Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson has responded to DC's move to cut ties with Diamond Comic Distributors, calling it "a hasty, sociopathic decision made by people who do not care about the long-term welfare of our marketplace, let alone about comics."
DC left Diamond in favor of distributing its products through Lunar Distribution and UCS Comic Distributors for periodical releases, and Penguin Random House for collected editions and graphic novels. CBR has verified with Image that the letter is legitimate.
"DC did this without any consideration for how it would affect the rest of the marketplace," Stephenson added. He then drew comparisons to Marvel Comics buying Heroes World distributor in 1994. "When Marvel bought Heroes World and pulled their business from their other distributors, they gave notice. Not in terms of days, but months," he said. "That is not what happened here."
Stephenson ended his letter by speaking on conversations he's had with Diamond founder Steve Geppi and the rest of the Diamond team, and double-downed on how "Image doesn't operate like other publishers" and isn't beholden to parent companies like AT&T and Disney.
After Diamond shut down productions in March due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, DC announced it had partnered with Lunar and UCS to put print books on retailer's shelves in the meantime. "DC, in their last contract renewal a year-and-a-half ago, asked to add a clause where they could get out of the exclusive part with 60 days notice with no reason needed. We agreed," Diamond founder Steve Geppi said shortly after the announcement. "Then the pandemic came on, and they exercised that option. They're non-exclusive, and that allowed them to sell to those others. That was that."
(via Bleeding Cool)