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Black Panel Press Launches GoFundMe After Diamond Comics Bankruptcy

Black Panel Press launches a GoFundMe campaign after Diamond Comic Distributors declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and stopped paying them

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Article Summary

  • Black Panel Press launches GoFundMe to stay afloat after Diamond Comics' bankruptcy.
  • Publisher owed $28,000 by Diamond, struggles to pay author royalties and print new titles.
  • Raised over $4,000 towards a $5,000 goal from 41 donors; needs help to stabilize.
  • Focus on bringing global comic titles to North America, like "Shadows on the Ice."

Comic book publishers Black Panel Press, based in St. John's, Newfoundland in Canada, started in 2017 with the goal of bringing exceptional international titles to North America, and have sold over 12,000 copies of 24 different books. So we are talking small press, small print runs, but as a result of the Diamond Comic Distributor announcement of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and suspension of all payments to publishers, they are in a pickle, even before they get hit with the currently-on-hold Canadian-to-USA tariffs. As a result, they have launched a Gofund Me "to make sure we don't lose our publishing house." Andrew Benteau,  publisher of Black Panel Press states;

"After the best year in the company's history (over 5,000 books sold and receiving the prestigious JLG Gold Selection for Shadows on the Ice), our distributor Diamond Comics has filed for bankruptcy, owing us over $28,000. We need that money to pay our authors' royalties and to print our upcoming titles, plus everything else that goes into running a business. We have a plan to set things back on course, but we need help to get us through the next few months. After that period, either Diamond will stabilize or we'll have new distribution. This company has been a labor of love for seven years. We've published books by creators from all over the world, many of whom have told me how no other publishers were interested in their books. Comics are important; we need more of them, not less."

They have currently raised $4,085 against a $5,000 target from 41 donations. Current titles include

  • The Lake
  • Wretched
  • Shadows on the Ice: The 1972 Andes Disaster
  • Kiss the Sky: Jimi Hendrix 1942-1970
  • Conquest: Julius Caesar's Gallic War
  • A Pillbug Story
  • The Last Starry Night
  • Animals Rule This Land
  • Illegal Cargo
  • Al Capone
  • Gore
  • The Amazing Camel Toe
  • All Talk
  • Camp Pock-a-Wocknee & The Dynomite Summer of '77
  • My First Pandemic
  • Ivanhoe Backus
  • Dumpster Fire
  • Queer in Asia
  • The Mad Tsar
  • Inhuman Trials
  • The Corsair
  • Jeanne & Modigliani: Paris in the dark
  • Ancient Astronauts

And about to be published:

  • He Lost His Keys in Space
  • Pavil's Mask
  • Pushing Buttons
  • DiSCONNECT

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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from The Union Club on Greek Street, shops at Gosh, Piranha and FP. Father of two daughters. Political cartoonist.
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