Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Dynamite | Tagged: diamond, gail simone

As Court Denies Dynamite Over Diamond, Comic Creators Rally Round

As the Bankruptcy Court denies Dynamite motion to expedite their hearing over payment issues in Diamond bankruptcy case, comic creators rally round to help.

Published Thu, 03 Jul 2025 15:47:04 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Comments

At the end of May, I reported that Dynamite Entertainment had filed paperwork with the US Bankruptcy Courts regarding the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Diamond Comic Distributors. Claiming that payments that should have been made for comic books and merchandise delivered, should be counted as "administrative expenses", with hundreds of pages of listings of items that had not been paid for. If successful, Dynamite will receive payments as a matter of priority. Diamond Comic Distributors Inc., the debtor entity in this bankruptcy, challenged this attempt.

This week, I reported that Dynamite had asked the courts to hurry this along, saying that "the Bankruptcy Rules allows the Court to shorten notice periods… that "when an act is required or allowed to be done at or within a specified time by these rules or by a notice given thereunder or by order of court, the court for cause shown may in its discretion with or without motion or notice order the period reduced."

They pointed out that "Dynamite is currently owed over $1 million for shipments made to the Debtor and Ad Populum LLC, a majority of which are administrative expenses. Dynamite, a small company with less than 30 employees, does not have the funds to make payroll next week, if it is not promptly paid by the Debtor. The Debtor has filed a vague objection asserting potential setoffs, but has not communicated any such setoffs to Dynamite. Dynamite is aware of multiple other publishers who remain unpaid for millions of dollars of shipments post-petition. The Debtor has had multiple weeks to prepare for a hearing and has not communicated at all with Dynamite regarding resolution of the Motion."

The Baltimore bankruptcy courts heard the case as to whether these procedures should be expedited in this case and decided the case was not compelling enough. Dynamite CEO Nick Barrucci wasn't even allowed to speak on the matter

Now Dynamite Entertainment is in real trouble and doing its best to stave off its own payment problems. And have recently launched a Humble Bundle specifically to help raise money to take care of everyone on staff, featuring Disney titles such as Gargoyles, Darkwing Duck, Hercules, Disney Villains and Lilo & Stitch as well as raising money for First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children in need. And comic book creators have been spreading the word.

Gail Simone: "I urge EVERY ONE of you to check this out. Dynamite is an IMPORTANT publisher. They publish a variety of books no one else is doing, and their loss would be a huge blow to the industry. Due to short-sightedness and more from other players in this story, Dynamite is in a position any publisher would struggle to overcome. These are good guys, the best guys. This is just not right. Please check out their humble bundle. I almost always buy them anyway because they are just huge armfuls of great comics."

Joe Pruett: "If you like comic books, please consider helping out my friends at Dynamite as they are owed over $1 million dollars from the disaster that is the bankruptcy of Diamond Comics, and buying something directly from them. Diamond is also trying to liquidate all their consignment stock stored at their warehouses, which should be illegal, as they do not own it. They have some of my stock from the Desperado Publishing days, which I also cannot get back from them and will have to file a motion in court to try to do so. Help Nice and Dynamite gang, if you're able to"

Amanda Deibert: "This is awful. Dynamite is a wonderful publisher to work with and I am so sad they are getting screwed liked this. BUY THE HUMBLE BUNDLE!!"

Sweeney Boo: "Dynamite's Disney comics are available on humble bundle with portion of the proceeds going to First Book"