Author Archives: Brett

CBCS is Shutting Down this April

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The collectible grading market has been an interesting one this past year with an underlying rumbling where you can’t see something exploding/imploding soon. Rumors of corruption, theft, and scams are regularly debated by groups involved in that space. One issue is the consolidation of the space like the purchase of Beckett by Collectors in December 2025 which led to a call for an investigation by a member of Congress.

Now, CBCS (Comic Book Certification Service), which is owned by Collectors, has announced they are shutting down as a distinct comic book grading entity following its acquisition by Collectors, the parent company of PSA, a competing service. CBCS was acquired by Beckett in 2017.

Collectors announced that in their acquisition of Beckett that it would remain an independent brand within Collectors and operate on its own. That included customer experience, standards around grading, marketplace, marketplace, magazines and price guides. The brand remains, just part of their service is closing.

CBCS will stop accepting new comic submissions on April 17, 2026. All submissions received before that date will be processed as normal.

It’s stated the reason for the closure is for Beckett to shift its focus on its core brand and consolidating grading services.

CBCS

GlobalComix Updates its AI Content Policy Removing Fully AI Generated Works

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GlobalComix

Last week, GlobalComix announced it closed a $13 million round of funding by AI friendly investors and acquired INKR, a digital manga/comics platform with AI tools focused on translation. That news put a new spotlight on GlobalComix and its policy towards AI and comics.

At the time their policy stated:

We allow AI comics to be uploaded at this time, although that may change in the future. We also reserve the right to remove AI content at our discretion.

There are a few key things to be aware of regarding AI content, and by uploading to GlobalComix, you agree to these:

You must disclose the use of AI, whether visual(Art) or written(Story), as part of the release upload process
AI content is not eligible for monetization at this time, including but not limited to GlobalComix Gold revenue and PDF sales
The donation button is disabled in releases utilizing AI Art
We take violations of this policy very seriously. Repeat infractions, particularly around disclosure, may result in actions taken against your creator profile and GlobalComix account.

As you can imagine, the renewed highlighting of GlobalComix’s acceptance of AI and the investment and acquisition within that space raised concerns by creators whose comics are available on the digital comics platform.

GlobalComix has updated their policy this week with what feels like a 180 turn from the previous one. While it doesn’t prevent the use of AI within the creation process, it does prevent “fully AI generated works” from the platform.

TLDR;

  • GlobalComix changes policy to remove fully AI generated works
  • These works have been hidden today from the platform
  • Our content team is working through finding mislabeled/undisclosed AI contents
  • We support using AI tools supporting creator workflows, but not as fully generated

GlobalComix is, first and foremost, a home for human creativity.

We recognize that emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), can be used as creative tools, but also that their use raises valid concerns about originality, respect for artists’ rights and quality.

In this policy, we wanted to:

  • Prioritize and protect human artistry
  • Protect our creators and their work
  • Enable creativity and expression across skills and use cases
  • Create forward-looking guidelines and create a stable environment for creators as tools and technologies continue to evolve
  • Set clear expectations for when and how AI-generated or AI-assisted materials can appear and be monetized on GlobalComix.

Our Principles

GlobalComix celebrates human storytelling, art, and originality.

We want creators to be able to thrive from their art and artistry.

AI tools may be used to assist creative work, but they should never fully remove the human from the workflow.

When AI Use Is Acceptable in Comics

  • The uploader has full rights and licenses to use the AI tools and any resulting outputs.
  • AI is used for supporting or enhancing a creator’s original work (for example, coloring assistance, idea exploration, background generation, effects, animation).
  • When AI tools are used as a part in the broader creative workflow in concert with human artistry.
  • The creator discloses AI involvement clearly when it forms a meaningful part of the artwork or writing (e.g., in the release description or credits).

GlobalComix may provide exceptions to our policy on the use of AI with regards to content creation when considering the guidelines above.

If GlobalComix requests material documenting licenses to characters, likenesses, intellectual property, or copyrights, it is the burden of the uploader to provide said material. When evidence is not provided in a timely manner, we will assume that these criteria have not been met.

Anyone considering uploading content utilizing generative AI should email content-violation@globalcomix.com and a member of our team will review the submission.

When AI Use Is Not Acceptable

Content that violates any of the following will not be allowed:

  • Generated AI graphics that imitate or copy another creator’s intellectual property, style, likeness, or characters without permission.
  • Works that misrepresent AI outputs as entirely human-made.
  • AI-generated content that violates GlobalComix’s broader obscenity or hate-speech rules, including depictions of sexualized minors or sexual violence.
  • Works where visuals are made fully via Gen AI prompts, instead of using AI as just one tool among many in a broader creative workflow.

If there is doubt about the origin of a work, GlobalComix may ask for supporting information (such as which AI tools were used, or documentation of rights).

Anyone considering uploading content utilizing generative AI should email content-violation@globalcomix.com and a member of our team will review the submission.

Protecting Creator Rights

  • GlobalComix will not use creator-uploaded content to train Generative Visual AI models without the creator’s explicit opt-in consent if such systems are ever developed.
  • Uploading content to GlobalComix does not grant third parties permission to train AI on that work unless the creator explicitly grants permission.

Monetization of AI-Generated Work

Content that is created with human artistry, but uses AI assisted tools (examples listed in section 7) can be monetized.

GlobalComix reserves the right to decide what qualifies as acceptable content and may remove monetization from any work it determines lacks sufficient original artistry from the creator.

Review and Updates

As laws, technologies, and community standards evolve, this policy may be updated.

GlobalComix will publish updates explaining how new policies affect both human and AI-assisted creators.

Questions or concerns about AI use can be sent to content-violation@globalcomix.com.

Examples of acceptable use of AI

Clip Studio Colorize & Smooth, Tone Remove features

https://help.clip-studio.com/en-us/manual_en/390_filters/AI_Tools.htm

Reasoning: These features empower creators and work as a small part of the creative process. Subjectivity, taste and creative decision-making is used extensively while creating the end product.

Adobe Illustrator AI features

https://www.adobe.com/learn/illustrator/web/illustrator-generative-ai-introduction

Reasoning: These features empower creators and work as a small part of the creative process. Subjectivity, taste and creative decision-making is used extensively while creating the end product.

Adobe Photoshop AI features (including generative fill)

https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/ai.html

Reasoning: These features empower creators and work as a small part of the creative process. Subjectivity, taste and creative decision-making is used extensively while creating the end product.

Custom Trained Visual Generation Models

Reasoning: It’s acceptable to use Generative AI to create visuals based on original and owned artwork. Original character design and world building is required to train the model, and the output needs to be composed to a final comic product with artistry and creative decision-making.

Retouching AI features

Reasoning: Using software and tools that edit original artwork (e.g. changing colors, up-scaling, smoothing, changing select details) is allowed as they work as a single step in a larger workflow that requires subjectivity and creative decision-making.

DSTLRY Returns, Previous Retailer Orders are Cancelled

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DSTLRY

In February, DSTLRY announced it was pausing its releases due to multiple factors like Diamond’s bankruptcy, the switch to a new distributor, and more.

Today, the publisher has announced it’s resuming operations but all previous orders have been cancelled.

In their announcement they state:

DSTLRY IS BACK.

After a brief pause, we’re returning with new issues and premium hardcovers—but there’s something important to check first.

All previous retailer orders were cancelled. If you had DSTLRY titles on your pull list, they may no longer be on order.

Please:
• Check your pull list
• Contact your shop
• Re-confirm your pre-orders

THE RETURN:
City Beneath Her Feet #3
White Boat #3
White House Robot Romance #3
The Big Burn (HC)
Warm Fusion (HC)
Plus: A MISCHIEF OF MAGPIES #1 (Spurrier + Bergara)
First issue. First chance.
Don’t miss it twice.

1/6 The Graphic Novel #4 lands with a thud with some interesting aspects overshadowed by the rest

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In the final volume of this provocative series, our heroes lead a Democracy movement to resist the authoritarian Regime while debating the more perfect union that might replace it. Can they rise above their differences to prevail against violent repression, inner demons and, at times, each other? 1/6: The Graphic Novel asks and answers the question: what if the January 6, 2021 Insurrection had been successful? In an entertaining, chilling, and sometimes humorous form, 1/6 is a tale of authoritarian rule in the United States and a struggle for Democracy. Harvard Law School Professor Alan Jenkins and New York Times bestselling graphic novelist Gan Golan have teamed up with veteran comic book artists to depict in stunning detail what the Insurrectionists and their allies had planned on that day, the threats to our democracy that remain, and what can be done about it. Issue #2 through #4 include free access to both an Action Guide and a Curriculum Guide for Teachers and Community Leaders.

Story: Alan Jenkins, Gan Golan
Art: Andy MacDonald
Color: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Jeff Powell

Find out more: onesixcomics.com

Order yours:
Amazon

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Crowdfunding Corner: G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero gets a Compendium and HAUNTED: Mary Shelley and the Creation of Frankenstein

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Welcome to our revamped “Crowdfunding Corner” rounding up some of the latest crowdfunding news. We’re going beyond just announcement projects, we’ll be tracking to make sure these projects get delivered as well as what we think the “risk” of backing them are.

We’ll be updating the format as we get a better handle of the needs of this sort of coverage, so stay tuned and check out the first round of projects!

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Compendium Sets 1 + 2

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Compendium Sets 1 + 2

Publisher: Skybound
Creative Team: (w) Larry Hama (a) Andy Kubert, Chris Mooneyham
Launch Date: Currently funding – ends Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at 12 p.m. PT. 
Risk: Low – Skybound has run and delivered multiple crowdfunding campaigns before and delivered with few issues.

Skybound and Hasbro have launched a new campaign for Kickstarter-exclusive G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero Compendium Sets 1+2. Expertly designed and presented in reading order, the premium, faux leather hardcover editions that won’t be available anywhere else.  

These new compendium sets, including a total of eight volumes, feature new key art by the legendary Andy Kubert (X-Men) and collect over 300 issues from both Marvel and IDW eras of G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero spanning from 1994-2022, expanding on the previous Kickstarter that shattered crowdfunding records and dominated headlines worldwide.

Featuring the iconic series writer Larry Hama (Wolverine) and an all-star lineup of series artists, the new G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero Compendium Sets 1+2 present the incredible heroes of G.I. JOE, the terrifying villains of Cobra, and the unforgettable stories that set them on a collision course.  

Now collecting over 300 issues of A Real American Hero, these new hardcover compendiums collect the most iconic moments in G.I. JOE history, from Cobra Commander’s seemingly successful world domination to the unforgettable introduction of Dawn Moreno, the all-new Snake-Eyes. 

Fans who backed the first G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero Compendium Set campaign can select a tier to purchase the new set of hardcovers, collecting issues #155 ½ to #300, along with all the annuals, specials, and more. Like that first campaign, you must choose a side – will you stand with G.I. Joe or rule the world with Cobra? Either way, these deluxe hardcovers will look perfect alongside the original compendium set, presenting the iconic G.I. JOE series in the highest quality collections of all time. 

Collectors won’t want to miss backing the campaign to secure all the limited-edition tiers and exclusive rewards: Kickstarter-exclusive Larry Hama signed bookplates, faux leather hardcovers, spot gloss, foil finish and gilded edges on all books, satin ribbons, patches, pins, stickers, individual issue reprints, two source books featuring art from previous trading cards, vehicles, and more. 

HAUNTED: Mary Shelley and the Creation of Frankenstein

HAUNTED: Mary Shelley and the Creation of Frankenstein

Publisher: Humanoids
Creative Team: (w/a) Koren Shadmi
Launch Date: Soon – March 25
Risk: Medium/High – While they have run and delivered previous campaigns, there are currently two that have been funded and yet to be fulfilled and will not for many months. This can be a warning sign.

Humanoids has announced a forthcoming Kickstarter for Haunted: a brand new bio-comic on Mary Shelley, the visionary young woman who penned Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus at eighteen and changed the world.

After critically-acclaimed releases such as The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television, Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula, and All Tomorrow’s Parties: The Velvet Underground Story, Humanoids and writer-artist Koren Shadmi wanted to focus on a critical female figure in the pop culture zeitgeist.

Timed to Women’s History Month, this project sheds light on Shelley’s upbringing and does not shy away from her strained marriage to Percy Shelley which was colored by tragedy, multiple miscarriages and poverty. That said, it focuses predominantly on her creative conception of the seminal work, even featuring the monster himself as a recurring character in the graphic novel as seen in the below preview pages. 

Years in the making, the campaign is set to go live on Kickstarter on March 25, as a quieter, yet triumphant finale to this past year’s mania catalyzed by Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride. 

The Lawyers Behind the $1.5 Billion Anthropic Settlement Slash their Fee Bid after Pushback

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Anthropic

In December 2025, the lawyers behind the $1.5 billion settlement requested $302 million in fees and expenses from the court for their work during the lawsuit against Anthropic for use of copywritten material to train its AI model.

The lawsuit was over the artificial intelligence platform Anthropic’s use of copywritten material. The settlement includes $1.5 billion, about $3,000 for each instance of use. If an author has 3 books that were used by Anthropic, they’d receive $9,000 as an example.

The plaintiff’s lawyers asked a federal judge for $300 million in attorney fees plus expenses of about $1.97 million and $17 million reserve fund for future expenses in December 2025. That’s around 20% of the settlement. There was also a request of $50,000 for each of the three named plaintiffs in the case. $75 million of the $300 million would have gone to three firms, Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard, Edelson, and Oppenheim + Zebrak, while the rest would have gone to Susman and Lieff Cabraser.

That amount received pushback and was objected to and that request has been lowered.

Law firms Susman Godfrey and Lieff Cabraser asked the federal court in San Francisco to award them 12.5% of the settlement fund, or $187.5 million.

The final approval of the settlement will be considered during an April 23 hearing. A preliminary approval happened in September 2025.

Diamond’s Adversary Proceeding Complaint Dismissal Response gets a March 30 Deadline

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Diamond Comic Distributors

Diamond‘s chapter 11/chapter 7 drama has had a lot of twists and turns in recent weeks. There’s been multiple requests by publishers to get their consigned goods back, accusations of selling consigned goods when they shouldn’t have been sold, and more. One of the bigger motions has been an attempt by numerous publishers to dismiss the adversary proceedings between Diamond and the publisher.

One of the biggest fights during Diamond’s chapter 11/chapter 7 process has concerned consigned goods provided by publishers and currently held by Diamond and stored by Sparkle Pop. In short, Diamond believes they “own” the product and can sell the goods to help pay off its debts. Of course, the publishers wants their goods back.

A decision as to who owns the product was put on hold by the court and Diamond was offered the option to sue each individual publisher, which they did. Those lawsuits have played out for over half a year at this point.

One small detail of that fight involves Diamond’s contracts with the publishers which Diamond had to accept or reject during the chapter 11/chapter 7 process. A deadline for that decision came and pass with Diamond making no decision. The publishers have since motioned saying that counts as a rejection, the goods are theirs then, and the adversary proceedings should be dismissed.

Numerous filings were released today setting the date for Diamond and its counsel to respond to that motion to dismiss the adversary proceedings as March 30, 2026.

Publishers included in today’s filings include Aspen, Black Mask Studios, Dark Horse, DSTLRY, Dynamic Forces, Heavy Metal, Magnetic Press, Massive Publishing, Oni Press, Panini, Alien Books, Titan Comics, and Vault Storyworks.

Project Hail Mary Tops the Weekend Box Office as Three Debut in the Top Five

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Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary took the top of the weekend box office with an estimated $80.6 million domestically. It also grossed $60.4 million internationally for a worldwide gross of just under $141 million. That all beats expectations and is another win for Amazon MGM which had a string of blockbusters in 2025.

Hoppers slipped to second place adding $18 million to its domestic gross bringing that to $120.4 million. Internationally, it grossed $44.3 million over the week to bring that to $122.2 million and $242.6 million worldwide.

Dhurandhar The Revenge debuted in third place with $9.6 million domestically and $13.5 million in total domestically. There’s currently no international gross.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come opened in fourth place with $9.1 million domestically and $2.8 million internationally for a worldwide gross of $11.9 million. While that might seem low, the original film debuted with a little over $8 million domestically and went on to gross $28.7 million at the domestic box office and $57.6 million worldwide in 2019.

Reminders of Him rounded out the top five after being in second place the previous week. It grossed $8 million to bring its domestic gross to $33.2 million. It doubled it’s international gross over the week to bring that to $20.8 million for a worldwide gross of a little over $54 million.

In comic related movies…

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie – Infinity Castle added about$300,000 to its domestic gross. That’s now $136.9 million. Internationally, the movie added about $700,000 and is now at $604.9 million. Its worldwide gross is $741.8 million.

All You Need Is Kill remained at $695,290 domestically and internationally has jumped up to $46,201 for a worldwide gross of $741,491.

Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution remained at $16.6 million domestically. Internationally, it also sits at $27.9 million for a worldwide gross of $44.5 million.

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc remained at $43.4 million domestically. Internationally, the movie has grossed $119.6 million. Worldwide, the movie has grossed $163 million.

Numbers have 67 movies grossing $141,213,465 from 31,696 theaters for an average of $4,455.25. That is compared to last week’s 73 movies grossing $84,184,797 from 37,026 theaters for an average of $2,273.67.

Absolute Flash #13 kicks off the next story arc as Wally needs to figure out what to do next

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Wally tries to pick up the pieces of his life after the battle at Fort Fox. Adrift and unsure what to do, the young speedster looks for a way forward.

Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Haining
Color: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Tom Napolitano

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Zeus Comics
Kindle

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Diamond’s Chapter 7 Process Gives Us Updates on Humanoids’ Chapter 7

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Humanoids

2025 was an odd year for the comic industry as it found itself inside court rooms in multiple high profile cases. One of those occurred in October 2025 when Humanoids filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Delaware Bankruptcy Court. In their filing, the publisher referenced the Diamond bankruptcy, and now, in a recent filing, we get some information in Diamond’s process about Humanoids in return.

In the filing from March 17, Humanoids transfers its claim to a new entity. Humanoids is one of the publishers fighting Diamond for what’s owed.

In the filing, Humanoids, lnc. is being transferred to Humanoids Studios SA, located in Geneva, Switzerland.

This change took effect on October 10, 2025, the closing date of all of the asset sold with a transfer agreement dated October 9, 2025.

According to the Diamond filing, Humanoids Studios SA is the sole owner of the transferred assets and related rights.

The Transferred Assets consist of(i) all intellectual property of Humanoids, Inc. (including books. comic books. scripts. and screenplays, and all related agreements with their respective authors). (ii) all trademarks, domain names, and website URLs, (iii) all equipment and inventory (including book inventory) used in the Company’s business. (iv) all cash, advances on royalties made to authors. and accounts receivable ofthe Company. and (v) all other assets of the Company, including its equity interests in its subsidiaries, together with all assets of Humanoids Development, LLC that were merged into the Company on October 7. 2025.

Michel Schnegg is listed as the “Director” of Humanoids Studios SA. Schnegg is a mysterious figure with little on the web beyond some social profiles, this website, and a LinkedIn profile where he’s currently listed as the “Directeur artistique principal” of Art éditions Suisse since December 2018.

The Art éditions Suisse Association upholds a socially conscious vision of publishing, prioritizing 100% local and artisanal production. Specializing in fine books and heritage journals, AES transforms your projects into collector’s items in which the quality of printing and binding reflects a commitment to ethical standards. By collaborating exclusively with partners in French-speaking Switzerland, AES ensures a short supply chain that minimizes environmental impact while celebrating the craftsmanship of our region. This sustainable and responsible approach enables us to guide you in creating authentic works—designed to endure and to honor the richness of our heritage.
Rooted in dialogue and the transmission of knowledge, AES places its expertise at the service of your publications, transforming them into enduring, ethically produced benchmarks.

From their website, L’Association Art éditions Suisse is a non-profit association (since 2025) publishing label which was launched in 2019 which draws on the expertise of exclusively French-speaking Swiss companies, specifically those based in Geneva: Éditions Slatkine for distribution, Atelier Schnegg+ for graphic design, layout, and digital production, and ATAR Roto presse SA for printing and binding. All are also known for their ethical work practices, including fair wages and apprenticeships.

Humanoids’ situation has been an odd one with their US chapter 7 listing $17 million in debt and $0 in assets, but, it’s still doing business having reorganized under a new company with a new parent that owns all of the publishing assets without the debt. The Beat has more information on all of that.

Their claim is for $7,90976 filed on February 20, 2025.

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