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The direct market, some consider the best things to happen to comics while others do not agree. What is it and where did it come from? Should we be worried about the direct market now that DC has WB and Marvel has Disney?

The announcements from DC and Marvel, and their ‘reorganizing’, have led many to speculate on the future of comics. Some have thought about characters, others have thought about stories. Recently there was a particular speculation that really caught my interest: some say that these changes are going to lead to the fall of the direct market. Some welcome the change and others dread it. If you are like me you not completely sure about the future, but it pays to be informed on what the direct market is and how it plays into comics today.

The “Direct Market” came out of a trend for comics books. Before the direct market comics were treated the same as magazines and distributed as such. That is why comics were found everywhere such as in supermarkets, pharmacies, newsstands, etc.  Businesses purchased comics through companies that distributed periodicals and not from the publishers. In the early 70’s sales of comics started to diminish through this method, the idea was brought up to purchase comics from the publishers, and move them away from competing with magazine space. As a customer you did not have to run to various shops, you could purchase them from a direct location that specialized in comics; we know them now as comic book shops.

There are many positive and negative aspects about the direct market. On one hand customers could find the comics they were looking for in one place, but that also had the affect of limiting them from public view. This created a niche market where only current comic book fans would read and purchase comics. Now with DC and Marvel having access to Warner Bros. and Disney’s distribution power, it is believed that the direct market will not apply to them. They will use the strengths and connections of their parent companies to place comics in the hands of customers, whether that be comic book shops or other retail locations.

Once again it is too early to tell what impact these changes will have on the direct market. It is possible that DC and Marvel will use Warner Bros and Disney to distribute comics, or they may not. In fact they may only partially use their parent companies for attracting a new audience. It is hard to say. All I know is that the direct market is not going away tomorrow and until Marvel and DC change their plans, everything will stay the same.