Axel Alonso is out as Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics, and C.B. Cebulski is in.
The change isn’t all that unexpected. Marvel Comics has been under scrutiny this year with floundering sales numbers, as well as harsh criticism from long-time fans that feel the publisher has lost touch with its audience. Throw in some well-publicized PR disasters, and it was clear that Disney needed to do a course correction.
Cebulski joined Marvel in 2002, and is perhaps best known to comics fans as “the talent search guy.” In more recent years, he’s become the globe-trotting VP of international brand management at Marvel. And, if memory serves me correctly, he’s quite the foodie.
Also, he’s generally well liked on Twitter. So he’s certainly got that on some of Marvel’s more vociferous editors.
Could this be the start of the All New, All Different Marvel fans actually WANT?
This seems to be the start of a redoubled effort on Disney’s part to help “right the ship” when it comes to Marvel. While the movies have been generally well-received and making Disney a lot of money, Marvel Comics has seen sagging sales and is quickly losing ground (and talent) to competitor DC Comics.
With Disney seeing a slump in revenue this year, the company has been trimming the fat in other divisions this month. This likely in preparation be a leaner, meaner company with a focus on streaming digital entertainment.
Shaking up editorial at Marvel — and hopefully streamlining their comics output into something more manageable for both old and new fans — is a change that couldn’t happen soon enough.
Nuff said.
[Source: The New York Times]
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