Posted in: Ablaze Publishing, Black Mask Studios, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Fantagraphics | Tagged: Ad Hoc, diamond

Comic Book Publishers Win Round One Against Diamond Comics In Court

While the matter is far from settled, the Ad Hoc Committee of comic book publishers' Motion to Stay Diamond's liquidation attempt has been granted.

Published Mon, 18 Aug 2025 18:27:05 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Mon, 18 Aug 2025 18:53:20 -0500

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Bleeding Cool is coming in hot from the first day of the hearings of the Diamond Comic Distributors Chapter 11 bankruptcy case being held in the Bankruptcy Court of Baltimore. With the news that the comic book publishers have won round one against Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., the debtors in the bankruptcy. Who have been trying to liquidate all the stock held on consignment for the owners, the publishers, with the proceeds not going to the publishers but to the banks. Specifically, the Ad Hoc Committee's Motion to Stay against Diamond has been granted, according to a court docket entry this evening. This means that the liquidation motion is halted until the matter moves into adversary proceedings. The Debtor will now have to sue each and every consignment vendor, publisher, and manufacturer whose stock they hold on consignment, individually, in adversary proceedings, if they want to assert their ability to liquidate any of those consigned comic books. While the matter of liquidation is far from over, this is still being viewed as an important early win for the publishers.

Also approved was the decision to sell Diamond UK to its management team, a two-million-dollar deal that was proposed and agreed upon earlier in the proceedings. All other matters will now continue tomorrow or the day after. In granting the motion to stay the liquidation today, the court also noted that the Order is to be prepared by the Movant's (the Ad Hoc Committee's) council, as is customary. In its earlier filing on this matter, the Ad Hoc Committee submitted a draft document of how this order might be structured.

ORDERED, that the stay of the Sale Motion shall remain in place until and unless the Debtors both (i) commence an adversary proceeding against each and every consignor that sold any of the goods contemplated to be sold by the Debtors in connection with the Sale Motion, and (ii) obtain a final judgment in any such adversary proceeding finding that the proposed property to be sold in connection with the Sale Motion is property of the Debtors' estates. Notwithstanding, if the Debtors and the alleged owners of any property contemplated to be sold come to a consensual agreement as to the sale of the alleged owners' respective property, nothing herein shall prevent the parties from seeking approval of any such agreement and entry of an Order permitting the proposed sale of the respective property; and it is further 4.
ORDERED, that neither any of the Debtors nor any other party shall sell any property described in (and which is the subject of) the Sale Motion until such time as this Court has entered a final order permitting the sale of such property.

But this matter is far from over, and this week's hearings will continue on the issue of the publishers' Motion Seeking Entry of an Order Requiring the Debtors to Assume or Reject Executory Contracts with members of the Ad Hoc Committee. This, too, is expected to have a direct impact on the status of the consignment issue. The Ad Hoc Committee was formed from publishers Ablaze, American Mythology Productions, Avatar Press, Battle Quest Comics, Action Lab, Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, Green Ronin, Hermes Press, Living the Line, Paizo, Udon and Zenescope.