A call to action!
Fantagraphics is in a legal battle (as part of a coalition of a dozen other publishers) that is stressing our ability to publish the world’s greatest cartoonists, as we have done for almost 50 years.
To cut to the chase (pun intended): Fantagraphics is fighting JP Morgan Chase Bank and former Direct Market monopoly Diamond Comics Distributors, who are colluding to steal our books and use the resulting profits towards the cost of Diamond’s bankruptcy. As you may have heard, Diamond Distributors declared bankruptcy on January 14 of this year, which could have smoothed the way for Diamond to continue operating and supplying comics to retailers, but instead caused chaos across the comics landscape, from retailers to publishers. JP Morgan Chase, one of the largest financial institutions in the world and a secured creditor, and their debtor, Diamond, is now trying to legally seize all the books held on consignment and owned by us, and, through the arcane chicanery of bankruptcy law, liquidate them, bypassing any obligation to pay the publishers. In short, we, with our coalition of fellow publishers, are fighting this transparent piracy in the courts. As if that weren’t bad enough, the latest legal incarnation of Diamond has been selling our books to retailers ever since their purchase on May 16 and not paying us a penny. 100% of the money retailers have paid them for our books has gone into their pockets, none into ours.
Sadly, having the moral high ground does not diminish the losses we have suffered over the last eight months. We are looking at millions of dollars’ worth of books being unfairly seized and liquidated out from under us — books that our authors have sweated blood to create and that we’ve expended no little love to produce.
This is where you come in.
We’re not looking for a handout! Our website features hundreds of graphic novels and comics and we’re doing a site-wide sale (30% off everything we sell) to help raise money to pay our legal battle and make up to the extent we can for the losses we have suffered. As you know, we believe in the books we publish, and are evangelical advocating for our authors. If you love what Fantagraphics has been doing for the past five decades —our 50th anniversary is next year, folks— whether it’s our championing of comics as a legitimate art form, our defense of creators’ rights, our dedication to finding and supporting humane and insightful artists from all over the world, or our commitment to preserving comics’ vast history, then we could use your help.
If you’re one of our loyal readers, we ask that you navigate our website and see if there aren’t a few books that you’ve been itching to buy. If you’ve never bought a Fantagraphics book, welcome to the home of artists as varied as Charles M. Schulz, Emil Ferris, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, R. Crumb, Carl Barks, Moto Hagio, Guido Crepax, Simon Hanselmann, Laura Pérez, John Kenn Mortensen, Kago, Eleanor Davis, Daniel Clowes, Tommi Parrish, Joe Sacco, Carol Tyler, Jason, Gary Panter, Trina Robbins, Paco Roca, Olivier Schrauwen, Liniers, and many more.
Please visit www.fantagraphics.com to see what we have to offer. We intend to continue to publish the best comics in the world as an entirely independent publisher for another 50 years, and with your help, we will.
For all the retailers who support us and our work: stay tuned, we have deal coming for you too that we’ll announce on Tuesday, August 26th!