Idea and Design Works, also known as IDW Publishing, is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections.
They published a digital comic book set in the Saw franchise, titled Saw: Rebirth.
History[]
Foundation[]
Idea and Design Works was founded in 1999 by Alex Garner, Kris Oprisko, Robbie Robbins, and Ted Adams, who met at Wildstorm Productions. Each of the four was an equal partner, owning 25% of the company. When Wildstorm owner Jim Lee sold his company to DC Comics in 1999, he turned its creative service department over to IDW. With the subsequent profits, IDW funded a new venture annually.
2000 - 2010[]
In 2000, they developed a TV show concept, getting as far as a pilot episode. For their project in 2001, 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 Ted Adams some of his rejected screenplays. Adams selected 30 Days of Night 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 numerous comic book stores.
In 2007, IDT Corporation purchased a 53% majority interest in IDW from the company's founders, removing Garner and Oprisko while reducing Adams and Robbins to minority owners. In 2009, IDT increased its interest to 76%, reducing Adams and Robbins' interest to 24%. Shortly afterward, 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 that it would continue operations under a new name, IDW Media Holdings.
The company's first traditional comic series, 30 Days of Night, created by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, started a seven-figure bidding war between DreamWorks, MGM, and Senator International. Senator ultimately won and hired Sam Raimi as the producer.
IDW Publishing's second title, Popbot, won two Gold Spectrum Awards.
IDW also published comics based on the TV franchises Star Trek and CSI. The company's other licensed comics included Topps' Mars Attacks, Sony's Underworld, FX's The Shield, Fox's 24 and Angel, Universal's Land of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead, and Konami's Silent Hill, Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid, and Speed Racer. They also succeeded with comic licenses from Hasbro brands: The Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, and Jem.
Beginning in 2008, they licensed the Doctor Who series from BBC, launching two concurrent titles: Doctor Who Classics and Doctor Who: Agent Provocateur. An additional six-part limited series, Doctor Who: The Forgotten, started in mid-2008 and was written by Tony Lee.
In May 2008, IDW Publishing acquired the G.I. Joe comics license and released three new series from writers such as Chuck Dixon, Larry Hama, and Christos Gage. Other comics were released in time to tie in with the G.I. Joe film in 2009.
In March 2009, IDW Publishing agreed with Mike Gold's Comicmix.com to publish print versions of Comicmix's online comic books. By the end of 2009, they produced print versions of The Manx Cat, Ashes of Eden, Lone Justice, Demons of Sherwood, and The Original Johnson.
2010 - 2020[]
In 2010, IDW Publishing released Phantom Jack: The Nowhere Man Agenda, the sequel to Michael San Giacomo's Phantom Jack Image Comics series.
In January 2011, IDW 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 series, Dungeons & Dragons (Fell's Five), ran for 16 issues. Furthermore, several mini-series were published, including The Legend of Drizzt: Neverwinter Tales by R.A. Salvatore. Since 2014, five five-issue mini-series have been published in the D&D 5th Edition core setting.
In April 2011, IDW acquired the license to publish new collections of older Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and a new ongoing series beginning in August 2011. In August 2017, issue #73 of the ongoing series was published, making it the longest-running comic series in the franchise's history.
On September 6, 2011, IDW Publishing teamed up with Charlie Foxtrot Entertainment for the tenth anniversary of 9/11. They released the graphic novel Code Word: Geronimo, written by retired Marine Corps Captain Dale Dye and Julia Dye. Code Word: Geronimo reached #22 on Diamond Comics' top 100 list during its first month after release. The same year, the company published its first crossover series, Infestation.
In March 2012, they announced the release of new comics based on Judge Dredd and The Crow. The same year, Hasbro licensed the use of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic for an IDW comic book series. The company also published Infestation 2.
The following year, IDW partnered with Cartoon Network to publish comics based on the network's television series. On January 6, 2015, it announced its acquisition of Top Shelf Productions. In February 2015, IDW Publishing made a deal with Disney to continue the publication of Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.
In 2016, IDW launched the Hasbro Reconstruction initiative to present a shared universe of Hasbro brands, later known as the Hasbro Comic Book Universe. The first event was Revolution, followed by First Strike in 2017.
In April 2017, IDW Publishing acquired a license from Lucasfilm to produce a range of all-ages Star Wars comics. In July of that year, Sega announced a partnership with IDW to publish comics based on Sonic the Hedgehog.
In April 2018, publishers IDW Publishing and Oni Press announced a crossover between Rick and Morty and Dungeons & Dragons, co-written by Jim Zub and Patrick Rothfuss, with art by Troy Little. 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.
IDW experienced financial difficulties the same year and received help from JPMorgan Chase. In May 2019, the company became an investor in Clover Press, a new independent publisher founded by Ted Adams and Robbie Robbins. In July 2019, IDW Publishing announced its acquisition of the classic Sunday strip publisher Sunday Press Books.
2020 - present[]
Between April and May 2020, IDW was forced to furlough and lay off several employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2020, Chris Ryall announced that he would step down from his position as president, publisher, and chief creative officer to launch a new imprint named Syzygy Publishing. Subsequently, Jerry Bennington was promoted to president, and Nachie Marsham was promoted to publisher. Likewise, Rebekah Cahalin became General Manager and Executive Vice President of Operations covering IDW Publishing, while 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 permit for Star Wars went back to Dark Horse Comics. In September 2021, IDW reported that its partnership with Diamond Comic Distributors would switch to Penguin Random House. In December 2021, The Library of American Comics stated they would move to Clover Press. That same month, John Barber declared his resignation from the role of editor-in-chief.
In January 2022, IDW announced that they would lose the comic book licenses for 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.
On April 27, 2023, IDW cut 39% of its staff and was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The company also restructured its C-suite and experienced an almost 50% drop in its share price.
External Links[]
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Behaviour Interactive • IDW Publishing • Konami • Lions Gate Entertainment • Lionsgate Films • Twisted Pictures • Zombie Studios |
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