Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics, Image, Mad Cave Studios | Tagged: diamond, Diamond UK, lunar

Diamond UK And Lunar Questions For British Comic Book Shops

British comic book store distribution questions being asked right now, Diamond UK or Lunar? And what about tariffs?

Last year, it was pretty easy. Comic book stores ordered for the direct market from Diamond UK for all their monthly comic book needs. While some used Penguin Random House or others for graphic novels, depending. Lunar Distribution was too expensive; they couldn't amortise their shipping costs to hundreds of individual stores through a central warehouse, as Diamond UK could do, and returns or replacements were hard.  So Diamond UK distributed DC Comics, Image Comics and the rest; the deal was done, it worked (mostly), and everything was ticking along.

Then Diamond Comics Distributors in the USA declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Diamond UK, a still very profitable part of the Steve Geppi empire, received a Stalking Horse bid alongside Alliance Games from Canadian distributor Universal, and the idea that a Canadian comics distributor might own Diamond UK made some kind of sense. But I hear there are more changes.

There has been no mention of Diamond UK as a result of the auction, and it doesn't appear to be in the assets gained by Diamond-winning bidder Alliance Entertainment. But neither does there seem to be any more forward from Universal either. Might there be other players who wanted to snap it up? The auction paperwork is still being delayed in finding out who has what.

There have been a few other changes. Diamond UK is no longer distributing Mad Cave Studios or TwoMorrows, as they made deals with Lunar and no deal with Diamond UK in the way that Image Comics did. But what is emerging is that the Lunar distribution deal direct to UK stores is a lot better than it initially used to be, though the Image Comics discount tiers will be tougher to hit in 2026 for a lot of shops. But some UK comic stores have been switching to Lunar for their DC, Image, and more.

The problem is that Diamond UK is still more reliable in terms of timing than Lunar is. Diamond stores pretty much know when their deliveries are coming in, and they are usually there for a release date. The only thing is that Image Comics are now predictably one week late across the UK, as their comics go on a more roundabout route to Diamond UK than those from DC Comics. Lunar is far more variable in their delivery from the USA to the UK, relying on hundreds of separate parcels being shipped by airmail, and delays are common. But they are beating Diamond UK at getting Image Comics titles to stores, and they have Mad Cave and Tomorrows titles, for which there is strong demand in certain UK stores.  Especially when certain regulars realise they haven't had their Gatchaman or Alter Ego for some time. For those who don't care too much about having their comics bang on time, Lunar is now a more attractive option for some and can often be cheaper than Diamond UK.

The only other question to ask right now, is if the UK are going to launch tariffs on American comic books coming into the UK, as part of reciprocal retaliation. Then we will be in a whole new ball game.

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