‘Usagi Yojimbo’ moves to IDW

Stan Sakai’s most famous creation leaves Dark Horse Comics for a full-color series that starts in June.

After more than 20 years at Dark Horse Comics, Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo will migrate to a new publisher in June. The New York Times revealed today that everyone’s favorite samurai rabbit is making the jump to IDW Publishing.

And while Usagi has been published in black and white for most of its life, the IDW series will be in full color. Sakai will work with colorist and frequent collaborator Tom Luth on the new series. In addition, IDW will release color editions of previous Usagi volumes.

Continue reading “‘Usagi Yojimbo’ moves to IDW”

IDW and DC announce Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

James Tynion IV, Freddie Williams II, Kevin Eastman and Jeremy Colwell will work together on a story featuring Krang.

Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are practically old friends at this point, and they will meet up again this May in Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, courtesy of DC Comics and IDW Publishing.

James Tynion IV, Freddie Williams II and Jeremy Colwell will wrap up this final part of this crossover trilogy, with TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman doing variant covers and some “pivotal” interiors as well.

“I still remember the e-mail asking me if I wanted to write the first Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover,” said Tynion IV in a press release. “My brain couldn’t even process what I was reading for a few seconds, and I started having a panic attack about fitting it into my work schedule. Then, finally, I pictured Michelangelo’s reaction to seeing the T. rex in the Batcave for the first time and started laughing out loud.”

Continue reading “IDW and DC announce Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III”

‘Love and Capes’ returns this summer

Thom Zahler’s rom-com comic returns for a fifth volume.

Thom Zahler produced four volumes of his charming Love and Capes series before seemingly sending Mark and Abby off for their happy ending. But now the creator has said on Twitter that he’s planning a fifth volume of the popular series, set to be released this summer.

Although there aren’t a lot of details just yet, he did share two pages of art and some promo art that revealed the subtitle of the new volume — Love and Capes: The Family Way.

Continue reading “‘Love and Capes’ returns this summer”

Ferrier, Malhotra smuggle ‘Narcos’ into comics

IDW Publishing will publish a four-issue miniseries set in the Netflix show’s first season.

Netflix’s Narcos will make the jump from the streaming giant to comics this April, as IDW Publishing as announced plans to make a comic book based on the popular TV show.

Ryan Ferrier and Vic Malhotra have been enlisted to create a four-issue miniseries that “introduces new dangers for DEA agents Steve Murphy and Javier Peña to face, while at the same time, El Patrón must contend with a dangerous threat to his drug empire.”

“I’m thrilled to take fans new and old into a deeper, unseen story from the volatile, teeth-gritting world of Narcos,” Ferrier said in a press release. “I’m even more excited to bring this to life alongside Vic Malhotra, whose immense talent and style will show us a new side of Narcos — one with dangerously high stakes and a new, chaotic presence that will affect the DEA, the Cartels, Don Pablo himself, and all of Colombia.”

Continue reading “Ferrier, Malhotra smuggle ‘Narcos’ into comics”

Black Crown uncovers ‘Eve Stranger’ from Barnett + Bond

New series from the IDW imprint features an amnesiac-for-hire.

IDW’s Black Crown imprint heads undercover for their latest limited series — Eve Stranger, the story of “a formidable young woman with unnatural abilities and a repeatedly wiped memory, available to the highest bidder under the threat of exploding nanobombs in her bloodstream.” Kind of like AEon Flux meets the Suicide Squad.

“Imagine if you were the best in the world at pretty much everything. Super-spy. Assassin. International rescue. The jobs nobody else can — or is willing to — take on. Now imagine if you couldn’t even remember that you saved the world last week, and that you have to do it all again today… or you’ll die. Welcome to the world of Eve Stranger,” said co-creator and writer David Barnett.

Continue reading “Black Crown uncovers ‘Eve Stranger’ from Barnett + Bond”

Comics Lowdown: Eric M. Esquivel fired from ‘Nightwing,’ ‘Border Town’ cancelled

Plus: Free Comics Book Day, George Freeman, Marie Javins and more!

Although it wasn’t yet announced, DC Comics has said Eric M. Esquivel will no longer co-write Nightwing. The news that Esquivel was writing the book was to be revealed today in DC’s January solicitations.

The news follows the cancellation of Border Town, a well-reviewed series Esquivel wrote with artists Ramon Villalobos and Tamra Bonvillain. Both Villalobos and Bonvillain announced on social media they had quit the title after allegations of sexual abuse against Esquivel became public. In a piece titled “X, my experience with my abuser,” toy designer Cynthia Naugle detailed a history of abuse by a co-worker at a comic shop, who has since been identified as Esquivel.

Neither DC Comics nor Vertigo have commented directly on the abuse allegations. Esquivel, who had changed his Twitter account to private following the allegations, has now made it public again and posted several tweets in response. At Book Riot, writer S.W. Sondheimer says she will no longer cover Vertigo titles as a result of their silence on the matter.

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown: Eric M. Esquivel fired from ‘Nightwing,’ ‘Border Town’ cancelled”

Comics Lowdown: Chris Ryall rejoins IDW; Joe Illidge out at Valiant

Plus: top comics and graphic novels at comic shops in November! Next ‘Dog Man’ book gets a 5 million copy print run! Kieron Gillen plays ‘Die,’ for real! And much more!

Chris Ryall, who left IDW Publishing in March after serving as editor-in-chief for about 14 years, has rejoined the company as president, publisher and chief creative officer.

“IDW is where I’ve spent the majority of my career, and I consider the company and its employees like family, so I am grateful for this amazing opportunity to return,” Ryall said in a press statement. “I believe that IDW has very significant opportunities to become even more valuable and important, and I am excited to further expand on what I started with the company nearly 15 years ago. I am also eager to help the company celebrate its 20th year anniversary in 2019 in varied and creatively invigorating new ways.”

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown: Chris Ryall rejoins IDW; Joe Illidge out at Valiant”

Comics Lowdown: ‘Love Is Love’ brings in another $51,000 for The Trevor Project

Plus: Tumblr changes its guidelines, November comics sales drop, Olivia Stephens, Sophie Goldstein, Geoff Johns, Kieron Gillen, Todd Klein, more best-of-the-year lists and more!

The Love Is Love anthology published by IDW Publishing and DC Comics continues to raise money for LGBT organizations; earlier this week IDW announced a donation of $51,000 to The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people. This follows a donation of $165,000 in 2017 to the OneOrlando Fund to assist the victims and families impacted by the deadly attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016.

“This has so exceeded any of my wildest hopes for the amount of money it could raise and the attention it got,” Marc Andreyko, who organized and curated the anthology, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “We were able to give $51,000 to the Trevor Project two years out, when the news cycle is so fast people don’t remember what happened five minutes ago. I’m happy and sad that there is an evergreen quality to this.”

The anthology is currently in its sixth printing, available via online booksellers, comic book specialty retailers and through digital platforms.

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown: ‘Love Is Love’ brings in another $51,000 for The Trevor Project”

IDW celebrates 20 years with ‘IDW 20/20’ one-shots

Ghostbusters, My Little Pony, Star Trek and more head back to the future (or the past) in January.

At this week’s New York Comic Con, IDW announced IDW 20/20 — five one-shots featuring some of their licensed properties that will celebrate the publisher’s 20-year history.

Featuring Ghostbusters, Jem and the Holograms, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Trek and My Little Pony, each story will be set either 20 years in the past or 20 years in the future.

“An anniversary like the one IDW is celebrating is a cause to look to the future and the past,” said IDW Editor-in-Chief John Barber. “It gives us a moment to reflect on where came from and where we’re going, because both directions are pretty exciting. We’re lucky to have partners like Hasbro, Nickelodeon, CBS Consumer Products, and Sony to share in the celebration — and to have these five sets of characters that have helped place IDW at the center of the pop culture universe!”

Continue reading “IDW celebrates 20 years with ‘IDW 20/20’ one-shots”

All the best Star Treks converge in IDW’s ‘Star Trek: The Q Conflict’

Scott and David Tipton, along with David Messina, bring together the crews of The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager.

Several of the Star Trek crews are coming together — to fight! — in a new miniseries from IDW Publishing.

Star Trek: The Q Conflict, announced at New York Comic Con, sees the villainous Q bringing together the crews from The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. The six-part series will be written by Scott and David Tipton, with art by David Messina.

“This is it – the biggest Star Trek series ever, spanning starships, centuries, and galaxies!” said Scott Tipton in a press release. “All of Starfleet’s most legendary officers join together for the first time against some of the greatest threats they’ve ever faced. It’s like nothing you’ve seen before!”

Continue reading “All the best Star Treks converge in IDW’s ‘Star Trek: The Q Conflict’”

IDW enlists Michel Fiffe for a new G.I Joe miniseries

‘G.I. Joe: Sierra Muerte’ debuts next spring.

Copra creator Michel Fiffe has heard the call — “Yo Joe!” — and will tackle the G.I. Joe team in a new miniseries, G.I. Joe: Sierra Muerte.

“Love and loss, combat and cunning, cheap laughs and high stakes – this is everything I want in a G.I. Joe comic,” Fiffe told Nerdist. Fiffe’s story will feature Snake Eyes, Roadblock, Lady Jaye, Scarlett, Rock ‘n Roll, Gung-Ho, Stalker and Flint, who go rogue on a rescue mission.

Continue reading “IDW enlists Michel Fiffe for a new G.I Joe miniseries”

‘Magic: The Gathering’ returns to comics this fall

New miniseries by Vita Ayala and Harvey Tolibao spotlights a pyromancer named Chandra.

The ever-popular card game Magic: The Gathering will return to comics this fall just in time for its 25th anniversary. IDW Publishing, who has released other Magic series in the past, will publish Magic: The Gathering: Chandra in November.

Writer Vita Ayala (Supergirl, The Wilds) and artist Harvey Tolibao (X-Men, Green Arrow) will introduce a new character to the Magic mythos, a pyromancer named Chandra, who looks like she’s ready to burn a hole in your heart.

Continue reading “‘Magic: The Gathering’ returns to comics this fall”