Popverse staff have been laid off as ReedPop is to close the site even sooner than we thought
Article Summary
- Popverse appeared to go offline earlier than expected, fueling reports that ReedPop may shut the site before month’s end.
- After briefly disappearing, Popverse came back online, adding more uncertainty around the timing of its reported closure.
- Trent Cannon signaled an ending at Popverse Jump, while staff and ReedPop leadership have stayed publicly silent.
- New Popverse articles are still appearing, but writers are being urged to archive their work as subscription questions linger.
Last week, Bleeding Cool broke the news that ReedPop would be closing the Popverse site before the end of the month and before ReedPop’s own show, New York Comic Con, for which Popverse had been promising extensive coverage, including livestreaming of comic book panels. But it seemed to happen even faster than that. This is how the website appeared earlier today.
But while writing this article, the site has now just gone back up again, and Trent Cannonposted “For two years, I have run Popverse Jump as my little baby at Popverse. All my favorite hot takes on anime and manga (and the occasional side tangent) are there, for all to see. The final one ran yesterday, and here it is,” with a link to the latest column and then clarifying “Just to note that it didn’t end because it ran its course or wasn’t successful. It was one of the most successful Member’s First columns we ran. Myself and the rest of the staff were all laid off so… that’s the end.”
Staffers I approached about closure last week did not commentand instead referred enquiries to James Goddu, Senior Director of Digital at ReedPop, but he has not responded to emails sent last week either. However, multiple people privately confirmed the news and said the site may close sooner than the end of the week. Popverse also runs a subscription service on its site, and I have yet to hear back from those who have enquired about the status of their subscriptions.
Articles are still being posted today, though, such as details from a Jim Lee Q&A from San Diego Comic-Con in July, by Popverse Staff Writer Grant DeArmitt, but nothing you’d call topical news for a little while. While the site is live, it has been advised that writers might want to use a service such as Authory to preserve their work, with credit, in case anything happens to it. Something I wish had been around in my next Planet Over, Silver Bullet Comic Books and CBR days.
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