What the heck is happening at Marvel Comics?

It’s been pretty evident that something was happening at Marvel for a while. My suspicions were first aroused when the day after it was announced David Gabriel had been laid off, there was no suggestion of who would take over for him. The position of head of marketing and sales is pretty key in every business that makes things, so it didn’t seem possible that NO ONE would do it. But that no one I spoke with – retailers, Marvel insiders –  had any idea who would get the job just seemed….odd to me. 

A few people pointed out that Gabriel’s departure appeared to be part of larger Disney-wide layoffs – that included several top marketing people. In announcing the layoffs, newish Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro made some foreshadowing comments about “a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs” which spells AI. Everyone uses AI for marketing planning these days (it’s one of the things that it’s apparently pretty good at) but you can’t replace SALES with AI just yet. 

Still, the absence of a new Gabriel did suggest that maybe his functions would be farmed out to Disney’s wider operations (something that actually happened recently at PRH with Boom’s personnel.) This is the alternative I kept hearing whispered about, but couldn’t nail down. 

Well, after yesterday’s bombshell about Marvel’s executive reorganization, we STILL don’t know who will replace David Gabriel but we know a lot of things will be changing at Marvel Comics. (Yes I know it is Marvel Entertainment now, but let’s keep it comics for now.) 

Let’s look at what we do know first, which ain’t much. 

Brad Winderbaum will be in charge of Marvel’s publishing business as Head of Marvel Television, Animation, Comics & Franchise. Winderbaum couldn’t possibly be more of a known quantity. As head of Marvel TV and Animation he’s been endlessly quoted and interviewed, appearing quite accessible with stints on podcasts and chatting with genre reporters on press lines. He’s Kevin Feige’s right hand man and a star in his own right, so putting someone so prominently involved with the MCU in charge doesn’t seem like a move to shut down Marvel Comics. 

EiC C.B. Cebulski will report to Winderbaum. This could mean more direct support, or it could mean Marvel Comics becoming more tied to the MCU, whatever that means, with more of the famed Disney “Synergies”. I’ll come back to that in a bit. 

The other new Marvel executive is a more shadowy figure, and now we enter the realm of mostly speculation. David Abdo will serve as General Manager, Comics & Franchise, reporting to Winderbaum. Abdo’s LinkedIn page (sure the most Googled page on the internet yesterday for Comics Kremlinologsts) reveals a 26-year career at Disney, entirely in the music division, rising from digital marketing coordinator at Hollywood Records to General Manager of the Disney Music Group. My first question about all that is wondering if he had anything to do with the rerelease of Mickey Mouse Disco, because that was great. 

We don’t have much to go on here, but Feige praised Abdo’s “deep experience in operations and digital innovation,” and “strong track record of operational excellence and strategic growth.” His CV praises him as “a strategic and results-focused executive with digital expertise and 20+ years of leadership experience transforming and building media businesses.”

Although it’s all yadda yadda, it sounds a bit more ominous, especially the digital part. (You might recall that Disney and Webtoon are supposedly cooking up a brand new digital platform.) 

But look at it another way. I can’t possibly think like a current Hollywood executive, but one thing all of this proves is that bigger Disney forces have been thinking about what to do with Marvel Comics, and part of reaching whatever goal they came up with was to put it under two very experienced and trusted executives. I don’t see that as a bad thing. 

That said, Abdo’s LinkedIn accomplishments show a lot of operational moves. For instance, as SVP of Operations and Distribution back in 2013 we find:

▪ Assisted in fundamental reorganization – combined and restructured myriad departments as shared functions
▪ Remodeled physical worksites and relocated 150+ staff in common offices for the first time
▪ Negotiated and implemented international license agreements and expanded global distribution
▪ Developed technology strategy and roadmap

I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to guess that these areas may be part of Abdo’s Marvel remit, and I’m sure your gaze went straight to the word “relocated.” But I’m totally spitballing here.  

That these changes have been announced after David Harper laid out Marvel Publishing’s current weaknesses just a few days ago probably isn’t a total coincidence, but looking at the larger view, once again, Disney is undergoing lots of changes under D’Amaro. I doubt that he was concerned that Marvel Comics is putting out too many blind bags. But a refresh for the idea incubator for Disney’s most successful movie franchise ever is almost certainly something he had written on a post-it note To-do list. 

Anyway, enough with the hesitant guesswork. Harper’s article covered a lot of Marvel Comics’ problems, and I agreed with almost all of his analysis. The only area where I had a slightly different take is in the Marvel/MCU relationship. Most folks think Marvel has been following the MCU a little too closely – for instance a blunderbuss full of unremarkable Dr. Doom mini series sprayed out into the world ahead of Avengers Dooms Day. I don’t think media tie-ins (synergy!) is necessarily a bad thing…but Marvel just hasn’t been very good at it. 

As I’ve said here countless times, in the explosion of the Comics Media Adaptation Era one thing has been proven over and over again: a tie-in works when it actually TIES IN. Marvel sold boatloads of Infinity Gauntlet trade paperbacks when Avengers Infinity War came out because Jim Starlin’s tale directly influenced the movie. I seem to remember them running out at some point, but it was a steady seller. 

On the other hand, when we were all stuck at home watching WandaVision, the Tom King/Gabriel Walta Vision mini-series that kind of influenced it was out of print for months at a time. 

David Gabriel once told me that he didn’t think movies drove comics sales, and stuff like this showed that he put his print runs where his mouth was. This is the kind of low hanging fruit that a fresh pair of eyes might look at and correct. 

Marvel’s inability – or lack of interest – in keeping books in print is another area that everyone wants to do something about. This practice goes back to the Ike Era, but even after the incredibly cheap and backstock-hating Ike Perlmutter left Marvel, the publisher was unable to do anything about it. 

That brings me to the most obvious change that all these moves might bring to Marvel Comics. Ever since they were acquired by Disney, Marvel Comics the division has been playing the Disney Game: their entire corporate goal is to not lose money and hopefully show a profit every year. This has led to a lot of draconian measures. First it was a yearly culling of high paid executives. Then it was cutting page rates to freelancers. And all along the way lots and lots of variant covers and now blind bags and other stunts, while not having the cash flow to ramp up the backlist. It’s this squeeze more than anything that has led to the current state of Marvel. 

While Disney is currently in cost cutting mode, maybe this reorg will give Marvel Comics some breathing room to actually invest more in publishing. That is the most optimistic take possible, but let’s work with it. 

Also, don’t rule out the spite factor. The Marvel Comics c-suite leans heavily on people who were adept at working with the often mercurial Perlmutter, including Cebulski, Gabriel, associate publisher David Bogart and president Dan Buckley himself. While Buckley had a great relationship with Feige, Kevin Feige really didn’t like Ike, and when Ike was ousted Feige made it a point to take over comics. In 2026, putting his top guy over Marvel Comics is yet another triumph over the ghost of Ike. 

Anyway, it’s been only a day and we really don’t know what all this means. I’ve seen ignorant take after ignorant take on the socials however, and I want to tell you one thing: we were lucky to have Dan Buckley running Marvel Comics all this time. Buckley is a very smart executive who loves Marvel, and he was adept at handling Ike, and also keeping Disney meddling at bay for a long time, while providing steady guidance that, let’s be honest, kept Marvel Comics on top for 20 years. For everyone who says he was the problem, I can assure you, he wasn’t. Of course, he’ll get some deserved brickbats as “The Buckley Era” is wrapped up, but don’t lose sight of the positives. 

I saw Dan at last week’s Jack Kirby reception, and he seemed unusually lighthearted and candid. I guess we know why now, but I also know the day meant a lot to him, and he was one of the Marvel folks who helped make it special. 

And so, a Brand New Day is dawning for Marvel Comics. Will it be All New, All Different? Or a tepid reboot? Keep it locked to the Beat for all the developments!