Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon is leaving BOOM! Studios, effective March 1, the company announced.  He joined the company in 2008, moving from his role as buyer and purchasing manager at Los Angeles landmark Meltdown Comics (see "BOOM! Adds Retailer"), and quickly began a series of promotions which ended with his appointment as Editor-in-Chief.

"A truly epic journey that started for me in 2008 at the age of 27 now finds me at 44, much changed and feeling so grateful for the legacy I'm leaving behind," Gagnon said in a statement accompanying the announcement.  "The time is right for me to turn the page.  This next chapter will continue to find me building stories with the people I care about, championing creators and lifting up the next generation, which has always been important to me."

BOOM! has gone through extensive management changes surrounding its acquisition by Penguin Random House, including the departure of President of Publishing and Marketing Filp Sablik, the hire of former Hasbro executive Michael Kelly as Publisher, and promotion of CFO Jen Harned to President, Executive Direct or of Business Management & Publishing Operations (see "Random House Completes BOOM! Acquisition").  Stephen Christy remains as President of Development.

BOOM! has begun the search for a new Editor-in-Chief.