Comic shops just had one of the best years in the history of the direct market: $2.2 billion in sales, record foot traffic, and a wave of new readers. Everyone in this industry is calling it a comeback story.

I don't think that story is finished.

Based on the patterns in how Lunar, Penguin Random House, and Universal rebuilt the comic book direct market after the Diamond Comic Distributors bankruptcy, I think the industry didn't actually solve the concentration risk that caused the original collapse — it just redistributed it across fewer, better-funded players. In this Forward Judgment, I'm ruling on where the next distribution shock is most likely to come from, what retailers and readers should actually watch for over the next twelve months, and why record sales numbers don't mean the underlying system is stable.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – The Ruling: Why "it survived" isn't the whole story

0:38 – Why This Matters Right Now For Retailers and Readers

1:17 – The Diamond Collapse Recap

2:26 – Fragmentation Without Decentralization

3:41 – Retailer Leverage Moving The Wrong Way

4:39 – Why Sales Are Actually Up

5:24 – What Could Change This Ruling

6:19 – Forward Implication: What To Watch Next

7:23 – Final Thoughts

💬 Tell me in the comments: Do you think Penguin Random House becomes the next single point of failure, or is the real risk somewhere else? I read every comment and may rule on the best counterargument in a future video.

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