Mass shakeup for Marvel comic giant after nearly 100 years in NYC

Marvel Comics is headed to the Golden State.The Disney-owned publisher is relocating its comics and franchise division from New York City to Burbank, California — ending nearly nine decades in the Big Apple as the company seeks to bring its publishing, film and television operations under one roof.The move, announced to employees during a Thursday town hall and outlined in a company-wide memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, will see more than 100 New York-based staff members asked to relocate to Southern California over the next year.The overhaul also includes a leadership shakeup, with longtime Marvel editor Stephen Wacker returning to become the company’s new editor-in-chief, while current Editor-in-Chief C.B.

Cebulski transitions to a new Japan-based role overseeing Asia-originated graphic fiction and manga.“As we look toward the future, we’ve made the decision to relocate the Comics and Franchise division to Marvel’s central headquarters in Burbank, California,” Marvel executives Brad Winderbaum and David Abdo wrote in the memo.“This move will position the team beside our broader creative organization and create opportunities for collaboration across both Marvel and Disney.Our goal is simple: to continue to make the best comic books in the business.”The relocation marks the end of an era for one of comics’ most iconic publishers.

Marvel traces its roots back to Timely Comics and Atlas Comics, both of which were based in Manhattan, while New York famously served as the backdrop for many of the company’s best-known heroes, including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.Acknowledging those ties, Winderbaum and Abdo told staff that the city would always remain central to Marvel’s identity.“New York has played a huge part in who Marvel is as a company, and in the pages of our comics,” they wrote.“While our network of writers and artists is now an international operation, New York is still woven into our DNA and that will...