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Nearly seven months to the day after BOOM! Studios was acquired by Penguin Random House and installed a new publisher, the company is now hiring a new editor-in-chief.

Long-time BOOM! Studios editor-in-chief Matt Gagnon is leaving the position after a 17-year tenure at the company, 14 of which as the company's top editor. Gagnon is BOOM!'s longest-tenured employee, second only to co-founder Ross Richie who left late last year. Gagnon frames the departure as his own decision, saying in a statement "the time is right for me to turn the page."

"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," says Gagnon. "To my larger comic book community that's been one of the most consistent throughlines of my life, a heartfelt thank you. 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."

This comes follows the September 2024 acquisition of the LA-based publisher by Penguin Random House, which sorted it into an imprint of its genre-based Random House Worlds shingle. In the acquisition (and immediately preceding it), there was a significant departure in the company's top talent including co-founder/publisher/former owner Ross Richie and its respected president of publishing & marketing Filip Sablik. 

The senior leadership of BOOM! Studios by late 2024 became newly-installed president/CFO Jen Harned (formerly director of strategy), newly-hired publisher Michael Kelly, newly-promoted deputy publisher Bryce Carlson, and then-EiC Matt Gagnon.

It hasn't been stated who will carry out BOOM! Studios' editor-in-chief duties in the interim, but given Carlson trained under Gagnon and is now his boss it would be logical to thing he would carry the brunt of this - along with the other senior editors in the team. As stated in public documents, BOOM! describes the EiC role as "head of creative" for the company, overseeing both the editorial and production/design departments.

"While I only had the opportunity to work with Matt for a short time, his reputation at BOOM! as well as within the industry at large is the stuff of legend," says Kelly. "He will certainly be missed, but we wish him well and look forward to hearing about his future success."

Gagnon plans to continue working with BOOM! as editor-in-chief until March 1. 

BOOM! has publicly stated it is undergoing a search for a new editor-in-chief. For those interested in applying, it's been my experience that comic publishers don't typically list 'Editor-in-Chief' jobs on their career page like most other positions. It's typically done through considering internal candidates (as BOOM! did previously when this position was open), and external candidates approaching the company or being headhunted by the company (as was done recently at IDW Publishing). 

Get ready for what's next with our guide to upcoming comics, how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to Free Comic Book Day 2025.