Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics, Image, Marvel Comics | Tagged: comicspro, diamond, lunar

What Has ComicsPro Ever Done For Us?

At last week's ComicsPro meeting, they gave atendees a list of issues they had been advocating for with publishers and distributors.

Published Mon, 26 Feb 2024 09:57:08 -0600

by Rich Johnston

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ComicsPro states that it is a "not for profit trade organization dedicated to the progress of direct market comic book retailers" and that it will "abide by and follow both the letter and the spirit of all U.S. and International Antitrust and Competition laws. ComicsPRO does not advocate or sanction any agreement or understanding with respect to group or collective purchasing, pricing, or refusals to deal with any supplier, vendor, retail chain participant, customer or groups of customers." This is a very important position for ComicsPro to take considering the same anti-cartel laws in the US introduced by Reagan that also stopped freelancers organising as a union.

What Has ComicsPro Ever Done For Us? — Life Of Brian screencap

So what do they advocate for? Well, at last week's ComicsPro Summit meeting in Pittsburgh they gave attendees a list of issues they had been advocating for with publishers and distributors. A number of which, by the end of the show, were already out of date.

Terms of sale and shipping costs with Diamond Comics
ComicSuite meeting with retailers to plan its future
Universal regarding: CSV invoicing
Out-of-print graphic novels from DC and Marvel
Foil variant pricing with Marvel
Image's switch to Tuesday on-sale
Ongoing conversations with DC about Tuesday on-sale
PRH on ordering and billing functionality
Holiday shipping and FOC schedules

Well, before ComicsPro had started, Diamond already committed to flat-fee shipping. DC Comics announced it was moving to Wednesday on-sale date. And with that, Bleeding Cool understands that Image Comics has abandoned plans to join DC Comics, and confirms it will be sticking to Wednesdays as well. I understand that all these were as a direct result of lobbying by ComicsPro. Bleeding Cool covered the ComicsPro Summit as in-depth as possible, given I was stuck in London, but still more than any other site, and I hope next year to do so in person. Fingers crossed. You can catch up here: