More signs coming in that IDW may be on their way out:
The closure of IDW may not have happened yet. But it could be around the corner soon, and after the embarrassments they went through under Chris Ryall, it won't be surprising if that only sealed their fate as a business.
IDW Media Holdings, Inc. has hired J.P. Morgan to help in a company review for a possible sale (or other alternatives) to "maximize stockholder value and realize the full potential of its vast content library and pipeline." IDW is the parent company of IDW Publishing.Larger, maybe, but no more successful, as their 2017 scandals and plummeting sales and stocks make clear. And another difference is that they built much of their output on adapting licensed merchandise like GI Joe, Transformers and Dungeons & Dragons, their publishing several creator-owned titles notwithstanding. So if they're sold or fold, what'll happen with those licenses? They'll probably be acquired by other companies who'll hopefully avoid taking approaches that risk discouraging audiences from purchasing. Anybody who really wants to make bank in entertainment should consider this.
[...] This comes a few weeks after a representative from ADW Capital Partners, who owns roughly a 9% stake in IDW, released a letter calling for the company to be acquired. Adam Wyden said the recent acquisitions of Valiant Entertainment (by DMG) and Millarworld (by Netflix) set a precedent for IDW's market value, especially given this company is larger - as a comics company - than those other two examples.
The closure of IDW may not have happened yet. But it could be around the corner soon, and after the embarrassments they went through under Chris Ryall, it won't be surprising if that only sealed their fate as a business.
Labels: bad editors, indie publishers, licensed products, sales
Don't take risks. Focus on making bank. It seems like a formula for bland. Is that what we want comics to be like?