Mike Richardson, who founded Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and served as CEO ever since, has been removed from his position by parent company Embracer Group. Gaming executive Jay Komas, who previously served as head of Embracer’s Middle Earth Enterprises division, will serve as interim CEO.
The Hollywood Reporter shared a statement Embracer sent to business partners and creators regarding the news:
“As part of our long-term vision to better align Dark Horse within a more connected and forward-looking group structure, we are implementing changes to modernize the business and strengthen collaboration across publishing, games, film, merchandise and other key areas,” Embracer said. “Our goal is simple: to ensure Dark Horse is positioned for sustained success while continuing to serve creators, partners and fans at the highest level.”
Richardson’s long road in comics started off in comcis retail with his Oregon-based store Pegasus Fantasy Books, which was later renamed Things From Another World. In 1986, he began publishing comics with a concerted effort to protect creators’ rights.
Dark Horse launched with two titles: the funny animal parody book Boris the Bear and the anthology Dark Horse Presents, which has published stories from a who’s who of creators over the years it was published. (One of the first breakout successes from DHP was Concrete, which Dark Horse just announced is returning this year).
Dark Horse became a home for creator-owned work and licensed comics alike, publishing titles like Hellboy, Sin City, 300, The Mask, The Goon and The Umbrella Academy, among many others, as well as long runs on Star Wars, Aliens and Predator. Richardson also pioneered the comics-to-Hollywood pipeline, earning producer credits on Timecop, The Mask, Hellboy and, more recently, The Umbrella Academy on Netflix. More recently, Dark Horse has become the home of creator imprints for Stan Sakai, Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, Karen Berger and of course Mike Mignola, among others.
Karen Berger, whose Berger Books imprint was published by Dark Horse, on social media, “So sorry that Mike Richardson is no longer at Dark Horse, the company he founded 40 years ago. He was a visionary, championing creator ideas and creator rights. What a legacy! He was a pleasure to work with and showed great support for Berger Books. Thanks for everything, Mike!”
During his tenure, Dark Horse also played a role in bringing manga to the United States. Dark Horse Manga’s first ongoing title was Oh My Goddess! by Kōsuke Fujishima, which began in August 1994. Other titles published under the imprint included Akira, Astro Boy, Blade of the Immortal, Ghost in the Shell, Lone Wolf and Cub, Trigun, Hellsing, Drifters, Gantz, Mob Psycho 100 and titles by the all-female artist group CLAMP.
But the crown jewel was Berserk, Kentaro Miura’s dark fantasy epic, which Dark Horse began publishing in English in 2003. By 2017, Berserk had become Dark Horse’s best-selling title of all time — surpassing even Lone Wolf and Cub — with over 2 million copies sold in North America, and by February 2026 the series had sold over 10 million copies in English. Dark Horse continued publishing the series after Miura’s death in 2021, with the continuation supervised by his longtime collaborators.
The timing of Richardson’s removal is particularly striking, given that Dark Horse made several big announcements just two weeks ago at the ComicsPro retailer meeting in Glendale, including deals with Terry Moore’s Abstract Studios and Jonathan Hickman’s 3 Worlds/3 Moons Substack series.
Randy Stradley, one of Dark Horse’s earliest employees and a longtime vice president of publishing — and also the writer of the previously mentioned Boris the Bear — said the news was “a shocker” and that it was “difficult — if not impossible — to imagine a Dark Horse Comics without him.”
“Dark Horse WAS Mike Richardson,” Mike Mignola posted on Facebook. “As a young comics guy I knew that Dark Horse was where the good guys went if they wanted to do creator-owned comics. It was the only home I ever considered for Hellboy. An uncommercial artist and a very uncommercial character with a silly name and a tail — but he trusted me and actually agreed to publish without really even knowing what it was all about. For whatever reason he trusted me and for 30 years he left me alone to do what I do the way I wanted to do it.”
Embracer announced their intention to purchase Dark Horse at the end of 2021, and the removal of Richardson follows several turbulent years for them. They went on a massive acquisition spree between 2020 and 2022, buying more than 60 companies including Dark Horse, before a $2 billion funding deal with Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group collapsed in May 2023, triggering a crisis that rippled across the entire company. That was followed by massive layoffs, as they reduced their workforce by more than 4,000 people, closed numerous studios and cancelled 80 in-development game projects. They also saw changes at the top, with CEO Lars Wingefors resigning last year and being replaced by Phil Rogers.