Chris Ryall, who during a long IDW career and rich association with Transformers held the titles of Editor-in-Chief, President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer, is transitioning away from those last three most recent roles to launch a new publishing venture.
“Change is often hard, and I will miss this extended family I have worked with for more than 15 years. In the past year alone, we brought on some amazing hires, expanded the scope of many of the departments, and re-focused the foundation of the business to best support the integrated multi-media company that IDW has become. Our collective success with the entertainment team on Locke & Key has been a crowning moment for the entire company. I’m so proud of this special place and the incredible people who work here. I know that I leave IDW perfectly poised for continued success.”
Ryall will remain involved with the Locke & Key Netflix television series and its associated publishing projects.
We sincerely wish Chris and IDW the best as they move forward. Read the full announcement here, then share your thoughts on the 2005 boards!
Verno
If John Barber is needed to take on the role, I'd be more than happy to take over the Beast Wars series for him. You know, just to help out.
justiceg
By screwing up really badly over and over for several years before it, I believe.
JJJ
Well, if you read the assorted things on the internet about his prior behaviour and business dealings, and who he was required to work with in this new job, you can put the pieces together. Really it looks like this was IDW's screw-up in hiring him for the job in the first place.
Hobbes-timus Prime
Here you go: Comics and Graphic Novel Sales Top $1.2 Billion in 2019
Digital was only $90m of $1.21b in sales last year. The greatest driver of sales is graphic novels through the book market. The direct market is in trouble, but the direct market isn't comics.
Rodimus Prime
How do you screw up so badly in just five days?
Nevermore
Guess Don Murphy was right after all back in 2005: It Doesn't Work.
Issy543
Update: 16 days after the promotion, he’s been terminated:
IDW Publishing terminates publisher Jud Meyers | GamesRadar+
IDW Publishing has terminated its recently-promoted publisher Jud Meyers.
"IDW Publishing has parted ways with Jud Meyers and would like to thank everyone for their discretion," reads the publisher's brief statement on Meyers' termination.
Meyers' termination comes 16 days after his promotion to publisher was announced. Five days after that promotion, he was placed on administrative leave.
"IDW Publishing has decided to put Jud Meyers on administrative leave," IDW's chief executive officer Ezra Rosensaft told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. "President Jerry Bennington will assume his responsibilities as interim publisher at this time."
IDW has not announced whether Bennington, who was promoted alongside Meyers, will continue in the role of publisher or if a replacement has been or will be hired.
Meyers moved into the role following the departure of longtime president/publisher/chief creative officer Chris Ryall, with Ryall's roles being split up.
"To say that the shoes we'll be stepping into will be hard to fill is the mother of all understatements," Meyers tweeted on July 22 after the promotions were announced.
In the press release announcing his promotion, IDW described the publisher position as overseeing "all aspects of production and publication" of IDW's comics.
Meyers joined IDW in August 2019 as global sales director, following a short stint in a similar position at Humanoids.
Prior to that, Meyers had a long track record as a comics retailer, working for Forbidden Planet in London, consulting in Virgin Megastore UK's first comic store, managing (and co-owning) Earth-2 Comics in Los Angeles, and later co-founding an L.A. comic store named Blastoff Comics.
IDW has not commented on the reason for Meyers' administrative leave or subsequent termination.
Issy543
This might provide some insight:
Why Is IDW's New Publisher, Jud Meyers, On Administrative Leave?
Bleeding Cool scooped everyone last week, announcing Jud Meyers as the new Publisher of IDW Publishing. Of all of the newly promoted people, he is the one with the least experience at IDW, only having worked there less than a year as Global Sales Director since last August. He does have wide experience within comic book sales however, but it is that which seems to have caused issues. The Hollywood Reporter posted last night that one day into the job, he had been placed on administrative leave. But why?
Initially working at Titan Publishing in London, Jud Meyers worked at a number of comic book stores in the UK in the early nineties, including Forbidden Planet, Virgin Megastores, and Meanwhile Comics. In 1994, Meyers moved back to New York City and took a position at Avalanche Of Wonder, a comic book mail-order service. Moving to Los Angeles in 1997, he then launched a similar company, Krypton Collectibles.
In 2003, Meyers co-founded with Carr D'Angelo, his first brick and mortar comic store, located in Sherman Oaks, California, the famous Earth-2 Comics. In 2009, Earth-2 formed a partnership with Geoff Johns and purchased Golden Apple Comics, turning it into another Earth-2 Comics. He later left Earth-2 and opened a new comic book chain, Blastoff with his partner, Scott Tipton.
It then transpired that Earth-2 Comics sued Meyers and Blastoff. In the suit, Earth-2 Comics claimed that Meyers had sold product from Earth-2 to Lone Star Comics and kept the proceeds off books, in his wife's name, ahead of setting up Blastoff as a rival store, for which Earth-2 also claims Meyer also took the Earth-2 customer list. Overall, Earth-2 claimed damages of in excess of $120,000. The complaint was eventually settled, but one of the witnesses against Meyers was Chris Powell, now at Diamond Comic Distributors.
Meyers was also named Director of Sales and Marketing at Humanoids. Which I am told, became a problem for Humanoids, as Chris Powell at Diamond, declined to work with him. Also, Humanoids appearance at retailer events and conventions would attract the attention of aggrieved retailers over Meyers' presence.
Then the final Blastoff Comics store closed last year and I understand the chain went out of business, still owing Diamond Comic Distributors around $35,000. There were then allegations that stock that had been consigned by collectors to Blastiff sell, and then placed in storage, managed to make it to the marketplace without money – or stock – being returned yet to those dealers.
As a result of all this, former comic book retailers now working at Diamond Comic Distributors – and those who still believe Meyers owes them a pretty penny – have been rather standoffish in dealing with Jud Meyers, as he joined prominent comic book publisher IDW Publishing in his Global Sales role. DC's decision to leave Diamond knocked a lot of that on the head, but the appointment of Jud Meyers as Publisher of IDW unearthed it all again, and it made its way to Bleeding Cool over the last week. Right now, Diamond are not happy campers. I am told thatChris Powell, Chief Relationship Officer at Diamond/Geppi Family Enterprises continues to refuse to work with him and I am told that Tim Lenaghan, Chief Procurement Officer at Geppi Family Enterprises, has joined Powell in that. The negotiations between Diamond and IDW were handed over to Dirk Wood, IDW Director Of Marketing, who everyone loves, but this really should not be his job.
Will it be easier for IDW with Diamond now that Meyers is on administrative leave? And is this the reason why that decision has been made? IDW is not commenting. Melissa Gotto of the appropriately-named LA PR firm Scandal Co-Active told us that IDW has no further comment other than the statement that was released.
"IDW Publishing has put Jud Meyers on administrative leave. President Jerry Bennington will assume his responsibilities as interim Publisher at this time." – Ezra Rosensaft, IDW CEO.
There's a video that Jud Meyers made about the most important comic book to him, and it is one that a number of industry figures have been sharing amongst themselves this week with increasing levels of snark.
Rumblestorm
Damn that was shorter than Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries marriage.
What did he do?
justiceg
I guess it depends on who was doing the expecting?
https://twitter.com/alexdecampi/status/1288130159917195265
https://twitter.com/DAvallone/status/1288150001827209216
"I've known Jud was a thief for about six years. You're saying there are more and different crimes?"
Issy543
IDW's New Publisher Placed on Administrative Leave 5 Days After Promotion
Well…that was unexpected:
Jud Meyers, who replaced Chris Ryall as Publisher of IDW Publishing, has been put on administrative leave five days after his promotion was announced.
"IDW Publishing has decided to put Jud Meyers on administrative leave. President Jerry Bennington will assume his responsibilities as interim publisher at this time," IDW CEO Ezra Rosensaft said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. IDW declined to comment regarding a reason for why Meyers was placed on administrative leave.
Jerry Bennington and Jud Meyers were promoted to President and Publisher, respectively, of IDW Publishing on July 22. Chris Ryall stepped down as President, Publisher and CCO the day prior. Rebekah Cahalin was also promoted to General Manager and EVP of Operations, covering both IDW Publishing and IDW Entertainment, during the reshuffling.
Meyers previously served as IDW Publishing's Sales Director. He began his comics career at Titan Publishing in London, England, where he launched and managed retail stores such as Forbidden Planet, Virgin Megastore and Meanwhile Comics before doing the same in Los Angeles, CA. Meyers was the recipient of the Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award and was the Director of Sales & Marketing at Humanoids Publishing.
Night Flame
Even with the current conditions slightly disrupting Disney's bigger cash flows, it's not like they're some tiny company that doesn't have some reserves to draw on. They'll likely also be one of the first players to DIVE into people's wallets when the pandemic is over and restrictions start getting lifted.
That said, they don't need to own any more of my media consumption. I'd prefer they keep their grubby mitts off Hasbro. There needs to be SOME competition out there for media properties.
Tekkaman Blade
Well they owe more Debt at this point then they are worth. They have few original titles and outside of Locke and Key and maybe wynonna earp none of the ones optioned for live action media have done well or lasted more than a season. They are in heavy debt and have been for awhile, so that's why everyone predicts their down fall. If you stay in the hole long enough, eventually the creditors stop lending and the banks come for their money. Then you go bankrupt.
NormanB
True – hadn't thought of that. In the long-term, it still makes sense. I would not be surprised to see it happen, or at least an attempt, at some point.
GizmoTron
Why? They've never been all that forthcoming about physical sales numbers, either, with the usual harping about how many units were shipped in a month or whenever but never really how many were actually sold. That's just seems to be more of how things are done in publishing world rather than format.
It is anecdotal, but just think about it: If there was really such little interest in say Transformers everywhere, would IDW really still be putting out more and more content with a main ongoing, a secondary book, an '84 throwback title, and at least three different Transformers crossover miniseries' that I can think of this year alone?
JJJ
Meh. I thought the TF comics we got from IDW when Roberts, Roche, Barber & Scott took over were the very best we'd ever seen. Ryall's mucking about was back around Furman's time (and a bit after). The only aspects I didn't like were imposed by others; the events, the idiotic cross-overs, and the bollocksed wrapping up.
I'm rather fond of the current comics, too. Not a patch on what they replaced, but hey, that's one hell of a high standard to meet.
I read the old Marvel (both US and UK) comics when they were fresh. I loved them then. I find myself rather less enthusiastic about them now; they just don't compare well to what we get now, in terms of plotting and characterisation (and as for the art back then…).
justiceg
I’ve always felt that if sales in digital were so good, we’d see more openness about sales in those arenas…but we don’t. We’d also likely see more titles kept alive longer due to digital, but again we don’t.
justiceg
Disney is right now just trying to ensure it can make money in the midst of the pandemic taking out its overwhelmingly largest cash cow (its theme parks). Even if they did have their eye on Hasbro I’d be shocked if any action were taken in the next 2-5 years.
Rodimus Prime
Disney is in deep crap, and I wouldn't be surprised if they start selling some of their acquisitions in the next couple of years.
Megastar
They'll keep saying it until their proven right one day.