The Agreement provides that Diamond will act as Dark Horse's sales agent to comic-book specialty stores. The Agreement will be generally effective with Dark Horse's November shipping product.
"We've thoroughly researched and studied each of our options over the past several months," said Dark Horse founder and publisher Mike Richardson. "This has been a difficult situation, but because of recent industry upheaval, we felt compelled- not just for our own sake, but for the sake of retailers and the creators we work with, as well - to make a distribution choice. We held up our decision until we fully understood all of the potential ramifications and felt completely comfortable with our course of action."
Richardson continued: "We are very excited going into this new relationship with Diamond. We feel that this move will be good for Dark Horse; good for comic-book retailers; good for the industry as a whole and ultimately good for the consumer. This new arrangement should promote the availability of our publications, giving greater access of Dark Horse comics to current comics readers as well as the uninitiated."
"I am very excited by the prospect of working closely with Dark Horse Comics," said Diamond Comic Distributor President and C.E.O. Steve Geppi. "Mike Richardson and his entire team possess a level of creativity and enthusiasm which bodes well for the future of our industry."
Mike Richardson issued the following statements:
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