Speaking at last year’s New York Comic Con, ICv2 founder and editor-in-chief Milton Griepp stated that the future of comics lies in one word: “accessibility.”
“If you create a book that’s easy for people to get into,” he explained (via Publishers Weekly), “they’re more likely to buy it and tell their friends.”
With tastes invariably changing over time, a company like IDW Publishing is ready to provide accessibility by meeting “readers where they are,” said VP of Marketing Aub Driver. “Whether that is the comic shop, the bookstore, social media, convention floors, digital platforms. The industry is evolving, and IDW is evolving with it.”
Senior Group Editor Jake Thomas echoed the sentiment: “Comics, like much of the world these days, is in flux. A lot of the old ways and structures the industry was built around have shifted or crumbled. While there will always be the ‘doomers’ out there proclaiming otherwise, that doesn’t mean comics are dying—they’re just changing. New ways of making, marketing, distributing, and enjoying comics are popping up all the time.”
While making money is always the ultimate goal (and, indeed, IDW sales were up 13% in the first quarter of 2026), CEO Davidi Jonas hasn’t viewed financial gain as the only goal since assuming control in 2023.
“My sense is comics have been a victim of the chase to make more, and the heart of the thing got lost along the way,” he shared. “We can try to channel the joy of what comics were and can be. As I tell my colleagues, ‘Whether we make a lot of money/value or not, the only thing we can control is how we are along the way, so let’s have fun!’ I hope that comes across in our work product and company culture. Life is stories, not money. I want IDW to be focused on having great stories to tell—on and off the page — and success will flow.”
As the fourth-largest publisher behind Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image, IDW is “big enough to matter, but still nimble enough to take smart swings,” added Driver. “That combination is rare.”
Launched in 1999 by comics industry veterans Ted Adams, Alex Garner, Kris Oprisko, and Robbie Robbins, the enterprise was born under a lucky star. Around the time of its formation, DC acquired Jim Lee’s WildStorm banner, whose creative services division (run by Adams, fittingly enough) would no longer be needed. Rather than leave existing clients in the lurch, Lee allowed IDW to essentially inherit those accounts, allowing the fledgling business to become profitable within its first year of operation.
With that said, they didn’t produce comics right away. As Adams explained in 2014, they initially pictured the endeavor as a “creative service business,” providing art and graphic design expertise to entertainment companies “on a work-for-hire basis.” But thanks to an influx of cash from the WildStorm buyout, the founders decided to diversify beyond the realm of freelance projects by developing a television series—which didn’t make it past the pilot stage—and entering the comic book fray with Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s frigid vampire tale, 30 Days of Night. This opening the floodgates for subsequent titles like V Wars, Wynonna Earp, October Faction, Locke & Key, and Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees.
If any of those sound familiar, it’s because nearly all of them were adapted for film or television at SYFY, Netflix, and Columbia Pictures. Meanwhile, the Eisner-nominated, cottagecore-inspired Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees (whose first two volumes sold over 300,000 copies between single issues and collections) isn’t far behind, with several studios reportedly interested in snagging the rights.
All these years after its founding, IDW continues to show “strength in being adaptable without losing our identity,” noted Senior Group Editor Heather Antos (formerly on Marvel).
“IDW has to be nimble and adaptive,” agreed Thomas, “but the core of what we do remains our constant north star: telling compelling, exciting, and emotional stories in the greatest storytelling medium ever created: comics.”
The ability to adapt to industry trends and unfixed reader preferences requires a delicate balance between original, creator-owned stories, as well as the licensing of big-ticket IPs. In the words of Driver, IDW “can handle globally recognized franchises, champion original voices, and market both with real personality.”
IDW Publishing’s push to champion original voices has led to a number of offshoot imprints focused on specific genres—namely the horror-based IDW Dark (home to The Exorcism at… series optioned by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster) and IDW Crime. Thomas, who first got into comics through DC’s adult-oriented Vertigo label, hopes these imprints become just as recognizable. “What so excites me about the imprints,” he said, “is getting fans of these different genres to possibly take some chances on books they might not normally have picked up by showing them that we’re also fans of this genre, that we take it seriously.”
He continued: “All of my favorite books were from Vertigo. If I saw a book with that Vertigo slug at the top, I’d give it a shot. My dream is for our lines, like IDW Dark, Crime—and some others on their way—to be that for readers a few years down the line. So, if they’re a horror fan like I am, and they see that IDW Dark logo on a book they’ve never heard of, they’ll be inclined to pick it up and give it a shot because we’ll have proven ourselves with strongly curated lines of excellent books.”
On the licensed side of the spectrum, IDW boasts a number of series based on iconic multimedia franchises like Godzilla, Hello Kitty, Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Rocketeer, Event Horizon, Sonic the Hedgehog, Smile, and The Twilight Zone. Even crossovers between certain properties aren’t out of the question, as evidenced by the upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog x Godzilla storyline (the teaser trailer posted by IGN racked up over 200,000 views on YouTube).
“I feel we’re really helping to change the way people look at licensed books,” proclaimed Director of Sales Ryan Balkam. “In the past, it feels like some licensed books ‘didn’t count’—like they were optional side stories that had no impact—but these are now staying true to the core concept, celebrating it and exciting the existing fans while bringing in new ones.”
For Antos, the key to successfully playing in these fan favorite sandboxes requires a deep respect for the material. The likes of Toho, Paramount, Sega, and Sanrio need to see clear reverence for their characters before lending them out. “These are properties that mean a lot to people—fans, partners, the companies that own them,” affirmed the editor. “So, there’s a real responsibility to ‘get it right,’ whatever that might mean to each of those parties.”
A few of IDW’s licensed comics
IDW
With that said, there also needs to be “a willingness to push them in new directions,” she continued. “Without those pushes, we never would have ended up with industry classics such as The Last Ronin … We’re incredibly thoughtful about the stories we tell and the creators we pair with them. We’re not just ‘managing IP,’ we’re curating authentic experiences around it.”
The biggest hurdle, explained, Driver, “is making sure our comics feel both true to the property’s DNA and fresh enough to justify their place in the broader marketplace. You cannot just put a famous logo on a cover and call it a strategy. Fans know the difference. Retailers know the difference. The market knows the difference.”
And just as the original founders started out as one type of business before moving into another, IDW finds itself evolving yet again with the launch of two new podcasts, housed under the equally fresh IDW Studios, whose purpose is to deliver “original content, personality-driven programming, and bring the broader brand into the conversation,” stated Driver. “Audiences want access, voice, and a reason to stay connected between releases. IDW Studios gives us a chance to deepen that relationship and build a more visible media identity around the company.”
The publisher is also moving into the world of “games, collectibles, and lifestyle products” because “fandom does not stop at the final page,” said Driver. “Some fans want to read the comic. Some want to wear it, play it, collect it, gift it, or experience it socially. Games, consumer products, and select lifestyle extensions provide a way to serve broader fan behavior while also expanding the commercial footprint of our properties.”
Notable items at this time include a Rocketeer American Whiskey and Godzilla RPG, the latter of which raised over a quarter of a million dollars on Kickstarter.
“We’re getting an opportunity to think beyond the page,” concluded Antos. “[It’s] all about building worlds that can live across multiple platforms. We’re looking at our stories holistically—how they can translate, expand, and reach audiences that might not otherwise have considered themselves a comics fan first. And that means more entry points—you might discover your next favorite story through a comic, a game, or something else entirely!”