IDW Original ‘Golgotha Motor Mountain’ will bend minds next March

“… it’s probably the first Southern Gothic, action, sci-fi, drug-fueled body horror concoction ever made.”

IDW has announced a release date and a new artist for Golgotha Motor Mountain, which was one of nine titles they announced last year as part of the IDW Originals line.

Robbi Rodriguez will replace Ryan Lee, who was originally announced as the artist, with Marissa Louise providing colors. They will work with co-writers Matthew Erman and Lonnie Nadler, as well as letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Finally, Nikola Čižmešija rounds out the team, who will draw “a backup short manga that is in-universe to the story.”

As for the comic itself, it sounds a bit bonkers.

“This book is genuinely unhinged, bizarre and unlike anything I’ve ever written before. In fact, it’s probably the first Southern Gothic, action, sci-fi, drug-fueled body horror concoction ever made,” Nadler said. “Something like Mad Max by way of Cormac McCarthy. Yet, at its heart, Golgotha is a story about two brothers at odds who have to find a way to trust one another in the face of absolute bedlam. As you can probably tell from my description alone, the whole team is trying hard to make sure this is like no other comic being released today, and that’s invigorating to be a part of.”

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Richard Scarrier: ‘Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees’ brings ‘adorable horror’ to comics in October

Patrick Horvath writes, draws and colors the new series for the IDW Originals line.

The town of Woodbrook might seem familiar to anyone who has ever read Richard Scarry or played Animal Crossing, but the little town has some dark secrets that will be exposed in Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees.

Written, drawn and colored by Patrick Horvath with lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees offers a “cozy horror” story, according to IDW Publishing.

“One of my guiding principles for this series is to strike a balance between cute, fun, dark and disturbing, and I think that readers will be very pleased with the results,” Horvath said. “A lot of the creative work that I do tends to be these dark little existential explorations, carving a path through the dread of having your life up-ended. For as strange, or insane, or idiosyncratic your interior life might be, that type of story resonates with a ton of people. Every person goes through it in some form or other, and with Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees that person happens to be a cuddly brown bear who is a serial killer and owns a hardware store.” 

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Ridley + Raffaele bring ‘The Ministry of Compliance’ to IDW

An alien conspiracy goes wrong in the new IDW Originals series, which debuts in November.

John Ridley and Stefano Raffaele, the team behind DC’s GCPD: The Blue Wall, will re-team for a conspiracy-laden action series from IDW. The Ministry of Compliance will feature a secret cabal of aliens who are running the world who believe they’re doing the right thing for humanity — but what happens when they start fighting amongst themselves?

They’re joined by colorist Brad Anderson on the IDW Originals series.

“I’ve been real fortunate to have had many ‘phases’ in my career, from starting out writing on The Martin Show all the way up to 12 Years A Slave and everything that flowed from it. But there’s always going to be part of me which is the kid who fell in love with storytelling by way of comic books. And to be real this is the craft that brings me the most joy. The trio of Avigail, Quinn and Kingsley are easily my three favorite characters in thirty-plus years of creating,” Ridley said.

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Snyder + Sherman return to ‘Dark Spaces’ for ‘Dungeon’

IDW will unleash the miniseries in October.

Scott Snyder will return to his Dark Spaces line at IDW for a new series he’ll write with artist Hayden Sherman rejoining him — Dark Spaces: Dungeon might be “the darkest story I’ve ever written,” the writer said.

Snyder and Sherman previously worked together on the first Dark Spaces title, Wildfire, which came out in 2022. Then earlier this year Dark Spaces: Good Deeds by writer Che Grayson and artist Kelsey Ramsay launched, which is currently on its second issue. Snyder intends for Dark Spaces to not only showcase his own work, but also the comics of up-and-coming talent. The titles are part of the IDW originals line, which is spearheaded by editor Mark Doyle.

“Getting to explore the worlds of Dark Spaces has been a career highlight without question, and doing so alongside my dear friend and trusted editor Mark Doyle just makes it all the better,” Snyder said. “The ability to forgo supernatural elements in favor of highlighting the true light and darkness of our reality has been able to take me back to basics in a truly exciting fashion. I’ll say this – if Dark Spaces: Wildfire was modeled after noir, then Dark Spaces: Dungeon is a stone-cold thriller. It might be the darkest story I’ve ever written, while at the same time some of the most fun it’s ever been developing a new series.”

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Wilson + Wildgoose present a ‘high fantasy tour de force’ in ‘The Hunger and the Dusk’

The new series from IDW will debut in July.

G. Willow Wilson, best-selling novelist and co-creator of Ms. Marvel, will team with artist Chris Wildgoose for a new “high fantasy tour de force” from IDW titled The Hunger and the Dusk.

The series will feature humans and orcs on a dying world who were once mortal enemies but now must team up to face an ancient race called the Vangol that threatened them both. The Hunger and the Dusk will be colored by MsassyK and lettered by Simon Bowland.

“During the pandemic, I thought a lot about the many different times in history when the world has come to an end. I was also revisiting the science fiction and fantasy comfort food that I grew up with, and bit by bit, almost like a bedtime story, this saga—with orcs and humans banding together in a world that is slowly becoming uninhabitable, with enemies facing the choice to stand together or die separately—began to take shape,” said Wilson. “Ordinarily, high fantasy is not something I write a lot of, but coming out of the pandemic, I thought, ‘To hell with it. Death is coming for us all. Do what you love. Write the hot orc saga.’ And here we are!”

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Smash Pages Q&A | Cavan Scott + Nick Brokenshire set sail for ‘Dead Seas’

The creative duo talks about their new title for IDW Originals, their influences and how to design the perfect ghost.

After working together on projects like the all-ages Star Wars: Return to Vader’s Castle title, Cavan Scott and Nick Brokenshire continue their partnership with Dead Seas, a six-issue miniseries that was announced earlier this year as part of the first wave of titles from IDW Publishing’s new Originals line.

Dead Seas merges horror, science fiction, action and corporate greed in a story about a convict-turned-reluctant-hero, who finds himself trapped with guards, pirates and his fellow convicts on a prison ship filled with ghosts. Scott and Brokenshire hit the familiar tropes from each genre while at the same time taking a unique approach to the subject matter, particularly regarding how the ghosts appear on our plane. If the rest of the series is as fun as the first issue, we’re all in for a treat.

The first issue arrives in stores Dec. 21, and Scott and Brokenshire were kind enough to answer a few questions about it.

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Douek, Cormack + Birch reunite for ‘Breath of Shadows’

The horror miniseries about a 1960s rock star kicks off in February.

Writer Rich Douek, artist Alex Cormack and letterer Justin Birch return to IDW next year for Breath of Shadows, another horror miniseries following their work on Road of Bones and Sea of Sorrows. This one will fall under the IDW Originals banner that’s being shepherded by editor Mark Doyle.

Breath of Shadows is the story of a 1960s rock star/heroin addict who goes looking for an easy solution to his addiction in the South American jungle, only to find “primal horrors that put his own inner demons to shame.”

“With Breath of Shadows, Alex and I wanted to continue exploring the dark themes we began with in Road of Bones and Sea of Sorrows,” Douek said. “I absolutely love working with Alex—Breath of Shadows is the latest example of how our creative partnership has evolved over the years into something awesome, and I hope to be working with him for a long, long time.”

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Smash Pages Q&A | Stephen Graham Jones on ‘Earthdivers’

The award-winning horror writer and university professor talks about his new IDW Originals title, the differences between writing comics and prose, and teaching ‘Secret Wars.’

Stephen Graham Jones has written an extensive library of novels and prose stories, bringing home the Locus Award, four Bram Stoker Awards, two Shirley Jackson Awards, the LA Times Ray Bradbury Prize, the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award, the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural Fiction and a whole lot more. His novels, like The Only Good Indians and My Heart is a Chainsaw, tend to fall into what could be described as the literary horror genre, usually with a dose of sharp social commentary as well. When he’s not writing, he’s teaching creative writing, literature, pop culture and other subjects at the University of Colorado.

Or, he might be reading comics.

photo by Gary Isaacs

Jones is an old-school 1980s comics fan who discovered the medium in the time of Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars, and his love for them has only grown since. He not only teaches about them at the university level, but he’s also started writing them. His latest project is Earthdivers, a miniseries set to kick off Oct. 5 as part of IDW’s Originals line, beautifully drawn by the incomparable Davide Gianfelice. The time travel story focuses on four Indigenous survivors in a post-apocalyptic United States who embark on a mission to save the world: by sending one of them back in time to kill Christopher Columbus and prevent the creation of America.

Jones was kind enough to answer a few questions I had about the new series, as well as talk about some of his favorite comics to teach.

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Scott Snyder’s ‘Dark Spaces’ will continue at IDW with new stories, different creators

‘Dark Spaces: Good Deeds’ by Che Grayson and Kelsey Ramsay will debut next year.

This week saw the launch of the new comic series Dark Spaces: Wildfire by Scott Snyder and Hayden Sherman, but it turns out this new miniseries is only the tip of the iceberg for Snyder’s plans at IDW.

At Comic-Con this week, IDW announced that Snyder will curate a series of comics under the “Dark Spaces” label, written and drawn by different creators. Think of it kind of like his own imprint, or maybe a sub-imprint of the IDW Originals line.

The second Dark Spaces title will debut next year and is titled Dark Spaces: Good Deeds. It’s written by Che Grayson (Batman: Urban Legends, Bitch Planet) with art by Kelsey Ramsay (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 40×40)

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IDW adds three to editorial staff

Jamie S. Rich, Charles Beacham and Russ Busse join the publisher.

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.”

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