Do we still need Diamond Comic Distributors?

Above: A couple of panels from Scott Kurtz’s PvP.

I’ve never had any problems with Diamond Comic Distributors. But, I know some small press guys and gals who have had problems with Diamond Comic Distributors.

The Direct Market was a big help to comics back in the late 1970s and 1980s. But, now, having only one comic book distributor shipping to comic book stores and with the advent of profitable downloadable digital comics, do we still need Diamond Comic Distributors?

PvP creator Scott Kurtz doesn’t think so:

You know, I sold PvP in comic book shops for seven years and I love all the retailers I met. But it makes no sense for me as an independent creator to sell my books to readers through a publisher/distributor/retailer chain when I can just sell directly to them. Diamond is a huge pain in the ass and they take 60% of my cover price. Because my business model skewed to the online side of things, and I decided to do what’s best for my business and my livelihood, now I’m an enemy of brick and mortar stores.

And seeing Diamond Comic Distributors trying to get a piece of digital comics' sales really makes me laugh. They’re seeing the writing on the wall (so to speak). For years, the larger comic book publishers didn’t care about webcomics. But, now that there’s a way to make money from downloadable digital comics, they’re all over that.