is no point in Stu [Colson] continuing this at this time."

While the intent was very good, the model wasn’t accepted. Marvel & DC Comics never announced support for ComicHub model. Although, DC Comics may have saw this as an option for their search for a “multi-distributor model”.

Diamond Comics can breath a small sigh of relief as their monopoly holds tight for a while longer.

sources:

hollywoodreporter.com

cbr.com

Dear Diamond Vendor:

As the world responds to the outbreak of COVID-19, our focus is on protecting employees, understanding the risks to our business, evaluating the risks to our industry and examining the Federal Government resources available. While the full impact of this epidemic is still unknown, one thing is certain: supply chain disruptions have cash flow implications across the extended industry that can’t be underestimated.

While we work to understand the current industry landscape, the unfortunate truth is that we are no longer receiving consistent payments from our customers. This requires that at this time, we hold payments to vendors previously scheduled to release this week. This is a difficult decision and not one we make lightly. As this situation continues to evolve, we are committed to building out a plan for payment and will have more information to share later this week.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during these difficult times.

Stan HeidmannPresident, Geppi Family Enterprises

As we previously reported, Diamond Comics Distributors halted all distribution of print comics starting April 1st.  This caused a ripple affect across the industry. Local Comic Shops have no new inventory to sell and all major publishers have vowed not to release digital versions of comic book in the near term.

Now all vendors, publishers, toy makers, and so on will not receive an money from Diamond during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the danger of having one distributor for the entire comic industry. Expect changes to the distribution model in the near future. 

Developing...

Source:

So much news, so little time. 

DC Comics reported on Sunday that they will release comics digitally. Their reasoning, that print customers are separate from digital customers. However, the fear among retailers is that print customers will become digital customers and not go back. 

Today, DC somewhat reversed course. Digital releases will not to be released April 1st, aside from a few digital first titles. Digital releases are now expected on April 29th. 

A few hours later, Marvel and Image Comics released a press release, respectively, announcing each will suspend digital release for at least April 1st. 

Last week we speculated that the silence from DC during the Covid-19 panic may have been due to financial stress as rumors have been circulating of shuttering the publication. 

Jim Lee famously said that. “DC has been around for 85 years, and we’ll be around for another 85 years,” during the C2E2. He did not emphasis in what form. 

Local Comic Shops somehow survived a speculation bubble, and the Great Recession of the 2000′s. While their numbers are smaller than they were at their height of the 1990′s, one has to wonfer if the shops will finally give way to digital. The same way music and video stores have. 

Marvel has much deeper pockets due to their parent company, Disney, raking in billions over the years from Marvel’s IP. However, it can be said DC and there ownership Warner Bros. are not so lucky. 

Let’s see if DC changes it’s tune by the end of April, when there’s nearly a month of no new revenue. 

My thoughts are out to the small business owners and their families that run our Local Comic Shops.

Sources: 

Newsarama.com

CBR.com 

To Direct Market Retailers:

First, the entire team here at DC hopes that you, your family and your employees are staying safe and healthy during this very tough and precarious time. We know that you have been waiting for DC to comment on the state-of-affairs and to address any measures we will take to help our community lighten the burden of the disruption to our business, and we’ve been working hard on a long-term, solution-focused plan. Here is how we will help:

Periodicals and books with in-store dates between March 18, 2020 and June 24, 2020 will be fully returnable. We’ll even provide credit for your separate return shipping of these items only.

Additionally, because we anticipate that continued disruption to business operations will create regional volatility, DC is exploring a multi-distributor model to provide us with the flexibility needed during this crisis to get new content to our readers on an ongoing basis. In the short-term, we continue to engage in active conversations with Diamond to help us solve the distribution issues that have arisen and hope to get new product to stores that want or need it as soon as possible. We will provide additional information about how we’ll make that happen in the coming days.

Thanks for your patience with us. DC will continue to monitor the situation, continue to speak with you directly, and continue to support you through the days ahead. You are the lifeblood of this industry.

All best,

The DC Team

Unpacking the statement a for a moment, there are questions that currently have answers to.

For one, will DC still release their line digitally while physical books are pushed back several weeks and/or months?

Is digital part of the multi-distributor model?

Lastly, will DC end the exclusivity with Diamond Comics Distrutor?

Dark Horse is the first to announce that they will not release books digitally until print distribution returns.

This is an amazing show of solidarity to the Local Comic Shops across the world. Even though Dark Horse previously announced a reduction of titles, they’re showing support to the industry first and putting profits second.

Even though Bob Harras, Editor in Chief of Dc Comics, sent a letter to freelancers. Nothing official has been sent to the industry in terms of the Coronavirus pandemic and the looming recession.

One has to wonder what’s going on behind the scenes. As one of the big three in comics publishers, this is a moment to lead the industry. It’s a shame that the company that brought us Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, amongst others, are so silent in this time of “crisis.”

Read Bob Harras’ letter below.

To Our DC Talent Community,

Everyone here at DC is thinking of you and the challenges that you’re all facing in this current crisis. I want to stress that DC is fully open for business. Our editorial teams and support staff are working remotely for the foreseeable future but that will not interfere with our day-to-day operations.

Our main concern, of course, is your well-being and that of your families. No matter where you are in the world, take care and don’t hesitate to reach out. We realize that there may be unexpected challenges ahead and I want you to know that we are here to help.

No one knows, of course, how long this current situation may last. For now, this is our new normal. And as we transition to a company working from home, we gain the flexibility to overcome any challenge. Most importantly, we remain incredibly excited about the stories we will create together.

Best,

There’s been conversations among industry experts, particularly Eric Stephenson of Image, that the direct market is too flooded with books. This causes retailers to over orders on books that may not sell.

Less books to push plus longer return periods may be the new normal, once everything returns to “normal.”

Newsarama has a great take on the potential future of the Direct Market, your Local Comic Shops. The concern of retailers is the uncertainty and frankly, the lack of communication from up high.

“I think this needs to be a pause for all comics, regardless of format — meaning no new comics for digital retailers either,” said Benn Ray, owner of Atomic Books in Baltimore, Md. “Otherwise it gives them an unfair advantage and makes any books stalled in the pipeline utterly unsellable, not to mention turning this into an opportunity to cut shops out altogether and get more folks to buy digital comics.”

After the pandemic passes, and it will, what percentage of stores will be left?

Expected yet sad to hear. I wonder what difference, if any, the Bloodshot movie would have made if it had been a big week 1 success just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

I know movie sales and comics publishers are not mutually exclusive. Plus I have no way of knowing what comp Valient would have received on the movie profits, but there are no profits right now.

The Vin Diesel vehicle, has made a worldwide gross of just over $28 million and is now available on digital. Frankly with a 30% Rotten Tomatoe score, regardless of pandemic, Bloodshot may not have grossed much more.

Marvel Comics & Image comics, amongst others, offered strategies to help local comic shops ease the pain of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, largely silent is DC Comics, who as of this writing, has not publicly offered assistance of any kind.

Recently news of Diamond Comics Distributors shutting down new comic shipments spread like wildfire through out the community. Yet, no world from DC on there plan to ease some of the pain. It begs to wonder, did DC know about Diamonds decision ahead of time or is the DC bleeding so much right now, that it can’t offer any form of assistance.

It’s no secret that DC Comics has been on a down swing lately. With several key positions recently shuffling around plus the firing of Dan Didio, Co-Publisher of DC Comics with Jim Lee.

Jim Lee recently said at C2E2:

To address some of the stuff that is out there, there’s rumors… speculation. I wouldn’t put any credence into it. DC has been around for 85 years, and we’ll be around for another 85 years.

But maybe those rumors are closer to fact. Will Warner Brothers, parent company of DC Comics, pull the plug while blaming the pandemic? Will they be the first to go to digital distribution only model? Will they sell DC Comics to the highest bidder?

Newsarama just laid down a strong article on an idea by Ryan Higgins, owner of Comics Conspiracy in Sunnyvale, Calif. Can a 6-8 week digital first distribution, with proceeds going to comic shops, bring relief until new comics ship again and Covid-19 pandemic resolves?

“I understand the fear of customers switching to digital and abandoning the comic book stores, but at this point, we literally can’t sell new comics” - Ryan Higgins

Slammed by his peers but praised by readership show the potential divide amongst retailers and customers. There is something to be said about going to a comic shop, venturing through the comics on the shelf, talking shop with locals, and socially connecting with other like minded individuals.

However, what’s more important to the average comics reader? The new story dripped to them every week or the experience of the neighborhood store?

Erik Larsen recently tweeted:

Followed by:

It’s very commendable for Erik Larsen to do such a thing. His love for the comic shop is extensive. However, not every creative, particularly independents, can sacrifice months of missing paychecks. We can wait and see what if any relief Congress lays out for small business owners and contractors, like artist, to make it through the next few months. And yet, this does not solve the next two months of no new physical comics books.

On the heels of Diamond Comics Distributors announcing no new comics shipping for the foreseeable future, here are some reactions on the Twitterverse to digest.

Some creators like Brian Micheal Bendis are optimitic that the future of the local comic shop and comics on a whole are bright.

Others, like Joe Field, founder for Free Comic Book Day, are warning against digital only distribution.

The other shoe has dropped. Diamond Comics Distributor has canceled all new shipments of comics to local comic shops. For the uninitiated all new comics arrive on Wednesdays.

I started this blog to capture the fallout of the Covid-19 Pandemic and how the potential recession will impact the local comic shops and comics at whole.

I just thought it would take longer for the affects to take place. There are examples across the country for of business big and small moving to a delivery only or curbside pick up business model. We’re seeing business adapt to today’s demands. People around the whole are making accommodations to navigate the pandemic. However, how can a business survive without inventory?

Now, let’s stress, not shipping new inventory to comic shops on a weekly basis is the safest thing we can do protect from the spread of Covid-19.

Aside from Covid-19, what we’re seeing is the dangers of a distribution monopoly for comic shops. Diamond Comics Distributors is the sole shipping partner of all comics in the nation. Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, etc, all use Diamond to get comics from the printers to the shops. If the only distributor shuts down for an extended period of time, no inventory arrives to the shops at all.

Some comic shops may have been able to survive the next few months with reduced labor hours, online sales, and curbside pick ups, however without inventory to sell, there will be zero incentive for customer to visit. The extra kicker will be online distribution. What we didn’t have today versus 2008, the Last Great Recession, is a more robust internet with several online options. Digital will still delivery. The comic industry will try it’s best to make it’s next buck even if it’s a the expense of the shops.

What we may be seeing is the end of the comic shop. Is this an exaggeration? Maybe. But for some reason, while music stores, movie rental stores, and most book stores closed up shop do to digital distribution or online stores, the comic shop endured. The question, will it now?

Official statement from Diamond below.

Wow! I get it. It’s a bit of a click baity headline. However, we’re living in a moment that I never thought we see.

At nearly 40 years old, I expected to see another war, another Recession/Depression, environmental erosion, but not a pandemic. I really thought we were beyond that with our healthcare system and advanced medicine. Boy I was wrong.

So, here we are. In the middle of a pandemic facing a recession. Not to minimize those who are sick or have passed, I can’t help to think about one of the things I’ve been passionate about. Yup, comics and the comics industry.

I think most people may argue or even take offense as to why I would even think about a “hobby” or niche market against a back drop that’s taking a tole on humanity. My answer to that is simple. People’s lives are being affected, even if their life is a part or central to geek culture. Look, comic book retailers are small business owners. These business are not known to have a high margin. They are on a month to month lifespan.

Comic book artist (pencilers, colorists, inkers, letterers, etc.) and writers are largely either on contract work or self published. Many of the names that grace the covers on comics may not receive any real benefits.

In the face of a recession & unemployment, the quarantining of society coupled with the rise of digital distribution and competing entertainment paths (movies, video games, streaming) this may well be the end of the local comic shop and maybe even comics as a whole.

I know that sounds gloomy, but someone has to document it. Right now, I don’t see a lot of people commenting or writing about it. Maybe, just maybe it’s up to me and whoever wants to join in.