Diamond owes Dynamite $1 million. Universal Monsters goes black and white. Comic Book Club News up for Podcast Awards.
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Episode Transcript:
Diamond owes Dynamite $1 million.
Universal Monsters goes black and white.
Comic Book Club News up for Podcast Awards.
This is Comic Book Club News for July 3, 2025.
Diamond Now Owes Dynamite $1 Million:
There’s much more on the continued fallout from Diamond’s bankruptcy, and the latest updates are particularly bad. First up? Diamond now owes Dynamite $1 million, and if the company doesn’t get it soon, they won’t be able to pay their employees.
Per Bleeding Cool, Dynamite originally filed a motion with the court when they were owed half a million. Now, things have become urgent, and they have told the court that if things aren’t hurried along, they won’t be able to make payroll for their 30 employees this month.
However, even if Dynamite is able to get the court to approve the motion to hurry payment along… Where will it come from? We previously reported about how Diamond is selling their inventory to pay back Chase Bank — not the comic book companies like Dynamite it owes money to. And in an interview with ICv2, Fantagraphics co-publisher Eric Reynolds calls this “hostage inventory,” adding “We’re not shipping them new books and they’re not paying us, but they have inventory that they don’t own, that they’re continuing to sell and they haven’t paid us for in, I guess now, six or seven weeks.”
Even wilder, Diamond is still sending sales data to Fantagraphics, meaning they know how much Diamond is making on selling their books; they’re just not seeing any money from that.
So will Dynamite be able to pay employees? And if not, what happens next? More on this as it develops.
Universal Monsters Goes Black And White:
You can’t keep a good monster down. And sure enough, Drac is back in Universal Monsters: Dracula Black & White Special #1 from Skybound and Image Comics. The new edition of the book by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds will be released in a “double feature” format, as well as in black-and-white.
Said Alex Antone, Editorial Director at Skybound via a press release, “Back by popular demand, we’re thrilled to be offering a special black & white presentation of the Universal Monsters project that started it all — James Tynion IV & Martin Simmonds’ DRACULA! Readers will be transported back to the days of classic cinema, and this hefty 2-in-1 printing pairs well with a nice glass of…wine!”
Originally presented (mostly) in color over four issues, the new edition will run two issues, debuting in October and November. Essentially a remake of the original Universal Dracula movie, the real draw here is Simmonds’ stunning art… And frankly, part of the appeal was the sudden splashes of color, so it’ll be interesting to see what this book is like without.
Universal Monsters: Dracula Black & White Special #1 hits stores on October 29, 2025
Comic Book Club News Is Up For Podcast Awards 2025:
The biggest news of the week? Comic Book Club News is up for multiple nominations in this year’s Podcast Awards.
Here’s how you can help the podcast win: head to PodcastAwards.com, and register to vote. Don’t worry, they won’t sell or share your email.
Then you can nominate Comic Book Club News in the Arts and People’s Choice categories. And while you’re there, nominate Comic Book Club in the comedy category.
That’s it! You’re done. The nomination period ends on July 31, but make sure to get your votes in now. And thanks!
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And that last news item was definitely a news item, and not anything else.
Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.
For more comic book news, reviews, and interviews, check out comicbookclublive.com.
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