Like Jason From, "Friday the 13th," the Diamond Case Rises From the Grave!

It was done, finally. It was actually done, it seemed. Diamond Comic Distributors had gone out of business, and the new owners of its business-corpse were selling inventory (that wasn't theirs to sell) like some twisted horror movie where a person keeps getting organs taken away and sold piece-by-piece whilst still technically being, "Alive." However, a bunch of agreements were finally reached about this inventory, as it was one of the last remaining issues of what was, "Left," of Diamond. Yet, things keep happening! Now, the company that bought Diamond and scrapped it for parts, Sparkle Pop, is playing the victim despite most of their woes being self-inflicted!

I have referred to Diamond as a zombie company, but that phrase really doesn't work because zombies eventually can be put down if you damage them enough. No, this whole case has turned into a, "Friday the 13th," franchise. We think Jason is finally down for the count, but then he rises again for a new flick to wreak havoc, no matter how many times matters seem resolved. Sparkle Pop dislikes any kind of settlement between "Old," Diamond and the folks suing for their consigned goods, as they're the new owner of Diamond (even though Diamond was killed by Sparkle Pop) and letting people into their warehouse to collect heavy comics could results in injuries--somehow--and open them up to more lawsuits...or something else random Sparkle Pop has actually claimed. 

"Someone could get hurt lugging those comics around, perish the thought!"

Oh, plus we should never forget that Chase Bank wants its 6.5 million dollars and change from somebody, as they, "Kept on lending Old Diamond money to keep operating after they filed for bankruptcy. In retrospect, that was a really bad investment, but hindsight is 20/20. Diamond went from declaring bankruptcy in January of 2025 to completely shutting down within that single calendar year in December; it felt astonishingly fast. At this rate, however, the arguments over Diamond's, "Remains," could take longer than the company's speedy demise. In the words of John Mellencamp in his song, "Pink Houses," and being taken only slightly out of context (the song is actually quite critical) by myself, "Oh, ain't that America?"

"Free Comic Book Day," Will Go Up Against/With, "Comics Giveaway Day," Due to Trademark Disputes

Universal Distribution bought the rights to Free Comic Day from what was left of Diamond after Populum/Sparkle Pop ripped it to shreds. I mean, in the sense of owning the name and the general idea of how it is a day for stores to give away free comics from publishers to folks who stop by the shops. Many places do promotions, giveaways, and sales for FCBD, and now it is back, but wait, there are complications, as with anything that comes from the remains of Diamond!

Universal was going to just have DC and Dynamite (who they are set to distribute) as a part of theire Free Comic Book Day, but an agreement was made with Lunar and the companies they distribute, which also include DC and Dynamite, plus Archie Comics, Image Comics, Mad Cave Studios,  Oni Press, Titan Comics, Udon Entertainment as well as Vault Comics. The thing is, Penguin Random House could not reach an agreement with Universal and is the distributor for Marvel Comics, Boom, IDW, DSTLRY, Ignition, and more. Hence, PRH said, "Screw you guys, we'll do our own comic event!" As a result, we now have, "Comics Giveaway Day."

Both Free Comic Book Day and Comics Giveaway Day will happen on the first Saturday of May. That is when FCBD always occurs, and when the other event will just so happen to take place as well. People who go to a comic shop on May 2nd of 2026 won't be impacted per se, you'll just get your free comics regardless of the branding. Shops might have a slight headache filling out differing forms and such, however. Whatever the case, I look forward to Free Comic Book Day/Comics Giveaway Day/whatever, free stuff!

Could the Diamond Comics Distributors Mess Finally Be Nearing an End?

Remember the start of 2025 when Diamond Comic Distributors somewhat casually announced they were going into bankruptcy but expected to emerge from it okay and stronger than ever? We were all so young and naive those 10-ish months ago. Since so much has happened with Diamond trying to sell itself, find a buyer (Alliance Entertainment), trying to decline that buyer, getting sued by AE, having AE decide they want to drop out, getting the comic business aspect bought by Ad Populum--who proceeded to run Diamond into the ground and basically kill the company while selling inventory it had no right to (what's left is essentially a zombie shell of a company that exists only to sue people). Yeah, a long ten months. Well, an end could be in sight!

Basically, everyone started suing Diamond. Oh, and Diamond has done its own legal proceedings, and it is an expensive mess of lawyer bills whittling away any solvency Diamond could have claimed to have. To save some liquid capital, everyone has, "...agreed to submit their disputes to the Court’s Bankruptcy Dispute Resolution Program." 30-ish different lawsuits will all coalesce into a mediation to hopefully have everybody walk away at least somewhat satisfied. A single judge,  Judge Catliota, will be in charge of handling a wheelbarrow-load of disputes. Oh, but in a theoretically unrelated manner, Diamond's new owner, Ad Populum/Sparkle Pop, is suing publisher Dynamite Entertainment, so don't go thinking all comic-book distribution disputes will be done by any means!