THUNDER Agents, Dr Who event, GI Joe Relaunch at IDW

By LTZ

The new York comic Con IDW panel saw a number of announcements, including the news that THUNDER Agents would be relocating to IDW in early 2013, along with a rrlaunch of GI Joe helmed By Fred van Lente. Present for the panel were IDW marketing VP Dirk wood, President Greg Goldstein, Dr Who writer Andy Diggle, My Little Pony writer Katie Cook,  GI Joe writer van Plenteous, Star Trek / Dr Who artist JK Woodward, Star Trek writer Mike Johnson, and Adventures of Augusta Wind writer JM DeMatteis.

Announced first was Mars Attacks, which Wood called “a very dark sinister serious take” while displaying Mars Attacks vs Popeye art. They announced the 1:10 and 1:20 retailer incentives:

– Miss Fury by J Bone and Opus by Berkeley Breathed for Mars Attacks Popeye
– Judge Dredd by Greg Staples and Star Spammers by Walt Simonson for Mars Attacks KISS
– Chew by Rob Guillory and Madman by Mike Allred for Mars Attacks the Real Ghostbusters
– Spike and Strangers in Paradise for Mars Attacks Transformers
– ROG-2000 by John Byrne and Cerebus by Dave Similar for Mars Attacks Zombies vs Robots

Andy Diggle, who “gnawed my leg off to get out of my exclusive Marvel contract,” talked about doing Dr Who with Mark Buckingham, calling it “a real honor… but absolutely terrifying,” citing his longtime love of the series and of Steven Moffatt’sa work in particular. Starting with #4, Andy Seifert and Phillip Bond will do a brief fill-in.

Strongly hinted was a sequel to Star Trek/Dr Who, before the announcement of Dr Who: Prisoners of Time, a 12-issue series that will feature all 11 Doctors and celebrate the franchise’s 50th anniversary.

Starting in February, GI Joe will be relaunched, with:
– GI Joe by Fred van Lenten and Steve Kirghiz
– Secret Missions by Chuck Dixon and Paul Gulacy (March)
– The Cobra Files by Mike Costa and Antonio Fuso (April)

Fred van Lente said his book would focus on a core team, including Duke, Cover Girl, Roadblock, Shipwreck, and Tunnel Rat, and that the Joe-Cobra war would be “very public” and “pretty hardcore.” Van Lente and Comic Book History of Comics collaborator Ryan Dunlavey will be doing GI Joe History variant covers.

IDW confirmed initial orders of over 90,000 for My Little Pony #1, which made Cook crow, “I OUTSOLD UNCANNY X-MEN!”

Also announced was Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness for 2013, with Mike Johnson and David Lessons reuniting for a four-issue prequel to next year’s Trek film. Johnson hinted that he’d hidden Easter egg hints already in the ongoing book, which will run origin stories for the main cast alongside Countdown to Darkness.

IDW ended with a few quick announcements: THUNDER Agents, The High Way by John Byrne (with two more Byrne titles to come on 2013), Kill Shakespeare sequel Tide of Blood, and at long last, the Artist’s Edition for Will Eisner’s The Spirit in early ’13.