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NEWS: Diamond Comic Distributors Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy


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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6650
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 12:22 pm Reply with quote
I don't know what to say or how to react to this, is this something we anime/manga fans have to worry about? Confused
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BodaciousSpacePirate
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Joined: 17 Apr 2015
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 12:42 pm Reply with quote
mdo7 wrote:
I don't know what to say or how to react to this, is this something we anime/manga fans have to worry about? Confused


Maybe 20 years ago. These days, the writing has been on the wall for them for so long, that I’m sure any manga publishers still working with them already have plans in place.
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
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Location: New York
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 2:00 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, this is more an emotional shock than something that will drastically affect supply chains as Penguin and other distributors have already taken the majority of Diamond’s business.
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
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Location: Finland
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 3:05 pm Reply with quote
Isn't this the same one that held near-monopoly on comic and graphic novel distribution a decade or so ago? What happened? Shocked
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BodaciousSpacePirate
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Joined: 17 Apr 2015
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 3:28 pm Reply with quote
Blanchimont wrote:
Isn't this the same one that held near-monopoly on comic and graphic novel distribution a decade or so ago? What happened? Shocked


I’m sure there were a bunch of factors, but their biggest problem was that, in 2020-2021, both DC and Marvel switched from Diamond to Penguin Random House for their graphic novel distribution.
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R. Kasahara



Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 713
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 3:32 pm Reply with quote
mdo7 wrote:
I don't know what to say or how to react to this, is this something we anime/manga fans have to worry about? Confused

Not really. Diamond's primary customer base is comic book stores, and afaik, most print manga sales are done through bookstores. The big manga publishers also have major publishing houses as distributors, so in short, they'll be fine. Smaller publishers may be in trouble, though.

Blanchimont wrote:
Isn't this the same one that held near-monopoly on comic and graphic novel distribution a decade or so ago? What happened? Shocked

Many big name publishers (including Marvel and DC!) no longer do business with Diamond. There's some more info here.
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CelticMutt



Joined: 24 Sep 2021
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 4:09 pm Reply with quote
BodaciousSpacePirate wrote:
Blanchimont wrote:
Isn't this the same one that held near-monopoly on comic and graphic novel distribution a decade or so ago? What happened? Shocked


I’m sure there were a bunch of factors, but their biggest problem was that, in 2020-2021, both DC and Marvel switched from Diamond to Penguin Random House for their graphic novel distribution.

Pretty much this. The short version is during COVID Diamond stopped all distribution of physical comics for months, which seriously hurt all the major comics publishers. And IIRC, they did it without warning any of the publishers ahead of time. Diamond resumed distribution eventually, but by then it didn't matter because they had already lost the trust of the publishers, with all of them eventually canceling their former exclusivity contracts.
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Triltaison



Joined: 03 Jul 2011
Posts: 805
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 4:09 pm Reply with quote
Huh. This is just kinda baffling, considering I remember the Heroes World kerfuffle and their ties with the LPC Group bankruptcy that rocked the '00s and about killed Dark Horse at the time.

Kinda weird how much their influence has changed. I'm not actually sure who their big publishing companies are anymore after Marvel and DC and everyone jumped ship a bit ago.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6650
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 4:50 pm Reply with quote
R. Kasahara wrote:
mdo7 wrote:
I don't know what to say or how to react to this, is this something we anime/manga fans have to worry about? Confused

Not really. Diamond's primary customer base is comic book stores, and afaik, most print manga sales are done through bookstores. The big manga publishers also have major publishing houses as distributors, so in short, they'll be fine. Smaller publishers may be in trouble, though.


Speaking of comic book stores, they also sell manga there too, so if some niche manga titles from a smaller publishers like let say Alien Book, or Titan comics are effected by the Diamond Comic Publishers chapter 11, that's going to seriously effect whoever read niche or not mainstream manga titles (unless those readers had a library card and are able to read these niche manga titles on Hoopla or Libby online).
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Alan45
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Joined: 25 Aug 2010
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Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 7:05 pm Reply with quote
The big loss is that the Diamond Previews catalog will go away. Every month they put out a catalog of all the comics coming out in two or three months. This has a separate manga section that lists upcoming books for all the publishers I'm familiar with. Each listing has a cover shot and a brief blurb. Having this all in one place makes it easy to preorder anything that looks interesting. If that goes away or stops listing all the publishers it will be a royal pain trying to find what is coming out.

Well, that and since I pay in advance when I preorder each month I get a 30% discount on MSRP. I've been doing that for the last 27 years.
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Egan Loo



Joined: 25 Feb 2005
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 8:15 pm Reply with quote
mdo7 wrote:
I don't know what to say or how to react to this, is this something we anime/manga fans have to worry about? Confused



Despite Diamond' diminishing presence as a distributor, this is affecting anime, manga, and game companies. Diamond's second largest unsecured creditor is Bandai, with Diamond owing US$4,348,743.

Diamond also owes money to the following companies:
Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles (listed separately): US$576,072
Viz Media: US$421,205.
Square Enix: US$314.296
The Pokemon Company International: US$280,375
Udon Entertainment: $202,694

There are likely more companies with links to Japan -- Diamond's recent filed bankruptcy petition only lists the top 30 unsecured creditors.

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/58619/penguin-random-house-is-diamonds-largest-unsecured-creditor
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Alan45
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Joined: 25 Aug 2010
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Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 8:47 pm Reply with quote
The first unsecured creditor listed in that article is Penguin Random House. They currently distribute Seven Seas, Kodansha (including Vertical) Titan and Dark Horse. Possibly others
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2371
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 10:41 pm Reply with quote
I know DC cut off their distribution deal with Diamond a few years ago, but it is still pretty wild to see them get hit with Chapter 11.
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Sakagami Tomoyo



Joined: 06 Dec 2008
Posts: 950
Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2025 6:51 am Reply with quote
Blanchimont wrote:
Isn't this the same one that held near-monopoly on comic and graphic novel distribution a decade or so ago? What happened? Shocked

Well for one thing, they're actually kinda terrible at distributing comics and graphic novels.
R. Kasahara wrote:
mdo7 wrote:
I don't know what to say or how to react to this, is this something we anime/manga fans have to worry about? Confused

Not really. Diamond's primary customer base is comic book stores, and afaik, most print manga sales are done through bookstores. The big manga publishers also have major publishing houses as distributors, so in short, they'll be fine. Smaller publishers may be in trouble, though.

The amount of manga distributed by Diamond isn't insignificant though, so it will have an impact. Maybe not enough to drive any manga publishers under, but probably still enough to be painful.
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5980
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2025 12:27 pm Reply with quote
If you buy your manga at book stores or online, I don't think you will be affected.

Those that buy at comic book stores will be though. To what degree who knows.

Alan45 is right about Diamond Previews. That was an incredible perk to know when things were coming out months in advance. Especially important, if you were getting limited edition comics, or those specialty covers that are purposefully limited in availability. Not to mention the hit to independent comics that this will have. Diamond Previews provided them a place to be seen as existing, right next to the big names. All in one place. Nothing beats that.

Diamond Previews did not only show books, GN, comics, and manga, but showcased Japanese Anime magazines, many other types of magazines, board games, figurines, including anime figurines and anime merchandise.

For several years I ordered New Type magazine, Megami magazine, and Megami Deluxe magazine from my local comic book store using the Diamond Previews catalogs. Megami always had these multiple two page spreads of original scenes from our favorite anime, and many others. Along with current news and other items. Lot of it was full color.
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