by Shawn Schillberg
At Sunday’s IDW panel, the publisher revealed several titles that will launch this summer.
Writer Jim Zub announced that he is writing a four-issue Rick and Morty VS Dungeons & Dragons, launching in August. He’ll co-write with Patrick Rothfuss (The Kingkiller Chronicles) and Troy Little will provide art. Though Zub is a lifelong D&D fan and has been writing many of IDW’s titles centered around the property, he acknowledged that the idea originated with former IDW editor, Sarah Gaydos. Associate Publisher David Hedgecock calls the crossover a love letter to both properties.
Receiving even more applause than Rick and Morty was the announcement of a new ongoing title for Disney’s Big Hero 6. IDW teased this new series last year, but offered no specifics. They continued to withhold story details at the panel but confirmed that the series will debut in July. It will be written by Hannah Blumenreich with pencils from Nicoletta Baldari.
IDW also teased two TMNT titles for 2018– one aimed at younger readers and one for mature audiences. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will debut with an issue zero in July that leads into the new animated series. It will be written by Matthew K. Manning and drawn by Chad Thomas. TMNT Bodycount will be released as an oversized hardcover in August and reprints the Kevin Eastman/Simon Bisley material that was originally published by Mirage Studios and Image Comics.
The publisher emphasized that their big Transformers summer event, Unicron, will serve as an ending to twelve years of storytelling. Written by John Barber with pencils from Alex Milne, it will launch with a zero issue on Free Comic Book Day and then run bi-weekly beginning in July.
