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Diamond Comic Distribution files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, plunging the comic industry into an uncertain new year

Multiple parties have already expressed interest in purchasing parts of the comics and gaming distribution giant

Published on Tue Jan 14 2025

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Diamond Comic Distribution files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, plunging the comic industry into an uncertain new year

The comic book industry’s 2025 has started with a significant shift, with the announcement that Diamond Comic Distributors has filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, and has received interest in selling off core parts of its business as it seeks to restructure its core operations and avoid closure.

The news came via a press release from Diamond, which revealed that the company had received a commitment for up to $41 million in financing from JP Morgan Chase to continue operations and meet current obligations during the bankruptcy process. Additionally, Diamond has received a $39 million stalking horse bid — essentially, a preemptive bid to purchase assets that are not currently up for sale — from Universal Distribution for Alliance Game Distributors, as well as entering into a separate discussion with Universal to purchase Diamond UK.

According to Diamond, there has also been interest from unnamed parties in purchasing other parts of the company, including Diamond Select Toys, Diamond Book Distributors, and Collectible Grading Authority, as well as the company’s core distribution business.

Comic store owners and other customers using Diamond were informed of the development in a letter from president of Diamond, Chuck Parker.

“This decision was not made lightly, and I understand that this news may be as difficult to hear as it is for me to share,” Parker wrote. “I want to reassure you that, with secured financing in place to support our operations, Diamond Comic Distributors, Diamond Book Distributors, Diamond UK, Diamond Select Toys, and Alliance Game Distributors are committed to continuing business as usual throughout the process. Our goal is that any products you ship or services you provide based on orders placed after the bankruptcy filing date should be invoiced and paid according to the same terms we’ve always had with your company.”

So what does this mean for customers?

In an ideal scenario, Diamond customers — which is to say, retailers — and fans alike would see little to no disruption as a result of this filing and the financing from JP Morgan Capital. In itself, ironically, that wouldn’t exactly be an ideal scenario: retailers have been complaining about irregular shipping and delayed delivery for some time now, leading to Diamond putting out a statement blaming “a combination of circumstances beyond Diamond’s control” for distribution of imported product, and sending retailers a notice reporting that the company was “considering many options” in fixing distribution problems — something that might become even more difficult in the current situation.

The concern amongst many is that Diamond will fail to secure enough financing to maintain operations in the long term, leading to the company failing. This would be a very, very bad situation for the comic book industry. While the majority of bigger publishers are currently under exclusive agreement with other distribution companies for periodical titles (ie, monthly comic books, as opposed to collected editions) — DC and Image Comics are exclusive with Lunar Distribution, Marvel, IDW Publishing, and Dark Horse Comics are exclusive with Penguin Random House — Diamond is responsible for many independent and smaller publishers in the comic store market. (Diamond is the exclusive comic store distributor for Titan Comics, AfterShock Comics, and Frank Miller Presents, for example; it's also one of the primary distribution partners for Oni Press and Archie Comics in regards to comic store distribution.)

Additionally, Diamond has anecdotally financially assisted or offered more favorable terms to comic retailers when necessary throughout its existence; a failure for Diamond would financially impact multiple businesses throughout the comic book industries, and potentially lead to store closures if not worse.

Expect more news about this situation as things develop.

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.