Could this year's FCBD be the last?
Popverse says the now in bankruptcy Diamond Distribution is going ahead with Free Comic Book Day, which they have an ownership in, even though they've long been losing money over it, according to the article:
Perhaps this is why it's best for FCBD to stop, and the industry should start considering how to continue formatting comics going forward. I've said a million times that paperback/hardcovers could benefit the industry in the long run, not to mention if all these company wide crossovers Marvel/DC repeatedly turn out were to stop altogether, because the way they're written and formatted is only making things worse, and practically destroying creative freedom in the process. And these days, publishers dominated by leftists are otherwise only willing to hire the same. That kind of approach is also wrecking the industry as a whole.
The event, which has been held annually since 2002 - usually on the first Saturday in May - was in doubt as earlier this month after Diamond Comic Distributor, the organization behind FCBD, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to insolvency issues. According to ICV2, Diamond is "$50 to $100 million" in debt - with the companies they owe the most to being the very same publishers (either directly or through third-party entities) which provide the comic books and other merchandise it distributes. This has led one of the most prominent comic publishers in North America, Image Comics, to disallow Diamond to distribute its comics going forward.I think this says only so much about what a "success" FCBD truly was over nearly a quarter century. If Diamond didn't make much money or profit from the event, if at all, it only compounds the perception that even moviegoers weren't interested in the comics the free specials published were meant to promote. And when the stories in mainstream are bad, you can't expect anybody old or new to the medium to stick around for long.
Free Comic Book Day is one of the reasons Diamond's in debt
Sources have told Popverse that Diamond is going ahead with plans for Free Comic Book Day 2025 while it goes through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That decision came despite the event being operated at a loss each year since it started, according to several individuals familiar with the financials of it.
"[Diamond] showed several of us the spreadsheet on costs [for Free Comic Book Day] one year and it exceeded $20,000 in supplies and support," large comic retailer chain owner Phil Boyle of Coliseum of Comics shared in a post on a retailer group. Popverse has corroborated that $20,000+ figure with two individuals formerly involved with Diamond's FCBD operations. When we asked FCBD founder Joe Field about it, he had an apt comparison.
"Diamond, through the sale of FCBD comics to retailers, has funded the promotion all these years....and taken a loss on it every year," says Field, who owns the California comic store Flying Colors. "FCBD is like adding another week or two of picking/packing/shipping comics, but cramming it in to a condensed time.
Perhaps this is why it's best for FCBD to stop, and the industry should start considering how to continue formatting comics going forward. I've said a million times that paperback/hardcovers could benefit the industry in the long run, not to mention if all these company wide crossovers Marvel/DC repeatedly turn out were to stop altogether, because the way they're written and formatted is only making things worse, and practically destroying creative freedom in the process. And these days, publishers dominated by leftists are otherwise only willing to hire the same. That kind of approach is also wrecking the industry as a whole.
Labels: crossoverloading, dc comics, history, indie publishers, marvel comics, msm propaganda, sales
