Posted in: Comics, DC Comics, IDW | Tagged: Comics, dc, dc comcis, diamond, distributor wars, idw, lunar, ucs

IDW Makes a Very Marked Statement About The Direct Market

Published Fri, 05 Jun 2020 16:44:11 -0500

Oh look, IDW Publishing has noticed that DC Comics has pulled out of Diamond Comic Distributors, in favour of UCS and Lunar, everyone's pretty angry and there's plenty of gossip around. IDW has decided to put out their own statement. With an IDW (LOVES) DM image, they state;

IDW PUBLISHING PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR DIRECT MARKET, EXTENDS RETURNABILITY

San Diego-Based Publisher Makes Moves to Support Comic Shops and Help Alleviate Financial Risk

In a year of comic market volatility and uncertainty, IDW is pledging its support for Direct Market comic retailers by extending full returnability on all new releases through at least the end of July, and removing all associated fees for the foreseeable future. These moves help to provide comic specialty shops a risk-free opportunity to stock new launches and other key IDW releases — allowing retailers to order with confidence and effectively gauge customer demand.

To further support the comic shops taking advantage of the risk-free returnable programs, IDW is pledging to aggressively promote store traffic via social media initiatives, email messaging to subscribers, and additional means of customer outreach.

"Comic shops are the frontlines of the comic industry, where word-of-mouth, spinner racks, and staff hand-selling make all the difference in a comic book's success," says Chris Ryall, IDW's President, Publisher, and CCO. "It's our responsibility as publisher to make that process as low-stress as possible for our partners in the retail community. During a time like this, making it easier to stock our books is really the least we can do."

For information on how to acquire copies of IDW Publishing's upcoming comic book and graphic novel releases, please contact your local comic shop or visit www.comicshoplocator.com to find a store near you.

Will every publisher who is not DC Comics or Alterna be making similar statements over the following couple of days? And will there be T=shirts of this?