IDW Publishing — BrandWiki

IDW Publishing

owner	IDW Media Holdings, Inc.
parent	Idea and Design Works, LLC
founded	1999
founder	Ted Adams Alex Garner Kris Oprisko Robbie Robbins
country	United States
headquarters	San Diego, California
distribution	Penguin Random House Publisher Services (direct market starting June 2022)‡R1R‡ Diamond Comic Distributors (sub-distributor through Penguin Random House starting June 2022, direct market until June 2022)‡R1R‡
publications	Comics
genre	Superhero Action Adventure Science fiction Fantasy Horror Mystery Crime Thriller
imprints	Black Crown Blue Dream Studios EA Comics The Library of American Comics Top Shelf Productions Worthwhile Books Yoe Books
website	https://www.idwpublishing.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) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic book publisher in the United States, behind Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image Comics, ahead of other comic book publishers such as Archie, Boom!, Dynamite, Valiant, and Oni Press.[2] The company is known for its licensed comic book adaptations of films, television shows, video games, and cartoons.

History

1990s

Idea and Design Works (IDW) was formed in 1999 by a group of comic book managers and artists (Ted Adams, Robbie Robbins, Alex Garner, and Kris Oprisko

2000s

In 2000, IDW developed a TV show concept, getting as far as a pilot episode. For the 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, 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.[4]

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.[5] 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.[6]

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, with Senator winning and Sam Raimi attached to produce.[7][8]

IDW Publishing's second title, Popbot, won two Gold Spectrum Awards.[9]

IDW Publishing also publishes comics based on the TV franchises Star Trek and CSI. The company's other licensed comics include Topps' Mars Attacks, Sony's Underworld, FX's The Shield, Fox's 24[10] and Angel; Universal’s Land of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead; and Konami’s Silent Hill,[11] Castlevania, 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

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 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,[12][13] as well as a series of monthly one-shot, 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.[14]

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,[15] from writers such as Chuck Dixon, Larry Hama, and Christos Gage. Other comics were released in time to tie-in with the summer 2009 G.I. Joe film.[16][17]

In March 2009, IDW Publishing forged an agreement with Mike Gold's Comicmix.com 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 series The Manx Cat; the Jon Sable series Ashes of Eden; Mark Wheatley and Robert Tinnell'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.[18]

In late 2009, IDW acquired independent publisher Desperado Publishing.[19]

In 2004, 2005, and 2006 IDW Publishing was named Publisher of the Year by Diamond Comic Distributors.[20]

2020s

Between April and May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, IDW was forced to furlough and then lay off 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.[48] In July 2020, Chris Ryall announced that he would 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.[49] 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.[50]

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.[51] In September 2021, IDW announced that its partnership with Diamond Comic Distributors would switch to Penguin Random House.[52] In December 2021, The Library of American Comics announced that they would be moving to Clover Press.[53] 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 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; those licenses would later leave to Boom! Studios and Dark Horse Comics respectively.[54]

On April 27, 2023, IDW cut 39% of their staff and became privately held by delisting from the New York Stock Exchange; the company also restructured its C-suite and experienced an almost 50% drop in its share price.[55]

On October 16, 2024, IDW announced a rebranding with a new logo.[56][57]

In March 2025, IDW announced a partnership with Alien Books.[58]

On June 16, 2025, according to Bleeding Cool, IDW stated that it would continue its operations for at least one more year.[59]

In January 2026, IDW announced a new imprint named IDW Crime, which features comic books focused on crime fiction.[60]