Diamond Comic Distributors Screwed Over Everybody One Last Time

Diamond Comic Distributors is dead. It ceased any form of operations on December 31st, 2025. That said, they have managed to screw over everybody one last time from the metaphorical grave. Folks may recall that Diamond was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy at first and supposedly planned to pay back everyone what they were owed. This led to some fiascos as they tried to liquidate inventory in their warehouses that did not belong to them from publishers...who they needed to sell the stuff to pay back--talk about borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, as the expression goes! Eventually, everything shifted to Chapter 7--meaning there would be no reorganization as opposed to totally shutting down and being stripped for parts. This led to some hope that there would be a bit of money for the many parties owed funds. Well, as Bleeding Cool posted, " It appears that the millions raised from selling parts of the company to Ad Populum, Universal Distribution, and the managers of Diamond UK, will be wiped out by legal fees and bank fees, which have been mounting up over the past year." 

So much was spent on all the lawsuits and bank fees that there are zero dollars for the people Diamond entered bankruptcy in the first place to supposedly pay back. That means,"...looking at the detailed individual listings, no one is getting anything in those Final Allowed Amount columns. Whether you are Penguin Random House, owed $8,941,467.05, or a former employee, Chris Powell, owed $11,900. The legal case continues through the courts, especially over the consigned inventory, but it seems the courts have already found against comic book publishers Valiant, Netcomics, and Digital Manga." 

Yep, everyone gets nothing, nada--to quote Willy Wonka, "You lose! Good day, Sir!" This is the equivalent of going to a reading of a will and finding out your dear departed Granny left all her money to the pool boy/girl, and all your books you had at her house were being used as collateral for her gambling debts. I joke...but not really? It remains wild to think how Diamond spent 2025 declaring bankruptcy in January and being dead and gone by December. Now, it's both depressing and a bit impressive that it managed one final, "Up yours," to everyone. 

Dynamite and Coffin Comics to Co-Publish

Coffin Comics is the indie publisher owned by Brian Pulido that has pubished a number of series, with the big one being, "Lady Death," since he got the rights back some years ago following some nasty lawsuits with Avatar Press. That said, Lady Death used to be a part of the Chaos! Comics publishing line, along with other characters including Evil Ernie, Purgatori, Chastity, and more. The rights to those characters ended up with Dynamite, making it quite interesting that the Chaos! Comics line, in a sense, is reunited now that it has been announced Coffin Comics is going to partner with Dynamite and co-publish.

When Diamond Comic Distributors went under it was hard for Coffin as they were bigger than a micro-publisher but not large enough to interest Lunar/PRH, it would appear. By partnering with Dynamite, they can do more than direct to consumer and Kickstarter (although they've had immense success with those methods), and it makes the rights a bit less messy to republish a bunch of old Chaos! Comics--which is already planned via an, "Evil Ernie," three-volume set of his earliest adventures that haven't been collected in years, or ever. Diamond going under made things hard for lots of publishers, but many have--thankfully--found a way to survive and even thrive!

Groundhog Day, Politics, and the Power of Belief

It is Groundhog Day. The day ties into one of the funniest movies around--"Groundhog Day," with Bill Murray--and features multiple cities with rodents supposedly predicting how much winter we will or will not be having this year. I could be snarky about how people ignore climate scientists and listen to a groundhog, but you know what, in 2026, I'll take someone who believes a groundhog over anyone who still supports Donald Trump. I have forgiven people who admitted voting for Trump in 2016 and then not supporting him again after the travesty that was his first term. If someone told me they voted for him in the most recent election, even, but didn't know things would get so bad and regretted it, okay. If, in 2026, seeing how awful things are, someone still supports Trump, though? That's more delusional than believing with 100% certainty that a rodent predicts and/or controls the weather.

Between the silencing of journalists, using ICE as a personal Gestapo, lying about things we outright see with our eyes (people being murdered in the street and painted as domestic terrorists), having it illustrated in the smidgen of Epstein files released Trump is a rapist (we all knew that already), and shutting down programs that educate people and keep the populace healthy...just, how can anyone in their right mind support this? Five-year-olds getting arrested and detained, citizens killed with it claimed they are terrorists, concrete proof that Trump was sexually assaulting children on a rape island, and so forth. The first term was dumb, the second term is pure fascism. We had a breather between Trump terms with Joe Biden, but now we live in a surreal Hell of America's own making. So yeah, it isn't that crazy to think some people take a perfectly innocent groundhog seriously when there are people out there still excusing Trump instead of calling for him to be behind bars. In other words, Punxsutawney Phil for President in 2028--at least he isn't the Epstein files.

Do You Enjoy the, "Fallout," Show? Pay a Bunch for Some DLC in a, "Fallout 76," Cash Grab!

The, "Fallout," television show will be wrapping up its second season soon--there is just one episode left. There are no, "Fallout," games currently in the works that we know of (despite rumors of remasters), so the most recent one would be, "Fallout 76," which is an online multiplayer affair that launched as a buggy mess in 2018 but has, apparently, become quite fun and workable. Without spoiling too much, the penultimate episode of the show's season featured a really snazzy Power Armor from the Northern California Republic being taken out of storage to fight some Deathclaws. This event was celebrated in, "Fallout 76," with some tie-in downloadable content...that costs thirty bucks.

To put all this in perspective, when, "Fallout 76," launched it was sixty dollars at the time. For half of the initial cost of the game, you can get an admittedly cool power armor design, a handful of items, and little else. Right now, the game is eight bucks! Fans are understandably perturbed that they can't even use in-game currency they could have accumulated via playing the game for a while to buy this Power Armor; it is cash money or bust. I love some of the single-player, "Fallout," games, but didn't really vibe with, "Fallout 76," as outside of when I used to play, "World of Warcraft," I don't do big ol' Multiplayer worlds much. If I were playing this game though, I'd refuse to drop thirty smackers on even the coolest Power Armor. Bethesda can charge what they want, but I support fans saying, "Nah," too.

I Read and Enjoyed the Strangest Two-Volume (Raunchy) Manga

As 2025 wound down I was reading, "The Comics Journal," and their massive article where contributors discuss their favorite books of the year. Helen Chazan talked about how she loved a variety of comics, including, "Dogtangle," which I also was quite fond of, and one with a surreal and long title. Written and illustrated by Karasu Chan, "What Happened After My Place Got So Humid It Grew Magic Mushrooms and I Ate Them and Got Super Horny," my interest was piqued. Chazan wrote about it, "I am dead serious, one of my favorite comics this year was this ero-manga with that title. Visually inventive and deeply funny pornography about a woman's delusional quest to make a real friend, bolstered by energetic mark-making and impeccable comedic timing. Likely the comic I have recommended to people in conversation the most this year, tied with the majesterial Dogtangle (usually brought up in different company, mind you ... Usually.)." I mean, if I loved how odd, "Dogtangle," was maybe this manga about mushrooms that make a lady hallucinate and become super-horny would be worth a read? Having purchased and enjoyed volume 1 and 2, it was pretty wild and quite good.

"What Happened After My Place Got So Humid It Grew Magic Mushrooms and I Ate Them and Got Super Horny," is extremely explicit. It takes place in a World that has humans, humanoid with unique genitals, and is full of bodily fluids being drawn in quite a detailed fashion. It isn't just porn, however, although it is quite pornographic in spots. It has a shocking amount of heart and sentimentality. Our main character just wants to make friends and assumes a lot of sex will make people like her and maybe, just maybe they'll stick around after to play video-games. As both volumes point out, however, real friendship, "Isn't transactional." Whether this is learned from seducing a deliveryman or trying to find chums on a camping excursion, friendship comes from truly caring about someone.

There is a lighthearted playfulness to much of the story, and Karasu Chan is a skilled illustrator, with another review I found online digging the art style as well. This is a really fun little two-volume story, and I'd encourage anyone who isn't too prudish to check it out! One store selling copies of "What Happened After My Place Got So Humid It Grew Magic Mushrooms and I Ate Them and Got Super Horny," is Robert's Anime Corner Store. That's the site I found my copies on and they were great to order from! In closing, this was a superb ero manga, and I rate it...

5 out of 5 Stars.

Catherine O'Hara Has Passed

In news that I read and immediately said, "This sucks," in response to, Catherine O'Hara has passed at the age of 71. It was confirmed she had suffered from a, "Brief illness," before her death. O'Hara was a delight in anything that featured her. From, "Schitt's Creek," to, "Beetlejuice," "A Mighty Wind," "Best in Show," and a recent turn in, "The Studio," O'Hara was amazing. My favorite movie moment with her, however, has to be in, "Home Alone 2." There is a moment where she and her husband speak with airport security about how they lost/forgot Kevin, again, and then she cracks up about how they lose track of their child but never their luggage while the security guard stares at them unamused. The sheer cringe in the scene with O'Hara is pure gold. Observe:

The World is a bit less fun with O'Hara having left us. She will be dearly missed.

Someone Did the Funniest Thing With Venom's First Appearance (or Cameo, or Whatever You Call It)

I'm in a bunch of Facebook groups about comic-books and in one, someone made a post about something they did that was absolutely hilarious. Jason Bogdanyi wrote,

"Lots and Lots of controversy around the first venom appearance. So I did something crazy to get a unicorn and original page to me. 

Ripped out a page from ASM 299 (low low grade) and sent it in hoping Todd would read my request to do a remark and well the slab now speaks for itself. 

DEBATE OVER"

As you can see in the picture, Mr. McFarlane was willing to sign his name and write, "First Venom Appearance." I mean, McFarlane has publicly said, "Amazing Spider-Man," #299 is, in his opinion, Venom's first full appearance and not a, "Cameo," or such. That said, in the same way, "Incredible Hulk," #180/#181 has many debates about Wolverine, everyone argues about this series and issue #299/#300 in regards to when Venom appears in full. I've always said an appearance is an appearance and that I don't get the whole, "Cameo versus full," debate. A video by streamer Swagglehaus discusses this new slabbed contribution to the dialogue regarding Venom's, "True," first appearance, and I reached out to Jason to get his permission to talk about this, and he told me one of his goals was to get a reaction and spark conversation. He succeeded!

A Game Studio Head Whined About Reviewers, Missed the Point of REVIEWING Things

The CEO of Larian is named Swen Vincke. He's been involved in the creation of some fantastic games, including, "Baldur's Gate 3." I don't recall any games his studio has made getting especially bad reviews, so it was odd to read an article discussing how he went on a mini-diatribe about reviewers. He had valid points about how personal attacks are bad (obviously), but said some reviewers just are too negative and need their own ranking system like Metacritic. I mean...reviews are subjective, my dude. Sometimes, a lot more people like or dislike something. I've not been into things some people loved, and I've posted reviews because I have a blog (thanks for reading it now, ya'll) where I share my opinion.

Toxicity is bad. Sharing an honest thought about a game/movie/comic/book/whatever is good. Sugarcoating your opinion and saying something is, "Perfectly good," when it is actually, "Hot garbage," is simply disingenuous. Reviews are not to be taken as gospel. They are what someone thinks. It is good to consult multiple reviews about something for that reason. If a reviewer is simply being a troll, they suck, yeah, but many reviewers just want to be sincere. Sometimes, a game is agreed by many to be bad, and it needs to be stated how there is little enjoyment to be wrung from it. I'm not going to be effusive with praise and mislead people regarding how I feel about something. On the other hand, if I adore a creation, the populace will know, guess why? That's the point of a review! In closing, don't purposely set out to be mean if you're reviewing something, but do make it a point to be transparent.

Television Tuesday: "The Beauty," is Ryan Murphy at His Most Delightfully Excessive

"The Beauty," was a comic created by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley. It was at Image for a number of years, and a new iteration is currently at Ignition Press. It follows a virus people want to catch as it is dubbed, "The Beauty," for how it makes people look good...before sometimes they randomly blow up some time later. The latest project from showrunner Ryan Murphy adapts a degree of the comic but is also its own wildly bizarre beast. Murphy has been involved in a ton of shows from, "Nip/Tuck" to, "American Horror Story," "Glee," "American Crime Story," "Pose," and the list goes on. Sometimes Murphy is a bit restrained, and other times his shows are insanely over-the-top. "The Beauty," is Murphy relatively unhinged, but I dig it. This is a show where he makes sure people infected with the virus who have a bad reaction literally blow up into a mess of viscera. He's loaded the show with sex. He has weird moments of dark humor and surreal monologues (one episode features a professional hitman waxing at length about the talent of Christopher Cross and how the fact that he looked like a normal dude doomed his career with the rise of MTV). It's a lot, but I like it.

Evan Peters and Rebecca Hall play FBI agents investigating a number of mysterious deaths that can be traced to a strange new virus--one seemingly made in a lab. As the show goes on, we witness a Phrama CEO (played by Ashton Kutcher to sleazy perfection) who was behind the virus and didn't want it to leak, but when an employee ran off and had sex...well, the fact that you don't always need a shot to be hot and can pass this potentially new cure/disease to others sexually is, "More of a bug than a feature." Hence, a lot of people who shouldn't have The Beauty do, are blowing up, and in the first three episodes, we witness a tug-of-war between those trying to figure out what is going on and those desperate to make sure nobody learns anything until The Beauty is perfected and ready to launch as some kind of treatment you can buy.

As I said, "The Beauty," is Ryan Murphy doing the most. Tons of sex, lots of violence, and the occasional shockingly sharp moment of social commentary. A black man who finds himself infected with The Beauty (played to perfection by Jeremy Pope post-transformation) in one scene discusses how even being made beautiful he still finds himself at a disadvantage in a society that values an ugly white man more than him, with the fact he is good looking, if anything, ampflying stereotypes of his being an attractive man with a, "BBC," and little else to offer in America's culture. The idea that weight loss drugs could be rendered useless by this new drug/virus is touched upon as well, with it clear why The Beauty needs to be kept a secret before it is revealed to the marketplace (not that such a fact excuses all the murdering).

"The Beauty," is set to be 11 episodes total in this first season, and if the first three are any indicator, we are in for one visceral, messy, and sometimes pretty smart and insightful ride. Buckle up, things are going to get fleshy! I rare these first three episodes...5 out of 5 Stars. It airs/unlocks new episodes on Hulu every Tuesday, so I'm eager for the next entry that'll be available today!

Kanye West Announces He's Sorry For All the Hate Speech...and Has a New LP Coming Out Soon

Kanye West put out a letter/bought a full page of ad space in the Wall Street Journal. In it, he goes in-depth about how various brain injuries and bipolar disorder resulted in multiple manic events, paranoia, and his many, many incidents of hate speech. West lays out how he is not an antisemite but loves Jewish people and is sorry for letting the black community down. "I’m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness," is one excerpt from the writing. He discusses losing all touch with reality for a good period of time, hurting those he loved most, and otherwise being destructive and reckless. And you know what? Good for him if he is truly taking accountability and getting help! 

Mental health is a Hell of a thing, and if he was having paranoid delusions but also too rich and powerful for anyone to say, "This is not okay," it is obvious how things would--and did--get out of hand. That said, the timing of this is a bit suspicious as Ye's latest album, "Bully," happens to be released this Friday. Mr. West basically published a letter saying, "My bad for the multiple years of awful statements and erratic behavior, buy/stream my new LP!" and that is awkward all around.

I used to be a huge fan of Kanye West and loved his earlier work. I defended him on this blog, a lot! I supported him in his long-running feud with Taylor Swift and thought she was the villain! Then, things started to shift, and at some point, I became quite pro-Swift and disgusted with the actions of Ye. He even knows that a single letter attempting to explain his myriad of horrific actions won't fix everything, but it is a start, and if he continues to work on rehabilitating not only his image but healing himself, maybe there is hope for Kanye West. Maybe, but he has a long road ahead of him for sure.