Devil's Due Press Leaves Diamond

Rich Johnston is reporting that Devil's Due is pulling all distribution of their product through Diamond Distributors. (official press release from Josh Blaylock)

Some fans are quick to paint this move and the problems Devil's Due has had as being entirely their fault.

I'd beg to differ.

Johnston indicates that there are claims that Diamond has lost a considerable amount of DDP's product over the last year. That has hurt their ability to try to reverse their shrinking presence in the market and pay off their debts.

But that's not where I'm placing some of the blame at Diamond's feet.

I'm talking Hack/Slash #16 & #17.

Re-Animator-gate.

Where Nick Barrucci was part of a group that sent what appeared to possibly be a baseless cease & desist letter, claiming that they owned the copyright to a logo used for the Re-Animator character. Some attributed Diamond's immediate cow-towing to Dynamite having a much cozier relationship with them than Devil's Due Press, seeing as how Diamond's Director of Purchasing had written the Dynamite Entertainment Army of Darkness Vs. Re-Animator mini-series.

Hack/Slash was the biggest title DDP was putting out at the time. Diamond being so willing to put a huge obstacle in its way due to a frivolous cease and desist letter had to be damaging to DDP's business and, obviously, their relationship with the distributor. They were, also, hit hard by the loss of the GI Joe license to IDW, but this legal problem was not their fault in the slightest and only amplified by Diamond's actions.

You can argue how much or how little Diamond siding with Dynamite's play contributed to DDP falling on tough times, but that it played a part is not open to dispute.

Is The Monopoly Ending?

There have been a few rumblings of late regarding Diamond, Steve Geppi (the man behind the company) and the Geppi financial issues. Checker cited, as its reason for breaking with the distributor, the murky personal situation with Geppi that was likely to impact the business.

Now we see BOOM! Studios making their new releases available through Haven (previously only a backlist source) at the deepest discount available?

This is the start of something...

For Immediate Release:

HAVEN DISTRIBUTORS TO OFFER
BOOM! STUDIOS
NEW RELEASES & BACKLIST


RETAILERS WILL RECEIVE BEST DISCOUNT FOR NEW SHIPPING BOOKS THROUGH HAVEN DISTRIBUTORS

Skokie, IL - May 5th, 2010 - Haven Distribution is proud to announce the deepest discount option available to Direct Market retailers for BOOM! Studios and BOOM Kids! titles.
Starting with BOOM!'s July-shipping books, Direct Market retailers will be able to buy the full line of BOOM! products at 50% off cover. Retailers now have another distribution option to receive the entire line of newly-shipping BOOM! Studios and BOOM Kids! titles and receive the best discount on these books available! In addition, BOOM!'s complete backlist of single issues and trade paperbacks will also be available to order from Haven with that same deep discount.  
Haven Distribution now joins Diamond Comics Distributors in offering the complete line of BOOM! products.
“I am proud to let the Direct Market know that they can order frontlist BOOM! titles at a steeper discount than our competitors and we have no 3% reorder penalty on backlist items," said Haven Distributors Director Lance Stahlberg. "Since we started carrying select BOOM! titles last October, Direct Market retailers have been begging us to expand our offering to BOOM's complete line. We are pleased to announce that now retailers will be able to get the best discount possible on newly- shipping BOOM! titles and be able to order BOOM! backlist single issues, and BOOM! trade paperbacks at a great discount also."
For July shipping BOOM! titles, Haven will be accepting orders starting May 5th. On that date, BOOM!'s full backlist of singles and trades will also be made available.
This newly-struck deal serves as an expansion of the distribution agreement BOOM! announced with Haven last October for second printings and specialty items.  
Haven Distributors is just one of a growing list of distributors offering BOOM! Studios and BOOM Kids! publications. This past summer, BOOM! Studios announced mass market distribution deals with Simon & Schuster and HarperCollinsCanada, with Simon & Schuster distributing BOOM! Studios and BOOM Kids! line of graphic novels in the United States and HarperCollinsCanada distributing in Canada.

Previous to the addition of Simon & Schuster and HarperCollinsCanada, last March BOOM! announced a newsstand distribution deal for their BOOM Kids! line through Kable Distribution Services, Inc., best known amongst comic book fans for distributing Archie Comics throughout North America in the United States and Canada.
The entire BOOM! Studios and BOOM Kids! line of publications are also offered in the direct market by Diamond Comics Distributors.

Retailers needing more information on how to order from Haven Distributors can call 1-877-HAVEN-50 or sign up on their website here:http://www.havendistro.com/retailers.html

About Haven Distributors
Haven Distributors (www.havendistro.com) was launched in 2008 with the mission of enabling independent comics to succeed in an ever-changing market place. They provide a wide array of comics and related merchandise at competitive discounts with low minimum orders to direct market retailers. They strive to treat both their customers and suppliers as business partners, providing a range of order fulfillment services from wholesale distribution to web store management.

About BOOM! Studios
BOOM! Studios (www.boom-studios.com) is a unique publishing house specializing in high-profile projects across a wide variety of different genres from some of the industry’s biggest talents, including Eisner nominated Philip K. Dick’s DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?, The Henson Company’s FARSCAPE, and the Eisner nominated original Mark Waid series IRREDEEMABLE. BOOM!’s children publishing imprint BOOM Kids! publishes titles such as Pixar’s THE INCREDIBLES, CARS, and TOY STORY, as well as Disney’s Eisner nominated THE MUPPETS, DONALD DUCK, UNCLE SCROOGE and WALT DISNEY’S COMICS AND STORIES.

Diamond Policies Help Create Competition?

BOOM! Studios just announced an agreement with Haven Distributors. No big deal, right? Probably for one of those secondary or tertiary markets, eh?

Nope.

It's with the Direct Market.

When announced, many immediately recognized that Diamond's new policies regarding minimums would have an adverse effect on O/A (Offered Again) items. Many publishers that aren't moving as many units as DC Comics and Marvel would have very little chance at monthly orders of their back catalog conforming to Diamond's new standards.

Well, here is BOOM! Studios (starting to get recognized as having earned a place at the table with the big boys) striking a deal to get around Diamond on the policy and, it seems, issues with their timeliness of satisfying re-orders.

I could be making much more of this than I should (and I'm sure someone will tell me in the comments if I have), but this can only bode well for giving publishers and retailers more options. For a smaller (?) distributor, second printings of BOOM! Studios' titles (including their hot licensed properties) could be a big deal.

If there is ever going to be a change in the Diamond monopoly, moves like this can be the first baby steps in that effort.

Below is the press release on the move.

For Immediate Release:

BOOM! STUDIOS
ENTERS INTO DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT WITH
HAVEN DISTRIBUTORS

Los Angeles, CA - October 5th, 2009 - BOOM! Studios is pleased to announce a distribution agreement with Haven Distributors to distribute all second printings of their monthly comics to direct market retailers, this includes not only the core BOOM! Studios line, but also BOOM!'s line of Disney licensed comics published under the BOOM Kids! imprint.

"Retailers have been begging us to get our second prints into their stores at a faster pace for the past year," said BOOM! Studios CEO Ross Richie. "We're happy to be able to offer retailers another choice in getting an important part of our product line to their stores and into the hands of their customers."

The addition of Haven Distributors adds to the growing list of distributors offering BOOM! Studios and BOOM Kids! publications. This past summer, BOOM! Studios announced mass market distribution deals with Simon and Schuster and HarperCollinsCanada, with Simon & Schuster distributing BOOM! Studios and BOOM Kids! line of graphic novels in the United States and HarperCollinsCanada distributing in Canada.

Previous to the addition of Simon & Schuster and HarperCollinsCanada, this past March BOOM! announced a newsstand distribution deal for their BOOM Kids! line through Kable Distribution Services, Inc., best known amongst comic book fans for distributing Archie Comics throughout North America in the United States and Canada.

The entire BOOM! Studios and BOOM Kids! line of publications are offered in the direct market by Diamond Comics Distributors.

Retailers needing more information on how to order from Haven Distributors can call 1-877-HAVEN-50 or sign up on their website here:http://www.havendistro.com/retailers.html

About BOOM! Studios
BOOM! Studios (www.boom-studios.com) is a unique publishing house specializing in high-profile projects across a wide variety of different genres from some of the industry's biggest talents, including Philip K. Dick's DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?, The Henson Company's FARSCAPE, and the original Mark Waid series IRREDEEMABLE. BOOM! recently launched its youth imprint, BOOM Kids!, with Pixar's THE INCREDIBLES, CARS, and TOY STORY, as well as Disney's THE MUPPETS. This year, BOOM! Studios celebrates its fourth anniversary.

About BOOM! Studios
Haven Distributors (www.havendistro.com) was launched in 2008 with the mission of enabling independent comics to succeed in an ever-changing market place. They provide a wide array of comics and related merchandise at competitive discounts with low minimum orders to direct market retailers. They strive to treat both their customers and suppliers as business partners, providing a range of order fulfillment services from wholesale distribution to web store management.