As we reported yesterday, Amazon.com (AMZN) temporarily pulled the buy buttons on many graphic novels from comic book publishers like Marvel, IDW, Dark Horse, and Image Comics. The move followed a database error that listed incorrect prices for many titles handled by Diamond Book Distributors.
As of this 12:23 p.m. writing, the buttons had still not returned. You can double-check by following this link to Daredevil Noir, a hardcover graphic novel collecting Alexander Irvine’s series. We caught up with Irvine to get his thoughts on the whole problem.
Irvine explained: “The thing that surprised me about this was the venom directed toward Amazon for not making good on all of the orders. I mean, really. Everyone involved knew that there was no way those books should have been that cheap; they were taking advantage of an input error somewhere, and now they’re screaming about it like they deserve to get these enormous discounts. The amount of trumped-up outrage would be kind of comical if it didn’t speak so poorly of so many people.”
He concluded: “Far as the effect on creators: minimal. All of those buttons will be back up, and nobody’s going to stop buying comics because the buttons went away for a few days. In the end, this is one more embarrassment for Amazon, but there’s no ill intent. If you’re one of those people who still wants to hate Amazon, go ahead. Use that hate as fuel to drive you straight to your local comic shop.”
