14 months after IDW's self-described "reset", things are changing again.Roughly one year after a company-wide "reset" at IDW Publishing, there's more changing in the company structure - and even ownership. This comes as the company reports some of its highest pre-orders for a comic in years with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles revamp, Tubi ordering a sequel to IDW Entertainment's Syfy show Wynonna Earp but as a movie, and IDW renewing its non-exclusive licensing deal with Paramount to publish TMNT, Star Trek, and other franchises as comics.Changes in IDW Publishing's editorial leadership.Popverse can confirm that the company's editor-in-chief Jamie S. Rich has left the role after just 12 months for a job with another company, with long-time colleague, former DC cohort, and IDW's co-publisher Mark Doyle stepping in to fill the position in his absence. Doyle isn't officially taking on the IDW editor-in-chief role, however; according to a company spokesperson, IDW plans to make an announcement soon about their editorial leadership in the long-term.This is the second major change in editorial leadership in the past few months. In April 2024, IDW laid off five individuals including group editor Kristen Simon and the company's chief people officer/chief operating officer Amber Huerta. "The Company has elected to take these actions based upon organization optimization and needs, skill set match, work product, performance, and reduction of costs," reads a statement from IDW regarding the April 2024 layoffs.That same month, 16-year IDW veteran Scott Dunbier, who was the company's special projects editor, left the organization. He has since announced the formation of his own company, Act 4 Publishing, to be officially unveiled during San Diego Comic-Con.
Changes in IDW Publishing's upper management.Around the same time as the editorial changes were taking place, the IDW publisher's office changed - and removed a chair. Popverse has learned that, in April, IDW co-publisher Tara McCrillis was shifted away from that role to become president of publishing operations at the company. With that move, Mark Doyle became IDW's sole publisher - in addition to filling in for the aforementioned editor-in-chief duties until a replacement there is found.Also in April, IDW's head of accounting Andrew DeBaker was promoted to become the company's new chief financial officer. That role has been vacant for 14 months after his predecessor, Brooke Feinstein, was laid off.So what's going on at IDW?All of this happens after IDW CEO Davidi Jonas has taken over majority control of the company from his father, Howard Jonas - who became majority owner in 2007. In March 2024, the younger Jonas acquired IDW shares that represent 59.4% of the voting rights for the company - shares that were previously owned directly by Howard Jonas, or placed by the elder Jonas in trusts for his children. Howard Jonas remains the company's chairman of the board.ollowing this, IDW has gone public with ambitions to raise $2.3m by what's called a 'private placement offering' in order to obtain money in order to continue the comapny's "licensing activities, to maintain reserves and enable the Company to act opportunistically and for working capital and general corporate purposes."According to an IDW spokesperson however, these staff changes and new round of layoffs are unrelated to the company seeking to raise capital, saying this "the fundraising has been planned for about a year by the IDW Media Holdings board, which is long before any recent changes in company structure and titles."
>>144300610"I was very clear from the outset that what’s most important is to have the right organizational structure to be able to execute on our strategy," Davidi Jonas told Popverse in mid-2023, as news of the company's "reset" first broke. "It really has to be as much as possible trying to act in the best interest of the company and the shareholders."
IDW Publishing former EiC Jamie S. Rich speaks for the first time on his exit, and the "know-nothings" who twisted the story.It's a big story that IDW's top editor is leaving, but then a segment of the internet made it even weirder.The editor-in-chief is a big deal for a publishing company, big or small, so when one leaves, it's significant - for the reason(s) for their departure, for whomever is to take over the role following them, and also for where that editor-in-chief goes next.Earlier this month, news came out that IDW Publishing's editor-in-chief Jamie S. Rich - who took the role just 13 months prior - has left the company. First reported by Bleeding Cool writer Rich Johnston, this departure came following the departure of two other senior editors at the company.Since the news of Rich's departure went public, speculation has been rampant - for journalists, for comics pros, for pundits, and for fans - about what's happening at the company. This has led to significant speculation about what this means for IDW has its 13 months removed from a self-described "reset" which resulted in 39% layoff of its employees. So to cut through the speculation and hyperbole, we went to the source. We asked now-former IDW Pubishing editor-in-chief Jamie S. Rich what was going on.As it turns out, he too has been reading the idle speculation which some has misattributed as news, and wants to correct the record."It’s disheartening to see the know-nothings of the internet twist my hard work and how that is paying off for a new and exciting opportunity for me into something nefarious and negative," Rich tells Popverse. "IDW is currently on a creative upswing. I had the pleasure of working with a lot of talented, professional people at the company who cared a lot about the comics we were making, all of which has been awarded with excellent sales and critical acclaim."
>>144300648Rich is referring to the landmark sales of the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles relaunch, which is on target to exceed its previous high water mark for sales - TMNT: Last Ronin. As for critical acclaim, IDW earned nine nominations in this year's Eisner Awards.However, following the initial reports of Rich's departure from IDW Publishing, some individuals online speculated that the editor-in-chief's decision to leave was over internal issues at the company. IDW's licensing group editor Heather Antos, a frequent target of alt-right trolls going back to her time as a Star Wars editor for Marvel in 2017, became a subject of this rampant speculation couched as news in a way that would make the TMNT villain Krang jealous.Rich refuted that notion directly, saying that Antos was "at the core" of the company's recent sales successes and award nominations. Antos' work on IDW's Star Trek titles earned two Eisner nominations in 2023, with IDW's licensing group (which Heather leads) up for three in this year's awards."[Heather] was one of the leaders I heavily relied on in editorial," Rich says. "To say otherwise, to discount the level of skill and vision evident in her comics, makes me wonder if you like good comic books at all.As for what's next, Popverse can confirm that IDW publisher Mark Doyle will be taking on the editor-in-chief duties temporarily, but not the job title, ahead of an upcoming announcement about IDW's editorial leadership.
FIRE POTTO
>>144300832He barely even writes it anymore, its mostly Evan.
>>144300588Does that mean Viacom owns IDW now?
>>144300832You mean the Troons of MLP and Sonic.
Trolling, baiting, or serious?
>>144300832FIRE POTTO AND EVAN
>>144300588if i were a betting anon, i would say that disney wants to own it completely. if trump wins there will be no protections against monopolies
>>144301088>right wing SonicI'm ready.
>>144300588Is Heather Antos gone yet?
I thought about jumping into the TMNT relaunch, but it looks like the status quo is so weird and different. I bought the issue that came out recently that had Donny trapped in some kind of hunting grounds with other mutants. I don't know, felt like it wasn't actually a good place to jump in.
>>144301108This but unironically. Along with all the other trannies and tranny sympathizers.
>>144300588Maybe publish something that appeals to straight white males, 18-45 years old instead of things specifically meant to annoy that demographic.
>>144300623Optimistically this all sounds like this guy is trying to cull all of the woke shit from the company. We can only hope.
>>144301213I want her to sit on my face so bad.
I don’t know what this means but I’ll assume it’s more bad news.
I hope the sonic comic gets even more simplistic, just bucket fill lineart with no shading or highlights
>>144301333I'd say the bigger knock against xim is that xis favorite character is Big the fuckig Cat.
>>144301328Aside from the problem with hiring Aaron, that's going to be the other thing that confuses a lot of people. The huge preorders on the "new" TMNT #1 are fucking baffling when you know it's not a reboot, it's not a reset, it's not following some major event that put everything back to normal. It's picking up after hundreds of issues of retarded quadrupling down on terrible writing and dropping people into a world where the turtles have already grown apart and most of their villains are dead or gone.
>>144300832Flynn is not even the main writer anymore brute, he's too busy working with Sega now, now the main writer is evan Stanley.
>>144300588>changes>hires Jason aaron to run TMNT into the ground with faggotry
>>144300648>>144300666>All this fucking damage control and seething because people rightfully pointed out that a company gutting itself and missing every deadline is a bad sign for a failing company that would be bankrupt if it lost the TMNT license.
>>144302773>changes>hires Jason aaron to run TMNT into the ground with faggotryThen again better than sopie troony writing.
>>144303714I’m not even shitposting or memeing when I say bullshit to that. Aaron turned Thor into a joke about how Jane uses his penis better than he ever could. He brought Frank castle’s wife back to life just kill him and shit on the idea of the character itself. He used avengers as a vehicle to send a middle finger to anyone who ever liked she-hulk. All of this because he hates his father (his words, not mine). No, I completely disagree that anyone, absolutely anyone, is as toxic for a title as Jason Aaron. Mags the man in a dress Visaggio isn’t as bad as Aaron. Tom Taylor or Tom king aren’t as bad. Bendis isn’t as bad. Jason Aaron is indicative of EVERYTHING wrong with modern comics.
Sonic comics suck so I hope it gets canned and all the new OCs are never used again just so the fans can suffer.
>>144304010>Sonic comics suck so I hope it gets canned and all the new OCs are never used again just so the fans can suffer.Again, you look up any new reviews or talk about idw sonic. It's all just dunking on it and how this isn't sonic. This is what happens when dick riders from bumblecast forum whistle blow the same shit that "ian knows what he's doing" "he should work on the games" they should've never let fanfic writer on this fucking series. Now its happening real time with evan Stanley.
>>144304122What's IDW's Sonic like? Do they have long storylines or is it kind of episodic?
>>144304155Basically like the games but worse writing. Mix in with ocs you dont care about.
>>144304167>ocs you don't care aboutSurge is honestly a more interesting concept than anything the sonic games have put out for a very long time, even if that's a very, very low bar.
>>144304190I mean besides surge and kit the rest are kinda asss though.
>>144304218I never said anything about it being good. But that doesn’t negate anything I said here: >>144303924
>>144300648>It’s disheartening to see the know-nothings of the internet twist my hard work and how that is paying off for a new and exciting opportunity for me into something nefarious and negative,"He's talking about you /co/
>>144300832>>144300840>>144301001>>144301108>>144302457>>144304010>>144304122>>144304155>>144304167>>144304190>>144304215Even if it got better, Sonic fans don't fucking buy the comics anywaysYou guys overestimate how much Sonic matters to IDWIf Sonic meant shit, it wouldn't have only a single ongoingTMNT actually sells, that's why they're putting so much focus into it
>>144304508And we're right because everything that faggot does is nefarious and negative. Why should anyone be happy for some corpo subhuman getting a better job after he fucked up the last job he had?
>>144304190>>144304215>SurgeYou don't actually care about her. You just want to fap to her.I know this because she's just as boring as the rest of the IDW cast yet gets double the porn of every comic exclusive OC combined.
I want Scourge back. I know the only reason Surge exists is becauce Potto can't use Scourge. Bring him back, and bring back Finitevus too so we can forget about the platypus substitute forever.
>>144305770Scourge was always shit and its good that he's gone forever.
>>144305856STFU Boco. Scourge alone is better and more menacing than all the IDW-original villains combined.
So what are the odds that this is a rat fleeing a sinking ship and that IDW is already doomed even with these dozens of new TMNT comics?
>>144306454Scourge is a fucking loser who would rather raid Sonic's clubhouse or beat up Sonic at night while he is sleeping.
>>144304155Boring. It's very very boring. It sets up big things that ultimately fall flat and is too focused on promoting its Freedom Fighter expies and crying lesbians over the actual video game characters.
>>144306530Companies take a while to fully die but the signs have been piling up over the months. TMNT is literally the only thing that has made a decent amount of money for IDW. Even if it works they'll have to get rid of a lot of other stuff to stay afloat. They might even still be planning to shut down everything and focus on low risk projects or investing.
>>144307829But the game characters also get issues without the OCs ever showing up? What's your problem with IDW, fartchie bro?
>>144307867You assume I like Archie, I stopped reading Archie Sonic in 1998 and never picked it back up.Say what you want, it's obvious IDW is putting more time and effort into its OCs than the game characters, who feel as if they're there because they're obligated to be instead of wanting to actually write stories with them.
>>144307829>Boring. It's very very boring. It sets up big things that ultimately fall flat and is too focused on promoting its Freedom Fighter expies and crying lesbians over the actual video game characters.ANON PREACH NIGGA. THIS KEN PENDERS LEVEL OF WRITING.
>>144301333THIS is what killed IDW. Faggots like this.
>>144300588>Amber HuertaIt seems that someone "didn't reap the rewards"
Every good book from IDW has moved or will be moved to either dark horse books or image.
>>144304155Think Sonic Colors.
>>144300588Sonic isn't improving anytime soon I suppose.
>>144305770>the platypus substituteWe want the DuckTales audience!
>>144308292What about Sonic?Will they do another reset like they did after Archie or that's it ans gets closed and un-canonized?
>>144307829Cuz Archie NEVER did that.
>>144307845They're going to keep trying to milk The Last Ronin and this big "relaunch" will keep FOMO-addled collectors ordering big stacks of books for the next few months, but once they're into the monthly releases again, all hype will die down hard. Even as one of their more successful runs, IDW TMNT has not been a chart topper in a long time, and with Jason Aaron already setting up some awful shit, I doubt most people will stick around to keep buying floppies every week.
>>144304010Pender's characters are better than what we have now.
>>144309879>collectors ordering big stacks of booksPeople need to get this fact through their head:IT’S MOT COLLECTORS DRIVING THESE OVER ORDERS IT’S STORE OWNERS LOCKED IN A BUYING PATTERN WHO SEEM TO ALSO BE UNDER THE SAME DELUSIONCOLLECTORS ARENT BUYING THIS SHIT WHALE ACCOUNTS DONT EXIST AS MUCH ANY MOREIM SICK OF HEARING PEOPLE SAY THIS SHIT
>>144309594He said good book.
>>144310091FINI Whales are still the target demographic of 30+ variant cover releases, even if they don't end up manifesting and stores end up sitting on pallets of unsold books.
>>144310308FOMO* not "FINI"
>>144310308I don’t know what FINI is but this isn’t reality. They simply buy most variants because they’re the same cover price and it adds variety. The industry is no longer buoyed by whales. If you’d been to a comic shop in the last 10 years you’d know this.
>>144310329>this argument againVariant covers exist for collectors. There's not enough people buying comics AT ALL to justify doing that many different print runs just so 30 people can each get 30 different covers just because it's neat, or whatever delusion idiocy you're convinced is true.
>>144310387No, they don’t. Oder locked variants do. It’s almost like you’re only parroting things you’ve heard and don’t understand the details behind the points your favorite youtuber is glossing over. >There's not enough people buying comics AT ALL to justify doing that many different print runs just so 30 people can each get 30 different covers just because it's neat, or whatever delusion idiocy you're convinced is true.Who said I disagree with this? I havent defended variants I merely told you I’m sick of you casuals parroting the bullshit lie that whales, speculators and collectors are a sizeable part of the consumer base any more. They aren’t and haven’t been in fucking years.
>>144310513Order-locked *
Why are they bleeding so bad? It can't just be bad comic sales. Did these niggas bet on something stupid?
>>144310553Every comic company is.
>>144309764but we all loved how Sally fucked Sonic while Amy watched.
>>144310632Not really, most are just not raking in profit. Only a few are running in the red. Overhead on production costs keeps margins thin but most aren’t bleeding money. IDW is because they run on license shit and refuse to stop hiring anyone but faggots and trannies so they’re driving them into the ground. Then the few originals they have they don’t give any push to and so they also fail to catch on. The company needed to stop trying to make social statements on social media years go and just keeps doubling down. Editors and creators and storylines and titles that were driving customers away needed to be clipped but they just kept coming to their defense when it wasn’t warranted by the sales.
>>144309764Sally probably singlehandedly ruined Archie Sonic. And I'm amazed IDW didn't even need her to produce crap.
>>144300588Well, sad their Ghostbusters run will never get a conclusion. But it's okay. Maybe they can save themselves and rise back up...or maybe not
>>144310553>Did these niggas bet on something stupid?That's what we've been saying for years.>>144300588>This comes as the company reports some of its highest pre-orders for a comic in years with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles revamp>>144300666>Rich is referring to the landmark sales of the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles relaunchLmao boy, are they in for a rude awakening. They're relying on suckers who don't know aaron yet.
>>144310553Bad comic sales, bad management, missing every deadline, and then the comics are poorly written and make the fans more angry than excited. On top of the general western comics industry-isms, where every issue is a cliffhanger, every story is a prelude to some bigger event they want to do years down the line, and in between there's so many crossovers and mini-series, and dumb special events that it just feels pointless to even try to keep up.
>>144300588>>144309365absolutely not. capitalists control the franchise and they will never accept the message of sonic games. the only way sonic was ever good is when they're ecoterrorists. the intro to satam sonic was literally guerilla warfare against a polluter that turns creatures of the forest in to robot slaves. the video game is based on resisting the destruction of nature. there are levels dedicated to industrialism (chemical battery zone) and pollution (oil ocean zone). when you face knuckles, there's a fresco on the wall. multiple zones have architectural ruins because a history of fallen civilizations are the backdrop to the destruction of the earth and it's healing when weak or corrupt societies collapse. it's reminiscent of nausicaa or princess mononokethe most meaningful scene in 90s cartoons was when uncle chuck overrode his programming because he was an autonomous and independent individual who understood freedom and respect for the environmentthe instruction book for sonic 1 literally says save the animals
>>144301171I mean there aren't any currently either though. They let the MS/Activision one through with just a little grumbling
>>144302356Eat shit. Big the Cat fucking rules.
>>144311361So they're just really really fucking bad at the one thing they're suppose to do?
>>144300588>>144311361i've been reading star trek defiant and i think it's pretty goodi haven't followed much else though, other than sonic threads that continued to be as underwhelming as sonic threads before idw sonic
>>144309764>Cuz Archie NEVER did that.Again, no one ever said we like reboot archie. blame the cuck potto for that.
>>144305770I love Starline, though.
>>144310553They're an entertainment company that also makes shows and movies. Except they haven't done that in years so only their comics are making money.
>>144311728I haven't touched any of their Star Trek stuff, so I can't comment on that specifically.
>>144310632This can't be true, but I am curious about how the business of comics really works. I don't know anyone who even buys Marvel or DC, so I have no idea who's buying IDW or Dark Horse or Boom.
>>144310632Image (especially Skybound) and Boom are doing alrightIDW just overrelied on licenseshit for too long
>>144312326NTA I’ve found all of it to be unbelievably bad.
>>144312385Merchandise. It's the most lucrative thing for comics. And it's the same thing for manga and anime. The power of a popular IP cannot be understated. But that's for publishers that own their IPs like Marvel and DC. IDW may not own TMNT but they have Last Ronin and that's their big hit so they'll milk that as if it was their own IP. Other small publishers don't need as much money to operate so they can get by selling significantly less than the larger ones.
>>144309764>>144307867Why do people automatically assume anybody who dislikes IDW-Sonic is an Archietard? IDW-Sonic is terrible even without being compared to Archie Sonic.
>>144313153It's the Sonic schizo. He says and posts the same thing every thread.
>>144300588Aside sonic fags, someone actually cares? Even tmnt hardcore fans think the main comic dropped the ball since the trans writer ruined the book.
>>144301333he 100% rapes women
>>144314101>Even tmnt hardcore fans think the main comic dropped the ball since the trans writer ruined the bookCan't be worse than the last movie.
>>144311575agreed if we do something about these (((capitalists))) things might get better
>>144314140Aside the monstrously ugly April design, it was fine. I expected worse to be honest.
>>144312177>their comics are making money...
>>144314140>hold my HRTThe comic was about mutant OCs playing in a band and shit like that. The last movie was fucking garbage, but never say it can't be just as bad.
>>144314101>Even tmnt hardcore fans think the main comic dropped the ball since the trans writer ruined the book.Anyone with a modicum of sense will tell you the run was ruined long before then and that IDW's terrible mismanagement is what truly made the tranny's time in the writer's chair so terrible.
>>144314921Yes. If you've been checking out their financial reports you'd know that it's the only thing that's making money for them. Mostly thanks to Last Ronin.
>>144300588Let me know when they fire this cunt.
>>144310150I'll take it as a no then.
>>144317077I just want to bury my face between her thighs.
>>144310553>Why are they bleeding so bad?Reliance on licenseshit. For two big reasons:1. Most bigger comic companies get their money not from the books but from merch and adaptation and etc. As long as Batman/Spider-Man cartoons/toys/lunchboxes/etc. continue to sell, DC/Marvel will live. Image has survived off Spawn/Walking Dead/Invincible. But because IDW doesn't own anything from their books, they don't get any money from random Sonic/TMNT merch. In fact, they have to pay the companies who own those characters to make the comics.2. Only comic book fans buy comics. If they are not already comic fans, they tend to just pirate whatever licensed book they want. It's why TMNT does the best, because TMNT has a comic fanbase due to Mirage. The Energon Universe stuff is doing good right now, but that's partly because they get comic writers/artists with fanbases in the comic buying circles. Meanwhile, nobody who buys comics gives a shit about Ian Flynn or Nick Roche.
>>144317700>The Energon Universe stuff is doing good right now, but that's partly because they get comic writers/artists with fanbases in the comic buying circles. As opposed to IDW's practice of hiring writers from the actual fanbases who end up going full fanfiction?
>>144317824Well yeah, because those fans don't buy the comics, so trying to appeal to those fans isn't really helping.
