Days after AfterShock went viral for claims regarding the failure to pay creator royalties, the comics publisher has filed for bankruptcy protection. Monday, the parent company of the comics outfit, AfterShock Comics, LLC, filed for Chapter 11 protection. The company filed its paperwork in the District of Central California, listing assets between $10 million and $50 million. The company’s liabilities are also listed for the same amounts. Rive Gauche Television, the parent company of AfterShock’s film and television development arm, also filed for bankruptcy protection.
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In the filing paperwork, hundreds of creditors are listed, including nearly $400,000 owed to Canada-based printer Imprimerie JS Printing. Dozens of creators are also listed, some owed nearly $20,000 in unpaid royalties.
Earlier this month, the publisher was accused by several comics creator of failing to pay royalty payments. In a statement obtained by ComicBook.com, a spokesperson for the company said no non-payments existed.
“Thank you for reaching out. For easy reference, here is our statement on the matter, the company is addressing late payments as outstanding funds owed to the company come in. There are no non-payments,” AfterShock’s full statement read. “Everyone who is owed money will be paid. We recognize our obligations and consider creator compensation our number one priority. We apologize for this situation and are making our best efforts to rectify it as quickly as possible.”
The situation was first brought to light in a series of tweets from artist Will Robson. While Robson didn’t name the company, he did claim delayed payments from the unnamed company.
“Has it become industry standard to pay creators ridiculously late for their work? I’ve struggled ALL year with ALL the large companies I work for to get paid on the agreed time. I’m talking MONTHS late,” the creator tweeted in a thread. “It’s sad how nervous I am to even talk about this publicly in fear of being blacklisted for future work. But I’ve heard so many horror stories from other freelance creators recently about fighting for their paycheque and I need to vent this all out and hopefully raise some awareness to make serious change.”
Fellow creator Alex de Campi was the one to name the company in a separate series of tweets.
“This is @AfterShockComix,” de Campi tweeted on December 9th. “They owe friends of mine tens of thousands and I’ve been doling out contact details of California Lawyers for the Arts like it was Xmas candy. This is shameful behavior & people need to know. Also their rights deal SUCKS.”
