Marvel Goes West, Names Stephen Wacker New Editor-in-Chief
Akira Yoshida will move to a new role in Japan
Marvel Comics will move its headquarters to the West Coast, leaving its New York roots behind and shaking up their management structure, the company announced today.
C.B. Cebulski, the former editor-in-chief better known as Akira Yoshida, will step down, and move into a new role as Editor, Asia Originals for Marvel in Japan. His EIC shoes will be filled by Stephen Wacker, a longtime DC and Marvel editor who has worked on projects like 52 and Spider-Man’s “Brand New Day” relaunch.
“Few editors have had as long and accomplished a career as C.B. I’m grateful for his partnership over the past decade and thrilled that he’ll be on the ground in Japan, connecting with local artists and overseeing Marvel’s original graphic fiction and manga in the region,” Brad Winderbaum, Head of Marvel Television, Animation, Comics & Franchise, wrote on on Marvel’s website. “At the same time, I’m excited to welcome Stephen Wacker back to Marvel. He is a tremendous editor, a passionate advocate for creators, and someone who deeply understands that Marvel Comics is the source code of our entire enterprise, with a publishing resume that includes some of our most beloved modern runs.”
“I’m incredibly proud of everything we’ve accomplished at Marvel Comics during my time as EIC, and I’m excited for this new role the leadership team has created for me,” Yoshida said in Marvel’s post. “I’m looking forward to pursuing new opportunities across Asia while staying close to Steve and Marvel’s brilliant publishing team, who are all like family to me.”
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel will move its editorial offices to Burbank, where it will share office space with Marvel Studios on the Disney campus. This marks the end of an era for Marvel, who have been headquartered in New York City for almost 90 years. It’s also notable because Marvel sets most of their superhero stories in New York, making their move to the west coast feel even more significant than when DC did it in 2013.
As Comic Book Club notes in their writeup, this is the latest in a series of major shakeups for Marvel editorial and management this year. A wave of layoffs hit the company hard, and veteran employees David Gabriel and Dan Buckley left. The publisher role remains unfilled by design, with Winderbaum seemingly overseeing editorial directly.
