In the short run, no. In the long run, yes.

it would be the best thing

the question is if the industry would survive

>>77689756
I wonder what changes would happen.

Less multi-covers? Longer comics at the same price? Less color comics?

I also wonder what would happen to little comic shops I can see ways it could benefit them but also harm them.

in time yes

Does Diamond provide any benefit for customers?

Do they make comics cheaper or better in some way? They do something with that Previews thing but that can be filled by comic news blogs nowadays.

>>77689661
>If Diamond disappeared tomorrow would customers/publishers be better off?

Not really. Publishers would likely be worse off since there isn't an established alternative physical distribution system in place to pick up where Diamond left off.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot wrong with Diamond's virtual monopsony of the direct market—chief of which is that the direct market was never originally intended to be the sole distribution system for comics, it was supposed to be a parallel/supplementary distribution system alongside more traditional circulation/distribution methods. But the marketplace problems would probably be in effect regardless of whatever company was in place instead of Diamond.

The problems with comics' commercial decline are much larger than just the one distributor.

>>77689756
>if the industry would survive
The direct market would suffer, books stores would barely feel a thing

>>77690011
>alternative physical distribution

I wonder about digital mostly since I buy 100% comics digitally at this point. But I know there are people who prefer physical comics.

I've just heard a couple times that the reason digital comics aren't priced differently from physical ones is because of Diamond which seems dumb. To me it would make sense if they were cheaper.

>>77689661

Many small to mid-range publishers will perish. Large comic publishers have the volume to distribute themselves and cut deals with shippers like UPS, small publishers do not, and they're all too stupid to work together on this. Any publisher without a trade presence will flicker out of existence in an instant. *No one wants to be in the indie comics distribution business.*

Any comic artist not already self-publishing and self-financing through Patreon, Kickstarter, and the like is an idiot.

>>77690150
>To me it would make sense if they were cheaper.

Yeah, but that would tip the balance even further away from the direct market. So digital comics will continue to cost the same as physical copies

>>77690150
It's difficult to get a handle on the digital side of comics sales because the sales numbers aren't publicly available (at least the ones from ComiXology aren't). Maybe digital sales are making up for the shortfall in physical sales, or maybe they aren't. There's just no way for us to know without someone leaking the data.

I will say, however, that ComiXology is poised to become the Diamond of the digital comics retail scene, if it isn't already, especially now that it's owned by Amazon.

As for the pricing of digital comics not being too different from physical comics, as I understand it, publishers who want to have their books distributed by Diamond have to agree to sell the digital versions at the same or a similar price, so that they don't undercut Diamond.

>>77690323
Oh yeah I understand why they do it I just mean from a they could if they weren't greedy or trying to keep the physical medium standpoint.

>>77690287
I'm kinda curious how small-mid publishers are doing on the digital comics market.

They seem easy enough to purchase on the play store / comixology / other sources so I can see the average person getting their comics digitally easier than physically now.

I haven't seen a comic in a grocery store for years and the average person doesn't go to a comic shop so I really feel the future for these companies are in the digital market anyway (especially if they want new readers).

>>77690375
The direct market is really something holding comics back. They started as specialty stores where you could go to buy back issues you could't find anywhere else, then they took over the entire market from the news/magazine vendors. They took comics away from the public

>>77690441
Yeah I remember when I was a kid my dad used to buy me comics from all sorts of places.

Nowadays I dunno how an average parent is supposed to buy comics for their kids if they don't know about a lcs. Like the average normal parent who isn't a huge fan is basically a lost sale.

This feeds into the shrinking of the medium since it isn't easy for young readers to get into comics. It isn't the incestuous nature of comic story-lines or bad writing that will drive new readers away (since it was pretty terrible when I was a kid too) but if kids aren't able to easily pick up a comic the industry is going to be a lot smaller than it could be.

>>77690425

For small publishers without a deep catalog, they will not be viable because they will no longer offer a compelling reason for artists to join them.

Publishers serve two purposes for creators. They provide capital for publishing while spreading out risks, while ameliorating costs of services such as marketing that would be redundant if every creator did it by themselves. Digital comics is low capital, marketing is now done through social media sites, and Patreon provides a trusted platform for transactions. Smarter artist should, and already are, forming alliances with other artists to benefit from cross-promotion. Where does the small publisher fit into this? They don't.

>>77690614
Ah I gotcha.

So it's not a bad thing then right? More money goes specifically to artists and larger publishers maybe have to provide more reasons to get creators to work with them.

>>77690727
it'll kill print for smaller artists/publishers.

>>77690788
Kill print but not digital which seems to support small artists well enough if they can use social media or create a good enough product.

I guess the downside would be the closing of publishers meaning people will lose their jobs but then that happens in every industry as technology/time moves on.

>>77690727
>So it's not a bad thing then right?

Nothing is ever without tradeoffs. It may sound like I'm shitting on publishers, but I'm not. There are really good ones that did great things. The majority of LCS are probably more worthless.

Art is a weird profession. When you make that one great work, you could potentially be set for life. But it takes a long ass time to become good, and what do you do until then? If you had to work another job, that's cutting into your art time and it'll take even longer for you to become good. This is where a real, decent publisher comes in and says, "we see potential in you. We want you. Your first few books may not sell well, but we'll still pay you because we publish a lot of profitable books and we can spend money nurturing new talent."

That's gone in a publisher-less world. Most artists still have this "every man for himself" mindset. It's stupid as fuck. So whether this is a net good or net bad will depend on how quickly this mindset changes.

>>77690011

go digital and sell the trades in bookstores/amazon

>>77690559
Even if they were easily available again, your average parent isn't going to drop $4-$5 on a 20 page funny book. There is a lot wrong with the comic book distribution system.

>>77691282
You drop $4 on a bag of potato chips in the United States, I don't see why your parents wouldn't drop 3,99 on a comicbook that your kid likes once a month.

>>77691282
Wouldn't prices go down to support new demand? Especially if more people are buying them they might be able to afford lowering the price.

Also that might encourage publishers to increase the length of books while releasing less books. So instead of 20+ X-men titles you get 6 but they're more substantial.

>>77691347
That would be a nice idea, but the jews in new york already know that their core audience is willing to pay whatever price they slap on the cover

>>77691464
Which is why I feel the industry needs a shake-up ala no more Diamond.

>>77691464
The idea is that publishers would prefer a new larger audience (more $) as opposed to the core audience.

I mean they already do what with changing characters in universe whenever a new movie comes out. Those decisions aren't made with the core audience in mind.