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The death of Diamond is the death of the comics industry: the "phenomenal" fallacy Kelly Sue DeConnick is glad was proven wrong
It's been a rough year for the comics industry as Diamond Comic Distributors implodes, but it's harder to kill comics than anyone believed - even the people in the industry
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It’s been a rough year for comics retailers, as Diamond Comic Distributors — which, up until 2020 had been a literal monopoly in comic book distribution for close to thirty years — declared bankruptcy and proceeded to implode in somewhat dramatic fashion… something that creators are all too aware of, and see as a point of pride for the industry as a whole, somewhat surprisingly.
Speaking during the keynote address of the first RCCC Retailers Day at Rose City Comic Con 2025, writer Kelly Sue DeConnick said, “When we started, I literally remember being told, ‘Oh yeah, if Diamond goes down, the whole industry will fold. There is no backup plan.’ And we are still here, and that is phenomenal. That was understood to be true and it was not true.”
A portion of the day’s discussion was given over to the efforts made by publishers and retailers alike to deal with the new distribution reality in the comics industry, with Penguin Random House, Lunar Distribution, and other parties moving in the take over the space that Diamond once dominated — even as Diamond itself continues its bankruptcy proceedings under new ownership. It’s a whole new world, but even that is something comic store owners should be used to.
DeConnick’s fellow keynote speaker, Brian Michael Bendis added, “As someone who literally used to drive in the middle of the night to [1980s comics distributor] Capital City Comics and load the car — which we now look at as the good old days — the industry is always evolving. There's always an audience. There's always a place to bring us together, and [comic store owners] are the people that do that and that will continue to do so.”
No matter what obstacles — including fallen distributors — may be in the way.
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