Comings and Goings: Scott Nybakken and Adam Philips

Two well regarded ex-DC employees who have dueling libraries have shifted jobs in the never ending game of comics industry musical chairs, with Scott Nybakken joining Dynamite, and Adam Philips moving from Dynamite to AWA.

Nybakken has joined Dynamite as Director, Marketing, and will report to VP of Sales and Marketing Alan Payne and alongside Dynamite’s Director of Sales Vince Letterio and Marketing Coordinator Vincent Faust. 

“I’m very excited to be joining the Dynamite team — I’ve known Nick Barrucci from the earliest days of Dynamic Forces, and right from the start I’ve seen that he and Dynamite have published some of the best books in the business,” said Nybakken. “Now I’ve finally got the chance to make sure that everyone else on the planet knows it as well!”

“Scott’s resume speaks for itself, and we are very fortunate that he’s coming on board and adding his experience to our company and our growth,” said Dynamite CEO/Publisher Nick Barrucci.

Nybakken will be working Dynamite’s monthly solicits and doing video interviews with Dynamite creators for the publishers  YouTube channel, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms.

Nybakken’s bio looks like it came from his pen and we’ll reproduce it verbatim, but suffice to say he is a solid Beat pal, from our times at Fantagraphics, to running into him on the mean streets of Kips Bay when we were neighbors:

In one capacity or another, Nybakken has toiled in the ink-stained comics mines for 

more than 30 years. His career in the industry started as an editor for the historic magazine The Comics Journal, published by Fantagraphics Books. During his more than two decades with DC Comics, he played a critical role in building the company’s standard-setting and award-winning graphic novel line, for which he edited over 1,000 titles ranging from the biggest sellers to carefully curated archival projects. He has additionally worked with Insight Editions, and done spots of freelance media writing and editing. In his new position at Dynamite, he is hoping to finally meet Red Sonja.

Nybakken is more or less replacing Philips at Dynamite, as Philips moves on to Artists, Writers & Artisans Inc. (AWA) as Director of Sales & Trade Marketing. His duties will be similar but AWA has a different way of putting it. 

In his new role, Philips will be responsible for developing and delivering the go-to-market strategies for AWA’s publishing projects, providing leadership and direction on department strategy, execution, reporting, and analytics, and offering insight and perspective on sales trends at AWA and industry-wide. He will also oversee direct communication programs with retailers in the comic book market and manage international sales agents and assets.

“We strive to consistently seek out the best in our business, and Adam’s expertise and leadership in this new role are going to vastly upgrade our retail sales and marketing efforts,” said Michael Cotton, Executive Editor and Head of Publishing Operations at AWA. “We understand that retailers are contending with a changing and challenging industry, and believe that Adam will help ensure communication with our partners increases to gather more feedback on what AWA can do to help distributors and retailers.” 

“I’m absolutely thrilled to join AWA,” says Philips. “It’s always great to work with a team of driven and talented people that are dedicated to ensuring creators have the ability to pursue their bold and personal work, and I look forward to sharing our vision with retailers. Here at AWA, we want to make it simple for retailers to have access to the best content we can offer, so I look forward to working with the team to set up a system that streamlines these efforts for everyone.”

Philips is perhaps best know to the comics industry as the guy who ran the slideshows at countless DC panels over the years. But he’s much more: a 25 year veteran of DC Comics’ marketing efforts, spearheading the creative direction of DC’s advertising and other projects. After leaving DC in 2021, Philips launched the comics marketing agency Untold Stories Marketing, with clients including Dynamite Entertainment, ComicsPro, SellMyComicBooks.com, Zoop, and others. 

He also has a long history in comics, as an editor at Welsh Publishing Group, working on licensed magazines for young readers including Superman and Batman, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Garfield, The Simpsons, and The Real Ghostbusters and writing for Marvel Age Magazine before joining the staff of Marvel Comics as an assistant editor in 1985. He worked on Marvel titles including Marvel Age Magazine, The Incredible Hulk and Wolverine, Howard the Duck, Doctor Who, The Vision and Scarlet Witch, and others.

Philips and Nybakken are popular industry figures and I’m sure you’re all joining us in congratulating them on their new positions. 

Related