On June 25, 2025, Diamond Comic Distributors submitted a motion for the “sale or other disposition of consigned inventory.” While many publishers have been vocal about the motion and many have responded to our inquiries with “no comment” because it’s an ongoing legal matter, we have yet to see any filed objections until today from TwoMorrows Publishing.

But, before we get to that, some background…

After Diamond’s sale of the majority of its assets to Universal Distribution and Ad Populum/Sparkle Pop, (old) Diamond still has a “significant inventory” that was sent on a consignment basis. I think we all assumed all inventory was moved to the two new owners, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. They had an option and that specific part of the purchase was left as to be determined. Instead, it’s sitting in (old) Diamond’s warehouse in Mississippi.

(Old) Diamond is claiming the consignors (the sellers) haven’t followed the legal steps to establish a superior claim to their inventory. In short, the publishers (owners of the product) haven’t done what’s require by law to protect their ownership rights. So now, (old) Diamond has to do something with all of that inventory.

So, (old) Diamond submitted a motion to approve their plan to market, sell, or dispose of the inventory to “minimize costs and maximize recoveries” and generate the “best result for the estates.” It is assumed that money raised from the sale would go towards paying off money owed to JPMorgan Chase Bank which has provided loans to the company throughout the Chapter 11 process. So, instead of money going towards publishers, it’d likely go towards a bank.

Of course publishers are angry with the attempted move with some considering it theft as well as a lack of communication by both (old) Diamond and (new) Diamond. There’s also a lot of questions out there like how much stock is being held by (old) Diamond and exactly what stock?

Those who want to object to the motion have until July 16, 2025 to do so in writing and file it with the Clerk of the Bankruptcy Court (Objections to the Motion must be in writing and filed with the Clerk of the Bankruptcy Court, 101 West Lombard Street, Suite 8530, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, on or before July 16, 2025; and be served so as to be received on or before the Objection Deadline by the undersigned counsel for the Debtors.). The hearing on the motion is being held on July 21.

John Morrow of TwoMorrows Publishing has submitted a formal objection to the motion. In it, Morrow states the inventory is the publisher’s property, not Diamond’s with the publisher having a financial interest in selling it. He also objects to Diamond’s continued selling of their product without payment and lack of payment, and this attempt to circumvent that, “jeopardizes (the) company’s immediate future financially” and that “flooding the market” with product will also hurt the publisher’s long term ability to sell those same products and undercut the sale of those products through other distributors.

Morrow also objects to the date itself, July 21, when the industry will be focused on San Diego Comic-Con, running from July 23-27, and the hearing should be held on August 1 or a later date.

You can read the full object below.