Publisher’s Weekly reports today that DC Comics is ending its relationship with Warner Books, after 20 years. According to the article penned by Calvin Reid, DC Comics decided to make the move after exploring the open marketplace:

Paul Levitz, president and publisher of DC Comics, said the decision to change its distribution after so many years with Warner Books was spurred by Hachette’s purchase of the Time Warner Book Group and the end of its longtime distribution agreement with Warner. “We’ve had a very positive experience with Time Warner/Hachette, but the sale gave us an opportunity to explore the marketplace. The graphic novel business has changed to an astounding degree over the last 20 years and we decided to look at the market and see what the distribution market is like now and what it might look like in the future.”

As stated above, Levitz believes the graphic novel game is changing and that a sophisticated sales force is necessary. He sees Random House as having a leg up on competitors in this category. He also believes that RH is better poised to distribute their comics to the independents. Some are seeing this as having a big impact on mainstream acceptance of graphic novels. (I kinda think that ball is rolling already, but.) You can read the full article here.