Here Comes A New Challenger: BIC Distro Brings Black Comics To Retail

With the onset of pandemic and social unrest on a national scale, the time-honored banners of Diamond Comic Distributors became vulnerable for the first time in decades. First DC Comics set up their own distribution network with two large retailers as sweetheart deals, and now a collective of like-minded indie publishers have hung up their own shingle. Milton Davis, Jason Reeves, and Andre Owens have made their own marks in independent publishing. Davis has generated a small content empire of multi-era speculative fiction, coining terms like "steamfunk," "cyber-funk," and more to give these normally homogenous genres with a distinctively more African-descended tint. After establishing himself as a superstar artist, Reeves has become a darling of the indie crowd by filling his garage with printing and fulfillment equipment and creating an option for short runs and new publishers. They may find the industry's standard choices prohibitive. Owens has spent years making his science fiction and humor comics (Bovine League, Force Galaxia) and making small independent films before signing a deal with Screen Gems for his heist script, Reparations.

BC: What sorts of challenges with the comic book industry-led you all to say, "it's time to begin our own distribution network?"

MD: Lack of access to retailers and bookstores for one.

JR: I think Diamond shutting down [for the pandemic] was a wake-up call for all of us.

AO: Well, for me, this specifically started out of an idea I had for an Infomercial which would cater to Black folks who didn't have an awareness of Black comics outside of Black Panther, and as talks progress, it evolved into BIC. The downfall of Diamond was just a catalyst.

JR: Seeing a lot of retailers reaching out for alternatives, many expressing the desire to try new product spoke to me. I thought: "This is probably a good time for it."

AO: Jason and I had been talking about my infomercial idea for a while, but when those retailers started reaching out, I knew it was time.

BC: Infomercial idea?

AO: Well, like I was saying, I had this idea for an Infomercial for Black indie comics. The basic idea was to have a Time-Life style setting with a host and a sidekick, but instead of music, we'd sell bundles of comics for a set price. I thought it was a good idea, so one day talking to Jason about a bunch of ideas that slipped in. He thought it was great too. So we started formulating a plan but got discouraged by the costs associated with producing and paying to get an infomercial on the air. Jason then suggested that we be our own distributor of books to reach out to stores and beyond the general public. Although, I still think the bundle idea could work …

JR: I think all of us understood the need for wider promotion and distribution in the Black indie comic space. We're approaching a wall, where the idea of being a niche within a niche isn't benefiting any of us. We need to grow. Andre had this idea to promote through infomercials (or the internet equivalent), and I thought it was a wild but dope idea! I was already building a partnership with Milton with Changa, and we always talked about creating a distribution outlet.

I thought we all should talk. When the pandemic shut the world down, and it seemed like it was all going crazy. Naturally, I wanted to start a new business.

MD: I've always admired what Jason was doing from a production standpoint, and I felt like I could help from a sales and marketing standpoint.

AO: I think any of us who have been in the indie game for a while understands that distribution is where we all suffer.

I also wanted to ride on the coattails of Jason!

JR: Not as of yet. Direct consumers can contact us through the website for inquiries. We also have our respective websites where our individual products/comics are available for purchase.

AO: I'd love to have an established relationship with dozens of retail stores selling multiple copies of our catalog each month. I'd like to see our catalog vastly expand, but with quality books.

JR: We'd like to expand our network by 50-100 retail shops, book stores, etc. We already have several new publishers and titles onboard for our next rollout and would like to show them off in our next catalog.

MD: In addition to what Jason and Andre said, I'd also like to see us establish strong relationships with Black bookstores and Black-owned comic shops.