Heroes World Distribution Co., originally named Superhero Enterprises, was an American
comic book distributor. It was founded by Ivan Snyder, active from 1975 to 1997, during the growth and consolidation of the
direct market
The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of:
* four major comic distributors:
** Lunar ...
. Heroes World was acquired by
Marvel Comics in late
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
to act as the publisher's sole distributor. This ill-fated move, combined with other marketplace factors of the time, resulted in the financial failure of many other comics distributors and retailers — and the near collapse of the entire North American comic book market.
History
Origins
In the early 1970s, Ivan Snyder was head of licensing in
Marvel Comics Group
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
's merchandising department. In this role, he was in charge of selling various Marvel licensed products via mail order. After a change in management in the mid-1970s, Marvel discontinued the mail order service, and Snyder purchased the business in 1975, renaming it Superhero Enterprises. Initially running the business out his basement, Snyder shortly thereafter moved into a storefront in
, with a catalog showroom store format. A second store was opened in a
Livingston
Livingston may refer to:
Businesses
* Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010)
* Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline
* Livingston International, a North American custom ...
shopping mall, with
DC Comics products added to their product mix.
When the former
Mego Corporation trademark "Superhero" was purchased by Marvel and DC, Superheroes Enterprise was forced to change its name to Heroes World. By 1982, Heroes World's retail chain had expanded to 12 locations,
while it continued its mail order distribution business. (The Heroes World catalog was produced in conjunction with the
Dover, New Jersey-based
Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art
The Kubert School, formerly the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art and Joe Kubert School, is a private, for-profit technical school focused on cartooning and located in Dover, New Jersey. It teaches the principles of sequential art an ...
.)
Acquisition by Marvel
By late 1994, Heroes World was North America's third largest comics distributor
[Gray, Bob. "Newswatch: Marvel Buys 3rd Largest Distributor: Heroes World Purchase Signals Fundamental Changes in the Direct Market," ''The Comics Journal'' #174 (Feb. 1995): pp. 15-22.] (behind
Diamond Comics Distributors and
Capital City Distribution
Capital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin-based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comic Distributors. Under the name Capital Comics, they also published comics from 1981 to 198 ...
). On December 28, 1994, Heroes World was bought by Marvel Comics
[Bryant, Adam]
"BUSINESS DAY: Pow! The Punches That Left Marvel Reeling,"
''New York Times'' (MAY 24, 1998). to act as the company's exclusive distributor,
[Duin, Steve and Richardson, Mike (ed.s) "Capital City" in ''Comics Between the Panels'' ( Dark Horse Publishing, 1998) , p. 69] thus reducing other distributors' market share by more than a third.
[Rozanski, Chuck]
"Marvel Comics to Self-Distribute Heroes World,"
Tales From the Database, Mile High Comics (2004). The change took effect with books shipped July 1995. As industry veteran
Chuck Rozanski notes:
The ripple effect resulted in the survival of only one other major North American distributor, Diamond.
Heroes World's new role as Marvel's exclusive distributor was a failure from the beginning. Lacking the infrastructure to handle Marvel's huge weekly orders resulted in extensive shipment and billing mistakes, errors which caused great consternation among the thousands of comics specialty shops affected. Writes Rozanski:
These factors, combined with the collapse of the comics speculation market, did indeed result in many comics stores closing their doors for good.
Throughout 1995 and 1996, Heroes World continued to flounder, facing lost business and lawsuits. Finally, in 1997 the company went out of business,
and Marvel returned to Diamond Distributors,
["Hello Again: Marvel Goes with Diamond," ''The Comics Journal'' #193 (February 1997), pp. 9-10.] which by that point was the only major distributor left standing.
Notes
References
*"Marvelutionary War Declared: Unprecedented Upheaval in Direct Market," ''The Comics Journal'' #175 (March 1995), pp. 9–10.
* "Marvel goes exclusive, Capital sues Marvel, Marvel settles with Capital, Marvel buys Skybox, DC/Diamond announcement expected," ''The Comics Journal'' #175 (March 1995), pp. 9–10.
* "Newswatch: Marvelutionary Changes," ''The Comics Journal'' #186 (Apr. 1996), p. 23.
See also
*
List of book distributors
*
Marvel
{{Marvel
1997 disestablishments in New Jersey
Comics industry
Companies based in Morris County, New Jersey
Marvel Comics
Book distributors