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Three Senior Vice Presidents To Leave DC Comics – Richard Bruning, Cheryl Rubin and Steve Rotterdam (UPDATE)

There are two three more names being given by people either being laid off by DC, or who have chosen not to relocate as part of their job.

The first is Richard Bruning. Currently Senior Vice President and Creative Director, he was possibly the most obvious name mention in that of late many of his job functions seem to have been stripped away, the final blow being the closing of Zuda, which he oversaw. A longstanding employee of DC Comics, and designer of the current company logo as well as on titles such as Watchmen and The Dark Knight. He is also married to Karen Berger, Executive Editor of Vertigo. Even if he was offered a relocation package to Burbank he would not be able to take it while Vertigo stayed in New York.

The second is Senior Vice President – Brand Management Cheryl Rubin who basically controls worldwide licensing for DC properties and franchises including the likes of Batman and Superman across media. Hell, she is worldwide licensing for DC. Again, this is a job that would be expected to be carried out in Burbank. That she is co-chair of the Time Warner Women's Network, a New York group devoted to the professional development and networking of Time Warner female employees only makes this more awkward.

And, as I was writing this, I was told that Steve Rotterdam, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales is also leaving the company. Rotterdam was a relatively recent hire, not even three years at the company, he was previously Chief Creative Officer of Eastwest Marketin Group and before that established a West Coast presence for The Guild Group – rather ironic now.

These, along with the Vertigo layoffs and Greg Noveck's departure, have been making few waves both inside and outside of DC. People have been asked not to talk about the situation and they seem to be respecting that for the most part. Right now the only way these namesare emerging is after considerable time spent in the McGees, Mulligans or Pony's bars of Manhattan. As always, when considerable pressure is placed from above, that's when information starts to seep from the sides.

And next weekend's New York Comic Con is expected to be the moment when the taps get turned on. As always, Bleeding Cool respects the confidentiality of those who contact the site or me personally.

Addendum – when writing this I became aware that Heidi MacDonald had written a similar piece with the same names, but had deleted it. A remnant remains here. I'd only heard Bruning and Rubin confirmed up to that point.

UPDATE: Heidi's post has been reinstated. She also states that Patrick Colden, one of the High Five, is retiring.

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