Independent US comic book publisher AfterShock has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, putting an end to one of the fastest rising new comic labels of the past few years, with titles like We Live, Dark Red, Baby Teeth, Jimmy’s Bastards and The Lion & the Eagle earning critical acclaim and often being optioned for film and television projects.
Founded in 2015, AfterShock described itself as a “hybrid comic book company” that combined the flexibility of smaller indie publishers with the reach and experience of bigger brands like Marvel and DC.
The company was co-founded by Joe Pruett (editor of the popular underground comic anthology Negative Burn), Mike Marts (a senior editor who previously oversaw the X-Men franchise at Marvel), Lee Kramer (who would go on to assume the mantle of President), Jon Kramer (who would later be appointed CEO), and Michael Richter (a lawyer who had notably done stints at both Facebook and eBay).
Like many other independent publishers, AfterShock titles were entirely creator-owned and it worked with numerous high-profile names, including most notably Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, Mark Waid and Brian Azzarello among others. The company initially had a significant impact on the industry, including winning the New Publisher of the Year Diamond Gem Award in 2017. Over the past few years, however, flagging sales and financial issues have plagued the company.
It should be noted that technically a Chapter 11 bankruptcy is known as a “reorganization,” which means the company can continue to operate while it attempts to pay off creditors. In fact, other comic book publishers have gone through similar situations, with Marvel itself filing Chapter 11 in 1996 before finally recovering.
That being said, the news comes hot on the heels of reports from comic book creators not being paid in months and general chaos and confusion within the ranks.
The Chapter 11 filing revealed that AfterShock has between $10-50 million in assets, but also owes between $10-50 million in debts, primarily to distributors and printers. Notably, the AfterShock sister company Rive Gauche Television (which merged with the company in 2020 to form AfterShock Media) has also filed for bankruptcy.
Shortly after the news was leaked, AfterShock released the following statement:
“After much deliberation, AfterShock Comics LLC has voluntarily filed a petition for protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code to enable the Company to restructure its senior secured facility as well as being in a position to secure additional financing to continue to operate its business.The intent of this decisive action, among other considerations, is to allow the Company to maintain operations in the ordinary course including, but not limited to, paying employees and continuing existing benefits programs,, upholding and following through on commitments to contracted creators, as well as vendors who supply goods and services related to marketing, merchandising and advertising. AfterShock will continue to operate, publish and market comic books and graphic novels to supply to direct market retailers and mass accounts through its distributors in accordance with all federal, state and local guidelines.We regret the inconvenience this has caused to those we work with and may cause in the near future. However, we believe that going forward this will allow us to best position the Company for long-term success.“
Recently, one of the company’s writers, Christopher Cantwell (who is also a prolific TV writer), wrote a Twitter thread about his own financial frustrations with AfterShock.