Marvel President Bill Jemas...leaving?

[The NZA]

From Newsrama, home of rabid fanboys

 

JEMAS OUT OF MARVEL BY JANUARY

A changing of the relatively new guard will be taking place at Marvel. According to numerous sources, current Marvel Publishing President Bill Jemas will be leaving his position in January if not earlier. Jemas’ replacement, currently said to be coming in under the “Publisher” is reportedly a former Marvel employee.

 

The departure of Jemas from Publishing will perhaps bring to a close a period where Marvel saw coverage for both controversial statements said by Jemas, as well as controversial comics Jemas championed. While Jemas’ style quickly drew the ire of many long-time Marvel Comics fans, Marvel’s upper management apparently finally grew tired of the Publishing President’s style as well as reports have leaked out that Marvel’s Avi Arad found Jemas’ take on Marvel characters made it more difficult for him to sell the properties in Hollywood, and retailers finally took their complaints over Marvel’s policies to Jemas’ superiors earlier this year.

 

As more than one observer had noted, while Marvel was experiencing a tremendous surge in attention and popularity due to movies based on its franchises, the most recent headlines the comic side of the company had grabbed were due to “gay cowboys and dead princesses.”

 

When the extension of Marvel EIC Joe Quesada’s contract was announced, many noted that Jemas did not provide a quote – an odd occurrence, given that Jemas and Quesada often played the media and fans as being connected at the hip. Jemas’ absence from the press release played into growing speculation that his role in the company’s editorial dealings had been toned down significantly. Newsarama reader will remember that Mark Waid pointed to Jemas as one of the reasons he was fired from the Fantastic Four – that is, Waid did not want to take the book in the direction that was, he felt, being dictated to him by Jemas.

 

As sources have told Newsarama, Jemas recently vacated his corner office in exchange for a smaller one, under the caveat that he would be working from home two to three days of every week. Head-hunting for Jemas’ job had been going on for the better part of two months prior to this date, and reportedly, Jemas’ replacement will soon take the stage.

 

Finally – a distinct possibility that has been mentioned is that Jemas could stay on with the company, perhaps in non-editorial capacities (New Media and Licensing), and that the new individual would fill the “Publisher” slot, interfacing and interacting with editorial only.

 

Again according to sources, the new Publisher is a former Marvel employee – one who was associated with the business-side of the company prior to Jemas’ arrival.

 

UPDATE: 11:38 a.m.: According to sources, former Fleer/Skybox product director Dan Buckley will take the position of Publisher at Marvel shortly. While Buckley was a Marvel employee, he was also employed by Fleer and worked extensively on Marvel-related products, such as OverPower and Marvel cards published by Fleer. Buckley moved to Fleer when Marvel took over the rights to OverPower.

 

When asked, Marvel had no comment.

 

I, for one, didnt know much of this "arrogance", but am very sad to hear this happen. I liked the controversy, the fact we were doin somethin different. Everyone bashed the "gay cowboy" story without reading Rawhide Kid, it was a blast. Under Jemas & Quesada, we got the Ultimate line, Marvel MAX, the end of the code, etc. The fanboys want the same drudge we had in the 90's: people like Wolverine in tights, aritsts who all look like Liefeld, no hint of politics/sex/anything that makes you think in their books. Theyre cheering on & on at Newsrama, hoping Gruenwald (awful wrier, responsible for "Cap-Wolf" and such :ill: ) or Jim Shooter (out and out racist, bad editor) come back. For christs sake, Ellis was right: why do so many of the remaining comics fans not want comics to evolve...?

 

I liked the heat, the attempts at realism, the ditching of costumes, if even just for a while. A Hulk book that made me think, a politically-charged Calbe book, X-men and Daredevils who live in more three dimensional societies. I know this is more the credit of the wrtiers (Bendis, Morrison, Millar etc) and great editors like Alex Alonos, but Jemas was the one to ok it & get sales up. He rejected the comic code, he got trades printed up the way they are now, and if he was rude to the fanboys on message boards, well...i prolly would be too.

 

Anyway, i hope its all just politics. I hope we dont get some slob who only ok's projects that that hack Avi Arad can pitch to hollywood for movies - i understand much of the $ comes from there, but why is that limiting our creativity? I hope the new guy keeps the right thing going. Marvel Tsunami wasnt necessarily the greatest, but at least it was an attempt at somethin different. If we fall back into the flat stories we had in the 90's (outside of the Ultimate line), im readin a lot more indy books.

 

And finally, the real reason why I rather liked Jemas.

 

[The NZA]

Update: "The replacement will be soeone from 5-10 years Marvel past"...that's no good, they havent had anyone good at the helm since the early 80's...anyway, so far its all rumors i guess. Just...I know Jemas came from Fleer (failed Marvel card company, was good back then tho), but do we really have to get some "Overpower" card guy callin the shots..?

 

as a favor to me, i am going to ask you to keep your comments polite. he has a family and is a human being.

 

and i know that most of you are smart enough not to buy into the anonymous vicous attacks on newsarama. i skimmed and found about a dozen lies there.

 

for the record, and i don't bullshit, he has done right by me every step of the way every day i have known him, and i can count those people on my hand. he never made me do anything i didn't want to do and always pushed me to give it everything i have.

 

fans of alias... he was the first one.

 

also, i am not fired off of USM or any of my books. either is bagley. the ultimate line is very succesful, thanks to you guys, and continues full steam ahead.

_________________

BENDIS!

[Ganny McVagflaps]

I, for one, didnt know much of this "arrogance", but am very sad to hear this happen.  I liked the controversy, the fact we were doin somethin different.  Everyone bashed the "gay cowboy" story without reading Rawhide Kid, it was a blast.  Under Jemas & Quesada, we got the Ultimate line, Marvel MAX, the end of the code, etc.  The fanboys want the same drudge we had in the 90's: people like Wolverine in tights, aritsts who all look like Liefeld, no hint of politics/sex/anything that makes you think in their books.  Theyre cheering on & on at Newsrama, hoping Gruenwald (awful wrier, responsible for "Cap-Wolf" and such :ill: ) or Jim Shooter (out and out racist, bad editor) come back.  For christs sake, Ellis was right: why do so many of the remaining comics fans not want comics to evolve...?

 

I liked the heat, the attempts at realism, the ditching of costumes, if even just for a while.  A Hulk book that made me think, a politically-charged Calbe book, X-men and Daredevils who live in more three dimensional societies.  I know this is more the credit of the wrtiers (Bendis, Morrison, Millar etc) and great editors like Alex Alonos, but Jemas was the one to ok it & get sales up.  He rejected the comic code, he got trades printed up the way they are now, and if he was rude to the fanboys on message boards, well...i prolly would be too.

 

Anyway, i hope its all just politics.  I hope we dont get some slob who only ok's projects that that hack Avi Arad can pitch to hollywood for movies - i understand much of the $ comes from there, but why is that limiting our creativity?  I hope the new guy keeps the right thing going.  Marvel Tsunami wasnt necessarily the greatest, but at least it was an attempt at somethin different. If we fall back into the flat stories we had in the 90's (outside of the Ultimate line), im readin a lot more indy books.

 

And finally, the real reason why I rather liked Jemas.

 

IC, you addressed everything that I was going to say and more.

 

Let's hope the new guy can keep up the standard that we've now grown used to.

[Silent Bob]

Damn, c'mon, a little controversy never hurt anybody. He got people reading the books again because he got the books to be more interesting. We don't need cookie-cutter superhero stories that can easily be transferred to the big-screen anymore. For the first time in decades it seemed like the comic industry - Marvel in particular - was finally focusing more on the art than on the marketing. I only pray that whoever they get to replace him has the same amount of balls to keep that going.

 

And for godsakes...

 

Marvel’s Avi Arad found Jemas’ take on Marvel characters made it more difficult for him to sell the properties in Hollywood

 

What the hell are they worried about?! They've already sold the rights to practically every character they've ever had, by now!

[Ganny McVagflaps]

Beating IC to the post...

 

UPDATED: MARVEL CONFIRMS BUCKLEY AS PUBLISHER, OUTLINES REORGANIZATION

 

In a statement released this morning, Marvel clarified recent moves within the company, confirming the arrival of Dan Buckley as Publisher, and the transition of Bill Jemas to Chief Marketing Officer, a non-executive position. Gui Karyo will take over the operational & fiscal management of the publishing business.

 

The moves will keep Jemas with Marvel for the immediate future, a possibility that has been present from the beginning of talk of his departure from the company which began last Friday. According to Marvel, Jemas’ new role will focus on “expanding synergies between Marvel’s three operating divisions” (toys, licensing, and publishing).

 

Perhaps the most important yet least flashy of the reassignments is that of Karyo, who was hired in 2000 in the then newly created position of Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. As stated earlier, Kayro will now take over the operational and fiscal management of the publishing business. Prior to joining Marvel in 2000, Karyo served as the president of DecorX.com, an internet technology for specialty printing company.

 

When he was originally brought on to the company, one of his main tasks was the refurbishing of Marvel's website. Together with Jemas, Karyo developed and fleshed out Marvel's dotcomics. According to previous company releases, Karyo was responsible for initiaiting Marvel's "Quarter Comics" promotion. Since earlier this year, Karyo has been taking an increasingly visible role within the company - and reportedly has moved into the office formerly occupied by Jemas.

 

Also in the reorganization, Joel M. Safir has been appointed to the new position of Vice President – Finance, and will report directly to Ken West, Marvel’s Chief Financial Officer.

 

The shuffling and additions, as mentioned, will keep Jemas with the company, preventing, at least for now the payment of a large “golden parachute” which he would have been eligible to receive had his relationship with Marvel ended.

 

Marvel’s Business Wire release follows:

 

 

 

In a move designed to enhance its existing management team, Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) announced today two strategic hires and the realignment of existing management to position the Company for the next phase of growth. Dan Buckley has rejoined Marvel as Publisher, a new position at Marvel Enterprises, and Joel M. Safir has been named Vice President - Finance.

 

Shifts in existing management to re-align key managers with growth initiatives include Bill Jemas, who has been named Chief Marketing Officer, a new, non-executive position at Marvel. Dan Buckley, Marvel's new Publisher, will report directly to Gui Karyo, Marvel's EVP of Operations and Chief Information Officer, who will take over the operational and fiscal management of the publishing business.

 

Allen Lipson, Marvel CEO, said, "As we continue to expand our business, leveraging new opportunities in all divisions, we acknowledge that our existing management team needs to be broadened. The first step was adding Tim Rothwell as the President of Marvel's Worldwide Consumer Products Group. These refinements of our management team and structure are intended to provide greater management resources to support our long-term growth goals, which include entering new markets. Both Dan and Joel have the requisite industry experience to seamlessly integrate their expertise with the rest of our senior management team, and we expect them to begin providing valuable contributions to Marvel immediately."

 

Dan Buckley has been appointed to the new position of Publisher. As Publisher, his primary responsibility will be to oversee all aspects of Marvel's core comic book and graphic novel publishing operations, including editorial, sales and marketing. This additional layer of management support provided by Dan Buckley will allow Marvel to improve the quality and distribution of its primary comic products as well as for new initiatives such as Young Adult prose novels like this summer's successful launch of Mary Jane. Mr. Buckley has more than twelve years of publishing and marketing experience, including the last six at the Omnicom Group, Inc. where he most recently held the position of VP - Operations and Communications for Omnicom's Radiate Group, Inc. a network of twenty plus experiential and marketing agencies. Mr. Buckley previously spent over seven years at Marvel serving in diverse operations including international publishing and marketing.

 

Joel M. Safir has been appointed to the new position of Vice President - Finance. He will report directly to Ken West, the Chief Financial Officer, and will focus on implementing continued improvements to the Company's internal control structure. Prior to joining Marvel, he served for two years as Vice President Finance at ACTV, a software development firm.

 

Bill Jemas, who has served as President of Publishing and Consumer Products since February 2000 and Chief Operating Officer since January 2002, will transition his role at Marvel to that of Chief Marketing Officer. The shift in Mr. Jemas' management responsibilities is designed to leverage his strong management skills, analytical abilities and creative expertise in a new role that will be focused on expanding synergies between Marvel's three operating divisions. The Chief Operating Officer role will remain vacant at this time.

 

Allen Lipson commented, "Since February 2000 when he returned to Marvel, Bill has played an important role in the turn-around of Marvel's publishing business while also shepherding our Licensing division to new heights."

 

 

Continuing its aggressive ongoing efforts to expand the company's already profitable publishing business and cultivate new comic book readers, Marvel Enterprises, Inc. announced today that Dan Buckley has been appointed to the new position of Publisher. The announcement was made by Marvel CIO & EVP of Operations Gui Karyo.

 

Buckley brings to Marvel more than 12 years of publishing and marketing experience, including the last six at the Omnicom Group, Inc, where he most recently held the position of VP - Operations & Communications for Omnicom's Radiate Group, Inc., a network of 20 plus experiential marketing agencies located in North America, Europe, Latin America and the Pan-Pacific. Prior to his tenure at Omnicom, Buckley spent over seven distinguished years at Marvel Enterprises serving in diverse operations ranging from international publishing to new product development, and last served as VP - Marketing Services.

 

As Publisher, Buckley's primary responsibility will be to oversee all aspects of Marvel's core comic book and graphic novel publishing operations - from editorial to sales and marketing. This additional expert management support provided by Buckley will allow Marvel to improve the quality and distribution of its primary comic products as well as provide additional management capacity for new publishing ventures, such as Young Adult prose novels like this summer's successful launch MARY JANE.

 

Commenting on the appointment, Marvel CIO & EVP of Operations Gui Karyo stated, "Having already successfully rebuilt our core publishing business, we knew the key to taking the next step - aggressively expanding the overall comic book and graphic novel marketplace and continuing to improve upon Marvel's position as market leader - was having a Publisher in place to direct and coordinate these initiatives. We never expected to find a candidate so strong or as qualified as Dan Buckley.

 

"Marvel publishing is a key element of our strategy for character and brand management which has had unprecedented recent - and growing - success in licensing and has made us one of the hottest names in Hollywood and in the consumer products industry. Dan brings with him both invaluable previous experience here at Marvel and a strong background both as an operations

expert and a strong marketer."

 

During his tenure with The Radiate Group, Dan was instrumental in developing the company into the world's leading experiential marketing network working with universal brands such as Sony, Xbox and Nokia. Operating in the areas including entertainment and retail, his marketing expertise and operations acumen helped the company grow from a three agency U.S. network into a global entity with over 25 member agencies representing well over 350

brands. As part of his responsibilities, Dan managed the internal and external marketing of the company, handled alliance initiatives and created a comprehensive knowledge management system for the entire network of agencies.

 

"I cannot communicate how excited I am about this opportunity both personally and professionally," commented Mr. Buckley. "To be provided the opportunity to participate in the stewardship and growth of characters that are a core piece of American pop culture is awe-inspiring. Plus when you factor in my personal passion for these characters with the chance to work with Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada and the editorial and creative teams they have assembled, this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity."

 

"Dan's return to Marvel is a welcomed one. Outside of being one of my closest friends for years, he's one of the smartest and most likable people I've ever met in this industry," added Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada. "He also possesses a love for comics that is often hard to find. While I was a freelancer Dan was always there to lend helpful advice, and when Marvel Knights was in its infancy, he was instrumental in our success. I'm looking forward to working with Dan to take Marvel to the next level. There's a dynasty being built here and it's just great that Dan is back to be a part of it and to help take us even further!"

 

Buckley is a 1989 graduate of St. Lawrence University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He was awarded an MBA in Marketing and International Relations from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1991, which included study in Japan as part of the International University of Japan's MBA Exchange Program. A native of upstate New York and long-time New York City resident, Mr. Buckley returns to the New York Metro area from his current Florida home.