Tag: IDW

Doyle, McCrillis named co-publishers of IDW; Rich named editor-in-chief

The appointments follow last week’s restructuring and elimination of 39% of their workforce.

Following the cuts that IDW Media Holdings made to its staff last week, IDW Publishing has announced who will be serving in several key roles.

Publisher Nachie Marsham was one of the 28 people let go last week, and IDW announced that Mark Doyle and Tara McCrillis have been promoted to co-publishers. McCrillis joined IDW back in 2019 as director of design and production, then was promoted to VP of publishing operations in 2021.

“Mark’s tireless dedication and vision have been integral to IDW’s growth and success, and I am thrilled for this opportunity to partner with him on our publishing efforts,” McCrillis said in a statement. “Together with our amazingly talented editorial and design teams, we will continue to elevate IDW’s creative output and strengthen our relationships with partners, retailers, creators, and fans.”

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‘Richard Stark’s Parker: The Complete Collection’ by Darwyn Cooke coming in October

IDW will collect all of Cooke’s work on Westlake’s heavy hitter in one volume.

The Almost Darwyn Cooke blog has revealed that IDW will collect all of Cooke’s Parker graphic novels into one volume in October.

Richard Stark’s Parker: The Complete Collection will include The Hunter, The Outfit, The Score and Slayground, as well as the short stories “The Man with the Getaway Face” and “The Seventh.” This encompasses all the adaptations that Cooke did of the stories of Richard Stark, the alias of writer Donald Westlake.

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IDW cuts 39% of staff ‘in response to operational challenges’

The parent company of the publisher of ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’ ‘Star Trek’ and more will also delist its stock from the New York Stock Exchange.

IDW Media Holdings, the parent company of IDW Publishing, announced “significant moves in response to operational challenges,” including the elimination of 39 percent of its workforce.

Their 8-K statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission states that 28 employees were laid off yesterday. “The Board has elected to take these actions to preserve capital and put the Company in a better position possible to unlock value from its assets, including its intellectual property and ability to generate new intellectual property,” it states.

According to a report at The Beat, “the entire marketing and PR staff and half of editorial have been let go, including publisher Nachie Marsham,” who joined the company in 2020 after longtime IDW employees Chris Ryall, Dirk Wood and Alex Cox all left the company. IDW built a solid bench of editorial pros after those changes, and it’s really disheartening to hear that they’re having to go through this.

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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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IDW + Dark Horse announce a Stranger Things + Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover

Cameron Chittock and Fero Pe will bring Eleven, Mike, Will and the rest to New York for an encounter with Splinter’s boys.

Do Eggos go with pizza? We’ll likely find out this summer when the kids from Stranger Things meet the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Stranger Things, by writer Cameron Chittock and artist Fero Pe, will bring together the two properties in a four-issue miniseries published by IDW and Dark Horse Comics.

“I’ve loved the Ninja Turtles for quite literally as long as I can remember, and part of the brilliant alchemy of Stranger Things is that, ever since that first binge, it’s felt like it’s always been there. That’s a testament to Eastman, Laird and the Duffer brothers who tell stories that grab hold of you and don’t let go,” Chittock said. “Bringing their creations together is a surreal thrill, and we’re striving to fill every issue with moments worthy of their lofty standards. I can’t wait for fans to join us in 1985 to find out what’s lurking underneath New York.”

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Top Shelf announces ‘Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar: Attack of the Snack’ by Kevin Alvir

The graphic novel tells the story of a ‘sweet unicorn girl’ trying to make a name for herself as a folk singer.

Top Shelf will publish Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar: Attack of the Snack, the debut graphic novel by Kevin Alvir, this fall.

Alvir is a cartoonist, musician and educator whose work has been featured in Funny or Die, Blackbook, Brooklyn Mag, Edible, The Neu Jorker, Paul Ryan Magazine; on records for acts such as Gabe Liedman, Nicole Yun, Essex Green, Holy Tunics and Pains of Being Pure at Heart; and on TV screens for Will Ferrell and for High Maintenance on HBO.

“I started drawing Lisa Cheese comics in my lined notebook at one of my jobs, as an outlet for my feelings about starting out in the workplace,” Alvir said. “In recent years, I returned to this character with a new understanding of the world, and she grew into this bombastic Jack Kirby level superhero, in my own ridiculous way. I hope readers can see themselves in Lisa and be inspired to interact with a heavy world with a light heart.”

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Smash Pages Q&A | Che Grayson + Kelsey Ramsay on ‘Dark Spaces: Good Deeds’

The co-creators of the new title from Scott Snyder’s new imprint at IDW discuss how they came to comics, their approach to the story and more.

Last summer, after the release of Dark Spaces: Wildfire, IDW announced that writer Scott Snyder would curate a series of comics under the “Dark Spaces” label, written and drawn by different creators. They also announced the second title from the imprint, Dark Spaces: Good Deeds by writer Che Grayson and artist Kelsey Ramsay.

When the announcement was made, Snyder said his intent with the line was to “champion up-and-coming talent,” but “up-and-coming” may not apply to Grayson and Ramsay for long, based on what I’ve seen in the first issue. Together they’ve created a compelling “Southern Gothic” horror tale that draws as much from real-world fears as it does from the supernatural. I caught up with the writer and artist to talk about how it all came together, their approach to the story and more.

The first issue will arrive in stores on May 17.

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Slugfest | ‘Summer of Symbiotes’ leads to ‘Death of the Venomverse’

Plus: Marvel Artist’s Editions, Dark Horse graphic novels, Spider-Verse, variant covers and more!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

Marvel has revealed more details and a teaser image for Summer of Symbiotes, something they teased last October along with several other events for 2023. It’s less of a single-story crossover and more of a moniker they are using to describe a whole bunch of different symbiote-themed series, miniseries and events.

While many of the events teased on the image we’ve heard of before, like Carnage Reigns and Extreme Venomverse, there is one new one listed — Death of the Venomverse, which echoes the Death of the Spiderverse storyline we’re seeing in Spider-Man.

Here’s the description from Marvel:

It’s all leading to this! The epic adventures above are spiraling towards an explosive destination, and not all of your favorite symbiotes will survive the journey. The Carnage symbiote is more bloodthirsty than ever and heads to the multiverse for its greatest killing spree yet. But what is it after? Find out more when this upcoming limited series is announced at the Marvel Comics: Spider-Man & the Venomverse Panel at C2E2 2023!

C2E2 is coming up this weekend. Here’s the full teaser image:

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Up from the depths: IDW announces ‘Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons’

Frank Tieri and Inaki Miranda tell a tale of monsters and pirates this June.

Writer Frank Tieri and artist Inaki Miranda, the team behind DC’s Old Lady Harley series, will reunite for a new miniseries featuring another destructively iconic character — Godzilla.

“I’ve been very fortunate in my career to have written for quite a few iconic franchises, but I have to admit, there’s something extra special about getting to work on Godzilla,” Tieri said. “Just writing this series I’m instantly a little kid again, watching him fight Rodan or the Smog Monster or whichever Monster of the Week. Needless to say, it’s been a thrill for me…but probably less so for my family, since I’ve been doing the Godzilla roar around the house pretty much nonstop.”

IDW has announced Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons, a five-issue miniseries set in the “era of seafaring and superstition,” aka the 1500s, when maps warned of dragons and monsters in undiscovered parts of the world. In this case, those warnings were right. The comic will tell the story of one of explorer Sir Francis Drake’s lost voyages — one that featured everyone’s favorite radioactive kaiju.

“What could be cooler than a Godzilla tale with pirates?” Tieri said. “Here There Be Dragons is a lost voyage of Sir Francis Drake, told through the eyes of a crewman facing execution. The question is, is he telling the truth? Is there really a conspiracy to cover up what happened to Drake on that island and the existence of Godzilla? Or is this merely another pirate’s tall tale? Avast, ye Godzilla fans, and batten down the hatches at your local comic book shop!”

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Steve Niles + Damien Worm return to IDW for ‘Brynmore’

The five-issue gothic horror series begins in June.

Steve Niles, writer of the first IDW comic in 30 Days of Night, will return to the publisher for a new miniseries this summer titled Brynmore. He’s joined by artist Damien Worm, who he previously collaborated with on October Faction (also an IDW title).

The five-issue series is set on a remote island plagued by a sinister generational curse, as a prodigal son returns to his hometown to reconnect with his daughter — and ends up battling “malefic forces beyond his control.”

​​“I’ve had the title Brynmore in mind for years, waiting for the right story,” Niles said. “This one just felt right. It has themes that I love to work with often: being an outsider in a strange land, the struggles of a single parent, plus a good dose of horror and scares. One of the big motivations for Brynmore was getting to work with Damien Worm again. I love working with him, and he’s really bringing out the big guns for this series.”

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What strength! Ninja Turtles and Street Fighter enter the arena in May

Paul Allor, Ariel Medel and Sarah Myer bring together the two crews in a prestigious fighting tournament.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have teamed up with everyone from Batman to the Power Rangers, and in May they’ll add the bare-knuckle battlers from Capcom’s classic video game Street Fighter to the list.

The five-issue Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vs. Street Fighter by writer Paul Allor, artist Ariel Medel and colorist Sarah Myer will kick off in May.

“It feels amazing to bring these iconic brands together,” says Allor. “I grew up with all these characters, though in very different ways—watching TMNT cartoons on Saturday mornings, and then a few years later, desperately smashing buttons while being absolutely destroyed at Street Fighter™ II. Readers are going to have so much fun watching these characters come together as they face an enormous threat to both teams, from Mikey and Chun-Li’s unlikely bond to Raph and Guile’s rivalry and mutual—but very grudging—respect. This book has it all: humor, danger, a massive number of twists and turns, and a ton of amazing, brutal, over-the-top, bonkers fight scenes! It’s gonna be a blast.”

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IDW explores what happened after ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ in a new miniseries

Marc Guggenheim and Oleg Chudakov pit Captain Kirk and crew against their doppelgängers.

IDW continues to explore new and established frontiers in their Star Trek comics line, and their latest announcement points to more of the latter — Star Trek: The Motion Picture–Echos will follow the original crew in the immediate aftermath of the first Star Trek film.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture hit theaters way back in 1979, and its place in history stands as being the first Star Trek film and immediately proceeding the much more loved Wrath of Khan. I honestly couldn’t even tell you what the story was about, but it sounds like writer Marc Guggenheim and artist Oleg Chudakov thankfully have a better memory than I do.

“Despite watching the occasional fragment of a Star Trek episode here and there with my father, my true introduction was going to see Star Trek: The Motion Picture with my grandparents—I was entranced. I’m thrilled that IDW and Paramount Global have allowed me to revisit that time period, which was so impactful to me and my love of Star Trek,” Guggenheim said. “Almost all Trek stories are told from the point of view of the Enterprise crew, but I was interested in telling a story from the perspective of an outsider as a means of recapturing how it felt for me when I first saw Star Trek: The Motion Picture.”

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