Alison Gill, Retiring From DC Comics After 24 Years?

Yesterday, Bleeding Cool broke the news, now being followed up by others, that DC Comics was going through another round of layoffs. This follows what were previously dubbed the DC Bloodbath and DC Bloodbath II in 2020, which all followed the firing of Dan DiDio as Publisher. These came in the wake of a major overhaul at Warner Bros led by Warner CEO Jason Kilar. However, as Bleeding Cool reported, the new layoffs were much less widespread within the publisher and did not affect Editorial.

However, Bleeding Cool hears that one very prominent individual will be leaving DC Comics, taking retirement, Alison Gill, one of the longest-standing employees of the comic book industry. British-born, she studied at the University of Arts in London and worked at Marvel UK from 1982 on production for, amongst other publications, Doctor Who Magazine. Moving to New York, she was made Manufacturing Liaison at Marvel Comics in the eighties/nineties – she basically got the comic books printed. And was also behind Marvel’s move into die-cut, glow-in-the-dark, embossed and holo-foil covers during the nineties at a time when no one did that sort of thing, courtesy of a strong relationship with printers.

Then in 1999, she jumped to DC Comics, where she has been for the past 24 years, first as Executive Director of Production, then promoted to SVP Manufacturing & Operations in 2010. At the time, then-publisher Dan DiDio stated, “Alison’s been critical in not only finding the most efficient manufacturing methods for DC Comics but also the ones that make the least impact on our environment,” said DiDio, “We take great pride in Alison’s efforts to ensure that we are always exploring the most eco-friendly publishing options in the industry.” Alison Gill made the big move from New York to Burbank and survived the previous DC Comics bloodbath and mass firings. She became one of the three most senior figures at DC in 2019, in charge of Production and Manufacturing. The other two, Bob Harras and Hank Kanalz, were both laid off in 2020, Gill survived, her skillset considered absolutely essential to the continuance of DC Comics.

With over forty years working in comics for Marvel and DC, her retirement – if confirmed – will be a great loss of information and experience to DC Comics and the comic book industry. I do hope she publishes her memoirs – and does a deal with the printers to get the quote down.