UPDATE! Newsarama DELETED All Its Archives: https://twitter.com/Kneon/status/1267497457140842496

 

As if the Virus wasn't enough of a problem.... 
8 Comic Stores Hit By Looting Across the USA

 

Yeah figured that would happen when they tried the new vendor. Good news Diamond is no longer a monopoly.

Bleeding cool has some reaction from retailers at comic stores
Dennis Barger and Brian Hibbs Agree Over DC Quitting Diamond

 

More retailer reactions
Comic book retailers unite in frustration and anger over DC split with Diamond | GamesRadar+

 

Note: Not confirmed so rumor for now.


Stagnant DC Sales, Diamond Plans and What Happens Next - The Gossip

 

Didn't I pretty much say last week in here that the books barely break even? And was called nuts for saying it?

 

So who does manga books? They were still coming out even when diamond was shut down? Are they all coming out by the same group?

Found a video from shop owners that looks at both sides. The diamond as mcdonalds was a great way to put it. It looks at both sides of things.

 

Manga uses many distributors and many were still coming out after diamond shut down. You can still get the newest manga trade of case closed or one piece. It's never good to have all your eggs in one basket.

As for monthly (and weekly!) comics manga has them in black in white 200 page mags in little chapters with many stories per book on cheaper paper to cut cost.

There is a sunday mag also that's the size of a phone book and people get them sent to their house the same as newspapers!

You then get the trades for better papers! Japan has manga vending machines also at bus and airports and some airports have a manga area with bookcases of manga you can read for free! (and no one steals them!)

Also movie chains will see manga and toys based on the movies that are out! New detective conan movie out? There will be a display of toys, manga and other things based on it when you see the film! Why are there no spider-man or batman trades set up when their movies come out here?

American comic companies may want to look into what japan is doing.

 

From another site-- (note first part was about people bringing up marvels bankruptcy in the 90s.)

 

If I recall correctly, one of the biggest reasons Marvel and DC preferred dealing with comic stores instead of the mass market like newstands, drug stores etc, was the non returnability of items. Comic shops got a bigger discount, but couldn't just return any product barring certain conditions (i.e. damages or certain return policies). Comic publishers also started preferring serving the direct market because they got better margins without dealing with the returnability. I can't recall why drug stores, newstands and other outlets started dropping orders, but I imagine if the big publishers like DC and Marvel weren't really focusing on them, they'd be giving their valuable shelfspace to other products.

I recall Jim Shooter giving an interview about this, he wanted to support the mass market because it was everyone's gateway, and he understood that they were reaching far more people than the comic shops but the numbers dictated they focus on the direct market.

 

"Hasty, Sociopathic Decisions" - Image Comics' Publisher On DC Comics

 

For Some Reason, AT&T Wants To Sell WB Games

And the asset merging/ sell off of assets begins.

 

This is an interesting development, but says more about the gaming industry than about WB. Disney dumped their game division 6 years or so back. Lucasfilm did too prior to selling out to Disney. The video game industry is changing models away from triple A releases and towards F2P mobile releases. And a lot of companies aren’t going to make that transition.

 

Yeah, I just read this. This is super disturbing news for DC fans. I thought their video game division was consistently profitable. And if so, what does that say about how they feel regarding their constantly struggling comics division?

On a side note, I do not want someone like EA taking control of the Mortal Kombat franchise.

 

I really really wouldn’t read much into it. Books and epics could be written about what’s happening to the video game industry. If I had any money in it, I’d be cashing out too. The industry is in a massive transition state and its likely the old business models for it are just about at the end of the line.

 

What about tt games? Is this the end of the lego dc games?

 

As I keep saying AT&T and Disney owe way too much money, they will be merging and divesting things.