It's yet another big week for comics as, hot on the heels of Marvel's purchase by Disney, Warner finally asserted itself and finally started treating its wayward comics arm like the powerhouse it could - or perhaps should - be. Diane Nelson has been put in charge of the newly-rechristened DC Entertainment. Suddenly, just like that, the comics industry looks like a very different place than it did two weeks ago.

The question here is why we didn't see something like this coming. Although it's not a direct reaction to the Marvel/Disney deal, we should've at least been aware that something was likely to happen - and yet very few people had predicted anything like this. Even a year ago, when DC's senior VP Dan Didio was rumoured to have left, no-one really believed there would ever be a change this big at the top of the company.

DC controls the fate of both Superman and Batman - arguably the two most popular superheroes every created - and yet Marvel has managed to pound the company into the ground year upon year, punting out movies and raking in the profit while DC and Warner struggle over the fact that they allowed Bryan Singer to make the world's most expensive piece of fan fiction and then leave the character written into a corner with a super-powered baby. Frankly, it's a wonder things took as long to get to this point as they did.

Marvel's acquisition by Disney left many people wondering about the changes that might happen to comics publishing. DC's metamorphosis has done the same. Warner has, for many years now, given DC a fairly free rein to do what it wants, on the basis that it's ultimately just R&D for the movies. That could be about to end.

Similarly, Nelson's predecessor, Paul Levitz, was a great supporter of the current model of comics publishing - the so-called ‘Direct Market' of specialist comic shops. Speculation is rife that Nelson might attempt to break the company out of the industry rut that it's in. Combined with Marvel's potential access to new distribution power through Disney, the comic shop model could experience a serious overhaul in the next few years.

And again, just as Marvel's creator-owned Icon line of comics seems a likely point of scrutiny for Disney, will DC's Vertigo get a fresh evaluation? The line is responsible for many hit comics, not least of all Neil Gaiman's Sandman - but is it worth publishing the comics if they don't generate intellectual property for Warner? Although critically acclaimed and profit-making in itself, there's no guarantee that Vertigo will survive in its current form now that an industry ‘outsider' has been placed at the top of the company, ready to question the wisdom of publishing other people's stories.

As ever, there's plenty to speculate about regarding the changes at the top of DC. Whether they'll filter down to the fans in any visible fashion is unclear right now. It might happen overnight; it might take years - but that assumes it'll happen at all.

James writes Alternate Cover every Monday at Den Of Geek. His previous column can be found here.