Sparkle Pop LLC filed a written objection asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland (Baltimore) to deny a Rule 9019 settlement between Chapter 7 trustee Morgan W. Fisher, for Diamond Comic Distributors and affiliated debtors, and 15 consignment publishers grouped as the Ad Hoc Consignment Group. The case is 25-10308-DER, jointly administered, converted from Chapter 11 effective January 1, 2026. The joint settlement motion is D.I. 1309, dated August 5, 2026. Sparkle Pop’s objection is D.I. 1331, filed August 31, 2026.
The objection PDF is on CourtListener (D.I. 1331). Comics Beat on September 2 and ICv2 on September 1 reported the filing. Those write-ups are secondary to the docket.
Sparkle Pop says the deal was negotiated without it. The company argues the settlement would force pick-and-pack access to a former Diamond warehouse in Olive Branch, Mississippi, that Sparkle Pop now operates, and would move registry and escrow money without paying claimed processing fees of $433,270 and claimed rent and storage of $1,000,000, described as about $125,000 per month. Those dollar figures are claims in the objection. The court has not awarded them.
As of 6 p.m. America/Chicago on September 2, 2026, the objection was on the docket. There was no order granting the objection and no order approving the settlement. The case remains in Maryland, not Delaware.
This 9019 motion is with the Ad Hoc Consignment Group. It is not a settlement with Universal or Alliance; Alliance is a separate adversary. Chase’s reservation on escrow is at least $6,541,667.19. Do not reduce that to an “owed $5 million” line, and do not treat ICv2’s $892,913 figure as the whole escrow pile.
Direct-market comics still need a working pipeline from printer to retailer. Other Image street dates this week, including Ghost Machine books, are a reminder that the calendar keeps moving while Diamond’s estate fights over warehouses and cash — see Ghost Machine’s fall 2026 Rook, Geiger, and Hyde Street dates.
What this story is not claiming: Sparkle Pop has not won. The settlement is not dead. Diamond is not fully liquidated. The court has not awarded $433,270 or $1 million. This filing does not decide Chase’s claim. It is an objection on a Maryland Chapter 7 docket, waiting on a judge.
