(Hunt Valley, MD) — (November 15, 2022) — Diamond Book Distributors is pleased to announce that it has signed a worldwide distribution agreement with Black Panel Press to exclusively distribute their products to North American and international book markets. Distribution to the comic book specialty market is handled exclusively by Diamond Comic Distributors.
Black Panel Press is an indie graphic novel publisher founded by Andrew Benteau in 2017 with the goal of bringing exceptional international graphic novels to North American readers. In 2016, after living in France, Benteau met José Jover, editor of French publisher Tartamudo Editions. The two quickly established a partnership to import European graphic novel titles to the United States and Canada. Since then, Black Panel Press has published works by creators from all over the world, including Mexico, Lebanon, China, France, Italy, and the United States. Black Panel Press is committed to a “stories first” approach, allowing creators to craft the narratives they want to tell and retain complete control of their stories.
“There’s nobody who understands the comics medium better than Diamond,” said Andrew Benteau, founder of Black Panel Press. “We’re excited to expand our partnership and learn from the best as we bring our brand of alternative graphic novels to the book trade market.”
Black Panel Press boasts an ever-growing library of works, with comic books and graphic novels ranging from anthologies and nonfiction to science fiction, slice of life, action/adventure, and everything in between. A slice of life drama, Queer in Asia is a portrait of a Chinese youth in search of love and meaning. Inhuman Trials is a science fiction graphic novel that explores the fallout of a third world war, focusing on the human experience through the eyes of a Swedish scientist desperate to reconstruct the human genome. The Man in the Painter’s Room is a nonfiction graphic novel about the life and art of Vincent Van Gogh following his release from the Saint-Paul asylum in 1890, as told through the eyes of Adeline Ravoux, the innkeeper’s daughter with whom Vincent shared a special bond. In a case of mistaken identity, The Mad Tsar followers a ruler who is mistaken as a peasant resembling the ruler, and ultimately used as leverage to carry out sinister acts against the Tsar. Hanging on By a Thread is a graphic autobiography of Noémie, an 18 year-old art student who is diagnosed with cancer against the backdrop of multicultural Beirut. My First Pandemic is a collection of drawings, thoughts, poems, and comics reflecting on a difficult period in history.
“We’re proud to partner with Black Panel Press to bring their unique, independent, and groundbreaking graphic novels to bookstores and libraries around the world,” said Tony Lutkus, President of Diamond Book Distributors. “Black Panel Press publisher Andrew Benteau is building a great roster of storytellers whose diverse work will reach and inspire new audiences and new readers everywhere.,”
***
ABOUT DIAMOND BOOK DISTRIBUTORS — Diamond Book Distributors (DBD) is a division of Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., and is dedicated to making a wide selection of its graphic novels and other pop-culture merchandise available to bookstores, libraries, schools, mass merchants and more worldwide. Based in Hunt Valley, MD, our team of professionals is committed to helping DBD’s client publishers tell their stories, grow their businesses and reach new customers. We work to provide insight at every stage of the publishing process—from initial concept, to marketing, sales and distribution.
DBD is the home to several world class publishers, including Image Comics, publisher of The Walking Dead, Saga, Monstress, and Spawn; Dynamite Entertainment, publisher of James Bond, Red Sonja, and Vampirella; Valiant Entertainment, publisher of Bloodshot, Ninjak, and X-O Manowar; as well as Gemstone Publishing, Paizo Publishing, and others.