As part of its Comic-Con International slate of announcements, IDW Publishing revealed plans for a new imprint focusing on returning out-of-print comics back to print.
IDW has teamed with Eisner Award-winning editor Drew Ford to It’s Alive!, Ford’s own publishing house, under the IDW umbrella, where he can continue to pursue his goal of saving and restoring the history of comics.
Having already utilized Kickstarter to acquire the reprint rights for several comic book collections and graphic novels, IDW will now help Ford in soliciting and distributing the titles for the new imprint, bringing the classics to a wider audience. In addition to rescuing out-of-print comics, the imprint will bring foreign language comics to English-speaking audiences, while also producing original content.
“Red Range” by Joe R. Lansdale and Sam Glanzman will be the first collection to be published under the new imprint. Described as an “unusual mix of racial unrest, odd ball characters and strange happenings,” “Red Range” is a western graphic novel that recounts the tale of a mysterious rider who takes on the Klu Klux Klan in 19th century Texas. The new edition has been colored, and includes an afterword by Stephen Bissette.
The second title planned for the imprint is Trina Robbins’ “Dope,” a graphic novel adaptation of Sax Rohmer’s 1919 novel.
“This partnership with IDW ensures that the books I produce through my It’s Alive! imprint will reach the widest audience possible,” Ford said in a statement. “Beyond that, IDW continually produces work at the forefront of comics publishing, and I am grateful and excited to be working with them.”
It’s Alive! plans to publish 5 -6 titles in 2017, using money raised through Kickstarter to purchase the reprint rights for each property.
