As we’ve alluded to several times, there are a handful of comics companies that one keeps hearing persistent rumors about of late. One such company is Devil’s Due, and Rich Johnston gets CEO Josh Blaylock to comment. Blaylock blames bookstore returns for an economic downturn that resulted in laying off several staffers and halting much freelance work.

Combined with financial issues connected to the current state of the economy, Devil’s Due had to put production on hold for weeks before starting it up again.

Josh tells me, “As of this week we’re shipping product again, all be it there will be a few delays between issues of certain titles as artists start working again, and I’m not going to say there won’t be any casualties that don’t make the cut in the coming months. ‘Hack/Slash,’ ‘Mercy Sparx,’ ‘Halloween,’ ‘I Am Legion,’ ‘Rest,’ ‘Vampire Hunter D’ and others are moving along.”