DC Lays Off Staff As Part of Restructure, Plans Return to Its Roots

As Warner Bros. continues to restructure, the company announced DC Comics will be laying off some employees in the publishing division.

As reported by the Hollywood Reporter, seven of their 240 employees are expected to be let go, affecting three percent of the workforce in the latest organizational shuffle.

Most of the layoffs affect the executive level of the comics publishing division, and rumors suggested that publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee could be exiting the company. The THR report indicates that's not true, with both Lee and DiDio continuing playing viral roles in DC Comics' executive level.

Senior VP of Sales Trade Marketing John Cunningham, Senior VP Art Director Marc Chiarello, and VP of Consumer Marketing Eddie Scannell have all departed the company.

The layoffs were announced in a memo to employees from Pam Lifford, the president of Warner Bros. Global Brands and Experiences. The statement mentions the company plans to shift DC's 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.