“Turtles of Grayskull” #4 is delayed until April – Comic Industry Woes are Likely to Blame

If the debut of the first Issue of the Dark Horse Comics “Turtles of Grayskull” feels like a long time ago (in comic terms), that is because… it was.

Premiering back in September of 2024, this (give-or-take) monthly four issue limited series was originally scheduled to conclude in January.

But fans who have been keeping up with the Masters of the Universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover have noticed quite a delay in the release of later issues… with the final comic currently pushed back to April.

So what gives? Why are these delays occurring? Back in the the healthier days of the comic business, this holdup would likely be a result of the creators being unable to keep up with their busy schedules. More recently it was covid and printer schedules falling behind. However now, it could be the scary state of the comic industry.

Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., a major distributor for comics for approximately 40 years (and a distributor that ran a monopoly on how comic book shops would get their comics for practically 20 of those years) has had major financial problems for a while. And because of that, comic publishers (like Dark Horse) that Diamond purchases comics from to sell/distribute to local comic shops… were owed a lot of money.

Then in January, Diamond Comic Distributors filed for bankruptcy.

Filing for bankruptcy legally holds creditors at bay. Comic publishers like Dark Horse could no longer contact Diamond for payments and comic publishers could no longer add interest and late charges to debt balances.

The hope now for comic publishers is they can get what they are owed (or a portion thereof) once Diamond’s assets are sold… or Diamond is bought and run by another company. Until then, comic publishers like Dark Horse ‘get stuck with the bill’ and unfortunately some seem unable to handle the burden without major casualties.

After Diamond’s bankruptcy, Blood Moon Comics indicated they were “left with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid invoices” and was forced to suspend all of their operations. Comic publishers like Ablaze, IDW and Dark Horse all had employee layoffs, some substantial. It was horrible news in an already challenging market.

So these economic factors could very well be the reason why the Dark Horse Comics four issue series “Turtles of Grayskull” feels like it is struggling to get to the finish line. (We will have to wait and see if this impacts the one-shot “Andra” comic coming this July as well.)

What’s next? Diamond Comic Distributors is set for a bankruptcy auction next month, so what happens in March 2025 could reshape the comic book industry landscape forever, for good or for bad.

Let’s hope it’s the former.

We’ll see you next time.