Tag: Diamond

It's a rite of Spring. Every May people race to the comics shop for the annual comic book holiday—Free Comics Book Day. In 2014, the free comcis are set loose on Saturday, May 3rd,...

Diamond's annual gift guide is out and you can pick it up at your friendly retailer, or peruse it online, above, and see what be suitable for finding under the Christmas tree, bearing in mind the essential ratio of Christmas: two for you, one for me.

by John Jackson Miller The comics industry's momentum showed few signs of dissipating in October, as Direct Market shops in North America ordered more than $50 million worth of comic books and graphic novels for...

It was kinda a three-way tie in October's sale charts, according to Diamond's just released statistics. THE WALKING DEAD #115 was the best selling comic, but DC won the units battle, 31.02% to Marvel's...

I have a number of panel recaps to write up for you all, so you should expect them to occupy the next few days on the site - and we start with a panel...

Diamond, the the world's largest distributor of English-language comic books, is making a few more tinkers with the top exec structure. Former Lone Star Comics/mycomicshop.com retailer Chris Powell, who joined Diamond last year, has been promoted from Executive Director of Business Development to the new position of Vice President of Retailer Services. Powell will report to COO Chuck Parker and oversee Diamond’s Customer Service and Technical Support, which were formerly under VP Sales & Marketing Roger Fletcher. He'll also continued his role in setting up programs to get new stores started.

A big change at Diamond executive team as VP of Purchasing Bill Schanes is stepping down after 27 years. He'll be replaced by Jon Wurzer, who as Executive Director of Purchasing has been responsible for day to day purchasing decisions for the last 12 years. Schanes will remain in an advisory capacity through 2013.

Diamond released its preliminary year-end data for 2012 today, and it wasn't a big surprise. The Walking Dead #100 was the top selling comics of the year, and the first Wlaking Dead trade toped the GN charts. Marvel was the top publishers over DC. Sales were up for the year; even graphic novels, which had lagged at times because of the Borders debacle, ended up in double digits point over 2011. Comics sales overall were up nearly 15%—a healthy growth margin that reflects all the good things we'e been talking about.

Realizing that getting new stores out there is crucial to growing the comics business. Diamond has announced a couple of new programs to help get new stores up and running by softening the financial...

Realizing that getting new stores out there is crucial to growing the comics business. Diamond has announced a couple of new programs to help get new stores up and running by softening the financial...

[Yesterday Diamond announced their plan to team with iVerse to offer digital comics downloads for sale in comics shops. Gievn the hot button nature of this discussion, and the big picture nature of the announcement, Dave Bowen, Diamond's Director of Digital Distribution, was eager to talk to us to explain more about it. This is a long interview, but Bowen goes into welcome detail on the thinking behind and motivation for this plan. Short version: retailers deserve to be brought into the process.]

Bam, the other shoe has dropped: as long anticipated, Diamond is starting a program to offer digital comics sales. Comics will be offered day-and-date exclusively through participating retailers -- with a 30-day exclusive for these stores. Products offered include regular downloads for $1.99 with "Digital Plus" comics -- extras offered with a print purchase -- for $.99, all in hopes of becoming a revenue stream for stores and publishers alike.