The Very Last Days of Diamond Comics

Diamond Comics II, the entity purchased by Sparkle Pop, closed its doors on December 31. As in, shut down the Hunt Valley offices, sent out the last Diamond Daily, and let go of its last employees. 

The remaining entity is rebranding as Diamond Select and will become part of Enesco, a novelties/toys company also owned by parent company Ad Populum. We’ll have more on that next week, but in the meantime some former Diamond employees eulogized the former monolith of comics in various ways. 

Former Diamond employee Troy-Jeffrey-Allen posted on Facebook on Wednesday, December 31st. 

Today is the day that Diamond Comic Distributors officially closes its offices in Hunt Valley, MD.

Back in 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic, I took a bunch of photos of our abandoned workstations throughout the home office. At the time, I was handling online content for them. My intention was to post these images to Diamond’s various social media feeds. Possibly as a sign of solidarity, or maybe in an effort to show the human side of the company – that the people who worked there were also fans.

What a strange and colorful ride.

I hope everyone lands back on their feet.

These photos are not only a tribute to Diamond but to the very idea of a private cubicle that could be decorated as the worker saw fit – an increasingly rare thing in the age of “work stations.” These photos (more of them in the link) not only give an “Office Space” vibe but remind me of how those of us in the collectibles business create a private world around us, a nest and also a doorway to the powerful creations that brought us here in the first place. 

In the comments someone posts a photo of an empty office that is reminiscent of Lockjaw’s office from One Battle After Another….if you know what I mean.

Apparently Diamond president Chuck Parker was around until the end, but his next move is also unknown. 

Lance Woods, who edited Diamond Daily, the essential every day newsletter that gave retailers a look at upcoming projects, snow storms, ship dates and sales, sent out a final newsletter on the 31st as well. He posted a screen shot on LinkedIn, which you can hopefully read below. 

An excerpt:

Over three-plus decades of communicating to and with retailers — including corralling Daily‘s “From the Road” and “Retailers in the News” columns — I’ve learned about the passions, struggles and triumphs that drive you to provide a decent living for yourselves and your families in an industry we truly love. Operating a business, especially a comic or pop culture shop with narrow profit margins, requires more courage than any superhero could ever have. Please know that I leave hoping that something, anything I wrote for Diamond helped you and your business in some way. Many of our vendors are also Daily readers. Whether you’re one of the reps I’ve come to know personally over the years or one I’ve known only as a name via forwarded emails from your Brand Managers, please know that this fanboy has been proud to work in the same industry with you and your creators. It was always fun to joke with friends that “I work with [superstar writers/artists]”, even though I got to meet very few of them.** On the Home (Office) front, I tip my hat to our founder, Steve Geppi, plus President Chuck Parker and the members of past & present Upper Management Teams for fostering a culture that provided me with a second home & family for more than half of my lifetime. That family is named Marketing Communications. From longtime PREVIEWS Catalog Editor Marty Grosser and Copywriter Mike Smith — my first Diamond pals from Day One of the Woods Age in 1991 — to our most recent young guns (new website aces Michelle Pugliese, Mike Szymanski & Casey Dimoff), we have worked hard to get useful information to you as quickly and effectively as possible, usually with the help of smart people I’m proud to call friends from Purchasing, Sales, Order Processing, IT and other departments. Whether it was publishing the PREVIEWS catalog each month or overseeing Free Comic Book Day each year, we did it all while trying to keep each other sane through both our professional and personal “challenges”. Lou Grant said it best in the last episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Heidi again: It’s nearly a year since Diamond declared bankruptcy, and the effects are still being felt. Many of the effects are positive, but no one wanted it to end like this. And while people complained about “Diamond” as a entity and a monopoly for years, I don’t think they ever meant the dedicated men and women who strove each day to keep the wheels turning. They were the real heroes.