It’s come out today that DC Comics will be laying off some employees in their publishing division. Via the Hollywood Reporter, seven of DC’s 240 employees are expected to be let go, affecting 3% of the workforce in the latest reorganization. Most of these layoffs are at the executive level. Could Dan DiDio and Jim Lee be exiting the company? Recent departures include Senior VP of Sales Trade Marketing John Cunningham, Senior VP Art Director Marc Chiarello, and VP of Consumer Marketing Eddie Scannell. The layoffs were announced in a memo to employees and mentions that DC Comics plans to shift their focus back toward what made them a fan-favorite creator of superhero content:
“Today has been a challenging day. We have made organizational changes across DC that we believe will help to strengthen and evolve the division for future success. With these changes come difficult decisions which we take very seriously. We recognize and appreciate that all of our employees have made considerable contributions to our business and that it is difficult to lose colleagues, many of whom have been here for a long time and have made an important impact on DC. We thank them for their hard work and dedication to DC. As always, we are committed to taking care of our employees and will be as thoughtful as possible with those who are impacted by these changes.”
“Together with Dan and Jim, and the executive team, we have spent time assessing DC’s business, as well as the comic book publishing landscape. DC is going back to its roots of delivering epic stories with our world-class characters, stories and brands. Being a premier house of storytelling will never go out of style and we intend to ultimately super-serve our existing fans, while providing new compelling content that engages and excites even more fans around the globe. Rest assured, the direct market will remain at the heart of our business – and will continue to be one of our greatest strengths.” DC Comics has yet to make a public statement regarding the organization changes.”
I’m not usually one to talk about topical news stories, but I’ve got my own ideas as to where this could go!
