IDW Publishing Names New Editor-In-Chief, Hires New Marketing Lead

Weeks after seeing multiple staff departures, IDW Publishing has named a new Editor-In-Chief.

Confirmed through The Hollywood Reporter and tweets from staff this morning, Sonic publisher IDW has announced that veteran editor John Barber has been promoted to Editor-In-Chief. This news comes weeks after the departure of former EIC Chris Ryall along with press relations manager Steve Scott. The announcement coincides with the hiring of Anita Frazier as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Ryall departed IDW after fourteen years at the company, leaving for an as-yet unnanounced role at Skybound Entertainment, a new division of Image Comics led by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. Ryall’s position as Editor-In-Chief oversaw IDW’s growth from nearly its 1999 founding as Idea and Design Works to its current status as the world’s fifth largest comics publisher, shepherding the integration of IPs from the likes of Hasbro, Disney, and SEGA.

New Editor-In-Chief John Barber has a litany of comics experience, with writing credits on the likes of X-Men, Marvel’s Dark Tower adaptation, and IDW’s own Transformers. Previously a senior editor at IDW, Barber departed the company to work as a freelance writer for the last two years.

Anita Frazier, the company’s new Sales and Marketing VP, has an impressive background of her own, coming off a string of roles overseeing the growth of licensed goods for entertainment brands. Her previous positions include director of marketing at DC Comics Licensed Products, vice president of sales for Vivendi Universal Games, and executive director of client development at NPD Group.

In returning to IDW, Barber says he aims to focus on the growth of IDW’s IP division in his capaicty as EIC. “As editor in chief,” Barber told Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision, “I’m in a position to help guide the company into a new era, working with our creators and our partners to make the best comics out there. IDW has some of the biggest and most fun properties in pop culture under our publishing umbrella, and I think some of the stuff we already have planned for the future will spin some heads.”

Barber and Frazier join IDW at a critical time in its history, as they’ll oversee the publisher’s burgeoning relationship with SEGA along with the forthcoming comics reboot of Hasbro’s Transformers. In the world of Sonic, Barber will oversee editor the work of editors Joe Hughes, David Mariotte, and lead writer Ian Flynn; while Frazier will lead efforts to promote both IDW’s Sonic comics and forthcoming Sonic card and board games through IDW Games, including this summer’s Sonic the Hedgehog: Crash Course.