Ahoy Comics is the latest comic book publisher to change its booktrade distribution away from Diamond and over to the publisher/distributor Simon & Schuster. Ahoy publisher Hart Seely frames this as a significant expansion of their booktrade footprint.
"We're pleased as punch to be partnering with Simon & Schuster with a deal that will allow us to expand our distribution in such a significant way," Seely says. "We can't wait to foist our stable of oddball titles onto the unsuspecting masses and introduce a whole new audience of folks to Dragonfly and Dragonflyman, Jesus and Sunstar, and the staggeringly drunken Edgar Allan Poe."
As part of this announcement, Ahoy have announced their formalized fall collections schedule, which is as follows:
- Happy Hour by Peter Milligan and Michael Montenat (August 25 in comic shops/digital, September 7 in bookstores)
- The Wrong Earth: Night and Day by Tom Peyer, Jamal Igle, and Juan Castro (September 8 in comic shops/digital, September 21 in bookstores)
- Edgar Allan Poe's Snifter of Blood by Paul Cornell, Dean Motter, and Russ Brain (September 22 in comic shops/digital, October 5 in bookstores)
- Second Coming; Only Begotten Son by Mark Russell, Richard Pace, and Leonard Kirk (November 3 in comic shops/digital, November 16 in bookstores)
The first volumes of both The Wrong Earth and Second Coming are available now, as are all of Ahoy's backlist.
"As our president has said, there's finally light at the end of the tunnel," said Ahoy editor-in-chief Tom Peyer. "I'm of course referring to the blindingly bright light cast by our stellar line of fall titles, which I know the entire nation is anticipating with bated (and masked) breath."
Ahoy Comics signed a booktrade distribution deal with Diamond just 12 months ago, but have made the decision to move after what's been a unique year for publishers, comic distributors, and, well, everyone with the pandemic. For its part, Diamond suspended distribution for two months, and took the surprising step of delaying payments owed to publishers due to what it described as cash-flow problems of its own.
Ahoy is the seventh publisher to switch from Diamond to Simon & Schuster for bookstore distribution in the past few months. The others are Vault Comics, AWA Studios, Red 5 Comics, Behemoth, Z2 Comics, and Scout Comics. Diamond's two largest publishers for booktrade distribution remain Image Comics and Dynamite Entertainment.
Ahoy remains partnered with Diamond for its direct market (i.e. comic book store) distribution, as do all major comic publishers with the exception of DC.
Of course, all these comics are available digitally the same day they debut in print. Check out our list of the best digital comics readers for Android and iOS devices.
