As we’ve been noting over the last few weeks, a year after the Diamond bankruptcy we’re seeing a lot of publishers still adjusting to the year of turmoil. DSTLRY joined the list with an announcement that they are putting their publishing program on pause. This follows over a year of distributor disarray in which DSTLRY went from Lunar to Diamond (one of the last Diamond exclusives) to PRH. They write:

Last year unfortunately brought more hurdles than consistency. Our distributor, Diamond, filed for bankruptcy, derailing our publishing schedule and preventing us from shipping our titles to the direct market (to name a few of the effects). DSTLRY books are now distributed by Penguin Random House to comic shops and the book market, a big step forward, but the transition created release gaps and added complexity to how and when books reach shelves.

All of these obstacles, and our commitment to release these books with the thought and resources they deserve, have led us to this moment where we need to take a short pause in publishing. Not because creators are behind (many issues are done or nearly complete), but because publishing is more than than releasing inspired stories. Good publishing entails the right strategy for timing, marketing, printing, and distribution. And we want to make sure these books land with the impact they deserve.

Books that are on hold for now:

  • City Beneath Her Feet #3
  • Endeavour #3
  • Galactic #2
  • Mischief of Magpies #1
  • White Boat #3

The statement notes that the titles are paused not cancelled, with the break giving them time to “regroup, reset, and return with a more stable, consistent publishing rhythm.” In addition, DSTLRY hopes to schedule several previously titles as they regroup. 

DSTLRY had a splashy launch in 2023 run by industry veterans David Steinberger and Chip Mosher, with books by industry heavyweights including Jock, Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso, Chip Zdarsky, Tula Lotay, Becky Cloonan and many more in an oversized format that spotlighted the art. Cloonan and Lotay’s Somna won the Eisner for Best New Series in 2024. 

While DSTLRY is on hiatus, another Steinberger/Mosher venture, the digital comics platform Neon Ichiban, is very much in business, with the website portal going live recently, and new digital comics on sale every week. 

Somna

12 COMMENTS

  2. For the most part no one is interested in oversized comics like that, with their very oversized prices.

    What’s worse is that the book collections of the work COST MORE than the serialization.

    -B

  3. yeah the WORST format of comics ever created.

    Anyway, hope Chip and David keep going with their NFTS!

    Wait, is that the worst format of comics?

  4. Echoing other commenters…as business models go, offing an unpopular format at a high price seems a very odd way to go about selling comics

  5. I feel like this has become a tale as old as time in the VC age of comics publishers. I guess we will see if those final issues publish by mid-summer or late fall. It does have an Aftershock feel to it except no creators saying they aren’t being paid so gives me hope it is as they say just a reset.

  6. I enjoy the large format. I think the folks who don’t enjoy it are likely thinking about cost and space. It’s just the comics version of a big screen tv, and it makes it easier for me to read as well, tbh.

    I’d take larger format over more text taking up space over the art,

  7. I enjoy the larger format, which is more akin to Bande Dessinee. Would I like them to be a bit cheaper? Sure. Although, having the collections priced much higher then if you purchased the single issues, has kept me away from buying the collections.

  8. I liked some of their offerings – White House Robot Romance in particular – but the format was cumbersome both for reading and storming AND the high prices made it difficult to give books I was on the fence about a shot.

    Slightly tangential, but is anyone else annoyed by the inconsistency of Bad Idea’s single issue paper quality? Some titles have super nice paper quality and others very poor paper. Annoying since you have no idea title to title which paper you are going to get.

  9. Man, I love the DSTLRY format. I’m much more likely to buy any random title if I see it is in that big oversized format. Especially given their low price point. More bang for your buck!

  11. Writing has been on the wall here since the start. VC backed tech company punted advances to big name creators to produce their uncommercial passion projects to build brand credibility among the comics chaterati. Also invested heavily in advertising and sponsorship of comics newsites, securing them the easiest of rides. Burned through two rounds of raise in doing so without selling that many comics. But hey, maybe the user numbers all this has generated on their definitely-not-NFTs e-commerce platform will be enough to get them through another round and an exit.

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