Another played in the distro game has just been announced: Portland-based CRWN Studios, which has served as a fulfillment and publishing services company for more than a decade, will launch a distribution arm, with 25-year Diamond Comic Distributors veteran Terry Helman as Director of Sales. Helman will oversee sales strategy and publisher relations.
Founded in 2012, CRWN brings many years of experience to working with smaller publishers on distribution. Initial clients include Living the Line, Goodman Games, Pegamoose Press, and Lionwing Publishing. They join several companies who previously partnered with CRWN for direct fulfillment, including as Dragons & Beasties, Archmage Studios, Roll for Combat, and independent creators Marie Enger, Simon Roy, Don Austin, Tavis Maiden. More names will be announced soon.
CRWN Studios facilities include a 16,000 ft warehouse in Portland, where it will oversee all warehousing, catalog management, fulfillment, and trade logistics and has launched a new direct-order portal for comic shops, and other retailers.
They will also integrate new distribution clients into Firebrand Technologies for title management and ONIX data feeds, with review copies available via Edelweiss, and print and digital catalogs launching in 2026.
As you can tell from all the details given above, CRWN Studios already has a lot of experience in the fulfillment area, so their entrance into the distribution void left by the Diamond Comics implosion is a natural one. Supporting statement from publishers and creators back that up:
“Given the results we’ve generated for our direct-to-consumer clients, I’m confident this new channel will be just as successful,” said Cory Casoni, CRWN co-founder with Meg Maiden, who quietly built CRWN Studios to be the industry’s aide-de-camp. Meg Maiden commented, “Working with someone of Terry’s experience and reputation is a huge step forward for what we’ve spent years building here.”
Sean Michael Robinson, Publisher at Living the Line, said:
“It’s hard to miss the message of the past year: publishers and creators need partners who actually believe in their books. While the corpse of our old distributor busied itself sucking the blood out of every publisher still standing, CRWN was quietly mastering every corner of logistics, design, and fulfillment until they’d created something extraordinary behind the scenes. That’s the energy our medium needs: people who believe in the work, roll up their sleeves, and figure it out. If Old Comics Distro left us a corpse, CRWN is the scavenger that turns bones into tools, a reminder that indie comics are built to endure. We’re thrilled to be part of this new venture, helping to build a system that champions daring, challenging, and important work rather than treating it as disposable product.”
Independent Creator, Marie Enger, commented:
“So much of making comics is mysterious logistics, secrets kept away from the public and creators that are crucial to building the financial stability that will allow us to make bigger, better, more ambitious work. CRWN doesn’t keep secrets – the door is open, the ladder remains firmly in place below it, waiting for creators to come up – with support!”
Joe Goodman, Publisher and Owner of Goodman Games reflected on his time with CRWN:
“Goodman Games is really happy to be working with CRWN for distribution. We have had so many positive experiences with CRWN for crowdfunding fulfillment and various special projects. They were savvy and brave enough to pull off joint fulfillment with our Purple Planet collaborative crowdfunding, which as far as I know remains the first and only time 7 different publishers have saved backers money by fulfilling their crowdfundings together. CRWN has the creativity and logistics expertise to excel in distribution the way they have excelled in many other fields.”
CRWN was founded in 2012 by Cory Casoni and Meg Maiden and has been working with a number of prominent publishers and creators behind the scenes on manufacturing, crowdfunding fulfillment, and e-commerce infrastructure, including UDON Entertainment, The Nib, Rocketship Entertainment, Scott Kurtz, Glitterfox, Uncivilized Books, Ginny Di, Legendary Comics, TwoGether Studios, Organized Havoc and many others.
Interested retailers and publishers should reach out to sales@crwnstudios.com.
