Mike Richardson, founder and CEO of Dark Horse Comics for four decades, has departed the company, as originally reported by the Beat.
In a statement, Dark Horse attributed Richardson's dismissal to its "long-term vision to better align Dark Horse within a more connected and forward-looking group structure." The company added, "We are implementing changes to modernize the business and strengthen collaboration across publishing, games, film, merchandise, and other key areas."
Dark Horse has appointed Jay Komas as interim CEO. Komas is the head of the Middle Earth Group, the division Dark Horse belongs to at its Swedish parent company Embracer Group, and brings "extensive experience" in "expanding IP across multiple categories," per a statement from the publisher.
Dark Horse has faced uncertainty for several years since being acquired by Embracer, a gaming company, in 2022. The publisher has been shuffled around as Embracer attempts to restructure its way out of its own financial problems, per the Beat, and Dark Horse was downsized in 2025.
Richardson, who got his start as a comics retailer, founded Dark Horse in 1986. Among its best-known original series are Mike Mignola's Hellboy and Frank Miller's Sin City, which each have earned Eisner and Harvey awards. As the Beat wrote, Richardson was also a pioneer in the comics-to-screen pipeline, and established a benchmark for licensing programs with Dark Horse's long running Star Wars and Terminator lines and, later, Avatar, The Last Airbender.
Richardson did not respond for comment by press time.
