Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, IDW | Tagged: Mark Doyle, my little pony

From Publishers To Ponies To Late Night Parties – All The IDW Gossip

IDW Publishing has been in the news a lot lately... which means there is gossip to share. And Bleeding Cool is ready with our hands out.

Published Tue, 10 Sep 2024 14:00:16 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

IDW recently laid off notable staff, including Publisher Mark Doyle, amid cost-cutting efforts.
CEO Davidi Jonas has appointed himself as the new Publisher, focusing on reducing production costs.
IDW's struggles include losing valuable licenses like Transformers and GI Joe to Skybound Entertainment.
Despite challenges, IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles relaunch proved highly successful, selling 300,000 copies.

Bleeding Cool was the first to report on a number of staffers being laid off at IDW, including Publisher Mark Doyle, Marketing Manager Holly Aitchison, another in production, and one in shipping. Our story was later re-reported in Publisher's Weekly, almost word for word by Heidi MacDonald. The shipping sacking may have been related to the recall of Artist Proof copies of Batman Year One Artist's Edition sent out in error. And today we learned that the other was Amauri Osorio, a production artist who had been at IDW for more than twenty years.

But it also comes after official complaints were made about Mark Doyle's behaviour at this year's Eisner Awards, for being what is euphemistically described as overly tired and emotional. There were some subtweets made by former IDW employees, such as Keith Davidsen, after Doyle's dismissal that could be seen as either a) purely hypothetical or b) pointed barbs, depending on c) your perspective. But I was also informed about previous complaints made by a number of staff members before his departure. However, Doyle was visibly butting heads with IDW CEO Davidi Jonas trying to protect certain talent and editorial staffers against imposed cuts, so this may have just been a convenient excuse. . After all, Sean Brice is still IDW Senior Director of Sales after the Eisners. Doyle and Group Editor Maggie Howell were both brought in specifically to see take on the IDW Originals programme outside of the licensed work, of which Beneath the Trees was their only notable success so far. More were needed.

IDW CEO Davidi Jonas… and Publisher hereafter?

However, this is all hearsay and tittle-tattle. More consistent was the comment that IDW CEO Davidi Jonas has appointed himself Publisher of IDW now. And has been pushing to bring the costs of books down, especially on licensed titles at the publisher, looking to get every page of a comic for $200 to cover writing, pencilling, inking, colouring, design and editorial all in. Former Co-Publisher with Doyle and now President of Publishing Operations, Tara McCrillis supports the financial cuts. Indeed, the belief has been expressed that if creators are paid less, they will be more incentivized to promote the books to earn more as part of a new back-end deal. Though one that has yet to emerge. Indeed, editors may be rebranded as "brand managers" who will cover a range of books. So, if you are the editor of Godzilla, you are responsible for that brand, and you should be able to edit your books solo, with no assistants or junior staff. So, yes, expect a number of assistant editors to be moved or to move on, something that everyone will be livid about. And if the books don't sell, then IDW has one person to blame, and that's the editor.

But they didn't penny-pinch to get Bobby Curnow back, making him an offer he couldn't refuse to leave EIC of Magma Comix and return to IDW as their EIC. Jamie S Rich and Mark Doyle did have good comic book contacts, but Magma Comix also has had a very good line-up of prominent creator names for such a new publisher – but how much of that was another former IDW editor and Magma founder Denton Tipton's doing? I guess we'll be finding out soon.

IDW comics make money… but what about the rest?

The big problem with IDW seems to be that while the comics publishing division is doing fine and would make a profit, as a solo venture with lower office overheads, the media exploitation division, which makes up a much bigger chunk of the publisher, has not, and it is causing the financial drain on the company. Long are the days when any semi-successful comic book series could get a Netflix green light, and the likes of Wynonna Earp, Dirk Gently's Detective Agency, October Faction, and Locke & Key are all now in the rearview mirror.

They also have a lot of compliance fees on the books that come with being a publicly owned company. IDW is still delisted, but they still do have shareholders and are publicly owned. And so it is down to the comics side to try and fill the financial gap.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles relaunch did very well indeed for IDW, even better than the Last Ronin series, selling 300,000 copies, a figure that industry sources I spoke to initially doubted but then had to confess was real. And the Turtles outsell everything… but IDW had to pay a pretty penny to Paramount keep the license and they bet the farm on it. Well, they have at least got the farm back. Looks like they will have to do the same next year for the Star Trek license – hence Lore War. Oh and courtesy of Sony, Sonic The Hedgehog still does gangbusters.

But it is notable that Skybound's take on Transformers and GI Joe, snatched from IDW in recent years, have performed far greater than IDW was able to achieve. And it also looks like IDW might have lost their final Hasbro license in My Little Pony, from recent solicits and solicitations, while the American Girl line from Mattel has disappeared after the first book. So what happened there?

License and be damned

It seems that American Girl was a nightmare license for IDW. It happens, sometimes, as other publishers may be able to emphasise with. Mattel delayed the IDW's ability to announce the title, wanting to treat it like a surprise drop that coincided with a doll event, which limited IDW's ability to market ahead of release. Mattel was also a micro-manager of the license, insisting on controlling every stage, as well as constant, up-to-the-minute-and-beyond revisions, frustrated editorial and creators, delaying the project further until it was untenable.

As for My Little Pony, the most recent Hasbro iteration did not seem to connect with audiences across all media, including TV, and the franchise faltered at the gate. The reason IDW has kept it is that it seems, no one at a similar level wanted it. IDW and Hasbro have come to an agreement to slow down into 2025 while Hasbro works out what they'll do next. This is why IDW have rushed out the remaining Pony content on the books before then. While IDW is waiting to hear Hasbro's next moves. And maybe IDW will give the editor of both, Riley Farmer, something that has a half chance of working in the interim.

The current issue with most licenses is that they have been around the block many times, with multiple publishers, and have less original juice, but licensors want greater control and more of a financial cut. From what I understand, both IDW and Boom were quite okay with Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering taking a hop, skip and jump to Dark Horse. Let them do a big splashy start… and then get into the weeds dealing with those licenses again.

The Los Angeles gang

Yesterday, IDW got the bigger cheeses, CEO-and-now-Publisher Davidi Jonas, former co-Publisher and now President – Publishing Operations Tara McCrillis, Senior Director of Sales Sean Brice, Director of Marketing Aub Driver, and new EIC Bobby Curnow in the IDW Los Angeles office. I look forward to hearing what emerges… as well as seeing a bunch of LA IP addresses running through the Bleeding Cool servers. We reached out to IDW representatives without comment…

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