STORY: Image Comics Named 'Publisher of the Year' by Comic Book Retailers

The official closure date is February 28, although any content purchased through the service will remain available to readers via iVerse's Comics Plus app. Retailers will receive full compensation for sales made through the Feb. 28 date, the email explained.

Diamond Digital launched on July 23, 2012, more than a year after its announcement, as a way for comic store retailers to benefit from the growth of the digital market. The program offered material from publishers including IDW, Image Comics and Boom! Studios, but the absence of material from either Marvel or DC -- and the dominance in the digital market of ComiXology, which had launched its own retailer storefront program almost a year earlier -- meant that it struggled to find a sizable audience.

Diamond declined to comment on the closure when contacted by THR.