Getting Back Into the Thick of It

Current Status

The month of January is over and I have gotten more organized with my “to read” pile and holy shit do I have a lot of stuff to read. So, I’ve done the only thing you can do: Read one book at a time. I honestly feel that I have enough to take me well into 2026 if I never buy another book but that will never happen so let’s see how this goes.

I am committing to a monthly newsletter, published on or around the first of each month. I also plan to post more videos and on a more consistent basis. I have an ambitious goal of publishing one video a week and I have been hesitant to state it because I (like most people) don’t want to commit to something and not see it through. But I think in the current state of the world, creativity is now an even more important outlet and a way to focus our minds off of trying to get by, take care of our friends and family and just try to survive the current madness. I’ve seen it with some of my other comics friends who have suddenly started to ramp up their creative output, be it newsletters or videos. I think we all have our different takes on comics but the one that needs it the most is the independent/alternative/underground scene. Most online content about comics focuses on either Marvel & DC as publishers or how to monetize your overpriced collection. The reason is obvious: That’s what the majority of the audience wants and is the easiest way to monetize such content. But just like there is a McDonalds and there are small independent burger places that will give you a better burger for not that much more money, there is Marvel and DC and there are independent publishers.

To quote CM Punk, the content creators for the independent scene are the “Voice of the Voiceless”. These are labors of love, not for profit, I like making money, but I like more that I am doing my thing (whatever it is) and talking about the books that I like to read and not focusing on generating revenue.

I recently reached 500 subscribers on my YouTube page. I post commentary and purchases of comics and GNs that cross various genres and eras. If you have not yet subscribed, then please visit my page here and give it a shot. I’ve been posting content for four years so there should be something there that you will like. Unless it’s about superheroes. I rarely talk about those (unless you count Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing run). In a land where a C-list celebrity can get 10K+ subscribers, 500 is nothing. But considering I did it without pandering to the Marvel and DC fanbase and have been unstructured about a posting schedule and don’t have a mic the size of an eggplant in my face nor the fancy graphics, not bad.

Recommended Reads

Also, I have been a regular contributor to Canon, THE best magazine for serious comics talk and interviews, focusing mainly on the non-superhero part of the medium.It’s put out by my friend Colin Blanchette (on YT as “loadingthecanon”) and his friend Alex Eklund.They take great pains to make the best possible publication and each issue gets better.If you are not familiar with it, you will find it at better comics shops or you can order here. Colin and I are friends and while he is very chill, I know he would not ask me to contribute if he didn’t think I had something of interest to say which is a huge compliment to me. Colin is one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met about comics, especially independent comics. He and Alex are doing the Lord’s work driving discussion and analysis about independent comics.

What’s Happening in the Industry

Most of you know about Diamond Distribution’s declaration of bankruptcy. Per a recent article by the Baltimore Banner:

“Diamond Comic Distributors is facing the possibility of layoffs and the closure of its Hunt Valley headquarters if it fails to find a buyer by April 1. The company revealed in a federally mandated notification to the Maryland Department of Labor this week that if the sale effort proves fruitless, it would cease operations, close its main office, and lay off about 168 employees. Diamond had stated during the bankruptcy filing that the company would potentially sell parts of its business, including the lucrative board and card game distributor, Alliance Game Distributors, to its Canadian competitor Universal Distributors.”

I found a pretty good summary about how Diamond got here and their current situation. It’s worth the 11 minutes.

In summary, this is not good. It looks like we have less than two months of Diamond being a resource for stores and customers and I feel badly for publishers that are owed money by Diamond who may either never get their money or, at best, get pennies on the dollar. This has been predicted for years based on overall trends in the comic book industry. As much as some of us don’t care for superhero comics, they are what drives comics sales in the United States. If they aren’t selling well, then it makes life difficult for everyone.

There are other distributors but the challenge for publishers is how to get the word out for their upcoming books? As much as some of us don’t care for Diamond, you could get a Previews catalog and see everything that was coming out in a future month and use it as a reference. This was useful as most publishers are either lazy or unimaginative in their marketing of their works, though there are exceptions like PEOW Studios who have built a loyal fanbase due to their quality product, light publishing schedule and use of Kickstarter to fund their works so that they can be made available to comics stores. It’s going to be an interesting few months.

If anyone is a store owner that is reading this and want to give me some insights, I would absolutely love that and if you want to keep it discreet, I will do that.

Publisher Spotlight

Black Panel Press out of Canada has been publishing some interesting work and I have recently purchased two books from them: “Last Starry Night” by Jamison Odone and “Kiss the Sky” by J.M. Dupont and Mezzo. I always keep an eye on what they have coming out and I think they are a publisher to watch.

However, last week they sent out an email stating that they are owed $28K (USD) by Diamond Distribution and, because of that, they have set up a gofundme to get cash to keep operating until they somehow can collect on this amount owed to them. I highly recommend them and if you are interested, visit their site here and if you don’t’ want to give them money via gofundme, consider buying one (or more) of their books. We need small, independent publishers like them to keep good graphic novels on the shelves.

Is “Arkadi and the Lost Titan” Going to be Published or Not?

Two months ago, Diamond included a solicitation for “Arkadi and the Lost Titan” by Caza, published by Humanoids with a March 11, 2025 release date. It’s a 528-page oversized hardcover that collects the entire story in one tome and the art is the big draw. Caza was a contemporary of Moebius and Druillet and if you hung around with those badass dudes, you were legit. It retails for $84.99 and was offered via Kickstarter in 2024. I decided to order it from my LCS and then it got weird.

My LCS (Phantom of the Attic – Oakland located in Pittsburgh, PA and a store with excellent customer service) told me that the two distributors they use (one of them being Diamond) replied that the book was no longer solicited. I went to the Diamond site and saw that it was no longer being distributed and it was pulled from their online Previews catalog. However, multiple sites including Simon & Schuster, Barnes & Noble, DCBS and Humanoids’ own website still list the book with a March 11, 2025 release date. There is no news about it being delayed or no longer available. Therefore, it appears that the book may have been pulled from Diamond due to their financial problems (pre-bankruptcy announcement) and the other publisher may not have had the desire to carry such a book or the financial terms were something they did not care for. I have a feeling that things like this are going to be our future for the next 6-12 months (if not more) until one of these companies wins the “Distributor War” or a new distributor that can do something similar to what Diamond did but with less stupid decisions comes online.

If you are interested, DCBS seems to have the best deal once your factor in shipping and sales tax. Cheap graphic novels ends up being more expensive because even though they have cheaper shipping, their discount is 20% vs DCBS’ being 30%. It’s not much of a difference ($4) but every dollar counts and DCBS has a good reputation.

Social Media

I have set up a BlueSky account at rcarcases.bsky.social. I actually gave up on it a couple of months ago but it seems that Meta/TikTok/Twitter bending their knees to the WH has sent people there so I am giving it another go. The platform is great and works like Twitter, the problem I had with it is the lack of engagement. However, that may lessen as more people migrate to the site. Let’s see what happens. I would like a viable alternative to Meta and, increasingly, more people would too.

Videos I Have Posted

I have posted a few videos of late. Here they are if you are not following my YT. I’m not going to tell you the hottest comics of the week or how to flip your graded comics or talk about the latest Batman arc but if you want to see me talk about interesting books from the independent comics and manga scene, then it may be for you.

Other Content Creators

Best Small Press is a YouTube channel from England that focuses on small, independent publishers and low print-run books. What I like about the channel is that the books featured are often ones I have never heard of before or in some cases have heard of before but have not seen anyone else feature them. It’s going to make me spend money that I did not plan on spending, that’s for sure. Below is a recent one I particularly found interesting. Please check it out here. Here is one book I am definitely getting my hands on:

Outro

If you’ve made it this far, thank you. I literally decided to take up this newsletter again Thursday on the way home from work so what you see if the product of four days. Over time, this should be more interesting as I sink my teeth into this process more and try to think of interesting topics or observations. I’m probably going to be more opinionated about things but it’s because it’s how I feel about something, I’m not trying to do something to get clicks. But with all the ratchet takes people have on comics, I know I can offer something more balanced and not so fanboyish.

Here’s some advice: Be patient, be mentally flexible, take care of your family and help your friends if you’re able to. We are once again led by a petulant sociopath who is accompanied by a bunch of greedy, glad-handing sociopaths who only care about how much more they can grift despite having enough money to live in luxury the rest of their lives. And as long as their egos are satiated, no one is really safe. Despite what you see on mainstream media, this is not a political party division so much as it is a Have vs Have-Nots division. Until then…