PublishersWeekly.com

Diamond Comic Bankruptcy Leads to a Haze of Uncertainty

Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

When Diamond Comic Distributors filed for bankruptcy in January, everyone in the comics world knew the industry was in for a shake-up. But no one could have predicted the battle royale that ensued. Now, publishers are left guessing at the best path forward.

Panel Mania: ‘Parable of the Talents’ by Octavia Butler, Adapted by Damian Duffy and John Jennings

Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The science fiction legend’s dystopian masterwork has been adapted into a timely graphic novel by Damian Duffy and John Jennings. A nine-page excerpt.

Is Joe Sacco Done with Graphic Journalism?

Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The Eisner Award winner suggested that The Once and Future Riot, out in October from Metropolitan Books, could be his last longform work in a genre he pioneered.

Panel Mania: ‘Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance’ by Denali Sai Nalamalapu

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

This graphic memoir is a moving account and tribute to the local West Virginia activists fighting to protect their land from the ravages of the Mountain Valley Pipeline project.

Meet Boom! Studios Publisher Michael Kelly

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The Hasbro veteran, who has a background in both books and comics, was tapped to lead the storied comics house following its acquisition by Penguin Random House last year. And he has big plans for its future.

Alliance Calls Off Diamond Comic Distributors Deal

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

In yet another twist in the Diamond Comic bankruptcy proceedings, Alliance Entertainment terminated its agreement to purchase the company’s assets the day before an April 25 court hearing. Diamond owners promised to announce a new deal “very shortly.”

PW Close-Up: Mark Siegel on the New 23rd Street Imprint

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The founder and creative and editorial director of First Second talked with PW about his graphic novel house's new adult imprint, touching on everything from its early beginnings to its exciting first list. (Sponsored)

Alliance Entertainment Takes Diamond

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

After a brief legal fight, Alliance Entertainment has been named the winning bidder for the assets of Diamond Comic Distributors.

Alliance Appears to Win Its Bid for Diamond Comic Distributors

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

A brief filing made late on April 10 suggests that the court is prepared to back the offer made for Diamond by Alliance Entertainment over a lower bid from Universal Entertainment and Ad Populum.

Walkin’ the Streets with R. Crumb: PW Talks with Dan Nadel

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Pioneering counterculture cartoonist Robert Crumb finally gets his due in Crumb (Pantheon, Apr.), a new biography from the Picturebox Comics founder and former Comics Journal editor.

Panel Mania: ‘Remember Us to Life: A Graphic Memoir’ by Joanna Rubin Dranger

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

This powerful and scrupulously compiled record tells the story of Dranger’s family’s experiences leading up to and during the Holocaust—and serves as a powerful memorial to the suffering of its victims and survivors.

Fight Breaks Out for Ownership of Diamond Comic Distributors

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

After agreeing to accept a bid from Alliance Entertainment as part of a Chapter 11 reorganization, Diamond owners terminated the deal in favor of a joint offer from Universal Distribution and Ad Populum. The action triggered a lawsuit from Alliance, and the matter is now in the hands of two courts.

Diamond Comic Distributors Has a Buyer. Now What?

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

After two months of intense speculation, the comics business finally has an answer to its biggest question of late: the bankrupt Diamond Comic Distributors is slated for acquisition by Alliance Entertainment, a new player in the sector.

Panel Mania: ‘Aya: Face the Music’ by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The latest volume in Abouet and Oubrerie’s graphic novel series about a savvy teenage girl’s adventures in 1980s Côte d’Ivoire finds its protagonist, Aya, in college, where she gets caught in a campus protest turned violent. A 7-page excerpt.

Plausible Motives: PW Talks with Margie and Matt Kindt

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

A 70-year-old woman, her great-nephew, and a mysterious pair of armchairs take an action-filled trip to Paris in the graphic novel murder mystery Gilt Frame (Dark Horse, Mar.), the first-ever collaboration by the mother-son duo.

2025 SI MoCCA Fest Mixes Celebration with Politics

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The environment at this year’s bustling Society of Illustrators’ Museum of Comics and Cartoon Arts Festival felt celebratory and welcoming in spite of the looming shadow of increasingly fraught global politics.

Joseph Montagne Promoted to Publisher at Abrams ComicArts

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Montagne, who previously served as associate publisher, joined ComicArts when it was established in 2023. In his new role, he'll focus on growing the division's presence in the graphic novel, manga, and comic book market.

Panel Mania: ‘Galaxy of Madness’ by Magdalene Visaggio and Michael Avon Oeming

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

This brainy sci-fi adventure thriller from Mad Cave Studios is full of lively banter and richly illustrated mysteries. A 7-page excerpt.

Redwood, Flower, Weeping Willow: PW Talks with Ricky Lima

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Lima pulls back the curtain on his latest comics collaboration, Undergrowth, and how working in publishing prepared him to release a book of his own.

‘Strange Bedfellows’ Marvel and Fantagraphics Team Up for New Archival Line

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Marvel is once again partnering with Fantagraphics Books, the Seattle-based independent publisher and longtime bastion of, well, everything that Marvel is not. Their new Lost Marvels line will cover Marvel’s lesser known and previously unreprinted material from the late 1960s through the mid ’80s.

Now Try This: 7 Titles Comics Retailers Love to Handsell

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Booksellers share their favorite new graphic novels they’ve convinced picky fans to sample.

Stronger Together: Retailers Turn to ComicsPRO

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

ComicsPRO president Joe Murray talks to PW about how the national organization provides resources for direct market specialty stores, as the industry faces disruption in distribution.

If You Build It, Comic Book Fans Will Come

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Comics shop owners shore up customer loyalty with events, clubs, and personalized service, helping small shops thrive in hard times.

Panel Mania: ‘Life Drawing’ by Jaime Hernandez

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Jaime Hernandez’s new graphic novel is a generational update on the lives of his fictional punk rock duo Maggie and Hopey from the original Locas and Love and Rockets comics series. A ten-page excerpt.

At ComicsPRO 2025, the Comics Business Looks for Solutions

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

With Diamond Comic Distributors in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings and sales of comics periodicals flying unexpectedly high, things looked very different at this year’s conference for direct market comics retailers.

Will the Diamond Bankruptcy Change the Comics Business Forever?

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Publishers and comics shops continue to scramble to shift to other distributors and brace themselves for lost income following Diamond Comic Distributors’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in January. Meanwhile, the entire comics business is asking itself: What now?

Panel Mania: ‘The Girl Who Flew Away’ by Lee Dean

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The moody, stylishly crafted graphic novel, about a young woman of mixed race who struggles to make sense of the course of her life in 1970s America, is forthcoming from Iron Circus Comics in March.

Comics Classic ‘Billi 99’ Returns to Print After 34 Years

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The 1991 collaboration between Sarah Byam and the late comics artist Tim Sale has been reissued with the help of a crowdfunding campaign and San Diego–based indie publisher Clover Press. PW talked with Byam about returning to ‘Billi 99’ and working with Sale, who died in 2022.

Raccoon Hijinks: PW Talks with Alex Krokus

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

In his second collection, Loud & Smart & in Color (Silver Sprocket, Feb.), the cartoonist and his signature animal avatar return with a collection that toggles between the absurd and the mundane—this time, in full color.

Dark Horse Media Downsizes

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Citing high overhead, changing market conditions, and external economic factors, the company said it was reducing staff as part of its efforts to streamline operations.

Cost Cuts Lower Losses at Comics Publisher IDW

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Across the board reductions helped ameliorate the graphic novel publisher's losses in fiscal 2024 by $3.5 million as sales remained basically flat at $26 million.

With L.A. Fires Subsiding, the Book Industry Sustains Action

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400

As Los Angeles first responders brought wildfires under control last week, those in literary circles persevered in delivering mutual aid and contributing to fundraisers.

Panel Mania: ‘Surrounded: America’s First School for Black Girls, 1832’ by Wilfrid Lupano and Stéphane Fert

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400

This artfully fictionalized graphic history is based on the true story of a groundbreaking educator and a courageous class of Black girls 30 years before the Civil War. A ten-page excerpt.

Jules Feiffer—Author, Illustrator, Cartoonist, and More—Dies at 95

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The multitalented cartoonist and writer, known for a caustic wit that earned him an Academy Award, a Pulitzer Prize, and a place in the Comic Book Hall of Fame, died on January 17, just shy of his 96th birthday.

The Far Corners of This World: PW Talks with Mike Mignola

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The creator of Hellboy returns to comics on January 22 with the debut anthology volume in a series called Lands Unknown, published by a new Dark Horse Comics imprint, Curious Objects. Mignola spoke with PW about folklore, worldbuilding, and more.

Panel Mania: 'Six Treasures of the Spiral: Comics Formed Under Pressure' by Matt Madden

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400

This savvy selection of short experimental comics is based on the concept of self-imposed creative restraints. An 11-page excerpt.

Diamond Comic Distributors Files for Bankruptcy

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The future of the comics distribution and graphic novel divisions at the company, which has been a linchpin in the distribution of comics to comics shops since its founding in 1982, is anything but certain. It owes its largest creditor, Penguin Random House, $9.2 million.

Five Comics Business Storylines to Watch in 2025

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The coming year seems poised to usher in a turbulent, albeit potentially lucrative, era for many industries, and comics and graphic novel publishing is no different. Here are five storylines to keep an eye on.

Comics Arts Los Angeles Is Back in Business