Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: Ad Populum, diamond, Fabrice Sapolsky

Diamond Owner Ad Populum Still Ghosting Comic Book Publishers

Diamond Comic Distributors' new owner Ad Populum/Sparkle Pop is still ghosting comic book publishers over due payments

Last week, Bleeding Cool reported we had heard from a number of comic publishers, many of whom are seriously out of pocket over the Diamond Comic Distributors Chapter 11 bankruptcy, that they are also waiting on the now-overdue first payments from Ad Populum. Under the name Sparkle Pop, the IP owner and merch distributor Ad Populum bought Diamond Comic Distributors at auction last month, part of Diamond's bankruptcy dealings.

That a new post-bankruptcy due date to pay publishers, came and went, with Diamond telling vendors that Ad Populum has said that invoices would not be paid, going to the top of the company. Ad Populum however believed that they had made payments to the bankruptcy estate to pay publishers, and it was up to that estate to distribute those payments.

Advice from Ad Populum for publishers was to reach out to assigned support teams – if they were there. if not there was a general contact form which was checked every day and Ad Populum were committed to getting back to those who reach out with problems. We asked you to let Bleeding Cool know how you got on.

Well, we have heard back. No publisher I spoke to has received a response from Ad Populum. Comic book publisher Fabrice Sapolsky of FairSquare Graphics posted on Facebook, "Publishers x Diamond Distributors. Episode 594. Statements come weekly. Payments don't. #WTF."

Benjamin Napier, owner of comic book store Mansfield Comics And Manga in Texas, replied, "They sure as hell bill us weekly, FWIW…". More on that on Bleeding Cool later today. But Sapolsky replied, "The fact that the new management doesn't even answer such a simple question is baffling. By contract, we SHOULD be paid. And you should get your books on time. But accountability was never a quality praised at that company, so I guess no improvement on that front, alas."

Talking with Sapolsky afterwards, he told me, "Ad Populum hasn't communicated with their employees about anything. It's going to be a long agony until the end of the year. We're not owed anywhere near what Dynamite is owed, but still. Publishers have deals. We signed them and Diamond, as long as it exists as an entity, with the same EIN, should respect contracts. Which right now is not the case. Even proceeds from post-May 16 haven't been sent to us… Honestly, I don't know how other publishers of our size do. We're only surviving because of our model with a strong convention presence and direct-to-consumer strategy for years. But comics deserve better than this circus."

Bleeding Cool reached out to Ad Populum about the contact issue over the weekend without a response, which seems to be everyone's experience right now. They are, however, keeping the lawyers busy.

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