Okay, this was officially revealed back in January, but I kept forgetting to post about it... and since I had to mention it in the June pre-order listing, I had better make an official news posting about it somewhere here.
Rumours were starting to pop up about IDW losing the Transformers licence back in late November 2021, and a week later in early December it was rumoured that Jon Barber (the main guy with Transformers at IDW for most of their 14 years) was to be leaving (again, as I think he left before, but came back).
About a week after that, we are told that Jon Barber has indeed left IDW (on December 17th), and that a new company called Skybound could be applying for the Transformers comic licence.
After about a month of speculation among fans of is it true or isn't it, we were finally put out of our misery at the end of January by the Hollywood Reporter, by being told that IDW were indeed losing the licence for Transformers at the end of 2022... along with their licence for producing GIJoe comics.
(which would be a big blow to IDW's revenue so soon after their debt restructuring, as they apparently recently lost some other licences, and their biggest selling comics each month have been their licenced comics, not their original content comics - after 23 years of operation, and some big licences at times, IDW have never managed to grow enough as a comic company to be better than 5th, behind Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse)
So, who is Skybound?Quote:
At the end of 2022, IDW will bid a fond farewell to the publication of G.I. Joe and Transformers comic books and graphic novels, the company said in a statement provided to THR. Were exceedingly proud of our stewardship of these titles 17 years with the Robots in Disguise and 14 years with A Real American Hero and thank the legion of fans for their unwavering support, month in and month out. Were also eternally grateful to every one of the talented creators who helped bring these characters to four-color life through our comics.
My Little Pony and Dungeons & Dragons comics, based on the Hasbro brands, will be published by IDW, however.
While rumors painted the loss of the rights in immediate brushstrokes, the company still plans to put out a years worth of Joe and Transformers stories and comics.
The monthly Transformers series will wrap up by mid-summer, while the Transformers: Beast Wars series, too, will come to its conclusion this summer. That will lead to two new miniseries events. The company will also publish a variety of special one-shot projects spotlighting heroes and villains from across Transformers history.
On the Joe front, the company is planning a blowout celebration later with milestone issue, G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero no. 300 with Larry Hama, the veteran comics writer who launched the Joe brand with Marvel Comics in 1982, at the helm.
In the spring, G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero Saturday Morning Adventures will offer a four-issue send-up of the beloved 80s cartoon. And it being the 40th anniversary of the modern iteration of the military toy brand, several special projects are also in the works. Creators and release details will be released by IDW at a later date.
Licensed properties have been a major part of the business plan for IDW, which for a time rose to become a top non-DC and Marvel publisher after Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics. The company will need to refocus after earlier this year losing publishing rights to a Star Wars and a Marvel comic.
Skybound, meanwhile, has yet to comment on its potential deal with Hasbro.
Since I had never heard of them before as a comic company, if they do get the Transformers comic licence, I thought that I should find out who they are, and what experience they have with comic writing and publication.
Skybound Entertainment first existed in 2010, co-founded by the creator of The Walking Dead comic (which later spawned a TV series in 2010), primarily existing as the business entity to own and manage the Walking Dead property as it became a TV series, after being a comic by Image comics since 2003. (it is worth noting that the creator of The Walking Dead (Robert Kirkman) who co-founded Skybound is/was COO at Image comics, before deciding to publish their own comics under their own banner, including titles that they were originally doing under Image)
The popularity of The Walking Dead has given the company that owns it, the capital to expand directly into other entertainment mediums and develop the creator's other story projects (into TV shows, Movies, and from June 2022, comics).
Even though the Walking Dead comic ended in 2019, the popularity of the TV show has seen it being reprinted several times, and since it was originally published in (mostly) black and white, it is now being re-released in colour... which will headline their launch of their comics branch in June.
It would then make sense that they would want to pad out their stable of comics with more well known titles, as soon as they can, and since they can't poach comics from DC and Marvel, having licenced comics is the way to go. It has put other relatively unknown comic companies on the map, like Devils Due, Dreamwave and IDW.
So, watch this space for updates or confirmation of who is getting the Transformers licence from 2023... and keep an eye out on the montly comic listings here, as they wind up the IDW comics towards the end of this year (wrapping up stories and publications).
