Published late last night from a variety of sources, it appears that DC is laying off staff and going through a structural change. I hope that everything turns out well, but I’ve been worried since they moved from New York to Burbank that the waters would be shakey.
What this means for DC Universe, I don’t know. Maybe an integration into the upcoming Warner Bros. App/Streaming Service. Hopefully, if that’s the case the community, comics, and editorial (DC Daily) material stays.
It sounds like it’s an across the board restructuring through WB. In a similarly themed thread in the Comics section, Applejack said it wouldn’t affect DCU.
I’m sorry for the employees it has effected and wish them the best.
I’m also intrigued to see DC Collectibles is part of the Warner Brothers Consumer Products Toy Group (or some such, if that title isn’t 100% exact) now.
DCEU was restructured a year ago. Turned out to be good with Aquaman as their first movie since restructured. DC comics does need a little push in the right direction. Several of their characters needs better restructure.
“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.”
The interesting parts are:
Back to its roots
Our characters, stories and BRANDS
Direct Market remain heart of business
More fans
Looks like the suits will be looking over what creators are producing.
This will certainly affect the main DC Universe.
The question is whether it will change Vertigo and Black Label, especially in the use of the main DC characters.
Already Black Label is being used to market existing Graphic Novels, rather than new ones.
A test will be the Jesus comic in March. It was announced early to test reaction. There is a 100.000. petition to stop it, almost all of whom have ever read Vertigo. Will DC blink and stop publication?
From what others have said, while this is sad forthose that were laid off, DC’s publishing firm is actually a pretty small company, formerly employing less than 250 people. So 3% is a pretty small number.
So it’s noteworthy, but I don’t think it’s too concerning about the publishing end at this point.
It’s pretty laughable to read that they only laid off 3% of their staff of 240 people (that’s just 7 folks) and 3 of them were vice presidents of their departments. It would be a different story if 240 people lost their jobs. This really isn’t a story.