It's the announcement comic book fans the world over have been dreading: Diamond Distributors, the distributor for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, Boom! Studios and Dynamite, has informed publishers that it will no longer be accepting new product at its warehouses, and all shipping to retailers will cease from April 1.
Diamond founder Steve Geppi posted the following to the company's website.
"My only logical conclusion is to cease the distribution of new weekly product until there is greater clarity on the progress made toward stemming the spread of this disease. Product distributed by Diamond and slated for an on-sale date of April 1 or later will not be shipped to retailers until further notice."
Diamond is the largest distributor of English-language comics and graphic novels in the world, so this announcement effectively shuts down the comic book industry for the time being.
There is a possibility that digital releases will still be available, but it seems just as likely that publishers will prefer to maintain day-and-date releases in both digital and print.
We should know more over the next few days, but if had been meaning to re-read some of your favorite comic book runs, now's the time!
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.