TBD
Here’s the twist we’ve all been waiting for: Alliance Game Distributors, the tabletop/RPG distributor that was purchased by Universal Distribution is apparently now offering DC Comics, at least as shown by this order form posted by retailer Ryan Higgins of Comics Conspiracy:
The screenshot show comics with an August FOC date and September/October on sale dates, including Absolute Batman #12 Glow in the Dark.
As we’ve been reporting, Montreal-based Universal has long been looking for a way to distribute periodical comics in the US. By purchasing Alliance Game Distributors, they gained a US warehouse in Fort Wayne, Indiana which would make shipping costs far more reasonable. Universal and DC have had a distribution deal since 2022, and Canadian retailers have long been able to order DC through them.
I’m hearing that Dynamite comics are also available on the Alliance order forms, but have been unable to confirm that. However, I would suspect that it is only a matter of time.
Obviously we’re all exhausted by distributor drama, but this seems to mark the latest milestone for periodical comics in the US: the switch back to a multi-distributor system for as once existed in the early 90s. I’ve heard many good things about Universal ordering and shipping procedures. They are a very efficient and professional organization, so giving retailers more options could promote the healthy competition that a healthy market needs.
Just some thoughts: will other small publishers frozen out by Diamond be able to apply to Universal? I imagine many are trying as you read this.
Also what about Lunar which has been the sole distributor of DC Comics since 2020, according to my quick research. Just my opinion, but I think that DC has always wanted a multi-distributor solution. I don’t think this is a slap at Lunar….just a new player to give everyone options.
A final thought: given all the chaos of the last few months, it’s been said many times how people have learned about their jobs and business by news reports at The Beat and so on. Universal sort of stealth entering the US market is yet another quiet storm. I know they have been privately rolling out their plans to retailers and publishers for months, but unlike other entities that issue a press release every time they sneeze, Universal seems to do things on the down low – althought there may also be legalities involved because of the bankruptcy and other legal processes. As long as they ship books promptly and securely, this might not make much of a difference – but it would be nice to have someone state their overall vision for the market.
TBD
As DC wasn’t available from Diamond since 2020, this doesn’t mean much. As soon as a publisher still who still was shipping to Diamond early January this year enters the picture, THAT’S when it gets interesting. I would think twice about entering into an agreement with an organisation which is in cahoots with another organisation that’s keeping your products hostage and refuses to pay for them. They made their bid together, they divided up the carcass together, I don’t believe Universal had no idea about Ad Populum’s plans for after mid-May.
Agreed. It would seem that they were working in tandum. One destroys and drains the life force of the old Diamond to enrich themselves in exchange for the other to acquire the warehouse/infrastructure to expand their business without taking on any debt or liabilities of the old diamond. I am curious if anyone, or how many, will give Universal the time if day with how the purchase has gone.
Actually, my understanding now is that these bids were not originally connected. Developing.