Comicon.com co-owner Rick Veitch has confirmed reports emerging on Friday that writer Jennifer Contino has been let go by The Pulse after eight years.

"The problem isn't with Jen but with the current ad market," Veitch wrote Sunday on the Comicon message board.  "Ever since the Great Recession hit, internet advertising has taken a nosedive. And it costs real money to get real talent like Jen's."

In addition to the economic downturn, Veitch placed the blame on a former advertiser that owes the website "a rather large amount of money."

"The sad truth is, if this advertiser had been able to pay their bill, Jen would still be on the Pulse right now," Veitch wrote. Heidi MacDonald seems to identify the advertiser as the Steve Geppi-owned Gemstone Publishing, which last year closed its offices in West Plains, Missouri, laid off five employees and failed to renew the Disney comics license.

Contino helped to launch The Pulse in 2002, and for the past several years had served as the site's only full-time reporter. Her last post appears to have been on Jan. 18.