John Nee has been named Publisher of Marvel Entertainment, where he will report to former Publisher Dan Buckley, according to ComicBook.com.  Buckley moved up to President of Marvel Entertainment early last year (see “Dan Buckley Promoted to President of Marvel Entertainment”). 

Buckley will maintain a role in managing content, as will Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada, according to the report.  "As the publisher, John will lead our business strategy for publishing as a whole and focus on growing the comics and prose business,” Buckley said. “All business aspects of publishing report up to John. Creative and editorial planning will still have oversight from C.B. Cebulski, Joe Quesada, and myself."

Nee comes to Marvel from games and merch company Cryptozoic, where he was Co-Founder and Co-CEO.  He spent 11 years at DC, which he joined when DC acquired Jim Lee’s Wildstorm (where Nee was President) in 1998, finishing as Senior Vice President – Business Development before he departed in 2008. 

Nee joins Marvel at a tough point in its recent history, which means it’s got problems, but a lot of upside potential.  There’s been talent bleed, turnover at the key Editor-in-Chief position, and weak sales (see “Top Five Comics Business Events in 2017”).  The top priority will have to be working with new EIC C.B. Cebulski to rebuild Marvel’s talent roster and reverse recent sales declines. 

The entire comics business will be watching the new team at Marvel, hoping it’s successful at turning around the publishing operation.