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Through its official business name Scout Comics & Entertainment Holdings, Inc, Scout Comics has announced plans to "re-launch" the company this July with "a new vision" and a "streamlined, reliable publishing schedule." How are they expecting to achieve this? With a new business partnership with a company new to comics, but not to 'entertainment holdings': Element Global.

"It will shake things up, but in a great way, and Scout is eager to get everyone on board with the new vision," says Scout publisher and writer Richard Rivera.

This comes just days after multiple Scout freelance creators began speaking out publicly about alleged financial issues, purported threats from executives towards those speaking out, and the ghosting of some creators for several months - which the publisher said was true.

Those allegations of issues about Scout, which in one case went all the way back to 2020, makes today's announcement of Scout's "partnership" with another company - even though this kind of deal would presumably haven taken months or more to negotiate - conspicuous.

Element Global is a publicly-traded company with businesses in the realms of mining, energy, technology, sports, and media. The Scout partnership is connected with Element Global's subsidiary, Element Media Global, whose stated focus is on streaming TV and movies.

It is unclear if Element is now an owner of Scout as part of this partnership. Popverse has reached out to Scout for comment, and will update this story with any relevant information.

"We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Scout to expand into the comics and graphic novel space," said Element Media Global CEO Steve Gagnon. "They have a proven track record of producing quality comic books while having an impressive ability to sell their IP into Hollywood, as well as proving themselves to be incredibly nimble in a rapidly evolving market across all of our media brands."

Scout's "re-launch" is said to bring a renewed focus on "a genre-spanning line of comics" to retroactively include previously-announced comics from Scout as well as yet-to-be-announced titles.

As part of this deal, Scout is launching a new imprint focused on horror/thrillers called Dark Harbor Comics (not to be confused with Scout competitor Dark Horse Comics). This imprint adds to Scout's already expansive line of imprints, which includes (with year of launch in parenthesis): Scoot (2020), Outsider Comics (2020), Black Caravan (2020), Lit (2020), One-Shot (2020), Non-Stop (2020), Chispa (2021), and Scout Europe! (2023).

"The collaboration between Element and Scout is the beginning of something very special. Our shared visions and collaborative efforts are poised to help revolutionize the comic book industry," says Scout Comics president (and co-owner) James Haick. "These initiatives will not only benefit our creators and employees, but comic fans in general."

In addition to a new imprint, new titles, and a relaunch of the company, Haick says they will begin hiring "writers, artists, colorists, and more" for "new paying jobs" as part of an initiative called 'Scout Launch.'

Get into the vibrant world of comics with our guide to buying digital comics, how to make the most out of comic shops, our comprehensive guide to the upcoming comics, manga, and graphic novels you should be looking for, and everything you need to know about Free Comic Book Day and Local Comic Shop Day.