Tagged: IDW

Diamond Distributing Promotes IDW

Diamond Distributing Promotes IDW

  • News
  • March 18, 2010

Diamond Comic Distributors just promoted our friends at IDW to “Premier” status. Essentially, that means IDW’s titles – which include the ComicMix line as well as Transformers, Doctor Who, Angel, Star Trek and a great many others – will now appear in the highly valued front portion of the monthly Diamond catalog. This is a much desired position, and marks the first time a publisher has joined this elite group (Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, and DC) since the whole Premier thing started almost 15 years ago. There are various programs that make it more convenient for retailers to order IDW’s books that will be implemented later in the year.

Diamond has been IDW’s exclusive distributor to both the comic book stores and “traditional” book stores suck as Barnes and Noble. This relationship, of course, will not change.

“We are very pleased to have completed this groundbreaking agreement with Diamond,” said Ted Adams, CEO of IDW Publishing. “By combining Diamond’s leadership in distribution with IDW’s ten-plus years in developing, creating and marketing comic books and graphic novels, we have created an ideal relationship for each of our companies. The comic book medium is trending upward in all parts of consumer awareness and we are proud to be a partner with Diamond for the future.”

Our congratulations to our friends at both companies.

What happened to Clifford Meth’s column? Read it here

What happened to Clifford Meth’s column? Read it here

  • News
  • March 14, 2010

Editor’s note: This column, which was originally published at Comics Bulletin and which we pointed to on Friday, was taken down from their site yesterday. We’re a bit touchy when it comes to internet censorship and the hint of legal threats from movie people, so we asked Cliff what we could to do help. Clifford has graciously allowed us to republish the original column here, and he’ll be writing up a fuller explanation of what’s been going on tomorrow. –Glenn Hauman

“Welcome to Hollywood”
By Clifford Meth

I’ve been away from this column for so long that an explanation is in order. I’m tempted to say it was something like a summer vacation where, by virtue of missed flights, I didn’t come home for years…but the truth is I sank belly-deep into a myriad of projects, most of which were destined to fail. So before we go any further, let’s get some closure:

Dave Cockrum’s Futurians and I have been attached at the hip for what seems like a lifetime. Besides being a fan of the project, I penned a back-up story that Dave illustrated for Futurians #0 (1995, Aardwolf Publishing) then personally walked the intellectual property into Starz Entertainment (nee IDT Entertainment) a decade later. How excited was I—and how excited was Dave—when they optioned rights and Stephen Brown, executive producer of Showtime’s “Masters of Horror” series, asked me to write the treatment and first draft for what they planned as a theatrical release. This came back-to-back with a script-editing assignment working with Peter David on Gene Roddenberry’s “Starpoint Academy” as well as script vetting for Stan Lee’s POW Entertainment. Seriously fun stuff. And happening fast.

Then came the long fizzle.

 

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IDW Announces ‘A-Team’ Prequels

IDW Announces ‘A-Team’ Prequels

  • News
  • February 24, 2010

IDW and 20th Century-Fox released the following information today: 

San Diego, CA (February 22, 2010) – In anticipation of the summer movie event The A-Team, starting in March, IDW Publishing, in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising (Fox Licensing), will launch two A-Team comic book series, entitled A-Team: Shotgun Wedding and A-Team: War Stories. The original stories penned and inked by some of the industry’s biggest names, will give fans an in-depth look at the upcoming action-adventure from Twentieth Century Fox – The A-Team – which will hit theatres June 11, 2010.

“Like many, I was a huge fan of the original A-Team television series in the 80’s,” said A-Team comic editor and co-writer Tom Waltz.  “I’m happy to report, after reading the new movie script, the updated A-Team movie has all the wit, swagger and kick-ass action of the original series, but tells a story much bigger than was possible on the show.  For our comics, we’ve worked directly with the filmmakers to build a solidly action-packed foundation for a new generation of A-Team fans.”

“This comic project is the ideal collaboration between the studio, the production, the filmmakers and the publisher maximizing everyone’s talents for the best product. IDW has demonstrated their ability to bring on some of the best writers and artists in the comic book industry and work closely and effectively with all the constituents. The A-Team has a huge following and these comics, much like the upcoming film, contemporize this enormously popular action-adventure franchise and deliver fresh, compelling stories and art to the fans,” said Virginia King, Vice President U.S. Sales for Fox Licensing & Merchandising.  

Taking inspiration from the eagerly anticipated feature film – The A-Team – the comic book series provides the back story for the characters in the film and documents several of the team’s first missions. War Stories features four stand-alone, bi-weekly issues that each focus on a different member of the team, offering details of their Desert Storm adventures as Army Rangers before each joins The A-Team. Each series will also be collected into individual graphic novels, available in stores in May.

Co-written by comics great Chuck Dixon (G.I. Joe) and Erik Burnham (Nanovor: Game Day), the series kicks off with Hannibal and B.A. in March, followed by Face and Murdock in April.  Each team member’s story will feature a different artist in order to best bring out every character’s individual personality.  Hugo Petrus (Marvel Illustrated) will provide interior art for Hannibal, and Casey Maloney (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra) tackles B.A. in March.  In April, Alberto Muriel (Legion: Prophets) revives Face, followed by Guiu Vilanova (After the Fire), who delivers Murdock. Fan-favorite artist Michael Gaydos (Alias) will provide covers for every issue.

“I was a devoted A-Team fan from the first episode and love all of these characters. Pure action and excitement,” said Chuck Dixon.  “I jumped at the chance to join Erik and work on this property and it’s been better than expected. The dialogue and characterizations came so naturally to me, it was scary.”

Also starting in March, A-Team: Shotgun Wedding, a bi-weekly four issue series, gives fans a taste of the team’s missions after they’ve officially formed The A-Team.  This original adventure, co-plotted by  the movie’s director, Joe Carnahan, and Waltz (who also handles the scripting) follows the team from frigid Alaska to sunny San Diego and onto a wedding cruise that becomes utter chaos. Artist Stephen Mooney (Angel: After the Fall) adds heat to every explosion,  while John K. Snyder III offers eye-catching covers.

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Happy 3rd anniversary, ComicMix!

Happy 3rd anniversary, ComicMix!

  • News
  • February 10, 2010

Boy, it’s been a long three years. And that’s not even counting the months of prep beforehand. But on this day in 2007, ComicMix went live. (We were supposed to debut the day before, but went down for a few hours because of a previously undiscovered security hole. We went back up the next day, and we’ve been moving along ever since.)

Over three hundred and fifty comics installments and seven thousand posts later, we’re still at it.

There are a lot of people we’d like to thank– the hundreds of contributors and the thousands of commenters, our tech providers at CrowdFusion, our print partners at IDW, all the press people who’ve covered us and interviewed us, the wide and varied sources who feed us tips and stories both on and off the record, everybody who’s ever linked to us or retweeted a post.

Through the heartache and ulcers, the many many many late nights, and all the things that go along with creating in some of the most vibrant art forms ever created, we’re still at it. We don’t know what tomorrow may bring… but we’re glad you’ve been here for the ride.

Thank you for supporting us. We try to be worthy of your attention and your commerce.

‘Lone Justice: Crash!’ wraps up today in a double-sized finale

‘Lone Justice: Crash!’ wraps up today in a double-sized finale

  • News
  • December 30, 2009

It may be a skip week for the rest of the comics industry, but not here at ComicMix, where we bring you the conclusion of a story over a year in the telling!

Read the giant-sized finale of Lone Justice: Crash! by Robert Tinnell and Mark Wheatley right now!

Or if you’re just joining us, start at the beginning!

And if you want to read it in paper, the first issue of Lone Justice will be coming out from IDW in February, followed by a trade paperback of the Harvey-nominated EZ Street in March!

‘Keep Fox On’ is a ‘Lie To Me’ campaign

‘Keep Fox On’ is a ‘Lie To Me’ campaign

  • News
  • December 27, 2009

You may have seen the ads on your local Fox station: the big meanies at Time Warner Cable might keep you from watching Fox networks. The problem is that the ads are filled with fibs and fertilizer.

The negotiations have nothing to do with the main Fox broadcast network, which actually airs all the shows mentioned in the ads (House, American Idol, The Simpsons, Family Guy and the NFL broadcasts). What’s being renegotiated are what Time Warner Cable is actually paying for Fox’s cable channels, such as FX, SPEED, FUEL TV, Fox
Movie Channel, Fox Reality Channel, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports en
Español, and FS Arizona, Florida, Houston, Indiana, Kansas City,
Midwest, Southwest, West, and Prime Ticket, SportSouth, and Sun Sports.

In fact, Time Warner Cable CAN’T lose the Fox broadcast channel, that channel has must-carry status– a status that Fox has lobbied very hard to get for Fox News, by the way.

Fox is attempting to raise the prices they’re charging cable companies to carry their networks and are bundling the networks together so you have to carry all of them or none of them, and they’re not telling you that’s what it’s about. I’m sure that if Fox kept their rates constant, TWC would have no problem paying the same rate– but Fox appears to be tripling the rate.

Ah, and I now see notes that indicate that if no deal is reached, Fox will pull all of their programming, broadcast and cable both. That should be fun when their licenses come up for renewal.

Observant folks will note that this is the same strategy Rupert Murdoch talks about when he says that he’s going to pull all of News Corporation content from Google unless they pay him. To which we say: go ahead.

It gives that Fox show Lie To Me an interesting double meaning, no?

Rene Russo returns to comic book adaptations, from ‘Sable’ to ‘Thor’

Rene Russo returns to comic book adaptations, from ‘Sable’ to ‘Thor’

  • News
  • December 18, 2009

After twenty-two years, Rene Russo is coming back to properties based on comics.

She’s joining the cast of Marvel Entertainment’s film Thor, taking on the role of Thor and Loki’s mom, Frigga, the Queen of Asgard (Odin’s wife). Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the movie also stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Natalie Portman as Jane Foster.

Wait a minute– back to comics?

Yes, Rene Russo’s first acting job was in the 1987 ABC series, Sable, based on Jon Sable Freelance by Mike Grell, playing the role of Eden Kendall, complete with 80s hair. If you’ve never seen it before, well– why should we suffer alone? Take a look for yourself. First, here’s the credits:

Second, we have part one of the pilot.

After that, I’m amazed she came back, I wouldn’t think twenty-two years would be enough time away.

The comic series is much much better. But don’t take our word for it, you can read the latest series, Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes Of Eden, either online here or on sale now from IDW, or you can order the trades of the original series. They make wonderful Christmas presents.

ComicMix Six: Best Geek-Themed Games for the Holidays

ComicMix Six: Best Geek-Themed Games for the Holidays

  • Uncategorized
  • November 19, 2009

With the holidays fast approaching, the question becomes: what do you get for the comic-loving gamer in your household?  Well, here are some of the best releases from this year to satiate their comic-gaming lust and keep you looking like the know-it-all Santa.  From purely comic-related titles to one of the year’s best surprises for film-fans, this is the collection to make your gamer happy.

1: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (DS, PS3, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii)

Playing the previous title in this series isn’t necessary, as the events that unfold herein are actually the video game adaptation of Marvel’s ‘Civil War” event from a few years ago.  As players traverse the games environments, you’re tasked with choosing Pro- or Anti-Registration stance as you recruit new team members for your cause.  Gameplay is multiplayer-centric, as 4 players can team up together to take on all foes in this combat rich title.  As players pair up different members of their teams, stat bonuses reward the player for pre-existing groups (like having all the members of the Fantastic Four as a team, for example).  The control is refined from the previous title, so those who ARE familiar with the series will notice tighter control of their teams, as well ease in combining powers, one of the games newer features.  Here, timed special attacks can be joined with a selected partner for a larger attack, and bigger damage results.  While the ending won’t match the comic’s storyline, players will certainly enjoy all the Marvel references and characters throughout the title, and Xbox 360 and PS3 owners actually can download MORE characters to increase their player rosters.

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ComicMix and IDW on the iPhone and iTouch

ComicMix and IDW on the iPhone and iTouch

  • News
  • November 18, 2009

We are proud to announce that our publishing partner IDW has launched new iPhone apps that will allow it to sell digital comics in dedicated storefronts; one for all IDW and ComicMix titles, and others specifically for Transformers, Star Trek, and G.I. Joe comics.  Each app is free, and comes with different free comics.  Consumers can then buy other IDW titles from within the apps.

ComicMix titles currently available are:

  • GrimJack: Old Friends (available for free)
  • GrimJack: Killer Instinct #1-6 (issue #1 available for free)
  • GrimJack: The Manx Cat #1-2
  • Jon Sable Freelance: Bloodtrail #1-6 (issue #1 available for free)

We’ll be adding more in the future, of course. The app also has everything from Astro Boy and Bloom County to The Rocketeer and Tank Girl.

IDW is the first comic publisher to offer in-app purchases (although several third party companies, including Comixology, Panelfly, and iVerse, all offer in-app purchases of the titles they offer).

So please, download the free app and try it out, and post any and all feedback here in comments. We want to know what you think, and how we can keep improving what we’re doing.

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