Fine to Head Marvel Publishing Division
by Heidi MacDonald and Calvin Reid -- Publishers Weekly, 9/20/2004
Gui Karyo, president of publishing and chief information officer at Marvel, has left the company, and Alan Fine, head of Marvel's Toy Biz division, has been named president and CEO of the publishing division. Marvel also announced that David Cho, formerly a technology executive with the McGraw-Hill Companies, has been named CIO. According to Marvel, Karyo left the publisher to pursue new business opportunities.
Joe Quesada remains editor-in-chief of the publishing division and Dan Buckley continues as publisher of Marvel Comics.
Fine has been president and CEO of Marvel's Toy Biz division since 1998. Prior to that, he was COO of Marvel. Marvel CEO Allan Lipson, noting Fine's experience in retail, leisure and consumer products, as well as retail and distribution, said, "We expect that he will be able to utilize these important assets to develop avenues for long-term growth of our publishing business."
Karyo took over Marvel's publishing division in 2003 after the departure of publishing head Bill Jemas. While Karyo was primarily responsible for running the business end of the company, he oversaw such developments as using different covers to increase sales to collectors and established the creator-owned Icon line as well as the Marvel Age line for young readers.
