Ruwan Jayatilleke with Marvel CCO Joe Quesada at the 2008 Comic-Con International.

CBR News has learned that Marvel Comics has dismissed SVP Associate Publisher Ruwan Jayatilleke.

While he was not as widely known amongst fans, Jayatilleke had been with the publisher for over eight years and served in a number of capacities as they related to Marvel's book business and digital initiatives. He was often associated with high profile licensing agreements and talents singings like Marvel's string of comics based on Stephen King books and their partnership with Bungie Software's Halo brand.

Jayatilleke was promoted to SVP Associate Publisher in late 2011 after serving a number of jobs with the company including Vice President of Development, Senior Vice President, Strategic Development-Acquisitions & Licensing and most recently Senior Vice President, Development & Planning. Previously he had worked for Scholastic Books. And while he never served in a promotional capacity at the company, the executive had more of a public face than some other senior Marvel staffers -interacting with readers and creators via Twitter and recently taking to the CBR Message Boards to debate CBR columnist and retailer Brian Hibbs' take on Marvel's bookstore sales.

When asked about the move, a spokesman for Marvel offered no comment.