IDW Publishing Announces Wide Slate of New Titles

Locke & Key sequel, Terminator and Ghostbusters comics

IDW Publishing, the San Diego-based publisher of comic books and graphic novels announced plans to expand their line of high-quality creator-owned and licensed comic books and graphic novels and provided details of many of their new titles at this year’s Comic Con International. 

Among the titles coming in 2008 and 2009 are:

LOCKE & KEY II: Novelist Joe Hill, one of Comic-Con 2008’s Special Guests, announced a follow-up to his acclaimed first comic book series, Locke & Key. The series, which has been optioned by Dimension Films, will return in December 2008 with the next chapter of the storyline, Head Games. Gabriel Rodriguez will once again be handling art chores on the series, which will ultimately include 24 more issues and then culminate in a concluding graphic novel.

PARKER: Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Darwyn Cooke brings four original graphic novels to IDW. Based on the acclaimed series of novels by Richard Stark (pseudonym for renowned crime fiction author Donald Westlake), the first book will be released in mid 2009. Many of Westlake’s books have been brought to the big screen, including Point Blank, The Hot Rock, and Payback. Cooke is the best-selling comics auteur who has been much lauded since he burst on the comics scene in 2000. His past projects include The Spirit and DC: The New Frontier, the latter of which was turned into a feature length animated film.

ANGEL: Writer Brian Lynch spoke of plans for the series beyond the ongoing storyline. After the Fall, which picked up where Joss Whedon’s TV series left off, will became Aftermath in issue 17, and see the cast of characters dealing with the huge repercussions to come out of issue 16’s explosive finale. Novelist Jennifer Armstrong will join Lynch in this latest chapter. Additionally, creator John Byrne will present a stand-alone Angel miniseries next year, Angel: Blood and Trenches, telling a tale of Angel’s experiences during World War I.

SIR APROPOS OF NOTHING: Writer Peter David brings his popular novel series to comic books for the first time with this five-issue miniseries telling all-new stories and featuring art by Robin Riggs.

TERMINATOR SALVATION: Tying in with next summer’s blockbuster movie, IDW will present an all-new prequel series courtesy of writer Dara Naraghi and artist Alan Robinson. They tell a story set years after Judgment Day, setting the stage for the big-screen battle to come. Jeff Mariotte and Don Figueroa will present a weekly adaptation of the movie, too.

PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL: Celebrating this year’s historic Presidential race, IDW will release Presidential Material: Barack Obama and Presidential Material: John McCain, two separate issues that tell each candidate’s life story leading them up to accepting the nomination for President. J. Scott Campbell provides special covers for each issue, both of which will also be combined into a special flip-book. Obama’s story will be presented by Jeff Mariotte and Tom Morgan, and Andy Helfer and Stephen Thompson will tell McCain’s tale. These two special issues will also be offered as downloadable comics through uClick.com.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SAVIOR 28: Award-winning comic book writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Mike Cavallaro offer up a unique exploration of superheroes, American politics and pop culture. SAVIOR 28 unfolds over 70 years and follows a tragic super-powered being through a history tied very closely to the changing fortunes of America itself.

EPILOGUE & DARK DELICACIES: On the IDW panel, writer Steve Niles talked up his upcoming vampire-superhero tale Epilogue, created with artist Kyle Hotz. Niles will also edit a graphic miniseries called Dark Delicacies in accordance with retail store Dark Delicacies’ Del Howison, presenting comic book adaptations of short horror tales by some of the most acclaimed horror novelists around.

G.I. JOE: G.I. Joe godfather Larry Hama joined the IDW panel to discuss his all-new reboot of the franchise. The series, which debuts with a specially priced issue in October, will launch in earnest in January 2009, the first salvo of many G.I. Joe-related shots to be fired from IDW next year. In addition to the Hama/Robert Atkins series, there will be movie-universe comics, including a special prequel series that leads into the first-ever G.I. Joe movie, and many other projects as well.

GHOSTBUSTERS: THE OTHER SIDE: The Ghostbusters return to comic books courtesy of writer Keith Champagne and artist Tom Nguyen. “The Other Side” sees the team run afoul of legendary, and ghostly, gangsters who deal with the situation in the way they know best—they rub ‘em out, sending the team to limbo.

THE TRANSFORMERS: With the big-screen sequel coming next summer, IDW will again tell a special tale that leads into the film. Transformers: Destiny will be a five-part prequel story beginning in December. The Movie Sequel miniseries team of Chris Mowry and Alex Milne will re-pair for this story. Meanwhile, Simon Furman, who will pen the sequel’s comic adaptation, will also write the first-ever Dinobots miniseries, and will tell the long-awaited origin of the Transformers in Transformers: The 13 in 2009. All Hail Megatron writer Shane McCarthy announced a new Spotlight on the character Blurr, as well as the news that the first-ever IDW-created Transformer will be appearing in the pages of All Hail Megatron. The character, Drift, is slated to become a new Hasbro toy in 2009, too.

STAR TREK: In addition to his upcoming Romulans: The Hollow Crown tale, writer/artist John Byrne will continue to dwell in the Star Trek universe with his 2009 series with the working title of Crew, which looks at the shakedown mission of an early Federation starship and features many familiar faces throughout. IDW will also present an epic tale that leads into the J.J. Abrams-directed movie due next summer. Abrams and screenwriter Roberto Orci will contribute to the comic book story, too.

UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS: Underworld screenwriter and actor Kevin Grevioux will write a special two-part tale that leads into the third installment of the popular Underworld film series. The comics will debut in November.

VIOLENT MESSIAHS, LOVE AND CAPES, TORPEDO, THE DREAMER: All-new presentations and collections of these series will be released in late 2008 and early 2009.

SKATE FARM: Creator Barzak brings the next volume of his popular Skate Farm graphic novel series to IDW in 2009.

ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS: KAMPF: In 2009, Chris Ryall and Ashley Wood will tell a tale of total war in the latest installment of their ongoing Zombies vs Robots series of miniseries.

More information about these projects, including creative teams and specific release dates, as well as other projects discussed at the convention, will be released soon.

About IDW Publishing
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. As a leader in the horror, action, and sci-fi genres, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry including: television's #1 prime time series CBS’ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Paramount's Star Trek; Fox's Angel; Hasbro's The Transformers, and the BBC's Doctor Who. IDW’s original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release.  In April 2008, IDW released Michael Recycle, the first title from its new children’s book imprint, Worthwhile Books. More information about the company can be found at http://www.idwpublishing.com.