Broken Frontier

Diamond Comic Distributors and Wizard Entertainment announced today a renewal of its strategic partnership, with several new initiatives planned for 2010. The first event for both companies will be tied to Wizard’s Philadelphia Comic Con, with Diamond hosting a trade only event for retailers.

At Wizard’s Philadelphia Comic Con, Diamond will host a hospitality suite where retailers can meet one-on-one with Diamond customer service and sales representatives, as well as schedule exclusive demos on Diamond’s point-of-sale program, ComicSuite.

“Wizard remains an important vendor for Diamond and its comic book retail accounts,” said Diamond’s VP-Purchasing, Bill Schanes. “We look forward to working together more closely in the coming year, with special events and publishing projects that will help retailers sell more products.”

"I am proud of my 20 year friendship with Diamond - Steve Geppi, Bill Schanes, Roger Fletcher, and the rest of the Diamond crew,” said Wizard CEO, Gareb Shamus. By using the combination of Wizard, ToyFare, FunFare and or our ever expanding comic con tour, we are now able to host Diamond retailers.

In 2009, Wizard was a top ten publisher to the comic book specialty market, according to Diamond’s year-end market share, and continues to provide successful publications and products for the comics industry. Additional projects are slated between the two companies, with details to be announced at a later date.

Wizard’s Philadelphia Comic Con is scheduled for June 11-13, 2010 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Retailers will join with tens of thousands of fans to converge at Philadelphia Comic Con 2010 to celebrate what’s great in pop culture:  Movies, Comics, Toys, Video Gaming, Games, TV, Anime, Manga, Horror, Wrestling, MMA, Original Art, Collectibles, and more!