Update: Popverse Is Not Shutting Down, It’s Just Losing The News

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Posted in: Comics, Conventions, Events, NYCC, Pop Culture | Tagged: new york comic con, popverse

Update: Popverse Is Not Shutting Down, It's Just Losing The News

Update: Popverse Is Not Shutting Down, It’s Just Losing The News, ahead of New York Comic Con

Published Mon, 21 Sep 2026 12:56:10 -0500
by Rich Johnston
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Article Summary

  • Popverse is not shutting down, but its editorial news platform is ending ahead of New York Comic Con.
  • ReedPop says Popverse will continue as a fandom hub with streaming panels, community features, and exclusive content.
  • Popverse Superfans will still get presale tickets, photo ops, autograph access, and merchandise discounts.
  • The update follows reports of Popverse layoffs, confirming the brand remains active even as its news coverage ends.

Last week, I broke the news that Popverse, the news website owned and operated by ReedPop, would be shutting down at the end of the month, before New York Comic Con. Today, I followed up with additional details and confirmation that writers on the site had been laid off. I wondered what this would mean for the announced live-streaming plans for the show. Today, I finally got comment regarding Popverse. Confirming that the news site aspect of the site was indeed shutting down, but that Popverse would continue. I am told by a ReedPop spokesman that;

"Popverse is not shutting down. While Popverse will no longer serve as an editorial news platform, we remain committed to our original mission to provide our passionate fans with a hub for content, community, and fandom in all its forms. We will continue serving fans through streaming access to panels and members-only content. Popverse Superfans will still get exclusive access to presale tickets, photo ops and autographs, as well as merchandise discounts. We will continue to develop the platform to find new ways to delight and inspire our fan communities."

So there we go. The news is… no news.

Popverse is a digital media brand focused on comics and broader pop culture, launched in May 2022 by ReedPop alongside its comic book conventions, such as New York Comic Con, C2E2, Emerald City Comic Con, PAX, Star Wars Celebration, and MCM. Popverse aimed to act as the year-round online companion to those conventions, delivering fan-oriented coverage of the same media and franchises people experience at the shows. Its Editor-in-Chief is former Bleeding Cool reporter Chris Arrant, who has also worked for USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Newsarama, and CBR, and has served as an Eisner Awards judge. Its editor is Graeme McMillan, a long-time comics and culture writer, including The Hollywood Reporter, Wired, Polygon, Inverse, Time, Los Angeles Times, io9/Gizmodo, but is probably still best known to Bleeding Cool readers for founding the Fanboy Rampage blog, the legacy of which Bleeding Cool still attempts to honour.

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