IDW adds three to editorial staff

IDW Publishing has added three new faces to their editorial staff, they announced in a press release today.

Longtime comics fan will recognize the name Jamie S. Rich, a former editor at places like Dark Horse, Oni Press, DC Comics and Tapas Media, his most current workplace. Rich is also an accomplished comics writer and prose novelist, having worked on books like 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, You Have Killed Me and Lady Killer, among many others.

“IDW has a tremendous legacy for bringing people’s favorite characters from across genres and media to life in new and exciting ways,” Rich said. “I am excited to be a part of that and enhance that legacy. The editorial team has been doing some phenomenal work, and I look forward to innovating with them further.”

Rich joins IDW as executive editorial director and “will be responsible for developing licensed products for IDW Publishing, including single-issue comic books and graphic novels, and both managing and providing direction to the editorial staff to enable the highest quality creative output.”

Also joining the team is as senior editor is Charles Beacham, who will oversee the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line, “building upon the success of their monthly series and blockbuster Last Ronin miniseries with innovative new initiatives for 2022 and beyond.”

“The opportunity to join IDW editorial and the TMNT team in particular is a dream come true,” said Beacham. “It’s an exciting time to be a Turtles fan, and I’m beyond excited to have the chance to work with the likes of Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Sophie Campbell and the rest of our amazing creative team. TMNT is an amazing franchise that means so much to so many people. We’ve got big plans for the Heroes in a Half Shell, and I can’t wait to share them!”

Beacham previously worked at both Marvel and Activision Blizzard in the past, working on comics titles like Star Wars, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye and Activision’s Destiny 2.

Finally, Russ Busse joins the team as senior editor of IDW’s Originals editorial division. He will help develop new, original graphic novels for the middle grade and young adult markets, drawing on his experience from Abrams Books and Little, Brown Books.

“I’m so excited to work with the incredible Originals team at IDW. Comics are how I personally got into reading, and I’m over the moon to build a diverse list that’s going to appeal to a huge swath of middle grade and YA readers,” said Busse.

It’s a year of big change for IDW, as they prepare for the loss of two major franchises in G. I. Joe and Transformers at the end of 2022. On the plus side, they’ve also announced they are doubling down on original projects, with a slate that includes new comics from John Ridley, Scott Snyder, Van Jensen, Jesse Lonergan, G. Willow Wilson and more. Here’s a look at the first nine projects in their IDW Originals line, which is overseen by former DC vet Mark Doyle:

Dark Spaces: Wildfire, a thriller series written by Scott Snyder with art by Hayden Sherman, follows a group of female inmate firefighters deep into the smoldering California hills, where their desperate heist of a burning mansion will lead them to the score of a lifetime…or a deadly trap! 

Crashing, a five-issue miniseries written by Matthew Klein with art by Morgan Beem, throws open the doors of an emergency room filled with casualties of a superhuman war, where Rose Osler, a doctor on her own path of addiction and recovery, faces the most dangerous day of her medical career.

Trve Kvlt, a five-issue miniseries written by Scott Bryan Wilson with art by Liana Kangas, introduces Marty Tarantella, a down-on-his-luck loser whose last-ditch scheme to escape a lifetime of fast-food service sets him on a collision course with a cult of violent, Devil-worshiping lunatics!

Earthdivers, an ongoing series written by Stephen Graham Jones with art by Davide Gianfelice, unites four Indigenous survivors in an apocalyptic near future as they embark on a bloody, one-way mission to save the world by traveling back in time to kill Christopher Columbus and prevent the creation of America.

Dead Seas, a six-issue miniseries written by Cavan Scott with art by Nick Brokenshire, transforms a cynical convict into a reluctant hero when he’s trapped on a sinking prison ship swarming with ghosts. Can he unite desperate criminals, pirates, and brutal guards as they try to escape a watery grave?

Golgotha Motor Mountain, a five-issue miniseries written by Matthew Erman and Lonnie Nadler with art by Ryan Lee, is a high-octane, redneck motor massacre about two meth-cooking brothers and their attempt to make it home in one piece as all manner of cosmic alien horrors are hot on their trail.

The Hunger and the Dusk, a twelve-issue storyline written by G. Willow Wilson with art by Chris Wildgoose, upends an age-old conflict between humans and orcs by introducing a new, deadlier species. Fragile alliances form—and unexpected romances blossom—as former enemies wade into battle together to save their two races.

Arca, an original graphic novel written by Van Jensen with art by Jesse Lonergan, leaves a dying Earth behind as billionaires establish a luxurious new society out among the stars, tended to by teenage indentured servants. But one girl discovers that the good life promised for their years of servitude was a lie…

The Sin Bin, a six-issue miniseries written by Robbie Thompson with art by Molly Murakami, hits the road with washed-up hockey player Dale “Dukes” Duquesne, who moonlights as a monster hunter during away games with his daughter, Cat, in tow, hoping to find her mother’s killer.