Hi Diamond. You are stupid.

I pick up Previews every month. I have probably only ordered a half dozen things from Previews in the past few years (and by ordering something from Previews, I mean telling my shop owner “Hey, I saw this is coming out. Can you order one for me?”) but I still read through the thing and look for something to catch my eye. I think that’s how it’s supposed to work.

So anyway, my friend and former co-blogger Van Jensen wrote Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer. As soon as the thing appeared in Previews, I told my comic shop owner “Hey, I saw this is coming out. Can you order one for me?” He did.

I was very excited for it to arrive on October 28. I had never purchased a comic book written by a friend of mine. But when I got to the shop, I was greeted with the bad news that Diamond simply did not ship it. The owner was unable to get an answer why.

I was disappointed, but I bought a lot of other comics last week and so I was at least stocked with other reading options. But then I stopped in yesterday. They still hadn’t delivered it. No explanation why.

At this point, I’m very frustrated. I WANT TO BUY THIS COMIC BOOK. I would like for my money to leave my hand and spread to the pockets of my shop, my friend, his publisher, and DIAMOND. But they won’t deliver the thing.

So I canceled the order. I’m going to order it straight from the publisher. Screw Diamond, man. You guys had a chance to take your cut and you blew it. From now on, when I see a graphic novel that’s coming out that I want to buy, I’m going through the publisher.

It’s impressive how hard some people will work to lose your business.

Epilogue: The unfortunate victim in this story is the comic shop owner. Perhaps from now on, every time I order a book from the publisher and cut him out, I’ll buy some pop from him.