Direct market
Encyclopedia
The direct market is the dominant distribution
and retail
network for North American comic books. It consists of one dominant distributor and the majority of comics specialty store
s, as well as other retailers of comic books and related merchandise. The name is no longer a fully accurate description of the model by which it operates, but derives from its original implementation: retailers bypassing existing distributors to make "direct" purchases from publishers. The defining characteristic of the direct market is non-returnability: unlike bookstore and newsstand distribution, direct-market distribution prohibits distributors and retailers from returning their unsold merchandise for refunds.
s. The major distributors during this period included American News Company
and the DC Comics
property Independent News
. This situation lasted from the 1930s through the 1960s.
organizer and comic dealer Phil Seuling
approached publishers in 1972 to purchase comics directly from them, rather than going through traditional periodical distribution companies. Unlike the newsstand, or ID (for independent distributor) market, which included drugstores, groceries, toy stores, convenience stores, and other magazine vendors, in which unsold units could be returned for credit, these purchases were non-returnable. In return, comics specialty retailers received larger discounts on the books they ordered, since the publisher did not carry the risk of giving credit for unsold units. Instead, distributors and retailers shouldered the risk, in exchange for greater profits.
Additionally, retailers ordering comics through Seuling's Seagate Distribution (and within two years, through other companies) were able to set their own orders for each issue of each title, something which many local IDs did not allow. This ability to fine-tune an order was crucial to the establishment of a non-returnable system.
Direct distributors typically were much faster at getting the product into the hands of their customers than were IDs: a direct distribution warehouse generally had re-shipped a weekly batch of comics or delivered it to local customers within a day or two (sometimes within hours) of receiving the books from the printer. By contrast, most IDs would usually take two or even three weeks to do so, though some moved more quickly. This factor was a strong drawing card for retailers whose customer base consisted principally of fans eager to see the new issues each week.
Finally, another factor in creating demand for direct sales distribution was that many IDs refused to deal with comics specialty shops or with any retailer who dealt in back issues on any terms at all, fearing that used comics could be purchased by these shops from readers for pennies, and then cycled back through the system as returns for full credit at a profit.
By the mid-1970s, other direct sales distribution concerns had sprung up, mostly regionally based (Donahoe Brothers in the Great Lakes region, Pacific Comics
Distributors in Southern California, and New Media Distribution/Irjax in the Southeast were all operating by early 1974), essentially replacing the order-taking and fulfillment functions of newsstand distributors for the infant comic shop specialty market. For several years, Seagate retained an edge over its competitors in that it was able to provide "drop shipping" (the shipment of an order directly from the printer to the retailer) to its customers for quantities of 25 or multiples thereof per issue, while the newer distributors had to use more conventional methods, putting together customer orders and re-shipping or delivering them from their own warehouses. Threats of legal action and the need for retailers to order very precise (and sometimes very small) quantities of items ended this practice for all but the largest customers by the end of the 1970s, and extended the ability to provide drop shipping to those large customers to all the direct distributors — by which time several of the newer distributors had multiple warehouses.
Newsstand distribution through the IDs continued at the same time (and indeed remained dominant for years afterward, on its conventional returnable, low-discount terms).
As early as 1980, Marvel Comics saw the growth potential of the Direct Market, and by 1981 was putting out a number of titles geared specifically to that market. By the early 1980s, all the major publishers were producing material specifically for the new market, series that would probably not sell well enough on the newsstand, but sold well enough on a non-returnable basis to the more dedicated readers of the Direct Market to be profitable.
Several of the new distributors lasted a relatively short time, and were succeeded by more competitive organizations; with no continuity of ownership and only limited continuity of personnel, it would nonetheless be fair to say that Diamond Comic Distributors
replaced New Media/Irjax and Capital City Distribution
largely replaced Big Rapids Distribution
in the marketplace.
By 1985, the number of direct distributors in North America peaked with approximately twenty companies, many of them multi-warehouse operations, purchasing product for resale to retailers directly from either DC Comics, Marvel Comics, or both. There were also an unknown number, probably in the dozens, of sub-distributors who bought DCs and Marvels from these larger companies (and often the products of other, smaller publishers direct from those publishers), and re-sold to retailers. Most though not all of these sub-distributors were in cities in which the direct distributors themselves did not (at least as yet) have warehouses, including Philadelphia, Boston
, Columbus
(Ohio), Madison
(Wisconsin), Lansing (Michigan), Indianapolis
, and Berkeley
(California). Many of them were eventually absorbed by the companies which had been their principal suppliers.
From the mid-80s to the mid-90s, nearly every major urban area in the United States had at least one (and sometimes two or three) local direct distribution warehouses that functioned not only as distribution points for pre-ordered weekly shipments, but also as what could be described as "supermarkets for retailers", where store owners could shop for reorders and examine and purchase product that they might not have ordered in advance.
and Marvel Comics
). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the popularity of comics collecting grew, many new comics shops opened, and existing retailers (such as sports card shops) joined the Direct Market, carrying comics as a side business. By this time, Diamond and Capital City each had in the neighborhood of twenty warehouses from coast to coast, and both were functioning as fully national distributors. Several of their larger remaining competitors, notably Glenwood, Longhorn, and Bud Plant, had either sold out or gone out of business.
Such rapid growth (due partially to speculation
) was unsustainable
, however. The market contracted in the mid-1990s, leading to the closure of many Direct Market shops. Diamond and Capital City began closing local warehouses, moving from a decentralized model in which many local warehouses provided full service to a given area to a centralized one with a few shipping hubs and no local walk-in service at all. In 1994, Capital City created controversy by announcing penalties for publishers who didn't deliver their products within promised deadlines; this move followed an industry-wide push for 30-day returnability, a practice formerly in use when comics were primarily distributed in newsstands.
Marvel Comics purchased Heroes World, by that time the third largest distributor behind Diamond and Capital City, with the intention of self-distributing
their products; Heroes World also stopped carrying other publishers' books. Other distributors sought exclusive deals with other major publishers to compensate for the substantial loss of Marvel's business. DC Comics, Image Comics
, Dark Horse Comics
, and several smaller publishers made exclusive deals with Diamond Comic Distributors
. Most other distributors, including Capital City Distribution
, Diamond's main competitor at the time, either went out of business or were acquired by Diamond. Others established niches — such as re-orders — in which they could compete. When self-distribution failed to meet Marvel's objectives, they also signed an exclusive distribution deal with Diamond, which had by then become the primary supplier for the Direct Market.
s. Meanwhile, Diamond has continued to dominate direct-market distribution, with the 2006 collapse of FM International leaving even less competition than ever. However, the growth of interest in comics among mainstream booksellers and book publishers has led to several publishers arranging for bookstore distribution outside of Diamond (for example, Tokyopop
through HarperCollins
, or Fantagraphics through W. W. Norton
), while Diamond has created Diamond Book Distributors.
and DC Comics
still having the largest share. The establishment and growth of independent publishers, beginning in the late 1970s and continuing to the present, was made economically possible by the existence of a system that targets its retail audience, rather than relying on the scattershot approach embodied in the returnable newsstand system.
The Direct Market has been criticized for fostering a closed "ghetto
" or elite
for comics, arguing that most Direct Market retailers are specialty shops patronized primarily by existing readers and highly motivated fans, without the broader exposure of the merchandise that newsstands and other retailers once provided. Some claim that the current incapability of Direct Market to reach new readers and customers, might be cannibalizing
the existing market out of existence.
The Direct Market was neither intended nor designed to be the primary vehicle for the distribution of comic books, but rather as a supplementary system servicing specialty outlets. The failure of the former primary system of distribution (the network of local IDs), which had itself been declining for many years by the time the Direct Market had any significant impact, left the direct sales distributors as the industry's principal system of circulation, not from design but by accident.
Distribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...
and retail
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
network for North American comic books. It consists of one dominant distributor and the majority of comics specialty store
Specialty store
Specialty stores are small stores which specialize in a specific range of merchandise and related items. Most stores have an extensive depth of stock in the item that they specialize in and provide high levels of service and expertise...
s, as well as other retailers of comic books and related merchandise. The name is no longer a fully accurate description of the model by which it operates, but derives from its original implementation: retailers bypassing existing distributors to make "direct" purchases from publishers. The defining characteristic of the direct market is non-returnability: unlike bookstore and newsstand distribution, direct-market distribution prohibits distributors and retailers from returning their unsold merchandise for refunds.
Comic book specialty shops
The evolution of the comic book specialty shop (or "direct-only stores") in the early 1970s created a whole new system for delivering comics to customers. Before the advent of the comics retailer, most comics were found in grocery, drug, and toy stores. The specialty shop presents a number of competitive advantages over those other venues:- Condition: direct market retail outlets usually attempt to maintain their inventory in good condition. Their shelves are often the full height of the comic book, whereas the wire racks of grocery, drug, and toy stores were typically only half the height of the comic books, resulting in bent spines and dog-eared pages.
- Content: direct-only stores cater to older, more mature audiences, and thus can market material deemed too offensive (due to graphic violence, nudity, language, drug use, etc.) for grocery/drug/toy stores. In addition, due to the non-returnable nature of direct sales, typical direct-only stores contain a substantial archive of back issues.
- Price: The older, more mature customers of direct-only stores are typically willing to pay several times more than the average customer of a grocery/drug/toy store. Cover prices approaching (or even exceeding) $5.00 became common.
- Knowledge: The proprietor of a direct-only store is often a collector himself, which means he is quite familiar with his inventory. Customers often have the option of phoning their orders in ahead of time, and by the time the customer arrives at the direct-only store his order will be set aside behind the counter, "bagged and boarded." (Each comic book is placed in its own polyethylenePolyethylenePolyethylene or polythene is the most widely used plastic, with an annual production of approximately 80 million metric tons...
or PET filmPET film (biaxially oriented)BoPET is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and aroma barrier properties and electrical insulation.A variety of companies manufacture boPET and other...
sleeve and supported by an acid-free cardboard backing board.) Direct-only store proprietors often arrange their inventory by publisher and/or genre, as opposed to the haphazard presentation of grocery/drug/toy stores.
Background
Before the direct market, most comic books were distributed through newsstands, pharmacies, and candy storeCandy store
A confectionery store sells confectionery and is usually targeted to children. Most confectionery stores are filled with an assortment of sweets far larger than a grocer or convenience store could accommodate...
s. The major distributors during this period included American News Company
American News Company
American News Company was a magazine distribution company founded in 1864 by Sinclair Tousey, which dominated the distribution market in the 1940s and 1950s...
and the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
property Independent News
Independent News
Independent News Co. was a magazine and comic book distribution business owned by National Periodical Publications, the parent company of DC Comics. Independent News distributed all DC publications, as well as those of a few rival publishers, in addition to pulp and popular magazines. The company...
. This situation lasted from the 1930s through the 1960s.
1970s
The direct market was created in the early 1970s in response to the declining market for comic books on newsstands. Fan conventionFan convention
A fan convention, or con , is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and...
organizer and comic dealer Phil Seuling
Phil Seuling
Philip Nicholas Seuling was a comic book fan convention organizer and comics distributor primarily active in the 1970s. Seuling was the organizer of the annual New York Comic Art Convention, originally held in New York City every July 4 weekend throughout the 1970s...
approached publishers in 1972 to purchase comics directly from them, rather than going through traditional periodical distribution companies. Unlike the newsstand, or ID (for independent distributor) market, which included drugstores, groceries, toy stores, convenience stores, and other magazine vendors, in which unsold units could be returned for credit, these purchases were non-returnable. In return, comics specialty retailers received larger discounts on the books they ordered, since the publisher did not carry the risk of giving credit for unsold units. Instead, distributors and retailers shouldered the risk, in exchange for greater profits.
Additionally, retailers ordering comics through Seuling's Seagate Distribution (and within two years, through other companies) were able to set their own orders for each issue of each title, something which many local IDs did not allow. This ability to fine-tune an order was crucial to the establishment of a non-returnable system.
Direct distributors typically were much faster at getting the product into the hands of their customers than were IDs: a direct distribution warehouse generally had re-shipped a weekly batch of comics or delivered it to local customers within a day or two (sometimes within hours) of receiving the books from the printer. By contrast, most IDs would usually take two or even three weeks to do so, though some moved more quickly. This factor was a strong drawing card for retailers whose customer base consisted principally of fans eager to see the new issues each week.
Finally, another factor in creating demand for direct sales distribution was that many IDs refused to deal with comics specialty shops or with any retailer who dealt in back issues on any terms at all, fearing that used comics could be purchased by these shops from readers for pennies, and then cycled back through the system as returns for full credit at a profit.
By the mid-1970s, other direct sales distribution concerns had sprung up, mostly regionally based (Donahoe Brothers in the Great Lakes region, Pacific Comics
Pacific Comics
Pacific Comics was an independent comic book publisher that flourished from 1981-1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began out of a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes...
Distributors in Southern California, and New Media Distribution/Irjax in the Southeast were all operating by early 1974), essentially replacing the order-taking and fulfillment functions of newsstand distributors for the infant comic shop specialty market. For several years, Seagate retained an edge over its competitors in that it was able to provide "drop shipping" (the shipment of an order directly from the printer to the retailer) to its customers for quantities of 25 or multiples thereof per issue, while the newer distributors had to use more conventional methods, putting together customer orders and re-shipping or delivering them from their own warehouses. Threats of legal action and the need for retailers to order very precise (and sometimes very small) quantities of items ended this practice for all but the largest customers by the end of the 1970s, and extended the ability to provide drop shipping to those large customers to all the direct distributors — by which time several of the newer distributors had multiple warehouses.
Newsstand distribution through the IDs continued at the same time (and indeed remained dominant for years afterward, on its conventional returnable, low-discount terms).
1980s
In the early 1980s, a trade organization, the International Association of Direct Distributors (IADD) was formed, consisting of all the distributors who purchased product directly from either DC, Marvel, or both. The IADD had annual conferences, issuing obscenity guidelines in 1987, and electing Diamond's Steve Geppi as IADD Vice President in 1988.As early as 1980, Marvel Comics saw the growth potential of the Direct Market, and by 1981 was putting out a number of titles geared specifically to that market. By the early 1980s, all the major publishers were producing material specifically for the new market, series that would probably not sell well enough on the newsstand, but sold well enough on a non-returnable basis to the more dedicated readers of the Direct Market to be profitable.
Several of the new distributors lasted a relatively short time, and were succeeded by more competitive organizations; with no continuity of ownership and only limited continuity of personnel, it would nonetheless be fair to say that Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is the largest comic book distributor serving North America. They transport comic books from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to the retailers. Diamond dominates the direct market in the United States, and has exclusive arrangements with most...
replaced New Media/Irjax and Capital City Distribution
Capital City Distribution
Capital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin-based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comics Distributors...
largely replaced Big Rapids Distribution
Big Rapids Distribution
Big Rapids Distribution was a Detroit, Michigan-based distributor focusing on underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comics. They were responsible for the unusually good coverage that underground comix and underground papers got in the Michigan area in the early 1970s, when...
in the marketplace.
By 1985, the number of direct distributors in North America peaked with approximately twenty companies, many of them multi-warehouse operations, purchasing product for resale to retailers directly from either DC Comics, Marvel Comics, or both. There were also an unknown number, probably in the dozens, of sub-distributors who bought DCs and Marvels from these larger companies (and often the products of other, smaller publishers direct from those publishers), and re-sold to retailers. Most though not all of these sub-distributors were in cities in which the direct distributors themselves did not (at least as yet) have warehouses, including Philadelphia, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
(Ohio), Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
(Wisconsin), Lansing (Michigan), Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, and Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
(California). Many of them were eventually absorbed by the companies which had been their principal suppliers.
From the mid-80s to the mid-90s, nearly every major urban area in the United States had at least one (and sometimes two or three) local direct distribution warehouses that functioned not only as distribution points for pre-ordered weekly shipments, but also as what could be described as "supermarkets for retailers", where store owners could shop for reorders and examine and purchase product that they might not have ordered in advance.
1990s
As newsstand sales continued to decline, the Direct Market became the primary market of the two major comics publishers (DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
and Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the popularity of comics collecting grew, many new comics shops opened, and existing retailers (such as sports card shops) joined the Direct Market, carrying comics as a side business. By this time, Diamond and Capital City each had in the neighborhood of twenty warehouses from coast to coast, and both were functioning as fully national distributors. Several of their larger remaining competitors, notably Glenwood, Longhorn, and Bud Plant, had either sold out or gone out of business.
Such rapid growth (due partially to speculation
Speculation
In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
) was unsustainable
Economic bubble
An economic bubble is "trade in high volumes at prices that are considerably at variance with intrinsic values"...
, however. The market contracted in the mid-1990s, leading to the closure of many Direct Market shops. Diamond and Capital City began closing local warehouses, moving from a decentralized model in which many local warehouses provided full service to a given area to a centralized one with a few shipping hubs and no local walk-in service at all. In 1994, Capital City created controversy by announcing penalties for publishers who didn't deliver their products within promised deadlines; this move followed an industry-wide push for 30-day returnability, a practice formerly in use when comics were primarily distributed in newsstands.
Marvel Comics purchased Heroes World, by that time the third largest distributor behind Diamond and Capital City, with the intention of self-distributing
Vertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
their products; Heroes World also stopped carrying other publishers' books. Other distributors sought exclusive deals with other major publishers to compensate for the substantial loss of Marvel's business. DC Comics, Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
, Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
, and several smaller publishers made exclusive deals with Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is the largest comic book distributor serving North America. They transport comic books from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to the retailers. Diamond dominates the direct market in the United States, and has exclusive arrangements with most...
. Most other distributors, including Capital City Distribution
Capital City Distribution
Capital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin-based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comics Distributors...
, Diamond's main competitor at the time, either went out of business or were acquired by Diamond. Others established niches — such as re-orders — in which they could compete. When self-distribution failed to meet Marvel's objectives, they also signed an exclusive distribution deal with Diamond, which had by then become the primary supplier for the Direct Market.
2000s
In the early 2000s, the bookstore market began to challenge the Direct Market as a channel for sales of increasingly popular graphic novelGraphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s. Meanwhile, Diamond has continued to dominate direct-market distribution, with the 2006 collapse of FM International leaving even less competition than ever. However, the growth of interest in comics among mainstream booksellers and book publishers has led to several publishers arranging for bookstore distribution outside of Diamond (for example, Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
through HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, or Fantagraphics through W. W. Norton
W. W. Norton
W. W. Norton & Company is an independent American book publishing company based in New York City. It is well known for its "Norton Anthologies", particularly the Norton Anthology of English Literature and the "Norton Critical Editions" series of texts which are frequently assigned in university...
), while Diamond has created Diamond Book Distributors.
Impact
The development of the direct market is commonly credited with restoring the North American comic book publishing industry to profitability after contraction of the market in the mid 1990s. The emergence of this lower-risk distribution system is also credited with providing an opportunity for new comics publishers to enter the business, despite the two bigger publishers MarvelMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
and DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
still having the largest share. The establishment and growth of independent publishers, beginning in the late 1970s and continuing to the present, was made economically possible by the existence of a system that targets its retail audience, rather than relying on the scattershot approach embodied in the returnable newsstand system.
The Direct Market has been criticized for fostering a closed "ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
" or elite
Elite
Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...
for comics, arguing that most Direct Market retailers are specialty shops patronized primarily by existing readers and highly motivated fans, without the broader exposure of the merchandise that newsstands and other retailers once provided. Some claim that the current incapability of Direct Market to reach new readers and customers, might be cannibalizing
Cannibalization of machine parts
Cannibalization of machine parts, in maintenance of mechanical or electronic systems with interchangeable parts, refers to the practice of removing parts or subsystems necessary for repair from another similar device, rather than from inventory, usually when resources become limited...
the existing market out of existence.
The Direct Market was neither intended nor designed to be the primary vehicle for the distribution of comic books, but rather as a supplementary system servicing specialty outlets. The failure of the former primary system of distribution (the network of local IDs), which had itself been declining for many years by the time the Direct Market had any significant impact, left the direct sales distributors as the industry's principal system of circulation, not from design but by accident.
Direct market distributors
The list below includes sub-distributors, who bought their mainstream comics from one of the companies below but many of whom were on direct terms with one or more of the smaller or underground publishers.Current
- Diamond Comic DistributorsDiamond Comic DistributorsDiamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is the largest comic book distributor serving North America. They transport comic books from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to the retailers. Diamond dominates the direct market in the United States, and has exclusive arrangements with most...
(Baltimore) — established in 1982 with the demise of New Media/IrjaxNew Media/IrjaxNew Media Distribution/Irjax Enterprises was a comic book distributor and boutique publisher active in the 1970s and early 1980s during the growth of the direct market. After the distribution arm of the company went out of business in 1982, its processing centers and warehouses formed the basis for...
, inheriting that company's distribution centers and warehouses- Bud Plant Inc.Bud Plant Inc.Bud Plant was a wholesale comics distributor active in the 1970s and 1980s during the growth of the direct market. Starting in 1970 as a mail-order distributor specializing in underground comics, Plant absorbed some of his smaller rivals in the 1980s, and then sold his business to Diamond Comics...
(Grass Valley, California) — wholesale distribution operation acquired in 1988 by Diamond- Alternate Realities Distributing, Inc. (Denver, Colorado) — wholesale distribution operation run by Nanette RozanskiChuck RozanskiCharles Rozanski is a German-American retailer and columnist, known as the President and CEO of the Denver, Colorado-based Mile High Comics Inc., and a columnist for the Comics Buyer's Guide.-Early life:...
after an aborted 1979 foray into the distribution market by Mile High ComicsMile High ComicsMile High Comics is an online retailer and a chain of 4 Colorado comic book stores founded by Chuck Rozanski in 1969 from his parents' basement in Colorado Springs, Colorado....
. Acquired in 1987 by Bud Plant. - Charles Abar Distribution (Belmont, California) — acquired in 1982 by Bud Plant
- Alternate Realities Distributing, Inc. (Denver, Colorado) — wholesale distribution operation run by Nanette Rozanski
- Capital City DistributionCapital City DistributionCapital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin-based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comics Distributors...
(Madison, Wisconsin) — acquired in 1996 by Diamond- Friendly Frank's (Gary, Indiana) — acquired in 1995 by Capital City
- Common Ground Distributors (Berkeley, California) — Sub-distributor. Started by Bob Beerbohm in 1977 or 1978 and initially supplied by Big Rapids DistributionBig Rapids DistributionBig Rapids Distribution was a Detroit, Michigan-based distributor focusing on underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comics. They were responsible for the unusually good coverage that underground comix and underground papers got in the Michigan area in the early 1970s, when...
. Acquired by Capital City in 1982.
- Destiny Distributors (Seattle and Vancouver) — Sub-distributor. Started by Phil Pankow in the early 1980s, and initially supplied by Bud Plant. Acquired by Diamond in 1990.
- Bud Plant Inc.
- Fat Jack's (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — Sub-distributor and retailer.
- Global Hobo — Founded in 2003; hand-made and hard-to-find comics
- Last GaspLast GaspLast Gasp is a book and underground comix publisher and distributor based in San Francisco, California.- History :Founded in 1970 by Ron Turner to publish the ecologically-themed comics magazine Slow Death Funnies, followed by the all-female anthology It Ain't Me Babe, Last Gasp soon became a major...
(San Francisco) — Founded in 1970 as a publisher; began distributing soon after. - Westfield Comics (Madison, Wisconsin) — Mail orderMail orderMail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
retailer/distributor founded in the mid-1970s.
Former
- Action Direct (Kansas City) — formerly Cavco
- Big Rapids DistributionBig Rapids DistributionBig Rapids Distribution was a Detroit, Michigan-based distributor focusing on underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comics. They were responsible for the unusually good coverage that underground comix and underground papers got in the Michigan area in the early 1970s, when...
(Detroit, Michigan) — began circa 1970 focusing on the distribution of underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comics. Big Rapids' entry into mainstream comics distribution came in early 1975, when Donahoe Brothers Inc. of nearby Ann Arbor went under. Went bankrupt and their assets were liquidated in 1980. Two former employees went on to form Capital City DistributionCapital City DistributionCapital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin-based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comics Distributors...
.- Donahoe Brothers Inc./Comic Center Enterprises (Ann Arbor, Michigan) — The second direct distributor (pre-dating both Pacific ComicsPacific ComicsPacific Comics was an independent comic book publisher that flourished from 1981-1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began out of a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes...
and New Media Distribution by a month or two). The Donahoes had been in business for about a year, dealing first with Marvel ComicsMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, then Warren PublishingWarren PublishingWarren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades...
, Atlas/Seaboard ComicsAtlas/Seaboard ComicsAtlas/Seaboard is the term comic-book historians and collectors use to refer to the 1970s line of comics published as Atlas Comics by the American company Seaboard Periodicals, to differentiate from the 1950s' Atlas Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics...
, Charlton ComicsCharlton ComicsCharlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
, and Archie ComicsArchie ComicsArchie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
, and finally (and only for about two or three months) with DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
when they went out of business. Accounts acquired in 1975 by Big Rapids DistributionBig Rapids DistributionBig Rapids Distribution was a Detroit, Michigan-based distributor focusing on underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comics. They were responsible for the unusually good coverage that underground comix and underground papers got in the Michigan area in the early 1970s, when...
. - The Comic Distributor (Lansing, Michigan) — Sub-distributor. Started by former Donahoe employee Jim Friel in 1975 and acquired by Big Rapids DistributionBig Rapids DistributionBig Rapids Distribution was a Detroit, Michigan-based distributor focusing on underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comics. They were responsible for the unusually good coverage that underground comix and underground papers got in the Michigan area in the early 1970s, when...
in 1979. (The name "The Comic Distributor" was later taken by Mark Hylton of Comic Carnival.) - Nova (Los Angeles, California) — Sub-distributor. Acquired by Big Rapids DistributionBig Rapids DistributionBig Rapids Distribution was a Detroit, Michigan-based distributor focusing on underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comics. They were responsible for the unusually good coverage that underground comix and underground papers got in the Michigan area in the early 1970s, when...
- Isis News (Minneapolis, Minnesota) — Sub-distributor. Acquired by Big Rapids DistributionBig Rapids DistributionBig Rapids Distribution was a Detroit, Michigan-based distributor focusing on underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comics. They were responsible for the unusually good coverage that underground comix and underground papers got in the Michigan area in the early 1970s, when...
- Well News Co. (Columbus, Ohio) — Sub-distributor. Acquired by Big Rapids DistributionBig Rapids DistributionBig Rapids Distribution was a Detroit, Michigan-based distributor focusing on underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comics. They were responsible for the unusually good coverage that underground comix and underground papers got in the Michigan area in the early 1970s, when...
(?); their personnel became the nucleus of an early Capital City DistributionCapital City DistributionCapital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin-based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comics Distributors...
branch - Wisconsin Independent News Distributors (WIND) (Madison, Wisconsin) — Sub-distributor. Run by Milton Griepp and John Davis, later acquired by Big Rapids DistributionBig Rapids DistributionBig Rapids Distribution was a Detroit, Michigan-based distributor focusing on underground newspapers, radical literature, and underground comics. They were responsible for the unusually good coverage that underground comix and underground papers got in the Michigan area in the early 1970s, when...
- Donahoe Brothers Inc./Comic Center Enterprises (Ann Arbor, Michigan) — The second direct distributor (pre-dating both Pacific Comics
- Comics Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii)
- Comics Unlimited (Staten Island, New York)
- East Coast Seagate Distribution (Brooklyn, New York) — out of business in 1985
- FM International (Wisconsin) — Founded in 1996; primarily supplied back-stock; acquired by Westfield Comics
- Glenwood Distributors (St. Louis, Missouri) — sold in 1986, they went through a financial crunch in the spring of 1987, were sued by four publishers that summer, and declared bankruptcy in the fall of 1987.
- Comic Kingdom (Detroit, Michigan) — Started in 1981 by retailer Bob Hellems. Acquired by Glenwood in early 1980s
- Haven Distributors — formerly Cold Cut Distribution. Primarily focuses on non-exclusive independent publishers.
- Heroes World (New Jersey) — The third largest distributor (behind Diamond and Capital City) at the time of its acquisition in 1995 by Marvel ComicsMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, and out of business soon thereafter. - Longhorn Books (Texas) — Went out of business in 1985; accounts acquired by Action Direct
- New Media Distribution/Irjax (Rockville, Maryland) — Irjax had been run by Hal Shuster since the 1970s. In late 1981, the company, now known as New Media Distribution, or New Media/Irjax, filed for Chapter 11. Shuster relocated to Florida early in 1982, effectively selling the distribution end of the business to Steve GeppiSteve GeppiStephen A. Geppi is a comic book distributor, publisher and former comic store owner. Having established an early chain of comic shops in Baltimore in the mid-late 1970s, he is best known for his distributing business. Geppi founded Diamond Comic Distributors, the largest comic direct distribution...
(who immediately founded Diamond Comics Distributors). - Pacific Comics DistributorsPacific ComicsPacific Comics was an independent comic book publisher that flourished from 1981-1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began out of a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes...
(San Diego, California) — retailer, publisher, and distributor; bankrupt in 1984; distribution centers and warehouses acquired by Bud Plant Inc.Bud Plant Inc.Bud Plant was a wholesale comics distributor active in the 1970s and 1980s during the growth of the direct market. Starting in 1970 as a mail-order distributor specializing in underground comics, Plant absorbed some of his smaller rivals in the 1980s, and then sold his business to Diamond Comics...
and Capital City DistributionCapital City DistributionCapital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin-based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comics Distributors... - Print MintPrint MintThe Print Mint was a major publisher of underground comics during the genre's heydey. Starting as retailer of psychedelic posters, it soon evolved into a publisher, printer, and distributor. It was "ground zero" for the psychedelic poster...
— also a publisher and retailer; mostly focused on underground comics, posters, and other products of the counterculture. Operated as a distributor from c. 1969 – c. 1975. - Second Genesis Distribution (Portland, Oregon) — out of business in 1991
- Comex Distributors (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) — acquired by Second Genesis in 1988
- Solar Spice (Boston, Massachusetts)
- Southern Fantasies/C.I.B. (Atlanta, Georgia) - Started in 1986. Out of business circa 1994.
- Sunrise Distributors (Los Angeles, California) — run by Scott Mitchell RosenbergScott Mitchell RosenbergScott Mitchell Rosenberg is a film, television producer, comic book publisher, and the chairman of Platinum Studios, an entertainment company that controls a large independent library of comic book characters and adapts them for film, television and other media...
, out of business circa 1988.
Canada
- Andromeda Distributing Limited (Toronto, Ontario)
- Comex Distributors (Calgary, Alberta) — acquired by Portland, Oregon-based Second Genesis Distribution in 1988
- Multi-Book and Periodical (Toronto, Ontario)
- Styx International (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
United Kingdom
- Slab-O-ConcreteSlab-O-ConcreteSlab-O-Concrete Productions was a British mail order distributor and publisher, founded by pavement artist Peter Pavement, Dave Hanna, Emma Copsey and Chris Tappenden, operating mostly in Brighton and Hove during the 1990s...
— run by Peter Pavement; out of business by the early 2000s - Titan Distributors — part of Titan Entertainment GroupTitan Entertainment GroupTitan Entertainment Group is a British retailing and publishing company, owner of the Forbidden Planet bookstore chain, Titan Magazines, and Titan Books. TEG is run by Nick Landau and Vivan Cheung.- Titan Distributors :...
(which also owned the British retailer Forbidden PlanetForbidden Planet (bookstore)Forbidden Planet is the trading name of two separate science fiction, fantasy and horror bookshop chains across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States of America, after the feature film of the same name....
), sold in 1992 to Diamond Comic DistributorsDiamond Comic DistributorsDiamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is the largest comic book distributor serving North America. They transport comic books from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to the retailers. Diamond dominates the direct market in the United States, and has exclusive arrangements with most...
.