Story I'm not a business expert, but this doesn't sound good.
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Story I'm not a business expert, but this doesn't sound good.
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No that doesn't sound good. Coincidentally (but unrelated) I notices today that IDW is no longer listed among Diamond's "premiere" publishers in their Previews catalogue. Nor is Dark Horse. The premiere publishers get expanded sections in the front of the catalog, but now IDW and Dark Horse are lumped in with the rest in the back.
For months now, their listings in Previews have been pretty lackluster. Often not even having a thumbnail of the cover. They lost the Transformers license, but I'm not sure about the others.
The article states that they left Diamond for Penguin Random House last year.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
"The article states that they left Diamond for Penguin Random House last year."
I don't know how that works. Both Dark Horse and IDW are still listed in Diamond's Previews catalog, in the "Deluxe Publishers" section. ("Premier Publishers" include Image Comics, Boom! Studios, Dynamite Entertainment and Marvel.) Marvel is also distributed via Penguin/Random House, yet their comics continue to be listed in Diamond's Previews. My LCS's website is updated directly by a feed from Diamond, but it has no longer listed DC or Marvel Comics for some time now. I don't understand why, although Marvel product continues to be solicited via Diamond, it is no longer listed on their website.
DC is wholly divorced from Diamond. Like Marvel, their solicitations appear (in print) in a comic book-sized supplement... whenever they feel like printing one. For a while, when pri9nted DC catalogs were sporadic, I had to check their website online. They decided to go completely online and eliminate the print catalog entirely. what they failed to account for is that folks who like printed periodical comic books, also like printed catalogs and their sales suffered. They began offering the print catalogs again, but like before, only some months. These days, potential customers cannot even look at DC's advance solicitations online without creating an account. I see that as a big FU to their customers*, and I sent a big FU back to them by not as many of their collections as I used to (of course, they're not publishing as many I am interested in as they used to, either).
*I know, I know... the fans who read DC comics are not their customers (the comics shops are), but I cannot help but think of us that way. (Incidentally, comics shop owners are not real happy with DC's business practices, either.)
I've never preordered through Previews. I just tell my LCS what I want pulled (not many these days).
Going by Cap's "Comics Guide" posts I know when one of my few periodicals is expected to ship.
When the manager of my LCS bought the store from his former boss he started using a service called ComicHub. When my pulls arrive at the store I receive an email alerting me. If, as sometimes happens, they've pulled a book I might want but don't want I can remove it. I can choose to prepay or pay when I pick things up. If I prepay, the store returns my discount amount.
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99% of the stuff I buy I new I ordered through Previews, and its been that way for well over 25 years. Maybe closer to 30 by now.
To what Jeff said, every month its a surprise on what he actually gets in. There have been a few months when did get the DC or Marvel catalog. Some months the DC catalog comes in about a week before it is due. Its been a real PITA.
That's a nice system.
I wish I knew more details about this than I do about this discussion, but I'll add what I know.
I know that the Premier Publishers in Diamond's catalog pay for that space and positioning. If IDW and Dark Horse are no longer there, it's because they are no longer willing to pay to be there.
The reason publishers whose primary distributor is RHP still appear in Diamond's catalog is because Diamond continues to distribute those books -- there are just more hurdles and/or higher prices. Still, some comic shops (not mine) continue to order Marvel and others through Diamond just for the convenience of ordering from one distributor (Diamond) instead of two (Diamond and RHP).
As for DC, this article lays it out: Universal Distribution is their main, global distributor. You can get DC through Lunar, but only in North America; you can get DC through Diamond, but only outside North America. I don't think they distribute through RHP at all, so there's no one-stop shopping for comic shops.
As for what prompted this thread, I've been posting IDW's quarterly losses over the last couple of years when they were egregious, but egregious or not, they haven't made money in years. They expanded into games and movie/TV production, and I don't think either is working out very well. Their monthly comics output continues to shrink, and they don't announce what's going to ship until seven days in advance. That doesn't show a lot of confidence.
They still have the Star Trek, Godzilla and My Little Pony franchises (I think). But IDW headlines are routinely bad. The current ones discuss the publisher leaving the NYSE and laying off 39% of the staff. I've asked before, and am asking again: How long can you keep losing money and stay in business?
As for Dark Horse, the bad news has been stacking up there -- they lost Alien, Predator and PotA to Marvel -- but less dramatically and more incrementally. They still have the Stranger Things franchise, the Mignola material, the Black Hammer books, EC and Warren reprints, ComiXology originals, some manga and more. I don't think they're in mortal danger.
Don't forget Dark Horse lost Star Wars to Marvel as well, after the big sale. But they seem to be diversified enough with other licensed and original material to be okay.
IDW looks like they are following the path of Devil's Due. Hopefully, they survive.
Your stock losing 99% of its value is a very bad thing. Did they wait too long to reorg?
It sounds like delisting allows them to make moves the SEC wouldn't approve.