Based on social media posts by former employees, mass layoffs at Amazon company ComiXology, which retails and publishes digital comics, began on Wednesday.  The layoffs are part of a plan to lay off 18,000 employees that the online giant began in November (see "Amazon Layoffs Mount").

At least two posts (embedded below) from people identifiable as ComiXology employees indicated that the entire company was being laid off, although a skeleton crew is being retained to assist with the shutdown.  Digital comic sales will presumably be integrated into Amazon’s overall retail operations, with the fate of Guided View, ComiXology Originals, and other uniquely ComiXology features up in the air.

Amazon acquired New York-based ComiXology in 2014 (see "Amazon Acquiring ComiXology"), with CEO David Steinberger staying on to run the company under Amazon’s ownership.  Steinberger stayed until last year, when he departed just a few months before Head of Content Chip Mosher, who’d spearheaded the ComiXology Originals program, also left the company (see "Chip Mosher to Leave Amazon").

The culture Steinberger and others created at the company was on full display in the employee posts, which were full of appreciation for the company (ComiXology, not Amazon), their work, and their fellow employees.  The employees’ devotion to the comics medium was palpable.

By way of full disclosure, this writer was on the board of ComiXology until the sale to Amazon, so there’s personal sadness involved in this report.  We wish the best for all the employees affected.