Honestly I hope not. IDW also currently holds the license for the TMNT comics, which is frankly their best comic. Considering TMNT is owned by one of Disney's competitors, Marvel/Disney buying IDW could potentially kill the current TMNT run. Or maybe not? Who knows, but I'd rather not find out.

 

I'm no expert but it would seem IDW expanded too much too fast. Compare them to the older Dark Horse Comics, IDW obviously has been more aggressive in comics and other marketplaces. I think the big problem with IDW is how much, or little, value that they have acquired through these actions. What IP's did they generate or any other assets during their growth. The big difference between Marvel's past over expansion and IDW's possible over expansion is that Marvel had a very extensive and lucrative catalog of IP. Marvel Comics during their financial troubles was always worth keeping.

I can see where the investors are coming from. What of value is IDW generating for them. IDW needed to raise what like $10-12 million last year? Maybe they just want to stop the bleeding and get some money now.

Comics as a medium aren't going anywhere. The landscape might change considerably. In the event the big two died, manga, European and self publishing would fill the void. Comic shops that don't have a healthy offering of manga, gaming and other merchandise would probably die. Manga has been steadily taking American readers for a long time.

No one is going to buy IDW Comics or IDW as a whole. Some divisions might make sense to buy outright but not the comics publishing. Publishing licensed comics really isn't the hottest thing right now or in the recent past. If another publisher wants one of the properties IDW currently holds the license for they'll most likely wait for IDW to die and try to negotiate their own agreement. I don't know what, if any, IP's IDW might own that would make it worth the hassle of buying the entirety of the comics publishing. If you really want one of IDW's IP's the smart thing to do is wait for the company to be dismantled and sold off in pieces. I doubt any of the companies that license their properties to IDW have any interest in buying IDW. If a company like Hasbro or Viacom wanted the headache of publishing comics they would of never licensed them to begin with and just did it themselves.

 

Comics are dying because they refused to adapt and many of the creators like Bendis, Simone, and Waid openly antagonize the whales. The result is that the end is only speeding up. I'm not trying to be doom and gloom, but I think we're past the point of turning the ship around.

At this point Hasbro should start scouting for a manhua/manhwa creator or three, for when comic book gutterdämmerung arrives.

 

I don't know why people are thinking Disney would buy IDW. What would be the point? They already own a much larger and more well known comics publisher. So the only reason they'd wanna buy IDW would be for their own unique IP, and while I've heard decent stuff about Locke and Key, it's not gonna set the world on fire.

 

In the 80's Jim Shooter saw that the direct market wasn't the complete answer for the problems facing comics. No one listened and they never truly adapted like you said. I'd add Slott to your list of morons. It also doesn't help that Diamond, DC and Marvel are basically in a death pact with each other. One goes down and they all die taking most comics shops too. It's not doom and gloom, when you look behind the curtain and see the industry propped up by selling an increasing amount of gimmick titles to a dwindling group of whales. It's unsustainable.

 

THANK YOU! Finally someone who doesn't blindly praise them.
Having read some of their non-TF comics too, I often wonder who they think even their audience is...
And yes, Chris Ryall needs to go. But I am pretty sure he owns majority stock in the company or something, given how long he has been at the helm.

 

Too bad it's true.

Hey, how are Marvel comics doing?

 

Chris Ryall was not at IDW for most/all of 2018, rejoining the company in his current role in December.

 

IDW Publishing Losses Rise in Latest Quarter

 

With each update I feel like a fires been lit under my ass to get everything from my wishlist before things potentially come to a grinding halt.

 

Hate to say it, but that's kinda why you don't rely on ips you don't actually own. You still need to pay the actual owners of those ips even of you don't earn anything.
You'd think they would have learned from Marvel's position in the 90s.

 

It will be interesting to see what JP Morgan’s recommendations will be. Maybe one of the big 2 comic companies will purchase the publishing division and simply absorb the operations into their brand.

 

With the state of both DC and Marvel at the moment that would be a fate worse than death for IDW.

 

Stick a fork in her; she's done.

Divest or kill. At this point it looks like a kill.

It'll be a year and then IDW will go away. Maybe a merger with another smaller company or, less likely at this point, they'll be acquired by a larger company.

Thankfully I've recently gotten back into manga. I'm good.