It’s been a crazy day with for comic news. Things first began with Diamond Comic Distributors announcing they were expecting to return to normal distribution in mid to late May. Then DC announced they would return to normal next week courtesy of two new distributors, Lunar Distribution and UCS Comic Distributors.

DC’s plan looks like it has come together in the last week or so as both domains were only recently purchased.

UCS Comic Distributors was registered on April 8 while Lunar Distribution was on April 13.

But who are these mysterious entities?

Newsarama has confirmed that they are sister companies of two mail-order juggernauts Discount Comic Book Service (DCBS) and Midtown Comics respectively. They are two of the largest direct market retailers and Midtown has handled subscription sales for years.

Lunar is handling distribution to comic retailers based in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. They are also handling distribution to the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.

USC is taking on distribution to stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, West Virgina, and the District of Columbia. The Canadian provinces they’re taking point on are New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Quebec.

For retailers outside those areas, they’re encouraged to reach out to UCS, Lunar, or Diamond.

Why new companies and the secrecy?

The first is the optics. DCBS and Midtown are competitors to stores. This is money in the pockets of competitors. Though who was behind things would eventually be found out, so this is unlikely the reason.

The most likely reason is the risk involved and protection.

As can be seen, by Diamond’s issues paying publishers, stores have had issues paying Diamond. It’s possible the new entities were spun up to limit the chance of stores folding taking down Midtown and DCBS.

The plan is risky.

The economic outlook isn’t good with over 22 million people unemployed. Stores are struggling with many having limited hours or ability to sell items and many being closed for some time. The reality is, stores will close and leave debt behind them impacting Diamond (and possibly these two new entities) and that will ripple upwards to publishers and creators.

It’s unknown what stores will even be able to sell in the new landscape.

The reaction from stores has been mixed and what this means for the industry going forward is unknown.

Right now, stores need to scramble to get their accounts open and orders in for next week.