While we’re all wondering what the new Hollywood landscape will look like if the Warner Bros. sale to Netflix goes through, DC Comics has been making some other moves lately, some personnel wise and one theoretical.
On the personnel side, DC Comics has quite a few job openings at prominent positions, including Manager, Book Market Sales. Sounds like an exciting opportunity!
This position is responsible for driving revenue and readership growth for DC Comics in bookstores, mass accounts, libraries, and educational channels. This role is also responsible for executing sales plans and go-to-market strategies in retail accounts around the world while supporting DC’s priorities of “one team” and “best-in-class operations.”
Your Role Accountabilities…
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In conjunction with the Director of Book Channel Sales and DC’s global book distributor, create, develop, and execute sales plans for key retail accounts, independent bookstores, libraries, schools, and mass accounts that feature and amplify DC’s annual priority graphic novels and franchise-related activations. Identify new business opportunities for various audience targets, build and nurture relationships with key partners and vendors, assess risks/rewards, and present recommendations to leadership for review and adoption. Work with Director, Book Channel Sales to establish account-specific sales goals and KPIs for post-release tracking.
and so on. Interestingly, when I first flagged this listing there was also a job listing for the Director, Book Channel Sales, which has now been taken down, but you can see it here.
Your New Role…
This position is responsible for driving revenue growth and expanding DC Comics’ global readership across book channels and retail accounts. As a subject matter expert, this individual will lead sales planning, develop and execute go-to-market strategies, and grow DC’s presence with both existing and emerging retail partners. The position also oversees the leadership and development of the book market team, fosters collaboration across DC Sales & Marketing, and supports WBD and DC’s shared priorities of “one team” and “best-in-class operations.”
DC’s direct market sales department was gutted over the course of several rounds of layoffs in 2020, and the last person I remember in a similar job was Spencer Simpson, who was hired in 2021 and left in 2023. I honestly don’t remember who has been running their book market sales since then, although it is all under VP, Sales and Marketing Nancy Spears. DC’s mastheads are pretty concise in listing executives, so you can’t trace those particular positions.
Whether these positions are replacing recently departed personnel or firing up the book channel, hiring people for the sales department is good. DC is lined up to have a pretty spectacular 2026 in the book market with more Absolute collections coming out, the Fraction/Jimenéz Baman, DC KO and all their other ’25 hits – and the return of Vertigo and doubtless more. As I mentioned the other day, DC Comics is having a good moment in the present corporate environment at Warner Bros., and as opposed to the very lean days post pandemic, hiring is always a good sign.
But that’s not all! Some other job listings:
• Warners Bros is also hiring a Director, Publicity & Communications who will handle DC Comics along with “global publicity and communications for the business units within the WBD’s Revenue & Strategy division including: Global Consumer Products, Global Experiences and Studio Operations, Global Content Sales, Global Franchise, DC Comics, US Advertising Sales, and Networks and Streaming Distribution.”
• DC Comics is hiring a Sr. Manager, Strategic Initiatives:
This position leads cross-functional efforts to operationalize key enterprise priorities and strategic initiatives for DC Comics. The role drives initiatives from development through implementation, shaping business strategies and delivering measurable outcomes. It provides strategic leadership and fosters collaboration across internal stakeholders to maintain alignment and momentum, ensuring initiatives are executed effectively to deliver long-term value.
The Product Manager for DC Comics will lead the strategy, development, and delivery of technology products and platforms that support DC Comics’ publishing, licensing, and digital initiatives. This role bridges business needs and engineering execution, ensuring products are innovative, scalable, and aligned with business goals.
On another matter, Bloomberg is reporting that Warner Bros. has been exploring a team up with Universal Theme Parks and perhaps others to bring DC characters to the parks.
Warner Bros. currently licenses its DC properties, which include iconic characters such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, to Six Flags Entertainment Corp., but it’s exploring the possibility of partnering with additional operators, said the people, who asked not to be named as the information is private. The talks are at an early stage and don’t yet involve contractual negotiations, the people said.
The story went on to say that Comcast, owner of Universal, was hot to get DC’s intellectual property to its parks business and had been engaging in talks.
Which superhero appears as the figurehead for which terrifying theme park ride is a complex matter. While adding Marvel characters to Disney theme parks was a no brainer, they can only appear in Disney parks WEST of the Mississippi. On the east coast, Marvel characters are licensed to Universal’s theme parks, including the Marvel Super Hero Island in Orlando. For some reason the Guardians of the Galaxy can appear at DisneyWorld, but that’s a loophole in the rights.
DC’s deal with Six Flags has been in place for decades, but those parks don’t have the detailed world building of Disney and Universal’s, so adding Batman and Superman to Universal’s parks would be an upgrade in terms of character visibility.
While theme park journalists got pretty excited over this skimpy report, it sounds to me like maybe Comcast was trying to sweeten the pot for their own bid for Warner Bros. I’ll believe the Arkham Asylum Tilt-a-Whirl at Universal Florida exists when I’m puking on it, and not a moment before. Whether these talks survive the impending Netflix deal, is yet another storyline to be tracked as the entertainment world changes forever.
