Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: diamond, lunar

Uncivilized Books, Living The Line And Current Distribution

Uncivilized Books helps out Living The Line, in the wake of Diamond Comic Distributor's bankruptcy

UPDATE: Thanks to Matt Battaglia for contacting Bleeding Cool about this, looks like we may have jumped the gun. Uncivilized Books is just offering select titles from Living The Line through their website rather than through their distribution network. They add, "that being said, there is a core concern that Uncivilized and Living the Line share. We both have long-standing relationships with Diamond Comics. In the wake of Diamond's Chapter 11 filing, we had hoped their reorganization would stabilize the market. Instead, the opposite has occurred. New ownership has failed to offer any payment timeline for books already delivered. At the same time, publishers are asked to solicit more titles despite having no communication since the new ownership period. This situation is unsustainable. Publishers and shops are asked to continue operations based on faith alone, with no outreach, no clarity, and no public plan from either the Diamond "estate" or the new owners. The uncertainty is damaging not only to our businesses but to the larger ecosystem of independent creator-owned comics. We urge new Diamond owners Ad Populum to publicly address unpaid invoices and provide a concrete roadmap for repayment of all outstanding debts, including those incurred within the reorganization period. Without this, publishers like Uncivilized and Living the Line, who rely on timely cash flow to release ambitious, artist-driven work, cannot continue at their current pace." The original, incorrect article runs below:

Uncivilized Books is a boutique comics publishing house based in Minneapolis, founded by cartoonist Tom Kaczynski in 200 and which was an early sign-up to Lunar Distribution, has clarified its own current distribution decisions, as well as what's happening with fellow publisher Living The Line, which debuted in 2021 with Dave Sim's The Strange Death of Alex Raymond. They state;

"Many of you have probably followed the sordid Diamond Distribution bankruptcy saga. The story has reached a kind of conclusion. Ad Populum, a pop culture distributor, purchased the ailing company… and promptly fired everyone. They're still not paying their vendors. They owe us several thousand dollars for the last couple of issues of The Sickness. There's no timeline for payment. Likely, we'll never see that money. We're going to stop shipping any future books to them, until something changes. But, at least we're lucky to have other distributors, Lunar and Ingram, so our comics can still go out into stores uninterrupted. Others aren't as lucky. Our pals at Living the Line were exclusive with Diamond, and now they effectively don't have a distributor. We've gotta stick together in tough times, so we're helping them get their new Manga, Face Meat, out into the world. Translated by the award-winning Ryan Holmberg, Face Meat is a wild and decadent tour-de-force from horror Manga pioneer Bonten Taro. Consider checking it out. More info below. In this time of industry turmoil, your support is more invaluable than ever! Thank you all for supporting us directly! — Tom K"

So, look for Living The Line titles to come out through Uncivilised Books going forward. Here's their current line-up.

• The Pit by Erik Kriek (April 2025)
• Face Meat by Bonten Taro (May 2025)
• The Rabagoo Race by  Garresh (August 2025)
• My Gorilla Family by Iijima Ichiro (August 2025)
• Harpy by EPHK (September 2025)
• UNANNOUNCED CLASSIC HORROR MANGA (October 2025)
• UK In a Bad Way And Other Stories  by James Harvey (November 2025)
• The Complete CD Gibson — A Widow and Her Friends (1899-1901) by CD Gibson (December 2025)
• Moonray Book Three: Blood Song (February 2026)
• Polly and Molly by Jason Little (March 2026)
• Bound by Carson Grubaugh (TBA)
• Gods Die Slowly by Troy Nixey (TBA)
• Four Smudge titles by TBA (TBA)

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