To help combat the COVID-19 Pandemic which is gripping the world, Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. has made the choice to cease all operations until further notice.
What this means is that the comic distributor will no longer receive new product from their comic publishing partners nor will they send out new comic products to local comic shop retailers.
With the end result being this Wednesday is the FINAL New Comic Book day for the foreseeable future.
This also means the physical launch of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 10 is postponed until further notice. Equestria Daily will be reaching out to our friends at IDW Publishing to confirm whether or not digital releases will continue uninterrupted.
UPDATE: After reaching out to IDW Publishing, they are unable to comment at this time as to what their plans are because this development was so recent. Equestria Daily will continue to bring you news and updates as this situation
An editorial on how this might impact the comic industry as a whole can be found after the break.
To begin, I'll answer the simple question: how can come company shutting down result in this?
It's simple, Diamond Comic Distributors has a monopoly on the distribution for the entire direct comic market. This single distributor handles all comic products, board games, and other products related to geek/nerd culture. When Diamond closes down, the whole industry shuts down.
What will be the end result of this? Bad. Really bad. All the major comic publishers are going to take a major hit by not being able to move product to the comic retailers. Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and IDW Publishing will all most like survive this. A good portion of the rest of the comic publishing industry probably won't.
That's the tip of the iceberg for the industry though. This is going to have a major trickle down effect to everyone working in comics today. Local comic book shops throughout the world rely upon new product form Diamond to keep bringing the cash into their stores. Without cash coming into the shops, the stores will eventually close. Permanently.
And that is going to happen a lot faster than you think it will because the vast majority of retail enterprises are operating with only 2 weeks of cash in reserves. A lot of local comic shops are going to shut down very quickly.
This means there is going to be less space for product on the retail shelves for the books which survive. This means retailers are going to have to be a lot more selective in their choices for what to carry. This will result in comic publishers significantly reducing the number of titles they are releasing every single month.
That is going to directly impact the illustrators, writers, colorists, and letterers who create the books each month. Many of them will find themselves out of regular work in the industry. Which could result in them taking a severe reduction in income or leaving the industry altogether for more reliable income sources.
This means comic publishers will only hire talent they know they can make their money back on. Which will make it harder for any new talent/voices to enter the industry.
That's assuming this shutdown by Diamond is temporary and doesn't last for a year or more.
If it does... that's the end of the direct comic market.
What can you do to help?
If you are in a position to afford to (I cannot stress this enough), first and foremost, you can help your local comic shops stay in business by purchasing gift cards. The gift cards/certificates give the comic shop an infusion of funds right away and will then be exchanged at a later date for physical product.
Second, look up your favorite creators in the comic industry. If they have a Patreon, start contributing to that. If they have an online store, buy something from that. If they have commissions open, consider commissioning them for an original work.
If you cannot afford to purchase anything, give the comic creators a boost on your social media channels. So that way those who could be in a position to buy something from them can absolutely do so.
