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The past few months at Dark Horse Comics have been a bit tumultuous. In March, its founder/longtime boss Mike Richardson was fired after 40 years, a new outside person named Jay Komas was brought in as interim CEO, and then in May, internal worries and concerns became so apparent that a majority of its employees formed a union, an event which was quickly followed by a series of layoffs that affected several employees (some of which were in the union).

Now, four months since the CEO shake-up, a new management team has been introduced, with Dark Horse  Comics framing them (and not interim CEO Jay Komas) as leaders of the organization. Described as a "three-pillar leadership structure" which is becoming common in large organizations (including several comic publishers), Dark Horse is now framing its leadership team as:

• Tim Wiesch, head of publishing & business development
• Vanessa Todd-Holmes, head of publishing operations
• Melissa Teeman, head of finance & administration

According to sources within Dark Horse, these changes happened back in April but were being held to announce until now.

"Each of these three leaders represents a move towards collaborative operation and reliance on the expertise of veteran Dark Horse staff to grow the company," reads a statement from the comics publisher.

Wiesch is a long-time Dark Horse employee specializing in sales and business development. He left the company for a time to work at Oni Press and then become a senior figure at Mondo, before rejoining Dark Horse in 2023. For Wiesch, this promotion will put him firmly in the editorial side of things for the first time, with longtime editor-in-chief Dave Marshall now reporting into him. 

"I couldn't be more excited about the future our team is building at Dark Horse right now,” says Wiesch in the announcement. “I've been lucky enough to know a staggering amount of people here for 20 years and my entire world view on the industry was shaped with their influence. It's truly an honor to be taking these next steps at the company that literally inspired me to work in comics to begin with." 

His role will see him oversee not only the Editorial department, but also the Licensing, Entertainment, and Games areas as well.

Related: Dark Horse fired its founder, but Mike Richardson isn’t leaving the building ... because he still owns it

With this leadership change comes the announcement of several promotions of their lieutenants and one new hire... but deeper research confirms two of these individuals have already had these promotions for months, and in some cases a full year.

Longtime Dark Horse editor Daniel Chabon is said in the press release to be promoted to 'Executive Editor' with these changes; however, he has held this title for at least a full year already. Mark Bernandi was promoted to VP of Publishing Sales in January 2026 by then-CEO Mike Richardson, but the promotion is being announced this week as a new development.

Related: After the Dark Horse boss shakeup, Hellboy creator & owner Mike Mignola hopes for the best but "time will tell"

Not mentioned in the announcement is the status of longtime Dark Horse editor-in-chief Dave Marshall.

Insight Editions' Kevin Callahan has been hired as the company's VP of marketing, filling the slot opened up by the company's longtime marketing lead Cara O'Neil, who jumped to Mad Cave Studios. Dark Horse's social media & digital advertising manager of the past two years, Samantha Garcia, was promoted last month to become the company's director of marketing.

Dark Horse is framing these sales & marketing promotions and hirings pointedly, saying it's with an intent to "better focus" the marketing, advertising, and sales strategies - all of which is now overseen by Todd-Holmes. It notes that the hiring of Stuart Schreck as sales director in late 2025 is a part of this as well.

Interested? Here's where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet.