This one is a sad one for me, for a lot of reasons, and I'm going to try not to read too much into this. Newsarama was first to report that IDW Publishing has shut down the Black Crown imprint. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically where the weird stuff lived. Since April of 2017, editor Shelly Bond helped publish some very unique stories that brought something different to the table. Punks Not Dead, Euthanauts and more just brought something that you either haven't seen before or have rarely seen. So, what now?
Not only are all of the titles cancelled, but the upcoming Marilyn Manor will not even have a debut issue. The only good news is that, Eve Stranger will have it's final issues published and collected in the Fall. Bond will have other projects with IDW, but for my money, this quite a big blow. Here is what she had to say in a statement to Newsarama: "Major thanks to [IDW Chief Creative Officer] Chris Ryall and everyone at IDW who gave us an incredible opportunity to produce such vivid, original stories. Philip and I are extremely proud of the nine series and killer creative teams who made Black Crown unlike any other curated imprint. Viva comics!"
In the grand scheme of things, you could make the argument that this isn't a big deal. Imprints have come and gone before, and IDW certainly has other arms to their publishing operation. This just felt like the home for Vertigo-esque comics, but with the vibe of a bit more freedom. Now Black Crown is gone, Vertigo is gone and it feels like these types of stories need a good home. That doesn't mean that they can't be published under the IDW banner, but having their own home certainly gave these stories a little bit more of an edge to me. The weird and crazy unique deserve a place where they can really stand out and get the attention that they deserve. I felt like Black Crown did that.
My other worry is, this is another sign of things continuing to decline at IDW. We have certainly talked on out podcast about all of the departures over the last year, some of the financial difficulties and other things happening with IDW. Still, they are telling some great stories, both licensed and creator owned. It's not like Chris Ryall, John Barber, Tom Waltz and others will suddenly stop giving us good stories under the IDW banner. What I'm saying is, the optics show a lot of subtraction and it feels like the tree is being trimmed little by little. So while Black Crown ending might not seem like front page news, I'm really hoping it's not something that gets pointed to after the fact if things get worse for IDW. My worry is that this is a sign of things to come, and I hope that is not the case.
Bottom line is, buy more comics. Don't stop seeking out titles that, you might not know about, but could end up being something that you'll really enjoy. IDW has plenty of those, so don't afraid to dive in.
Photo Credit: IDW Publishing