Nice Art: Trent Kaniuga, an accomplished and stylish artist, posted this on the X.
When I worked at Marvel, they asked me to “draw in a more photorealistic style”. I did not. Soon after that, my run at Marvel ended. Ironically I would be asked to draw realistic at every art job I had after that. But I want to push stylization further.
Kaniuga’s bio notes that he is a concept artist who has worked on Fortnite, World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, League of Legends, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and many others. He’s also the creator of the games Twilight Monk, Ikeda and the comic CreeD. He drew a totally unhinged Ghost Rider mini series written by Devin Grayson for Marvel.
§ Woooooah what a week, eh? I’m spent! TWO yes TWO publishers step down and another company announces a reorg. I can’t say that any of these things were unexpected — I’ll have a more detailed analysis on this next week — but all three happening at once is quite a wild ride. Is anyone safe? Why, yes. However, they are saying that David Ellison is hoping to close the sales of Warner Bros. Discovery to Paramount (WarnerMount) on July 15th, so that should make this year’s Comic-Con quite exciting, eh? Maybe too exciting.
§ PLUS, Google is killing the web. I was always a little iffy about the Dead Internet theory, but by gawd, Google is doing it! I’m not exactly sure how their fancy search will work without new information to update it, but they must have figured it out already, right?
I’ll tell ya how I know it’s working though. Every morning I do my PT, pout a glass of cold brew, and sit down to get to work and lately I think, “Hm, let me see what everyone is saying about blah blah,” and…in comics, anyway, no one is saying anything unless it is in an 18 minute YouTube video that I don’t want to watch or an 18 second TikTok video that the algorithm won’t show me. There is no message board to read. Aside from Rob Salkowitz and David Harper, hardly anyone even offers informed commentary. Reddit discourages comics pros from posting so it’s the equivalent of yakking at the comics shop. Sometimes there’s “discourse” on BSky or Threads but it’s presented as an unpleasant battle to the death. So I have no morning reading. The commentary turns out to be me, it is I, the writer of this blog post.
§ OK there are a few old timers like me still out there. Like, Sean Kleefeld! He called the Dark Horse news before it even broke: R.I.P Dark Horse.
So why did they [Embracer] buy a comic book publisher like Dark Horse?
Because Dark Horse is not a comic book publisher. I mean, yes, they do publish comic books and their most popular ones are themselves either licensed (e.g. Star Wars, Stranger Things…) or creator-owned (e.g. Hellboy, Umbrella Academy…) but they own a number of properities themselves including The Mask, Time Cop, and Ghost. They also have some degree of control over other properties they don’t own outright; for example, while Mike Mignola still technically owns Hellboy, all of the media properties — the movies, shows, and video games — are managed by Dark Horse and they get a slice of the pie just for managing the contract. That’s what Embracer Group wanted when they bought the company in 2022; they didn’t care about the comics — they just wanted the IPs.
This is part of why Embracer Group outright closed Things From Another World’s online presence last year. It involved actual work on a day-to-day basis. They don’t want that. They want to kick their feet up on the desk and let the checks roll in. I expect we’ll see the physical stores close before long either — they’re probably only still open because of existing rental contracts for the physical store locations.
That was yesterday morning, and a few hours later news of TFAW closing its stores broke. Sean is good at the predictions! Now tell me how the Knicks are going to do.
Look I get it, it’s so much easier to sit and license out your IP and let the money roll in. I don’t think Dark Horse is going to go away in the short term. But I have heard about LOTS of projects there getting quietly cancelled over the last year. More to come.
§ Most likely everything going on at Marvel had been in the works for a while, and Marvel Entertainment’s social media team was READY with this little clip that shows scenes from the MCU that were TAKEN DIRECTLY from the comics. In fact that’s what they said: “Straight from the comics to the #MCU.”
straight from the comics to the #MCU pic.twitter.com/A6Y0iY2ePc
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) May 20, 2026
It was nice of them to put it all in one place! The comments were mostly “have you PAID the artists who created the work?” A reasonable question. But the messaging here is that comics will remain valuable as very cheap IP development, just as they have always been.
§ Where has The Week in Diamond been lately? Well, nothing has been happening. Weeks of returned mail. Literally. And some extensions on responses to Sparkle Pop’s motion to get compensated for their storage of The Stuff. I take this to mean that people are negotiating behind the scenes on some kind of settlement, individual or group.
§ Meanwhile, as we reported at the beginning of the year, American Mythology, one of the first publisher to announce they were going on hiatus because of Diamond’s Bankruptcy, is coming back, and they just announced their return lineup, including a comic about a fellow who shoots monsters with a gun, Catching Hell. The guy is actually horror star Reggie Bannister, who is elderly and in hospice care:
Starring Reggie Bannister as Father Reginald
After a hiatus that left the comic world darker, American Mythology returns to the scene this June 2026. We are opening our new chapter with a descent into madness. Catching Hell #1 follows the journey of Father Reginald, a damned former priest who has traded his pulpit for an arsenal of supernatural justice.
Reggie Bannister, legendary everyman icon of horror cinema, brings his unparalleled grit to the role, portraying a hunter who knows the demons better than his own soul. This isn’t just a comeback; it’s a reclamation of horror storytelling. And this very special original comic book gives back with a portion of the proceeds going to help pay for Reggie’s healthcare needs.
As I’ve noted before, publishers didn’t ENJOY going through the Diamond bankruptcy, but even the smaller ones seem to have clawed their way back.
§ BUT now other factors are taking a toll. F’instance, Alterna Comics just tweeted:
Due to recent events, Alterna is undergoing massive changes as we evolve into something different.
While we restructure, our in-house comic book printing service will still be available. Remastered and Holo Fame lines will also continue until they close out.
More details soon.
Another tweet alludes to LOTS OF DRAMA, I dunno what it’s all about but these small houses always seem to stage a comeback.
§ Meanwhile, if doomscrolling is your thing, Jim Zub just posted a glum report:
Animation industry meet-up tonight.
It’s rough in the industry.
Most of the people who attended are looking for employment in the industry. 80%+ hunting for creative work.
The most prominent social media contact sharing was Instagram.
Quite a few people asked me about the viability of working in comics, but I tried to make it clear I’m an outlier in terms of steady employment.
Publishing is just as precarious right now. Feast or famine.
In both animation and comics there are more pathways to independent creation and ownership than ever before, but also more competition for eyeballs and support.
How do you build an audience and stand out?
That’s the trick and, week by week and project by project, it’s a moving target.
I’m in a different phase of my career so my advice is more nostalgic than immediately relevant.
Putting out quality work is still relevant, but the outlets and impact have completely changed.
It’s like talking about real estate strategies when homes were $350k and now they’re $1.2 million.
My parents bought their place for $40k. Saving is still the goal, but the scale and challenges have evolved.
I’m sorry publishers and studios are cutting to the bone.
I’m sorry wages are frozen while the cost of living skyrockets.
It’s awful, short-sighted, and morally bankrupt.
No crystal ball to see how we navigate through all this.
One former student was embarrassed that they’re working grocery store checkout while they rebuild their portfolio. Another grad is drawing porn to pay rent.
Whatever pays the bills.
Early on, I was an assistant butcher at a grocery store. The year before I made pizzas at a chain restaurant.
There is no ‘pure’ perfect creative career unless you’re already independently wealthy and do whatever you want regardless of success.
For the rest of us it’s a meandering mess, putting out little satellite signals and hoping for a response from the universe telling us it’s gonna be okay.
I don’t know if it’s going to be okay.
The moral contract, economic contract, social contract…they’ve all been renegotiated in bad faith and you’ve been told you must Accept All on these corrupt Terms of Service.
You feel it’s wrong, deep in your marrow, but see no other recourse.
If you’re just getting started in a creative career, you have my empathy and sympathy.
It’s a wild ride out there and the future is uncertain.
Don’t begrudge compromises you make. Do whatever you can to ride out the storm.
Zub is one of the most positive people I know, so to see that even he’s getting weighed down by these end times vibes and lack of a way forward is a bummer.
§ Looking backwards doesn’t seem to be a source of much comfort, since all the systems that made past successes are being dismantled, but I did enjoy Fred Seibert’s look back at working with Ted Turner, a man who directly and personally built so many of the things we take for granted, including how we watch news, sports, and cartoons.
One day when I walked in his office his venom was aimed at my former employer and client, MTV Networks. He thought that “Beavis & Butthead” and “The Red & Stimpy Show,” not to mention MTV itself, were almost the work of the devil.
This man was the Ted I’d been warned about. Trepidatiously, softly, I broke in. “Uh Ted, we just made a deal with the Red and Stimpy guy…”
He stopped and quickly looked at me.
“Wow! You really got him?! That’s great!”
Ted understood that talent ruled.
We had a few, reasonable disagreements along the way. But, he had a much more open mind about things than what I’d read about his reputation. Sure, he felt strongly and passionately about… everything? He was also beyond smart and could see what no one else could see.
Seibert is himself a very smart guy who has had a hand in so many of the things we love, including running Frederator Studios. Maybe most famously (to me) when he was pitched Adventure Time, he didn’t get it, but his younger staffers did and they went to bat for it, and he listened to them, green lit it, and the rest is 2010’s history. Recognizing when someone else has a great idea you don’t understand is true vision.
Seibert posted a link to his Substack on Linked In (oh god I hate that I just typed that) and I commented, of Turner, “What a leader and visionary. I wonder if we’ll ever see his kind again.” And Seibert replied, “There’s always someone lurking out there!”
Which I’ll take as the ray of hope in all this. New ideas can be suppressed, but they can’t be destroyed entirely. With every platform and content delivery mechanism being taken over by AI and algorithms, eventually people will be so sick of the crap that someone with a good idea will become a cult hit via actual word of mouth, and then it will become cool because it’s indie, and the cycle will begin anew.
§ To end this on a POSITIVE NOTE, I promise, I would like to direct you to The New York Working Cartoon Library, a VERY ambitious project that will create resources for the comics community! We actually wrote about this the other day, but I’m writing about it again!
The New York Working Cartoon Library will encompass the following:
–A free & open-to-the-public lending library.
–A non-commercial event space for readings, book releases, & art shows.
–A workspace for drawing, printing, assembly, & collaboration.
–An online archive of self-published material.
The folks behind this include Angela Welch, George Olson, Katie Lane, Kevin Fong, Liza Kotlar, Lydia Mamalis, Max Burlingame, Susan Kaplan and Tana Oshima, and they have a pretty big ask to get it done: $100,000 to cover rent and other expenses. They have announced a benefit reading and a GoFundMe campaign.
While they acknowledge “the challenges that a project of this scale may face,” you’ve got to dream big! You’ve got to have hope. Someone somewhere is sitting down this very minute and drawing something that you will love. Fred’s right: someone is always out there. Keep looking.
