In September 2011, it was widely reported that DC Comics plans to release 100 of it’s graphic novels EXCLUSIVELY on Amazon’s new Kindle Fire. When I saw the word “EXCLUSIVE”, my immediate thought was; “Bad idea!”. I didn’t really think much more of it until a few weeks later when the announcement came that in protest, Barnes & Noble will be pulling those very same Kindle EXCLUSIVES from their book store shelves. **(UPDATE- Since this article originally posted, it’s been announced that now Books-A-Million will be pulling the DC Exclusives from it’s shelves as well.)
Jim Lee pictured with a Kindle Fire
After being in comics publishing for nearly 22 years and seeing first hand what the COMIC DISTRIBUTION WARS did to reduce comic sales in the 1990′s, I have some thoughts about why exclusive distribution deals do not contribute to the greater good of selling MORE comics. With comics at historically low sales figures, we as an industry, should collectively have the goal of doing all we can to help bring more comics into the reading habits of billions of people world wide!
A few things to get out of the way first!
I love Amazon! I am an Amazon customer. I love the Kindle! I plan on buying a Kindle Fire at some point in the future. I’ll probably get an Ipad and Nook as well. I love the tablets and want to see how my own comics look on each one of them. I imagine that Amazon loved the idea of getting the exclusives and I don’t blame them. If I was an Amazon executive, I’m sure I would be all for it. I just think that DC should not have done this.
I Love DC Comics! My personal collection of comics is filled with hundreds of DC publications. WATCHMEN, THE DARK KNIGHT and KINGDOM COME are on my list of the best graphic novels ever published (a future post to be made on this site). DC is a great company with a spectacular history. I just hope that they do not go down the road of making more and more exclusive deals when it comes to comic distribution.
I do not think that exclusive marketing deals are inherently bad. I just think that comics have a potential to reach far and wide and can expand greatly beyond their current subject matter and availability. I feel that every publisher who cares about comics as a viable entertainment and educational medium should be committed to expanding their availability, not limiting it. We all need to sell MORE comics, not less.
A bit of history
Back in 1994 when I published the first appearance of The Vampress Luxura in Vamperotica #1. I received initial orders from 5 different distributors of comics in the U.S. The orders were as follows.
- Diamond Comics Distributors- 3,094
- Capital Distribution- 2,840
- Heroes World Distribution- 338
- Comics Unlimited Distribution- 180
- Friendly Frank’s Distribution- 149
- TOTAL INITIAL ORDERS: 6,601
Vamperotica #1
The comic was an immediate sell out and subsequently more orders were placed from all 5 of the distributors. I sent the book back to press for a 2nd and then a 3rd printing. When all was said and done we had sold more than 20,000 copies of Vamperotica #1.
Then in 1995, came the Distributor Wars. Here’s the short version; MARVEL Comics bought Heroes World (the third largest distributor) Then began to sell their comics EXCLUSIVELY through that single distributor. DC retaliated by going EXCLUSIVE with Diamond. Image and Dark Horse went with them. Kitchen Sink Press went EXCLUSIVE with Capital. I ended up going exclusive with Diamond by default since they were the only ones who were still paying me for the comics that I shipped to them. Even Capital, who bought nearly 50% of my print runs stopped paying the invoices we sent them. The entire comic industry went into a tailspin. Every distributor with the exception of Diamond eventually went out of business and took several retailers and comic companies along with them. Sales of comics took a nose dive. Even Marvel got out of the self distribution business and went back to Diamond. That left the entire business of distributing comics to comic stores in America in the hands of ONE company, Diamond Distribution. Diamond is a well run company and could certainly handle the task, but by then the damage was done.
By the time I published Vamperotica #47 in 1998, I only received orders from the lone remaining Diamond distribution and they were just for 2,220 copies.
No 2nd or 3rd printings required… I eventually ended the series at issue #50.
The Amazing Spider-Man Comic
The Distributor Exclusivity Wars also affected the big companies as can be seen in the sales reports featured at www.comichron.com. In 1994, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN sold an estimated 353,025 copies per month. Just 2 years later sales had dropped to 159,950. By July of 2011, sales of THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN were estimated to be 71,235 copies. The effect of exclusivity was fewer distributors, fewer publishers, fewer retailers, fewer readers and eventually FEWER COMICS!
Do we really want a repeat of this in the new emerging market of Digital distribution?
I know that I absolutely DO NOT!
Those who do not know the past are doomed to repeat it! – I don’t know exactly who at DC gave the okay for this deal, but I can’t for the life of me imagine that they were around during the 1990′s and experienced what exclusivity did to the comic industry. If in fact that person was, then I hope they take a moments pause and consider a better digital distribution strategy.
I also would like to point out that the actions of Barnes & Noble, while understandable are also something that is NOT good for comics. For B&N, comics are just a PART of their business. For DC, comics ARE their business. Simply put, we NEED more comics to be in book stores where they can be seen and eventually purchased by the general public. Pulling the books from the shelves is a bit drastic and I hope that other book sellers don’t follow that lead.
Comics need to be available to EVERYONE, EVERY WHERE and EVERY WAY! – Years ago, I could only get comics at my Local Comic Shop and maybe at a big book store or two. But now comics can be found in places as diverse as TARGET! Yes, TARGET carries Comics and Graphic Novels! SPECTACULAR!!! We need more of this. Comics should be in Target, Walmart, itunes, Android, Nook, movie theatres, McDonalds, ect.
DC comics should be everywhere, especially in the digital market place. I recently started distributing my own comics over at Graphicly. Their system is AMAZING! I have read more comics there in the last week than I have in the last 6 months and I’m looking forward to reading even more. I did notice however, that DC is not available there and I really wish they were. I recommended Graphicly to a friend of mine who is a huge Wonder Woman fan. She plans to check them out but I know that she would definitely LOVE it even more if her favorite character was on sale there. DC, and every other comics publisher for that matter, will sell MORE comics by having MORE places where their comics are available for purchase.
It’s that simple. At least to me it is.
Dr. Manhattan from The Watchmen Graphic Novel
I’m hoping that the DC EXCLUSIVE with Kindle Fire is only a temporary strategy, and that DC plans to make these 100 graphic novels digitally available everywhere in 6 months or so. To have digital versions of a book like THE WATCHMEN only available in one place on one platform is a short-sighted, ineffective marketing decision and as I stated before, it’s just NOT good for comics! It also does not do enough to bring more comics into the reading habits of billions of people world wide.
Thanks for reading.
-Kirk
Exclusive distribution deals are NOT good for comics! (IMO)
by Kirk Lindo on October 9, 2011 at 8:30 pmIn September 2011, it was widely reported that DC Comics plans to release 100 of it’s graphic novels EXCLUSIVELY on Amazon’s new Kindle Fire. When I saw the word “EXCLUSIVE”, my immediate thought was; “Bad idea!”. I didn’t really think much more of it until a few weeks later when the announcement came that in protest, Barnes & Noble will be pulling those very same Kindle EXCLUSIVES from their book store shelves. **(UPDATE- Since this article originally posted, it’s been announced that now Books-A-Million will be pulling the DC Exclusives from it’s shelves as well.)
Jim Lee pictured with a Kindle Fire
After being in comics publishing for nearly 22 years and seeing first hand what the COMIC DISTRIBUTION WARS did to reduce comic sales in the 1990′s, I have some thoughts about why exclusive distribution deals do not contribute to the greater good of selling MORE comics. With comics at historically low sales figures, we as an industry, should collectively have the goal of doing all we can to help bring more comics into the reading habits of billions of people world wide!
A few things to get out of the way first!
I love Amazon! I am an Amazon customer. I love the Kindle! I plan on buying a Kindle Fire at some point in the future. I’ll probably get an Ipad and Nook as well. I love the tablets and want to see how my own comics look on each one of them. I imagine that Amazon loved the idea of getting the exclusives and I don’t blame them. If I was an Amazon executive, I’m sure I would be all for it. I just think that DC should not have done this.
I Love DC Comics! My personal collection of comics is filled with hundreds of DC publications. WATCHMEN, THE DARK KNIGHT and KINGDOM COME are on my list of the best graphic novels ever published (a future post to be made on this site). DC is a great company with a spectacular history. I just hope that they do not go down the road of making more and more exclusive deals when it comes to comic distribution.
I do not think that exclusive marketing deals are inherently bad. I just think that comics have a potential to reach far and wide and can expand greatly beyond their current subject matter and availability. I feel that every publisher who cares about comics as a viable entertainment and educational medium should be committed to expanding their availability, not limiting it. We all need to sell MORE comics, not less.
A bit of history
Back in 1994 when I published the first appearance of The Vampress Luxura in Vamperotica #1. I received initial orders from 5 different distributors of comics in the U.S. The orders were as follows.
Vamperotica #1
The comic was an immediate sell out and subsequently more orders were placed from all 5 of the distributors. I sent the book back to press for a 2nd and then a 3rd printing. When all was said and done we had sold more than 20,000 copies of Vamperotica #1.
Then in 1995, came the Distributor Wars. Here’s the short version; MARVEL Comics bought Heroes World (the third largest distributor) Then began to sell their comics EXCLUSIVELY through that single distributor. DC retaliated by going EXCLUSIVE with Diamond. Image and Dark Horse went with them. Kitchen Sink Press went EXCLUSIVE with Capital. I ended up going exclusive with Diamond by default since they were the only ones who were still paying me for the comics that I shipped to them. Even Capital, who bought nearly 50% of my print runs stopped paying the invoices we sent them. The entire comic industry went into a tailspin. Every distributor with the exception of Diamond eventually went out of business and took several retailers and comic companies along with them. Sales of comics took a nose dive. Even Marvel got out of the self distribution business and went back to Diamond. That left the entire business of distributing comics to comic stores in America in the hands of ONE company, Diamond Distribution. Diamond is a well run company and could certainly handle the task, but by then the damage was done.
By the time I published Vamperotica #47 in 1998, I only received orders from the lone remaining Diamond distribution and they were just for 2,220 copies.
No 2nd or 3rd printings required… I eventually ended the series at issue #50.
The Amazing Spider-Man Comic
The Distributor Exclusivity Wars also affected the big companies as can be seen in the sales reports featured at www.comichron.com. In 1994, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN sold an estimated 353,025 copies per month. Just 2 years later sales had dropped to 159,950. By July of 2011, sales of THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN were estimated to be 71,235 copies. The effect of exclusivity was fewer distributors, fewer publishers, fewer retailers, fewer readers and eventually FEWER COMICS!
Do we really want a repeat of this in the new emerging market of Digital distribution?
I know that I absolutely DO NOT!
Those who do not know the past are doomed to repeat it! – I don’t know exactly who at DC gave the okay for this deal, but I can’t for the life of me imagine that they were around during the 1990′s and experienced what exclusivity did to the comic industry. If in fact that person was, then I hope they take a moments pause and consider a better digital distribution strategy.
I also would like to point out that the actions of Barnes & Noble, while understandable are also something that is NOT good for comics. For B&N, comics are just a PART of their business. For DC, comics ARE their business. Simply put, we NEED more comics to be in book stores where they can be seen and eventually purchased by the general public. Pulling the books from the shelves is a bit drastic and I hope that other book sellers don’t follow that lead.
Comics need to be available to EVERYONE, EVERY WHERE and EVERY WAY! – Years ago, I could only get comics at my Local Comic Shop and maybe at a big book store or two. But now comics can be found in places as diverse as TARGET! Yes, TARGET carries Comics and Graphic Novels! SPECTACULAR!!! We need more of this. Comics should be in Target, Walmart, itunes, Android, Nook, movie theatres, McDonalds, ect.
DC comics should be everywhere, especially in the digital market place. I recently started distributing my own comics over at Graphicly. Their system is AMAZING! I have read more comics there in the last week than I have in the last 6 months and I’m looking forward to reading even more. I did notice however, that DC is not available there and I really wish they were. I recommended Graphicly to a friend of mine who is a huge Wonder Woman fan. She plans to check them out but I know that she would definitely LOVE it even more if her favorite character was on sale there. DC, and every other comics publisher for that matter, will sell MORE comics by having MORE places where their comics are available for purchase.
It’s that simple. At least to me it is.
Dr. Manhattan from The Watchmen Graphic Novel
I’m hoping that the DC EXCLUSIVE with Kindle Fire is only a temporary strategy, and that DC plans to make these 100 graphic novels digitally available everywhere in 6 months or so. To have digital versions of a book like THE WATCHMEN only available in one place on one platform is a short-sighted, ineffective marketing decision and as I stated before, it’s just NOT good for comics! It also does not do enough to bring more comics into the reading habits of billions of people world wide.
Thanks for reading.
-Kirk