Although Speakeasy made a big public relation splash and announced a large lineup of monthly titles, it had trouble almost from the beginning in following through with its plans.

In a sign of trouble to come, however, that same month, Yoshitaka Amano's Hero, a highly anticipated graphic novel, was cancelled and postponed one year.

Also in January, Chimaera Studios announced they were moving their eight series — Mutation, Of Bitter Souls, Super Crazy TNT Blast (renamed Twilight Men), Smoke & Mirror, Lonebow, Wargod, Project Eon, and Silent Ghost — from Speakeasy to the British publisher Markosia.

[13] In addition, Jonathan Martin's Speakeasy Comics Archive (a blog dedicated to Speakeasy-related news)[14][15] was shut down, presumably under "trademark infringement" litigation.

[citation needed] Comics reporter Tom Spurgeon characterized the company's demise this way: "... right now you have to have sustainable capital, publishing skill, marketing ability, something some people want, and enough perspective to let those factors and not personal ambition define the enterprise.

Cash-flow problems led to Speakeasy's demise before they could materialize various potentially lucrative licensing deals, such as with HBO (The Sopranos and Deadwood).

[19] Speakeasy intended to collect some series in trade paperbacks (such as Atomika, Grimoire, and Beowulf), but all solicited TPBs were eventually cancelled.