More promotions, as Mark Waid becomes Chief Creative Officer at BOOM! and Matt Gagnon is upped to Editor-in-Chief. Congrats to both deserving fellows!
BOOM! Studios, 2009’s “Best Publisher” and the recipient of 7 Eisner and 5 Harvey Award nominations announced today that Mark Waid has been promoted to Chief Creative Officer.
Matt Gagnon has received a promotion to Editor-in-Chief.
For the past three years, Mark Waid has been serving as Editor-in-Chief of BOOM! Studios and has been one of the leading factors in the amazing growth that’s seen the company increase its market share tenfold. Managing Editor Matt Gagnon has, likewise since his hiring in 2008, been a critical player in the company’s explosive expansion.
“Mark Waid is one of the most well-loved and dynamic personalities in comics,” said Ross Richie, Chief Executive Officer of BOOM!. “When he assumed the editorial reigns at BOOM! in 2007, he had his work cut out for him – I had not run the trains on time, and much of the editorial schedule was wrecked. Mark used his 25 years of experience in the business to methodically put our core titles like ZOMBIE TALES and CTHULHU TALES back on track, added fresh comics creators with fresh voices to our line, and righted our business and helped define our brand. Without that intervention, there’s no way we could have achieved the meteoric growth we’ve enjoyed. He’s been a world-class talent, and it’s a pleasure to commemorate that with this promotion.”
Waid added, “Ross is too kind and perhaps drinks a little much. Let’s save the accolades for Matt Gagnon. He’s got an uncanny eye for talent and a gift for finding diamonds in the dark, secret mineshafts in which freelancers dwell. He’s unearthed breathtaking talents, among them HEXED’s Emma Rios, THE UNKNOWN ’s Minck Oosterveer, and IRREDEEMABLE’s Peter Krause. Moreover, Matt has worked hands-on to make sure that BOOM!’s books are there for readers every month, on time, and that they’re great reads. I am extremely proud of his accomplishments, and we’re overdue in acknowledging them as I shift my responsibilities within the company to focus on our expanding opportunities both inside and outside publishing. Between the upcoming line of comics and graphic novels we’re doing with Stan Lee and POW! Entertainment, our increasing digital-media strategies, and our continued growth in Hollywood, my energies are more dedicated to BOOM! than ever before.”
Waid has been, for over twenty years, one of America’s best-selling comic book authors, having contributed to every major publisher and having written a wider range of well-known comic characters than any comics writer in history, including Spider-Man, The X-Men, Batman, Superman, Archie, and Captain America. The series Waid launched at BOOM! last year, IRREDEEMABLE, was nominated for “Best New Series,” “Best Writer,” and “Best Cover Artist” in the 2010 Eisner Awards and “Best Writer” and “Best New Series” by the 2010 Harvey Awards. This success has been followed up with the critically acclaimed sister title, INCORRUPTIBLE.
Gagnon came to BOOM! from Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles, one of the most influential comic book retail stores in the country. Meltdown is renowned for a cutting-edge approach to retailing and a sophisticated and varied line of products, a philosophy that Gagnon had a hand in shaping at the super-store. He brings that same approach to BOOM!, breaking new ground with a strong editorial voice.
Wow… another “ten days that shook the world”? Marvel, Boom!, Dark Horse all announcing big promotions.
Or will this become an annual event, linked to CCI:SD?
Congrats to all!
It used to be the exclusive contracts that fueled Con buzz…now it seems to be promotions into this nebulous new position (well, new for the comics biz) of “Chief Creative Officer”.
Title changes, by themselves, aren’t particularly significant. In the corporate world, an executive’s power is measured by his placement in the org chart, his salary, his unit’s headcount, his unit’s budget, and his corporate responsibilities. Waid still writes comics. When he stops writing comics because his corporate responsibilities take up too much of his time, then he’ll be an executive.
SRS
How ironic that Mark Waid (the man who stopped reading superhero comics because of repeating story ideas) gets promoted to a newly created position at Boom after we saw the position initially created at DC… then Marvel. How original.
the Tiki
Well, Boom! was the first to offer their entire catalog digitally. (Sure, Marvel and DC have much bigger catalogs, but has DC or Marvel even offered an entire SERIES for download?)
There was also the first day-and-date digital offering, North Wind, which raised some concern with retailers, but sold out in paper.
They are also one of the few independent publishers, in that their titles are also available from Haven. They have excellent bookstore and newsstand distribution.
The title may not be original, but the thinking at Boom! is.