COMICS PORTAL: Now Entering The ‘Alliance’ Era!

While the dust is still settling, Alliance Entertainment won the bidding war to own Diamond Distributors last week! Now what?

We all know that several months ago, Diamond filed for bankruptcy. This led to a period of uncertainty with the comic book industry because, at one time, Diamond was a monopoly, basically the ONLY place local comics shops could purchase the wares they were to sell each week.

A few weeks later, a private auction was held to determine the ownership of the various parts of Diamond, and finally, a winner was announced:

“Alliance Entertainment Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: AENT), a global distributor and wholesaler specializing in music, movies, video games, electronics, arcades, and collectibles, today announced that it has been selected as the winning bidder to acquire substantially all of the assets of Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., currently being sold through a court-supervised bankruptcy process. The proposed acquisition, which is subject to Bankruptcy Court approval, includes Diamond Comic Distributors (U.S.), Alliance Game Distributors, Diamond Select Toys & Collectibles, and Collectible Grading Authority, which collectively represent a 42-year-old enterprise recognized as a category-defining leader in comic books, tabletop games, pop-culture merchandise, and collectible grading.”

Apparently, the court still needs to approve the acquisition. When that will happen is anybody’s guess, but I would think it would be sooner rather than later so the industry can begin to move ahead.

Although exactly how many participants took part in that auction and how much they bid is still being kept under wraps, rumors have swirled around about everyone from Todd MacFarlane to other gamers and companies wanting to be able to guide the comic book industry forward. I doubt we’ll ever really know who did what when, but at least we know something about the way forward.

I found this paragraph in that same release interesting: “The acquired businesses bring a combination of scale, cultural cachet, and commercial reach. Together, Diamond Comic Distributors (U.S.), Alliance Game Distributors, and Collectible Grading Authority support over 5,000 retail storefronts, ranging from independent comic and game stores to specialty retailers, mass-market chains, and leading e-commerce platforms.”

Through these businesses, Alliance Entertainment will gain deeper access to a highly engaged community of retailers and fans who form the backbone of the $50+ billion global market for tabletop games, collectibles, comics, and pop culture merchandise. So, it was a big deal! In fact, the word is that Alliance’s stock increased in value after the announcement was made!

The big question is, though, now what?

Once the information was released last week, everyone started to wonder just how this development was going to impact our specific circumstances. And, of course, since many of us are already collectors, the intense speculation began!

There have been a few interviews with the owners and leaders of Alliance, but there has been very little in the way of concrete facts as to how the industry will change. For instance, a comment was made questioning whether individual issues (often called “floppies”) make enough money for Alliance to pay attention to. Instead, the notion was advanced that they would abandon individual issues and focus instead on graphic novels, which is somewhat similar to the European model of the business.

All parts of the spectrum have been revealed in online discussions, from “this is the end of the industry” to “the future is now bright!” Many of us, of course, believe that reality is likely more someplace in the middle of that! Some are unhappy that apparently “gamers” will be steering the comic book ship for now. Others are thrilled because they think that’s the best way forward.

Until the specifics of how things will function moving forward are made public, what the companies are doing is best described as “business as usual… for now.”

Until Alliance gives out specifics on what will happen in the coming months, everyone is “keeping on, keeping on” when it comes to comic books. Orders are still being placed, and people are expecting things to continue as they have been. Some things have changed, like I understand some local comics shops are only receiving books from Diamond on a bi-weekly basis for the time being. Whether that’s widespread or only pertaining to certain individual stores, I don’t know! I even wonder if it will still be called “Diamond” at all!

I expect, though, that we’ll be hearing what changes will be taking place, for instance, in the monthly PREVIEWS publication. Since everyone who orders through that publication needs to figure out what they will do two months in advance, that’s probably where we’ll see the first indications as to what changes, if any, will take place. Or we could just get a news release or something from the heads of Alliance.

All we can do is stay sharp and do the best we can! We have to be able to adapt, which is something the recent pandemic taught us- and sometimes the hard way!

So, as far as what the future holds, I wish I knew! I’ve never been particularly good at forecasting what will happen next, especially when it comes to comics. Some fans and collectors are much better than I am, so if you feel like you have a pretty good idea what’s coming, feel free to post it in the space below!

What do you think? What impact will Alliance have on comics distributors? Or comics creators? Or even those of us who are fans? Feel free to share your opinions below!

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