Michael Martens, VP Book Trade, Leaves Dark Horse

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MILWAUKIE, OR—After twenty-two years with the publisher, Dark Horse’s vice president of book trade sales, Michael Martens, will step down, effective September 1. Michael spearheaded Dark Horse Comics’ expansion in the bookstore market, most recently in association with Penguin Random House Publisher Services. During his tenure with the company, Michael helped Dark Horse to continuously improve sales in the book market.

“Twenty-two years after arriving at Dark Horse, I find myself thinking about all the things I still want to do in my life. Creative things, fun things, volunteer things. Things that don’t involve long hours in front of a computer screen and a crazy travel schedule. It is hard to leave a rewarding position at Dark Horse, but it is time for me,” noted Michael Martens. “I want to thank Mike Richardson and Neil Hankerson for trusting me and giving me the freedom to learn the book business while steering Dark Horse into the uncharted waters of returnability, Amazon, and BISAC codes.”

“This is a truly sad moment for Dark Horse and for me personally. Michael has been an instrumental part of our success since he, with his wife, Cindy, left his home in Madison, Wisconsin, twenty-two years ago and helped lead Dark Horse’s growth over the last two decades. We will miss Michael but wish him all the best as he sets out on his new adventures,” remarked Dark Horse president Mike Richardson.

Michael has thirty-four years of experience in the comic industry; he spent twelve years as the vice president of customer service at Capital City Distribution prior to his work at Dark Horse.

Please join us in congratulating Michael Martens on his past accomplishments and wishing him luck in his future endeavors. 

Michael’s successor will be announced during the American Library Association Annual Conference in June.  

To read a complete interview with Michael Martens about his career at Dark Horse, head to ICv2.

For more information on Dark Horse and its book trade team, visit DarkHorse.com.

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About Dark Horse

For 30 years, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, the company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent, such as Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Geof Darrow, Brian Wood, Gail Simone, Stan Sakai, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Milo Manara, Kazuo Koike, Neil Gaiman and Frank Miller, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, X and Barb Wire. Its successful line of comics, manga and products based on popular properties includes Dragon Age, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Tomb Raider, Halo, The Witcher, Serenity, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading entertainment publishers.