The closure of Exicoione, a comic and manga publisher that distributed DC comics to Spain and the United States, was a tumultuous one. It was plagued by false bill allegations, along with stories about misunderstandings, unfulfilled orders and internal confusion, tough mismanagement and bad faith dealings. All this was combined to put the company on the path to liquidation. It was a major blow to the Spanish and Latin American comic industry in general, but the biggest question mark has emerged for the future of DC in the Spanish-speaking world. Luckily, Panini, the home of publishing Marvel Comics in Spanish, swooped down to save the day DC went missing in stores and kiosks and to facilitate consumer worries.
DC Comics dodged a bullet covered in Kryptonite to this. Panini quickly stepped in and took over the mandate of publishing, and was in time for the important start of all the content and absolute space initiatives to get acquiring floppy and graphic novels. The first titles that Panini put out (established in Italy with a Latin American subsidiary) include Absolute Superman, Absolute Batman, Absolute Powertrade by Mark Waido, Tom Taylor’s Nightwing Trade, Absolute Wonder Woman, Absolute Wonder Woman, All DC’s Best: Batman Year 1 and Year 2 collection among other new collections to win readers.
Comic shops in Spain and Latin America have socialized to promote these releases as quickly as possible, reclaiming dissatisfied customers for new comics. The poor handling of the ECC closure left many stores without the highly promoted books that fans were screaming for. For example, the Spanish Akira Comics spoke about dishonest account transactions that threatened to put the bookstore in a volatile financial position. Akira Comics is widely regarded as one of Spain’s best comic shops and won the Eisner Award in 2012 for Best Comic Book Shop in the World. The fact that they invested in a wide selection of books and other collectibles has often helped them get through the ECC situation, but it’s easy to argue that this certainly wasn’t for everyone (especially in the small comic shop).
At this point, things have been able to resume with some reliable normalcy thanks to Panini’s governing authority over DC. If not so far clear, Big 2 is as important as the US and the UK for the cartoon market in Spanish-speaking countries. While graphic novels and other specialized books continue to grow in these markets, floppies still have a major impact on the industry side. That said, the Spanish Marvel and DC branches are currently under the same umbrella, and that carries a large level of risk. In these troubled times, it is unwise to look into the future in search of guarantees about the health and continued success of these publishers. As they say, the bigger they become, the more they fall. Spain and the Americas tasted it at the ECC, and its predictions were very scary there for a moment.
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