Diamond Distributor Comics, Inc. (often called Diamond Comics , DCD , or casually Diamond ) is a comic book and pop culture distributor serving retailers in America North and around the world. They carry comic books and graphic novels from large and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to retailers, as well as other pop culture products such as toys, games and clothing. Diamond distributes to direct markets in the United States, and has an exclusive distribution arrangement with most US comic book publishers, including Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, Comic Images, Marvel Comics, and more.
Diamond is also the parent company of Game Alliance Distributors, Diamond Book Distributors, Diamond UK, Diamond Select Toys, Gemstone Publishing, E. Gerber Products, Diamond International Galleries, Hake's Americana & amp; Collectibles, Morphy Auctions, Geppi's Entertainment Museum, and Baltimore's magazine,
Diamond is a publisher of Preview , a monthly catalog/magazine featuring comic books, graphic novels, toys and other pop culture items available in comic book stores. This publication is available to retailers and comics store consumers.
Video Diamond Comic Distributors
Histori
In 1982, Baltimore-based comic retailer Steve Geppi founded Diamond Comic Distributors. Diamond became the direct successor to Phil Seuling's pioneering marketing dreams when it took over New Media/Irjax warehouses in 1982. Diamond went on to buy an early distributor of Bud Plant Inc. in 1988, and a major rival of Capital City Distribution in 1996, to assume close to the monopoly of comic distribution, including an exclusive deal with major comic book publishers.
Beginning
In 1981/82 Geppi had four comic retail locations and was already "doing a small informal distribution... for small retailers." Geppi found himself "one of the biggest accounts" for New Media/Irjax, and when the distributor "moved to Florida, he asked Geppi to serve more accounts for bigger discounts." One of the "last loyal customers" when New Media began to experience fiscal difficulties, Geppi made a deal: "[t] the owner went into retail," so Geppi agreed to give New Media/Irjax a "free book over a period of time in exchange for his account list , "bought parts of the company, and established Diamond Comic Distribution.
Geppi has been a sub-distributor for Irjax Hal Shuster in the late 1970s. In what Mile High Comics called 'Chuck Rozanski describes as "a very risky and courageous move," Geppi takes over the "New Media/Irjax office and storage room" and, remember Rozanski, has to "sort out the good customers from the bad overnight "negotiating with creditors to continue Shuster's distribution business as Diamond Comic Distribution. Almost overnight, Rozanski said, "[h] e changed from being a retailer in Baltimore to having warehouses everywhere."
Geppi named its new company 'Diamond' "after Marvel Comics comics were used on non-refundable comics," and although "publishers did not continue the symbol" a few months later, the name remained. "Diamonds grow an average of 40 percent annually," when retail comics begin to flourish.
In 1983, Diamond rented an accounting firm, and in 1985 rented "BON crap," Chuck Parker "as the first controller of Diamond." In 1994, Diamond employee Mark Herr noted that this move was Geppi's "best decision", since Parker "did not care about comics. For him, it was dollars and cents." Parker describes his role as "the emotional fluidity of some decisions: Steve [Geppi] is a visionary and risk taker... and I tend to be more conservative."
Expansion
After starting its business through the purchase of warehouse and office of New Media/Irjax in 1982, Geppi distribution company has bought many other distribution companies since then. Many fans "with little experience" start a rival distribution company just to "find them over their heads," allowing Geppi to "[buy] a clever or take... pieces after the dumb people get out of business," according to Herr. Diamond is assisted in his efforts by his own publisher. In the early 1980s, Marvel and DC Comics provided favorable trading terms for larger distributors and those with efficient transport systems, effectively "playing in the hands of key distributors like Capital and Diamond," and accelerating the deaths of more distributors small..
Bud Plant Inc.
In particular, in 1988, Geppi purchased an initial mail-order distributor of Bud Plant Inc., which had purchased Charles Abar Distribution in 1982. Plant has, since 1970, been selling underground comics (a field that Geppi and its distributor Buddy Saunders tend to avoid). After earning $ 19 million in sales in 1987, Diamond purchased West Coast Plant's distributor company in 1988 "and became a national company" thereby controlling "40 percent of the direct selling market." (Diamond and Capital City Distribution controls at least 70% of them.)
Further expansion
In 1990, Diamond acquired Seattle-based sub-distributor Destiny Distribution. Fate had been initiated by Phil Pankow in the early 1980s, and was originally supplied by Bud Plant. Also in 1990, Diamond acquired Oregon-based Second Genesis Distribution (whose operations were folded in 1991).
In 1991, Diamond moved into the UK market, acquiring Pacific Distribution, Ltd. In 1992, Diamond acquired British distributor Titan Distributors, a hand from Titan Entertainment Group.
In 1994, Diamond acquired a distributor of Comite Unlimited based in Staten Island. At this point, Diamond has "27 warehouses in the US, Canada, and Britain, employing [750] between 750 and 900 people;" operates its own truck lane; and controls 45% of the market, generating $ 222 million in sales.
World of Heroes and Capital City
In 1995, Marvel Comics challenged Diamond and Capital City's main rivals by buying the third largest distributor - Heroes World Distribution - and distributing titles in-house. Diamond reacts by defeating Capital City for an exclusive offer with Marvel DC Comics main competitor, as well as Dark Horse, Image, and Archie Comics. The Capital City response saw it sign an exclusive deal with Kitchen Sink Press and Viz Comics, but a year later faced a choice between bankruptcy and outbound sales. Diamond bought Capital City in the summer of 1996, assuming the comic control system was close. The purchase price is not disclosed, but the acquisition brings about $ 50 million in sales revenue to Diamond.
In early 1997, when the Marvel Heroes World effort failed, Diamond also made an exclusive deal with House of Ideas - giving his company his own piece of comic catalog Preview (not least because DC/Dark Horse to those companies) - made "Geppi... the only king of the distribution of the comic industry in the summer of 1996."
Antitrust litigation
In 1997, Diamond's position in the comic industry, as "the only source of most new comic products for comic specialty stores," finally saw the company be the subject of "an investigation by the US Department of Justice over possible antitrust violations." The Justice Department launched an antitrust investigation into the comic industry and the alleged monopoly of Diamond Comics. The investigation closed in November 2000, without further action being deemed necessary on the grounds that, although Diamond enjoyed a monopoly in the direct market distribution of North American comic books, they did not enjoy a monopoly on the distribution of books (books including non-comic books).
Books and games
In addition to cornering the American comic distribution market, Diamond includes a number of subsidiaries and affiliated companies. British and European comic distribution is served by Diamond UK, based in Runcorn, England.
On August 31, 2000, Diamond Comic Distributors acquired Game Alliance Distributors, the largest table game distributor in North America.
In 2002, Diamond consolidated its book trade into Diamond Book Distributors, marketing graphic novels and trading printed books to bookstores including Barnes & amp; Noble, Ingram, Baker & amp; Taylor, Amazon.com, and Borders.
Maps Diamond Comic Distributors
Criticism
In 1983, Diamond was criticized for taking exception to certain "adult" titles and scenes, which effectively led to the serial cancellation called Void Indigo due to its excessive violence.
In 1987, Geppi responded to the "Graphic Delivery scene at Miracleman # 9 [written by Alan Moore]." Geppi wrote to a retailer that:
This appeal to retailers for refusing Miracleman's stocks led to allegations of censorship, allegations the company was forced to cope when criticizing or refusing to bring other titles, including books by Kitchen Sink Press, and Dave Sim in 1988, Jon Lewis in the year 1994, and Mike Diana in 1996.
However, Diamond lost customers with this approach, "and finally backed down." Geppi attracts compromises, and accepts "that as a distributor, I owe it to the retailers of the products they want." In fact, in an effort to prove that Diamond was not censoring, the company joined DC Comics in 1993 to raise money for the first First Defense Fund industry advocacy group.
Due to its industry dominance, Diamond also faces allegations that he bullied publishers and discriminated against small publishers. This accusation first appeared in 1988 when Diamond rejected Matt Feazell's Ant Ant Boy comic, and in 1989 when it also decided not to carry the anthology of Allen Freeman Slam Bang.
After the 1996 industrial consolidation, Diamond faced similar allegations in 1996, 1999, and 2000 (when small publishers such as Fantagraphics and Drawn and Quarterly filed complaints).
Publish
The monthly comic retail catalog Diamond, Preview has been produced by Diamond for over twenty-five years for store owners and comic shop customers to order their products. It is also available for sale to customers to facilitate pre-orders from "drag and hold" or subscribers who regularly visit comic stores on a regular basis. Comic publishers compete for space in publication pages, with Dark Horse, DC Comics, Comic Images, and IDW Publishing preferred as a "Premier" publisher. Marvel Comics has its own mini-catalog of Marvel Previews available separately, for contractual reasons.
Geppi is also the owner of Gemstone Publishing Inc., where he published the Overstreet Comic Book Pricing Guide . Gemstone has also republished Kraft EC Comics Russ Cochran, Disney comics and Blue Book price guides in the past as well.
Baltimore
In 1994, Geppi purchased Baltimore's magazine, "50,000 monthly circulation and one of the oldest regional publications in the country."
Gemstone Publishing
Geppi's publishing business in comics saw it create Gemstone Publishing Inc., which was largely made up of other purchases. In 1992, Diamond purchased Ernst Gerber Publishing (publisher-writer Photo-Journal Guide to Comics ). E. Gerber Products, LLC is a Berberian-affiliated company started by Gerber in 1977 selling Mylar bags and "acid free and acid-free backing boards" for comic collectors to store their collections. In 1993, Geppi bought Russ Cochran Publishing. Cochran long-term EC Comics fans auctioned a copy of Bill Gaines private files from EC publications, as well as most original EC artwork pages (which, virtually uniquely, Gaines has retained ownership and ownership), before being granted reprint rights to EC Catalog back. Geppi incorporated the publication of Cochran - and Cochran himself - under his new track, Gemstone Publishing.
In 1994, Geppi purchased Overstreet Publishing, took control of the issuance of the official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guidebook, and other related publications, took them under the Gemstone footprint. The publishing activities of Geppi with Gemstone Publishing consist primarily of reprints of classic titles and works of art, as well as publications (including pro-zine professional fanzines) that are heavily focused on the history of comic media. Many of Gemstone's publications revolve around the Comic Book Market -sitoritor and EC-shepherd Russ Cochran.
EC Comics reprint
Cochran, like Geppi, is a special fan of Disney comics from Carl Barks, and has reprinted previous EC prints in conjunction with Disney-reprinter Gladstone Publishing. In the early 1990s, Gemstone Geppi started a full series of reprints of classic EC titles, beginning with a new reprint of Cochran/Gladstone-The Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror i> and Strange Science (all 1992). Gemstone was also re-published (in single and 'yearly' editions - four issues per 'yearly' - format) of EC title New Trends and New Directions between 1992 and 2000.
In 2005, Gemstone added to Cochran's previously published greatness, hardback, black & amp; the collection of "EC Library Libraries" complete with a complete collection of Picto-Fiction , consists of EC comics: Confessions Illustrated , Picture Crime , Shock Illustrated and Terror Illustrated , along with "18 stories that never before appeared, were never published before".
In 2006, Gemstone began producing more durable and luxurious hardcover prints; The EC archive - similar to the DC archive and volume of Marvel Masterworks - reprints with colorful format ('archive') the sequential composition of the EC title. Designed by art director/designer Michael Kronenberg, a number of volumes have been released, with all new New Trends and New Directions planned for the eventual release. The volume of these EC archives has gained praise for their quality, and featured introductions by renowned EC fans such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and Paul Levitz.
Disney Comics
In December 2002, it was announced that "Publication Gems have signed licenses to publish Disney comics in North America," with former Gladstone Publishing editor John Clark joining Gemstone in the same position above his Disney line. Launched with the title for the Free Day Comics Book of 2003, the line started soon after with Walt Disney's Comic and Story Walt Disney's Uncle Scared and Uncle , both described by Clark as the "64th month book genre prestige-page at a price of $ 6.95, which is the same price when it was last produced, in 1998. "Other titles followed, and Gemstone holds their license until early 2009.
Extraordinary Comic Book Price Guidelines
The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, first published by Robert M. Overstreet in 1970 as one of the earliest authorities on the assessment and valuation of the American comic book value. Overstreet sold the company to Gemstone in 1994, but continues to "serve as a writer and/or publisher of Geppi Entertainment Publishing & Auctions'." The publication of the Price Guide was taken over by Gemstone in 1998, Gemstone took over the publication, and the twenty-eight edition to date has been (co-) published by the Gemstone Geppi publication. The edition of edition Guide ' was published by Gemstone Publishing in 2009.
Overstreet also produces smaller publications updating its annual guide with a monthly schedule. The latest from this - Ovic Review Reviews Overstreet - began to be published from Gemstone in July 2003, and is a monthly publication designed to update annual pricing guides more regularly, and provides articles, analysis and comic list prices.
Gemstone publishes more than a hundred editions of Comic Books magazine's magazine, a monthly magazine for comic fans that focuses heavily on the Golden and Silver days, while more popular magazines (such as Wizard ) tend to be more new in focus.
Future
In early 2009, the future of Gemstone Issuance was unclear, following an unpaid printing bill report, mainly from the European Commission Archives. In April, Geppi responded to the uncertainty, noting that while there were "staff reductions at Gemstone," such measures do not "signify the end of Gemstone Publishing."
In 2008, Diamond introduced ComicSuite, an add-on application for Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System software. Together, ComicSuite & amp; RMS provides store-specific point-of-sale (POS) store owners specifically designed for their unique business model, offering a number of exclusive features that give you direct communication with Diamond databases, making it easier than ever to place orders, track inventory and maintain a "pull-and-hold" subscription for your customers. "
Affiliated companies and subsidiaries
In 1995, Geppi founded Diamond International Galleries, which acquired Hake's Americana & amp; Collection auction house (2004), and in 2005, Morphy Auctions based in Pennsylvania. In 1999, Geppi founded Diamond Select Toys, and in 2006 he founded Geppi's Entertainment Museum in Baltimore.
Alliance Game Distributors
Game Alliance Distributors are the largest distributor of table games in North America - role-playing games, collectible card games, wargames miniatures, board games, and related merchandise - and game publisher Trade Magazine. Alliance was acquired by Diamond in August 2000, two years after it was formed by the merger of Chessex and The Armory game distributors.
Diamond Select Toy & amp; Collectibles
Imagining to create collections for children and adults, DST was founded in 1999 and has since licensed a variety of pop culture traits, including Marvel Comics, Transformers, G.I. Joe: 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 create action shots of various sizes, as well as banks, sculptures, sculptures and prop replicas, many of their licensed properties are released in Minimates form, which has helped make Minimates one of the most productive and diverse blocks looking for the toy line in the world. In 2007, after years of partnership, Diamond Select Toys moved to acquire the assets of choice from New York-based design house Art Asylum, creator of Minimates and DST has developed Minimates based on its own concept, under the brand Minimates M.A.X. and Raiders Pirate Calico Jack.
International Diamond Gallery
In 1995, Geppi "opened the International Diamond Gallery," the venue for comics and collections, part of Geppi's effort to "see... collectibles achieve serious respect." Nine years later, the International Diamond Gallery bought "one of the country's first auction houses, and the most respected, the collection: Americana & Hake Collection." In 2005, Geppi added the "Morphy Auction based in Denver, Pennsylvania" to a stable section of the collection market, which already included publishing a major comic pricing guide: Overstreet Comic Book Price Guidebook .
Geppi describes its International Gallery as "the centerpiece of many important opportunities to preserve, promote and present a collection of historical comic characters," a venture that led to the establishment of Geppi's Entertainment Museum. The Geppi Gallery features many of his personal collections, including comics, movie posters, toys, original artwork by individuals including "Carl Barks, Gustav Tengren , Alex Ross, Murphy Anderson, Joe Shuster, Joe Simon and Charles Schulz. "
Diamond International Galleries has helped "in projects like the DC Archive series," as well as organizing industry events.
Geppi's Entertainment Museum
Geppi's Entertainment Museum is a museum in Baltimore, Maryland, tracing the history of pop culture in America over the past four hundred years. His collections include comic books, magazines, movies, newspapers, television, radio memorabilia and video games, including comic books, movie posters, toys, buttons, badges, cereal boxes, trade cards, dolls and sculptures. The majority of the exhibit comes from Geppi's private collection, while Geppi Melissa's daughter "Missy" Geppi-Bowersox became executive vice president of the museum in 2007, after Wendy Kelman left the museum on August 31, 2007, to start his own tourism consulting firm. The museum curator is Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg, former editor at Gemstone Publishing Geppi.
See also
- List of book distributors
Note
References
- Hoover's Profile of Diamond Comic Distributor
External links
- Official website
- The Comics Chronicles.com: Archive of Diamond's comic book sales
- Sequart.org: "Defend Diamond" - defense company, by Julian Darius (February 2006) .
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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