IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels,

art books Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recognized as the fifth-largest

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

publisher in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, behind Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image Comics, ahead of other major comic book publishers such as Archie, Boom!, Dynamite, Valiant and Oni Press. The company is perhaps best known for its licensed comic book adaptations of movies, television shows, video games, and cartoons.

History

Origin in 1999

Idea and Design Works (IDW) was formed in 1999 by a group of comic book managers and artists that met at Wildstorm Productions included Ted Adams, Robbie Robbins, Alex Garner, and Kris Oprisko for an outsource art and graphic design firm. Each of the four was equal partners, owning 25%. With Wildstorm owner Jim Lee selling to

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

in 1999, Lee turned that company's creative service department, previously run by Adams, clients over to IDW allowing IDW to be profitable its first year. With these profits, the firm decided to fund a new venture every year.

2000s

In 2000, they developed a TV show concept, getting as far as a pilot episode. For 2001's project, Adams's Ashley Wood talked to them about publishing an art book, thus starting up IDW Publishing. ''Una Fanta'' was published in March 2002. Woods had Steve Niles send Adams some of his rejected screenplays. Adams selected one, ''

30 Days of Night ''30 Days of Night'' is a three-issue horror comic book miniseries written by Steve Niles, illustrated by Ben Templesmith, and published by American company IDW Publishing in 2002. All three parties co-own the property. The series takes place i ...

'', and paired him with artist Ben Templesmith for a comic adaptation as a three issue series, beginning in August 2002. With low pre-orders, Adams personally pushed the comic with the distributor and major comic book stores. Soon the title's back issues were hot and were followed up with Wood's ''Popbot''. In 2007, IDT Corporation purchased a 53% majority interest in IDW from the company's founders, removing Garner & Oprisko, while reducing Adams & Robbins to minority owners collectively at 47%. Then, in 2009, IDT proceeded to increase its interest to the current 76%, reducing Adams & Robbins's interest once again to the current 24%. Then, shortly afterwards, IDT created CTM Media Holdings via a tax-free spin-off. This new company consisted of the majority interest in IDW and CTM Media Group. Eight years later, on April 3, 2015, CTM Media Holdings announced it would continue operations under a new name, becoming IDW Media Holdings, which would continue to consist of the majority interest in IDW and CTM Media Group. The company's first traditional comic series, ''

'', created by Steve Niles and

Ben Templesmith Ben Templesmith (born 7 March 1984) is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series ''Fell'', with writer Warren Ellis, and IDW's '' 30 Days of Night'' with wr ...

started a seven-figure bidding war between DreamWorks, MGM, and Senator International, with Senator winning and Sam Raimi attached to produce. IDW Publishing's second title, '' Popbot'', won two Gold Spectrum Awards. IDW Publishing also publishes comics based on the TV franchises ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' and '' CSI''. The company's other licensed comics include Topps' Mars Attacks,

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

's ''

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwo ...

'', FX' '' The Shield'', Fox' '' 24'', and ''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...

'';

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

’s ''

Land of the Dead ''Land of the Dead'' (also known as ''George A. Romero's Land of the Dead'') is a 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by George A. Romero; the fourth of Romero's six '' Living Dead'' movies, it is preceded by ''Night of the L ...

'' and '' Shaun of the Dead''; and

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has ca ...

’s '' Silent Hill'', ''

Castlevania ''Castlevania'' (), known in Japan as is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise about Dracula, created and developed by Konami. It has been released on various platforms, from early systems to modern consoles, ...

'', '' Metal Gear Solid'', and '' Speed Racer''. The company has also had success with comic license from toy company Hasbro brands: '' The Transformers'' (with Takara), '' G.I. Joe'', '' My Little Pony'', and '' Jem''. Transformers has had as many as five different titles running concurrently. Beginning in 2008, the company licensed the '' Doctor Who'' series from the BBC, launching two concurrent titles: ''Doctor Who Classics'', which reprints colorized comic strips featuring the past Doctors such as the Fourth Doctor and Fifth Doctor originally published in the late 1970s-early 1980s by '' Doctor Who Magazine'', and ''Doctor Who: Agent Provocateur'', an original six-part

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

featuring the Tenth Doctor and overseen and written by TV series script editor Gary Russell. An additional six-part limited series titled ''Doctor Who: The Forgotten'' started in mid-2008 by Tony Lee and Pia Guerra, as well as a series of monthly

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

, self-contained stories. July 2009 saw the beginning of ''Doctor Who'', an ongoing series featuring the Tenth Doctor, written by Tony Lee and illustrated by a rotating art team. IDW Publishing acquired the G.I. Joe comics license in May 2008 (previously held by Devil's Due Publishing) and released three new series under editor

Andy Schmidt Peter Andrewes "Andy" Schmidt is an American comic book editor and writer. He is best known for his work at Marvel and is now editing and writing at other companies. Career At Marvel Schmidt was an Associate Editor and mainly worked on the "Marv ...

, from writers such as Chuck Dixon,

Larry Hama Larry Hama (; born June 7, 1949) is an American comic-book writer, artist, actor, and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s. During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows ''M*A*S*H' ...

, and Christos Gage. Other comics were released in time to tie-in with the summer 2009 ''G.I. Joe'' film. In March 2009, IDW Publishing forged an agreement with Mike Gold's

Comicmix.com IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

to publish print versions of Comicmix's online comic books. The agreement stipulates Comicmix must provide two comic books a month to IDW Publishing to publish, as well as graphic novels and trade paperbacks as demanded by the market. The books are published with both the IDW Publishing and Comicmix.com logos on the covers. As of the end of 2009, the agreement has produced print versions of the ''

Grimjack Grimjack is the main character of a comic book originally published by the American company First Comics. John Ostrander and Timothy Truman are credited as co-creators of the character, although Ostrander had been developing Grimjack with artist L ...

'' series ''The Manx Cat''; the '' Jon Sable'' series ''Ashes of Eden''; Mark Wheatley and

Robert Tinnell Robert Tinnell is an American writer, film director and producer. Robert directed such films as ''Feast of the Seven Fishes'' (2019), ''Frankenstein and Me'' (1996), and ''Kids of the Round Table'' (1995). His producer credits include ''Back Fo ...

's pulp hero series ''Lone Justice''; the graphic novel ''Demons of Sherwood'' by Tinnell and Bo Hampton; and a graphic novel collecting Trevor Von Eeden's ''The Original Johnson''. A collection of ''Munden's Bar'' stories original to Comicmix's website is also forthcoming. In 2004, 2005, and 2006 IDW Publishing was named Publisher of the Year by Diamond Comic Distributors.

2010s

In 2010, IDW Publishing released the sequel to Michael San Giacomo's "Phantom Jack" Image Comics series with "Phantom Jack: The Nowhere Man Agenda." The graphic novel is notable because it features the death of the main character, a reporter who can turn invisible. IDW Publishing formed an imprint with EA Games in late 2009, called EA Comics, to focus on adaptations of the latter's video games, with initial titles including '' Army of Two'' and ''

Dragon Age ''Dragon Age'' is a media franchise centered on a series of fantasy role-playing video games created and developed by BioWare, which have seen releases on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The fr ...

''. In January 2011, IDW Publishing announced a new Dungeons & Dragons comic series, under license from Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast. Set in the D&D 4th Edition core setting, the new ongoing series ''Dungeons & Dragons (Fell's Five)'' ran for 16 issues. Several mini-series were also published including ''The Legend of Drizzt: Neverwinter Tales'' written by

R.A. Salvatore Robert Anthony Salvatore (born January 20, 1959) is an American author best known for '' The Legend of Drizzt'', a series of fantasy novels set in the Forgotten Realms and starring the popular character Drizzt Do'Urden. He has also written '' ...

. Since 2014, five five-issue mini-series have been published in the D&D 5th Edition core setting. A sixth five-issue mini-series, ''Infernal Tide'', is set to be published in November 2019. In April 2011, IDW Publishing acquired the license to publish new collections of older ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' comics, as well as a new ongoing series beginning in August of that year. In August 2017 issue #73 of the main ongoing series was published, making it the longest running comic series in the franchise's history. September 6, 2011, for the 10th anniversary of 9/11, IDW Publishing teamed up Charlie Foxtrot Entertainment and released the graphic novel ''Code Word: Geronimo'', written by retired Marine Corps Captain

Dale Dye Dale Adam Dye Jr. (born October 8, 1944) is an American actor, technical advisor, radio personality and writer. A decorated Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, Dye is the founder and head of Warriors, Inc., a technical advisory company specializi ...

and Julia Dye, drawn by Gerry Kissell with inker Amin Amat. ''Code Word: Geronimo'' reached #22 on Diamond Comics top 100 list its first month after release. During that same year, the company has published its first crossover series '' Infestation''. In March 2012 IDW Publishing announced it would release new comics based on '' Judge Dredd'' and '' The Crow''. Also in 2012, Hasbro licensed the use of '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' for an IDW comic book series. The company also published ''

Infestation 2 ''Infestation 2'' (stylized in some solicitations as ''Infes2ation'') is a crossover event that was published by IDW Publishing from January to April 2012. Serving as the sequel to ''Infestation'', it consisted of two book-end one-shots, and two-i ...

''. In February 2013, IDW Publishing announced a partnership with Cartoon Network to publish comics based on the network's television series and reprint older Cartoon Network comics. On January 6, 2015, IDW Publishing announced it had acquired Top Shelf Productions. In February 2015, it was announced that IDW Publishing made a deal with

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

to continue the publication of the following comic books: ''

Uncle Scrooge ''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in Du ...

'', '' Donald Duck'', '' Mickey Mouse'', and ''

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', sometimes abbreviated ''WDC&S'', is an American anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Mickey Mouse, Chip ...

''. In 2016, IDW launched the

Hasbro Reconstruction Hasbro Reconstruction was a 2016 comic book launch by IDW Publishing about its line of comic books based on properties of the toy company Hasbro. Since June 2016, this branding converged most of IDW's Hasbro comics into the Hasbro Comic Book Unive ...

initiative to present a shared universe of Hasbro brands, which was later known as the Hasbro Comic Book Universe. The first event was ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

'', followed by '' First Strike'' on 2017. In April 2017, IDW Publishing acquired a license from Lucasfilm to produce a range of all-ages Star Wars comics. In July 2017, Sega announced a partnership with IDW to publish

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

based on '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' beginning in 2018, following the conclusion/cancellation of the previous series by Archie Comics. IDW has also launched new imprint called Black Crown, handling creator-owned comics. In April 2018, publishers IDW Publishing and Oni Press announced a crossover between the ''

Rick and Morty , creator = Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon , developer = , voices = {{plainlist, * Justin Roiland * Chris Parnell * Spencer Grammer * Sarah Chalke * Kari Wahlgren , composer = Ryan Elder , count ...

'' comic book and Dungeons & Dragons co-written by

Jim Zub Jim Zubkavich, known professionally as Jim Zub, is a Canadian comic book writer, artist, and art instructor best known for creating comics ''Skullkickers'' (2010), '' Wayward'' (2014), ''and Glitterbomb'' (2016) for Image Comics, and writing on t ...

and Patrick Rothfuss with art by

Troy Little Troy Little (born 7 March 1973) is a Canadian cartoonist working in comic books and animation. He is known for '' Chiaroscuro'', a graphic novel whose first volume (out of three) was developed between 2000 and 2005 under his Meanwhile, Studios impr ...

. The four issue mini-series, ''Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons'', was first published in August 2018. In May 2019, a sequel mini-series was announced: ''Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons: Chapter II: Painscape.'' It will be written by Jim Zub and Sarah Stern with art by Troy Little. In 2019, the company went under financial difficulties and got help from

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, t ...

evaluating strategies to be profitable. In May 2019, IDW offered itself as an investor in Clover Press, a new independent publisher founded by Ted Adams (cofounder and former CEO of IDW) and Robbie Robbins (cofounder, executive vice president and art director at IDW). In July 2019, it was announced that IDW Publishing had acquired the classic Sunday strip publisher

Sunday Press Books Sunday Press Books is an American publisher of comic strip reprint collections founded in 2005 by Peter Maresca. The company is known as a respected reprinter of comic strips and has to date won three Eisner Awards and two Harvey Awards. Since 20 ...

2020s

Between April and May 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, IDW was forced to furlough and then layoff several employees, including Managing Editor Denton Tipton, Associate Publisher David Hedgecock, Senior Graphic Artist Gilberto Lazcano, Senior Graphic Designer Christa Miesner and Brand & Marketing Manager Spencer Reeve. In July 2020, Chris Ryall announced to step down from his position of President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer to launch a new imprint named Syzygy Publishing, but he is still editor of future '' Locke & Key'' projects. Jerry Bennington was promoted to President, Nachie Marsham was promoted to Publisher, and Rebekah Cahalin was promoted to General Manager and Executive Vice President of Operations covering IDW Publishing, and Veronica Brooks was promoted to Vice President of Creative Affairs. Around 2021, IDW announced that the comic book license for Disney properties would pass to Marvel Comics, while the license for Lucasfilm's ''Star Wars'' passed back to Dark Horse Comics. In September 2021, IDW announced that its partnership with Diamond Comic Distributors would switch to

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase ...

. In December 2021, The Library of American Comics announced that they would be moving to Clover Press. That same month, John Barber announced that he would step away from the role of Editor-in-Chief. In January 2022, IDW announced that they would "bid a fond farewell" to their comic book licenses of Hasbro's ''Transformers'' and ''G.I. Joe'' by the end of the year, but would continue publishing other Hasbro licenses, including ''My Little Pony'' and Wizards of the Coast's ''Dungeons & Dragons''.

Key people

* Jerry Bennington – President * Nachie Marsham – Publisher * Rebekah Cahalin – General Manager and Executive Vice President of Operations covering IDW Publishing. * Veronica Brooks – Vice President of Creative Affairs.

Imprints

IDW has several imprints that they have developed or acquired:

Current

*Blue Dream StudiosDueben, Alex (December 3, 2008)
"Scott Christian Sava Talks 'Dreamland Chronicles'"
. Comic Book Resources. *EA Comics *

* Top Shelf Productions *Worthwhile Books"IDW Launches New Children's Division and Imprint"
. Comic Book Resources. January 10, 2008 *Yoe! Books

Former

* Black Crown * The Library of American Comics (moved to Clover Press)

Publications

IDW Publishing

Yoe! Books

*'' The Art of Ditko'' *''The Creativity of Ditko'' *'' Barney Google: Gambling, Horse Races & High-Toned Women'' *'' The Carl Barks' Big Book of Barney Bear'' *'' The Complete Milt Gross'' *'' Dan DeCarlo's Jetta'' *'' Dick Briefer's Frankenstein'' (The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics) *'' Felix the Cat's Greatest Comic Book Tails'' *''The Golden Collection of Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics'' *''The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories'' *'' Krazy & Ignatz: Tiger Tea'' *'' Bob Powell's Terror'' (The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics) *'' Popeye: The Great Comic Book Tales by Bud Sagendorf'' *''Zombie'' (The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics)

Adaptations in other media

acquired the video game rights, and minority ownership, in IDW Publishing's ''CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations''. ''

'' has been adapted into a film of the same name in 2007, starring Josh Hartnett and

Melissa George Melissa George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian actress and entrepreneur. A former national artistic rollerskating champion and model, George began her acting career playing Angel Parrish in the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1993– ...

, directed by David Slade, and produced by '' Spider-Man'' director Sam Raimi. It is distributed by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. Dimension Films has an option on two Steve Niles/IDW Publishing properties: ''Wake the Dead'', with '' X2'' screenwriter Michael Dougherty attached to write, and ''Hyde'', with Mike Fleiss ('' The Bachelor'', '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'') attached to produce. The motion comic version of '' Transformers: Movie Prequel'' titled ''Transformers: Beginnings'' (albeit excluding characters not present in the movie) is included in the ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, ...

'' DVD. Syfy announced a television adaptation of ''

Wynonna Earp Wynonna Earp is a horror Western comic book miniseries created and owned by Beau Smith. The series was initially published by Image Comics, and from 2003 by IDW Publishing. Plot summary Wynonna is a present-day descendant of the famous law ...

'', which premiered on April 1, 2016 and ended on April 9, 2021. '' October Faction'' created by Steve Niles received a 10 episode series order from

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

on September 28, 2018 with High Park Entertainment producing in association with IDW Entertainment, who would also be involved in the distribution of the series internationally. The series debuted on Netflix on January 23, 2020 and was canceled after one season. '' V Wars'' created by William Laurin and Glenn Davis, received a 10 episode order from

on April 16, 2018, with High Park Entertainment producing in association with IDW Entertainment, who would also be involved in the distribution of the series internationally. The series debuted on Netflix on December 5, 2019 and was canceled after one season.

announced a television adaptation of '' Locke & Key'', which premiered on February 7, 2020.

Upcoming projects

*In June 2012, Deadline reported that Hideo Nakata will direct the film adaptation of ''The Suicide Forest'' for Vertigo Entertainment. *

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...

announced a pilot for ''Brooklyn Animal Control'' produced by

David Goyer David Samuel Goyer (born December 22, 1965) is an American filmmaker, novelist and comic book writer. He is best known for writing the screenplays for several superhero films, including '' Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (1998), the '' Blade'' ...

. * Paramount Pictures has an option on the Steve Niles/IDW Publishing property ''Aleister Arcane''. In June 2016, Variety reported that Jim Carrey will star in Eli Roth's film adaptation of ''Aleister Arcane'' for Amblin Entertainment. *''Darkness Visible'' by Mike Carey is being developed as a TV series

References

External links

*
IDW Media Holdings
* Dueben, Alex (January 17, 2008)
"In-Depth with IDW Publisher Chris Ryall"

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Idw Publishing Comic book publishing companies of the United States American companies established in 1999 Publishing companies established in 1999 Companies based in San Diego Book publishing companies based in California Disney comics publishers