In two recent instances, Marvel products appeared first in channels other than comic stores serviced by Diamond Comic Distributors.  In the more recent (and more widespread) incident, Marvel's Origin trade paperback was released to the book trade at least a week before it was released to Diamond accounts.  Jim Mortensen, who has two Comix Revolution stores in the Chicago area, saw copies in his local Walden's on November 1 (Diamond copies hit stores November 6), and also noted that book distributors Koen and Baker & Taylor were offering the book for sale as of that date.  He said, 'The only reason we found out is that we did have a customer who saw it at Waldenbooks, went down to our store and asked where it was.  They said they wanted to buy it from us if they could.  We just kinda stared blankly since it hadn't come out yet [through Diamond].  That customer did go back to Waldenbooks to buy it.'

We asked Diamond VP Roger Fletcher if Diamond knew why this had occurred.  He answered, 'We've gotten a bit of this feedback from retailers too, and have shared it with Marvel.  Marvel assures us it was an isolated incident arising from the transition to CDS [as its new distributor to the book trade; previously Marvel used Diamond for that channel as well], and they will be doing everything possible to avoid the book market going out ahead of the direct market again.' 

Ralph DiBernardo of the Paperback Bazaar in Somersworth, New Hampshire reported an instance of a magazine wholesaler beating Diamond on a Marvel comic the previous month.  He told us that he received Punisher #16 from Hudson News (a magazine distributor) on September 9, and didn't receive it from Diamond until October 2.  We asked Marvel execs at its most recent press conference if they knew what had happened and were told they'd check it out.  After hearing nothing more we asked again a couple of weeks later, but have received no response to date.