Thu Jul 23, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman

#SDCC: IDW Publishing panel - digital comics, Bob Schreck, Danger Girl and Bat Boy!

Through the lens of IDW's tenth anniversary, founder Ted Adams and IDW editors and creators addressed a packed room about a wide variety of new projects. Adam Schlesinger liveblogged it, and we also got other info (funny about that)-- here are the highlights:

• Jeff Webber talked about the iPhone comics. IDW already has 80 titles available on iTunes now, with much more on the way. Webber talked about the power of the iPhone as a distribution system to capture non-comics fans, which is natural, given the changing nature of comics distribution out of comic book shops and into bookstores and the internet. Apparently, non-typical comic readers enjoy slideshows, rather than a zoomed in page, because it’s easier to read. Also, the swiping from panel to panel increases the interactivity of the medium, which draws non-typical comic fans in. Chris Ryall concluded that 20% of top 100% of book sales on iTunes have been from IDW.
• Bob Schreck has just been announced as part of the IDW editorial team. They announced a book called Black Roads, written by Bill Willingham (of Fables fame) and illustrated by Gene Ha (Top 10).
• J. Scott Campbell brought Danger Girl from Wildstorm to IDW, following long time editor Scott Dunbier.

Upcoming projects:

• Hammer Of The Gods by Mark Wheatley and Mike Oeming will be collected-- first the Image series, and then the sequel that debuted on ComicMix.
• Also from ComicMix: miniseries of GrimJack and Jon Sable Freelance.
• A hardcover version of Winter World by Chuck Dixon and Jorge Zaffin (original never-collected miniseries and unreleased sequel).
• Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer “Deluxe” collections with all new coloring, and to celebrate they gave away vintage 1980’s Dave Stevens prints to everyone in the panel (pictures to come).
• A new Star Trek series about Nero, the villian in the movie.
• Seduth by Clive Barker, with art by Gabriel Rodriguez with 3D effects.
• New comics from Jennifer Love Hewitt (Ghost Whisperer), Brea Grant (Heroes), and Billy Martin, the guitarist from Good Charlotte.
• A Weekly World News book, including Bat Boy, Ed Anger, Manigator, PhD Ape (simian psychologist to the stars), and lots of other Weekly World News-inspired stories.
• An adaptation of Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn.
• A Harlan Ellison project called “Phoenix Without Ashes.” Ellison fans will remember that as the original title of the pilot episode of The Starlost, a series that Hollywood mucked up beyond all sorts of recognition in the 70s.

Be the first person to comment!