Hot on the heels of IDW’s Angel: After the Fall, the company has announced a new mini-series following the Buffy-verse’s other favorite vampire, Spike.

Spike: After the Fall is a four-part series beginning next month, and it tells the tale of what happened in the intervening months since that alleyway cataclsym. Along for the ride in this series are Illyria, who has a tendency to revert back to Fred at inopportune times, as well as Angel’s Dragon, and a new cast of characters as well. Most importantly, the series introduces a character who will come to be see as Spike’s arch-nemesis. Even more than Angel, we mean.

Spike: After the Fall arrives July 16.

IDW Publishing has announced plans to publish the entire run of Noel Sickles Scorchy Smith series that ran in newspapers from 1933-1936.

During the three years that Noel Sickles wrote and illustrated Scorchy Smith, he revolutionized the field when he moved away from the heavy black outlines predominant in the comic strips of the day. He adopted storytelling techniques from the motion pictures, while relying on brushwork to create a looser, chairoscuro representation of people, action, and scenery. Pete Hamill observed, “Sickles was the first artist to use the brush boldly, in an impressionistic way.”

“Scorchy Smith became a primer from which a multitude of comic book and strip artists cribbed mercilessly for decades,” writes Jim Steranko in his introduction to the book. Longtime Spider-Man artist John Romita Sr. says, “The whole industry was copying from Sickles.”

One of the joys of visiting my grandparents as a kid was going through the huge collection of old comic strip reprints and devouring each and every page.  I never saw Scorchy Smith, but the art of Noel Sickles is pretty cool.

This collection is being put together under the watchful eye of Dean Mullaney, who was the editor and designer behind The Complete Terry and the Pirates collection that earned Mullaney two Eisner Award nominations.

Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles is scheduled to be released on July 20, 2008.

via IDW Publishing

Imagine a world where the Autobots lost the battle to the Decepticons and the world was taken over by Megatron.  That’s the premise behind IDW’s new 12-issue maxi-series The Transformers: All Hail Megatron.  writen by Shane McCarthy, with art by Guido Guidi will hit store shelves July 9, 2008 and will arrive monthly after that.

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IDW has announced it has hired Andy Schmidt as the new Senior Editor for the company.

Andy started his comics editing career with Marvel Comics under Executive Editor Tom Brevoort, where he quickly rose from assistant to full editor helming such projects as X-Men, X-Factor, Ms. Marvel, and Annihilation. He left Marvel in June of last year to launch his own successful comics-teaching business called Comics Experience and started freelance writing. His combination of skills makes him the perfect candidate for the Senior Editor position at IDW.

“What started as a casual conversation between Chris Ryall and myself about how we approach editing quickly became a job interview. My background is in editing, writing and teaching and Chris liked that combo—thought I’d bring a different voice to my projects,” Schmidt stated in a prepared statement. “Chris introduced me to Ted Adams and the three of us hit it off. IDW is in the storytelling business and has a rich history of exceptional comics created by exceptional creators. I’m glad to be a part of it!”

via IDW Publishing

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IDW Publishing has announced it has reached an agreement with Hasbro to launch an all new line of G.I. Joe vs. Cobra comic books. The agreement not only includes the new monthly series, but also deluxe reprints from the vast G.I. Joe library.

The first products from this deal, a new monthly comic book series based on classic G.I. JOE vs. COBRA lore, will be launched with an introductory debut issue in October 2008. Featuring all-new storylines, the comics will portray the epic struggle of the G.I. JOE team against the evil forces of COBRA, while highlighting the brand’s favorite heroes and villains that made kids of the ‘80s today’s fans.

2009 will see the release of a new series based on and inspired by the upcoming live-action movie.

“We are thrilled at the prospect of expanding our relationship with IDW. They’ve done an outstanding job with TRANSFORMERS in the comic/hobby segment, national bookstores and mass market chains,” said Matt Gildea, Publishing Director, Hasbro in a prepared statement. “IDW would bring that same expertise to the G.I. JOE brand in both new content and the existing G.I. JOE vs. COBRA library. Together, Hasbro and IDW would continue to engage G.I. JOE fans of all ages with amazing graphics and storylines.”

via IDW Publishing

Or - “F! X!  No Static At ALLLLLL…”

Back in the early 80’s, when I started reading comics heavily, I would buy anything drawn by George Perez or John Byrne.  At that time, Perez was working pretty much exclusively for DC, and Byrne was Marvel’s Golden Boy, which I contend led to my current love for and roughly encyclopedic knowledge of both universes.  In recent years, though, work by either of them is becoming harder and harder to find, especially on a monthly basis.  I don’t know if it was the familiarity of John’s art that drew me to this title, or the fact that the trade dress is designed to evoke the comics of my youth, but I immediately wanted to read FX when I saw it in the Previews catalog.  Was it worth the wait?

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Or - “Here He Comes, Here… Naah, Even I Can’t Do That With A Straight Face…”

Oh, no!  Speed Racer has returned to comics, whatever shall we do, HA HA!  I think the only option is to talk reallyreally fast HA HA!  If only we weren’t being poorly dubbed into English, HA HA!  Chin Wa!  Chin Wa!  He will not let me get rice cakes… for FATHER!!!  A ha ha haaaa!

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IDW Publishing has announced the first four issues of Angel: After the Fall have sold out, prompting the company to return to press for additional copies of all issues.

“The fact that Angel: After the Fall has moved so steadily with each issue has been incredibly gratifying,” said IDW’s Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall. “Most amazing is the fact that we’ve printed more of each subsequent issue than the previous one, and have overprinted to a greater degree than usual, and still the issues keep selling out. The sell-outs are quite a testament to the support from retailers and the loyal fan base alike.”

In addition to reprints, IDW will feature spin-off stories featuring Angel’s large cast of characters, including another favorite vampire getting his own follow-up series too.

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Spinning out of the CBS television show Ghost Whisperer, IDW Publishing has a five issue mini-series featuring Melinda Gordon, the medium who helps ghosts cross over. The mini-series is written by Carrie Smith and Becca Smith - writers for the television show.

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IDW Publishing has announced the recently released Snaked comic has been optioned by producer Richard Saperstein.

An instant horror sensation upon its release in December, 2007, the first SNAKED comic sold out at stores across the country. The third book in the series was released on February 13th. Based on an original story by Mr. Meth, whom Barnes & Noble calls “one of dark fiction’s best kept secrets,” SNAKED is a horror-noir that follows the personal and political exploits of a government employee with supernatural, snake-like abilities. First illustrated by Dave Cockrum (co-creator of X -Men), SNAKED has featured cover art by Ashley Wood and illustrations by Rufus Dayglo.

IDW Publishing president and founder Ted Adams and Snaked author Clifford Meth will serve as executive producers. Shara Kay will co-produce with Meth writing the screenplay adaptation.

via IDW Publishing

Or - “Reverse The Polarity Of The Neutron Flow!”

Even among the geeks of the world, there are social sub-strata.  Comic geeks, f’rinstance, are slightly more acceptable than cartoon geeks (no offense to the cartoon geeks among us, but at least people have been conditioned to think that our hobby is worth money.)  But one of the rarest of geeks, at least in Central Kansas, is the Doctor Who fan, or ‘Whovian.’  Waaaay back in 1984 or so, I was hooked on the adventures of the Fifth Doctor and his companions, and finally, after decades of inactivity, Doctor Who has returned in a culturally relevant way.  So, how well does this book capture the madness that is the Doctor?

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IDW Publishing has announced D.C. Fontana, Derek Chester, artist Gordon Purcell, and inker Terry Pallot will join forces for IDW Publishings Star Trek Year Four: The Enterprise Experiment.

For The Enterprise Experiment, Fontana and Chester have crafted a sequel to Fontana’s celebrated Star Trek episode “The Enterprise Incident”, in which Kirk famously posed as a Romulan to capture a new state-of-the-art cloaking device. In this all-new story, Federation efforts to fully adapt the cloaking device to Starfleet ships leads to an experiment gone awry, trapping Kirk and Spock on an Enterprise out of phase with space itself. At the same time, Romulan forces close in on the starship, intent on claiming revenge for their stolen technology. Later chapters in the series will provide a sequel to the first two issues, as the Klingon™ Empire-with its own agenda-suddenly enters the fray.

Even though this is D.C. Fontana’s first attempt at comic writing, she’s written enough Star Trek episodes (original, TNG, the animated series, and Deep Space Nine) that I think this could be a huge hit for Star Trek fans.

The first issue of The Enterprise Experiment goes on sale in April for $3.99.

via IDW Publishing

According to The Comix Mix, IDW has acquired Blue Dream Studios - best known for Scott Christian Sava’s The Dreamland Chronicles (one of my favorite webcomics).

“I know Scott had offers from many publishers and I’m thrilled that he chose IDW as the home for Blue Dream Studios,” IDW President Ted Adams said. “I love the books he’s created, and I look forward to helping him reach an even bigger audience.”

IDW says it is looking to expand into the all ages audience.

via The Comix Mix

IDW has announced Peter David’s Star Trek: New Frontier will be coming to the comic pages.

In the new story, Turnaround, the most dangerous experimental vessel in the galaxy-a prototype time ship-has vanished, and it appears that the man who stole it is none other than Starfleet Admiral Edward Jellico. Only Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the crew of the Excalibur have a hope of finding him before the ship, intended purely for scientific exploration, is used to disrupt the space-time continuum.

For fans of the series, this is the first time the crew of the Excalibur has appeared in their own series (the crew did appear in a Wildstorm one-shot in 2000).

via IDW Publishing