Lookee here. Scroll down to "Disney Distress" --

Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum!

Yes, it's me.

No, I haven't been paid in like, 2 or 3 months. They owe me about $3,000 for freelance services.

Yes, Steve Geppi is the czar of comicdom.

Yes, he's filthy stinking rich.

No, they have set no firm date to pay his freelancers.

Yes, his house is quite large.

Yes, if Gemstone is in trouble, then Diamond probably is as well.

Yes, if Diamond goes under, so does the comic book industry.

Yes, this sucks.

Well.....that's a lot to take in...

sucks.

what all does diamond own?
other than gemstone.

Hmm.

My editor responded to Rich:

UPDATE: Jon Clark of Gemstone emailed the column to say "Please reassure everyone that all companies owned by Mr. Geppi are healthyand that freelancers will be paid shortly." We're glad to hear it Jon, and will follow up to that effect.

There is surely a bit of panic right now. I mean, the only major comics companies lately that have stiffed freelancers were CrossGen, Dreamwave and Speakeasy -- all of whom went under within mere months of reported payment delays.

Bub -- Geppi owns Diamond Distribution, Baltimore magazine, part of the Baltimore Orioles and a few other businesses. Diamond, in turns, owns Gemstone Publishing and a few other notable comics-related companies:

Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum!

Recently, Geppi opened a huge entertainment museum costing millions of dollars. The *rumor* is that he overspent, which accounts for his problem paying us freelancers:

Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum!

So yeah... I'm not sure what's going on over there. What I *am* sure of is that things have been pretty lean in the Transitt household this month, me being silly and thinking I was actually going to be getting paid and all.

a huge company like diamond won't go under that quickly unless there's some shady stock deal (knock on wood). if they're having problems, they'll have lay-offs and/or can divisions/subsidiaries.

in any case, this sucks. hopefully it's just a one-time thing.

[prays][/prays]

I hope not.

Bah.

Heh.

Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum!