IDW Publishing opened its New York Comic Con week with IDW Goes Dark, a 2027 initiative that spreads its horror imprint across the company’s entire publishing line. Per the announcement carried by First Comics News and AIPT, IDW will publish new horror comics featuring Hello Kitty, Sonic the Hedgehog, Godzilla, Star Trek, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles throughout 2027, alongside new original books from the imprint.
This is only the first reveal of the week. IDW says it has at least one major announcement planned for every weekday of NYCC week, and it has teased news for Star Trek fans, TMNT fans, and horror fans, plus a “major reveal” it plans to unveil at its Friday panel.
What falls under IDW Goes Dark
Beyond the licensed horror takes, IDW says the takeover will also include these imprint titles:
- A Quiet Place: Rising Tides
- The Twilight Zone
- Any Given Smile, which Fangoria describes as a prequel to Smile
- Event Horizon: Pandemonium, which Fangoria says closes out the recent Event Horizon trilogy
- Fatal Fest, an original IDW had already announced
- Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: The Summer and the Fall, another previously announced original, which Fangoria calls the finale of the cozy horror saga
IDW has not named creative teams, issue counts, or release dates for the new Hello Kitty, Sonic, Godzilla, Star Trek, or TMNT horror books. For now, the only window is 2027. Fangoria, which got an exclusive first look at the lineup Monday, says specific details will come later.
Why Sonic and the Turtles are in the mix
“We’ve been blown away by the way fans have embraced IDW’s horror books, and this is our opportunity to give them even more of what they love while pushing these characters and worlds into places they’ve never gone before,” said Heather Antos, who leads the IDW Dark imprint. “I cannot wait to see just how dark we can go.”
Speaking to Fangoria, IDW’s Jake Thomas said “horror story” was one of the first lines on his Turtles wish list when he took over TMNT. He described the initiative as “bringing the horror vibes over to TMNT, Godzilla, and Sonic,” and promised fans of both horror and those characters “a very exciting year of comics.”
The IDW Goes Dark name has been used before. In June, Fangoria revealed IDW was using the banner for a month of October 2026 horror variant covers on books including TMNT, Star Trek, Godzilla, and Sonic the Hedgehog as the IDW Dark imprint neared its two-year anniversary. Monday’s announcement turns that cover program into a full year of new comics.
NYCC panel and exclusives
IDW’s panel is Friday, October 9, at 11:15 a.m. ET (10:15 a.m. CT) in Room 406.2, where the publisher promises a surprise for horror fans. At booth #4551, IDW will have NYCC-exclusive ashcans of Fatal Fest #1 and You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive #1, plus signings throughout the show.
For a look at where those licensed lines stand right now, see RCG’s rundown of IDW’s December 2026 and January 2027 solicits, which covers the current TMNT, Star Trek, Godzilla, and Sonic books.
