 Hello everyone—It’s been a wild few weeks at Living the Line HQ here in Saint Paul. If you follow comics industry news, you may already know that our former distributor, Diamond Comics, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in January. Then, on May 16th, they were sold! End of problem, right? Not only have we not been paid for any book sales since that sale closed… We’ve been refused access to our consignment inventory—books that legally belong to us and were merely stored in Diamond’s warehouse.Worse yet, they’ve now petitioned the bankruptcy court to sell that consignment inventory—including our books—without our consent.This means we haven’t been paid for books already sold, and we’re at risk of losing the rest of our inventory in their possession. For a small publisher, that’s an existential blow.But we’re not taking this lying down.Living the Line, alongside several other trusted publishers, has retained legal counsel and formally objected to this maneuver. We’re fighting for our rights in bankruptcy court. But legal battles, even righteous ones, are expensive, and we could use your help.  How You Can Help Right Now 1. Preorder My Gorilla Family (Iijima Ichiro)Our September release is live! My Gorilla Family, sure to be one of the wildest books of 2025, will see wide release the first week of September.Order direct from us (ships from St. Paul): https://livingtheline.company.site/products Order through your local comic shop via Lunar Distribution: https://www.lunardistribution.com/home/search?term=My+Gorilla+Family (We’re temporarily listed under our friends at Uncivilized Books) 2. Watch for Our New Book-Trade Distributor (Announcement Soon)We’re onboarding with a new distributor for the wider book market. First out of the gate: reprints of UFO Mushroom Invasion (2024 American Manga Award Nominee, Best New Edition of Classic Manga) and MANSECT (2025 Nominee for the same category!). Sign up for announcements here: https://www.livingthelinebooks.com/mailing-list 3. Grab a Backlist Title Direct Most of our inventory is frozen in the Diamond warehouse, but we have limited quantities of many titles on hand in Saint Paul ready to ship in 1–2 business days while supplies last. Browse what’s physically in stock here, including our much-beloved science fiction titles by Brandon Graham, Xurxo G. Penalta, Matt Battaglia, and Miel Vandepitte, and the stunning psychological fiction of Erik Kriek. Spread the Word Know someone who digs beautiful, strange, unclassifiable graphic novels & manga? Please forward this email, share a link, or talk to your local shop. Every order and every share helps.  A Few of the Books We’re Fighting For MANSECT — Koga Shinichi “Pulses and oozes from one horror to the next… stunning visuals… it’s tempting to say it recalls Junji Ito at his most nightmarish until you remember Ito was an adolescent when Mansect came out.” — Leonard Pierce, The Comics Journal Read the review: https://www.tcj.com/reviews/mansect-2/“ “Sad young men transform into abject monsters while, from the sidelines, heartless mothers scold and ineffectual scientists pontificate.” — Sean McCarthy, The Comics Journal Read the review: https://www.tcj.com/reviews/mansect/ Order MANSECT direct: https://livingtheline.company.site/products FACE MEAT — Bonten Tarō “Readers who don’t mind a bit of trash with their treasure will have a blast.” — Publishers Weekly Full review: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781961581074 Heard on 11 O’Clock Comics Podcast, Episode 989 (July 4, 2025). Listen: https://11oclockcomics.com/2025/07/04/11-oclock-comics-episode-989/ Order FACE MEAT direct: https://livingtheline.company.site/products Thank you for reading, for caring about independent publishing, and for helping us fight the good (and occasionally slimy, mushroom-ridden) fight. We literally couldn’t do this without you. With appreciation, Sean Michael Robinson Publisher, Living the Line St. Paul, Minnesota |
