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

Publishers Don't Know Who's Selling The Comics Coming Out of Diamond

Comic book publishers don't know who is selling the comics still coming out of Diamond Comic Distributors

Published Tue, 05 Aug 2025 07:57:04 -0500

In a significant development in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., the Ad Hoc Committee of Consignors, made up of 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 have filed paperwork to demand that Diamond tells them what's going on with the consigned inventory of their comics worth over $13.5 million that Diamond don't own but are looking to sell off anyway.

Because the Ad Hoc Committee publishers claim that someone has been selling the stock held by Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., the debtor entity in this bankruptcy, after the date Ad Populum/Sparkle Pop bought Diamond, on the 15th of May.

But according to Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc, the debtor, it's not them, and they're not saying who it is. The Ad Hoc Committee states "The Debtor has confirmed that it has not sold stock after May 15, 2025, but has declined to voluntarily provide any information to the Consignors as to who sold Stock after May 15, 2025, which Stock was sold, or what payments remain due and owing to the Consignors on account of the sales. The Debtors have declined to voluntarily provide any information to the Consignors as to how any party other than the Diamond Distributor Debtor could sell Stock without a properly assumed and assigned agreement to do so." Here's what is owed to them, and the period for which it is owed.

	Total Post-Petition Amount Owed	Post-Petition Arrears (through to May 15, 2025)	Post-Petition Arrears (after May 15, 2025)
Ablaze, LLC	$45,522.27	$30,000.51	$15,521.76
American Mythology	$34,329.86	$12,302.24	$22,027.62
Avatar Press	$52,695.48	$4,938.02	$47,757.46
Battle Quest	$2,393.64	$2,393.64	$0.00
Drawn & Quarterly	$1,105.50	$511.94	$593.56
Fantagraphics	$46,513.54	$7,009.54	$39,504.00
Green Ronin	$8,286.21	$7,820.06	$ 466.15
Hermes Press	TBD	TBD	TBD
Living the Line	$18,991.64	0	$18,991.64
Paizo	$255,937.97	$73,201.70	$182,736.27
Udon	$20,192.32	0	$ 20,192.32
Zenescope	$70,003.41	$25,190.69	$44,812.72
TOTAL	$555,971.84	$163,368.34	$347,790.78

As a group, they're also owed around half a million for comics and merchandise sold, post-bankruptcy, between January and July 2025, and two-thirds of that is for sales after May 15, 2025, when Diamond says it supposedly stopped selling their stock. As the Ad Hoc Committee say, "the Consignors are collectively owed and unpaid for post-May 15, 2025, Stock sales, but do not know who is selling their property. This is not permissible, particularly where there has been no effective assumption or assignment of the Consignors' agreements. The Consignors expressly reserve all rights to seek recovery with respect to any claims that they may have against Sparkle Pop, or any third party that wrongfully received proceeds from the sale of the Consignors' stock without this Court's approval."

On the 27th of May, Diamond sent an email stating it was now owned by Ad Populum (Sparkle Pop's parent company) and that this new entity was handling payments for sales after the 16th of May. But the publishers say this is misleading because their contracts were never handed over to anyone else. They're worried someone is selling their comics without permission. The agreements allow Diamond to store, sell, and pay for the publishers' products, but Diamond hasn't decided whether to keep these agreements or cancel them. This leaves publishers in the dark, unable to find new distributors or recover their comics. The publishers want the court to make Diamond decide right now whether to keep or cancel these agreements.

The Ad Hoc Committee is asking the bankruptcy courts to give Diamond seven days to say if it will keep the agreements (and pay what's owed) or cancel them. And that if Diamond doesn't decide, the agreements should automatically be cancelled, and in which case the publishers want their comics and merchandise back immediately. And if Diamond wants to keep their agreements, it must pay what's owed and say who, if anyone, will take over the contracts. Publishers get a week to object to these plans.

The publishers argue that Diamond has had enough time, over six months, to figure out its finances and that there's no point delaying since Diamond already sold most of its business and isn't operating anymore. They're also worried about losing more money if their comics keep being sold without their consent.

Intriguingly, the paperwork also stated that Drawn & Quarterly's agreement with Diamond isn't by contract but "is governed by the parties' email correspondence and/or oral agreements", but that it "believes the material terms of its agreement with the Debtors are/should be determined to be the same as the Contracts."