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The comic book company behind titles featuring Disney's Stitch, Zootopia, and Gargoyles — as well as Warner Bros' Powerpuff Girls, Space Ghost, and Thundercats, as well as characters including Red Sonja, Barbarella, and The Boys — is in danger of running out of money... and it’s all because one-time leading pop culture distributor Diamond Comic Distributors allegedly hasn’t paid the more than one million dollar amount it owes the company

For the second time in three months, Dynamite Entertainment has filed legal papers with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland asking the court to expedite payment for money owed by Diamond. (The company filed for bankruptcy back in January 2025, and was purchased by two separate companies who split its assets in April.) Notably, the new filing, which the court received July 1, states that Diamond “has not communicated at all with Dynamite” over its debt following the earlier request, filed May 27.

“Dynamite is currently owed over $1 million for shipments made to the Debtor and Ad Populum LLC, a majority of which are administrative expenses,” the July 1 filing declared. That filing was asking to expedite an already scheduled hearing on July 16 because, as it explained, “Dynamite, a small company with less than 30 employees, does not have the funds to make payroll next week, if it is not promptly paid by the Debtor.”

That final element is particularly important — not only in practical terms for Dynamite, but legally; when Dynamite initially filed legal papers asking for payment in May, Diamond responded with an official objection, arguing that there was no need for an accelerated payment schedule because “Dynamite has not demonstrated that it will suffer any hardship should it not receive immediate payment.” If Dynamite's statements are true that it does not have the funds to pay its employees, that is clearly no longer the case.

Unfortunately for Dynamite, a July 2 hearing to expedite the July 16 hearing — yes, a hearing to reschedule a an already planned hearing — ended up with the rescheduling request being denied. What that means in practical terms is two-fold: Dynamite and Diamond will have their next day in court on July 16 as already planned. Any expedited hearing (or better yet, expedited payment ordered by the courts) was rejected, but the possibility of Dynamite receiving the money it is owed, importantly, was not.

More immediately, if Dynamite is to be believed, the company will now be unable to make payroll next week unless other sources of income (most obviously, some kind of loan or equity play) becomes available in the short term... assuming, of course, such possibilities have not already been exhausted prior to the latest legal filing. The company's next move in light of the denial of its request for an earlier hearing remains unclear as of writing.

In the short term, for those seeking to support the publisher, Dynamite comic books are available through Lunar Distribution, as well as digitally. 

The bankruptcy of Diamond Comic Distributors has been a wide-reaching story; here's everything you need to know.