This morning’s IDW/Top Shelf panel at NYCC was jam packed with announcements. Some smaller than others, some more surprising, these announcements were incredibly well received by those in attendance.
First up was Luna the Vampire by Yasmin Sheikh, a new series that’s “a little different” than what IDW is known for. The series about the daily struggles of a grumpy space vampire was originally launched via Kickstarter. It comes out in January.
Next up was the announcement of a new Jem and the Holograms arc, Dark Jem, starting with issue #11. The story that the whole series thus far has been building up to features Jem going down a path into darkness as “things are going to go terribly wrong with Synergy”as the band begins their first tour, and someone – or something – called Silica is after them. It is written by Kelly Thompson with art by the returning Sophie Campbell.
A Transformers event titled Titans Return will hit shelves next summer, and March’s fiftieth issue sees the return of Optimus Prime and begins the All Hail Optimus storyline which sees the Earth annexed to become part of Cybertron’s Council of Worlds, which doesn’t make its inhabitants very happy.
January is bringing Ghostbusters International, with a globetrotting team that hunts ghosts all around the world, just in time for the movie.
Infinite Loop, a French comic that was originally crowdsourced by its creators, Elsa Charretier & Pierrick Colinet, before being picked up by IDW, will be getting a trade in November.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is coming this December. It’s a more lighthearted book that focuses on two sets of cadets. Kirk and his crew discover a mystery, and three years later another group solves it. Star Trek issue #50 is rapidly approaching, and it features a new storyline set in the Mirror Mirror universe. There will be a new four issue arc of Star Trek with issue #55 called Legacy of Spock which follows an older Spock and the other survivors of Vulcan’s destruction as they forge ahead towards a New Vulcan. It is a celebration of Leonard Nimoy by writer Mike Johnson with Troy Shasteen on art.
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency will be returning with the A Spoon Too Short storyline in February written by Arvind Ethan David with art by Ilias Kriazis, and Ryall teased more Dirk Gently television news.
Also announced was a new Mars Attacks! series from John Layman and Andy Kuhn. This new series takes place after the Martians have won the war, and comes from the perspective of the human resistance fighters. It hits shelves in March.
Some of the biggest announcements were that IDW will be publishing new Rom: The Space Knight and Micronauts series. Rom will feature IDW head honcho Cris Ryall and Christos Gage as writers, with David Messina and Paolo Villanelli on art duties. This is a long time coming, and Ryall is a HUGE fan of the property, so I have high hopes for this book. The rights to Rom have been tied up for decades, but Ryall has worked tirelessly to acquire them. They will be launching with a #0 issue for Free Comic Book Day in May, before the first issue hits shelves in July. Another series whose rights were tied up for some time, Micronauts will see Cullen Bunn teaming up with David Baldeon on art. The first issue drops in February.
Next up was Tory Little’s graphic novel adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas launching at the show.
Fans of IDW’s Artist Editions will be excited to know that a Best of DC Comics War Comics featuring work by Joe Kubert, John Severin, Alex Toth and others with a Kubert Sgt. Rock cover. They also announced they were working on a Marvel Star Wars collection to come out before the new movie. There will also be deluxe hardcovers featuring artists hand-picked favorite stores beginning with Sal Buscema’s Incredible Hulk and George Perez’s Avengers.
The recently restarted Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County 2015 will be collected by IDW next year.
The last announcement of the panel was that IDW mainstay 30 Days of Night would be returning, after seemingly being buried for good during the crossover with Criminal Macabre, with Steve Niles accompanied by Locke & Key‘s Gabriel Rodriguez. The new series, 30 Days, is not a continuation, but a radical reinvention.
This is where the panel ended with the floor opened up to fans’ questions, and oh were there questions. Mostly Transformers related.
