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IDW Publishing names Maggie Howell as the Group Editor of original content

The publisher's non-licensed comics will be headed up by a former DC Vertigo and Black Label editor

Published on Fri May 05 2023

A day after Popverse revealed that Heather Antos has been named as Group Editor, Licensing at IDW Publishing, we can confirm that Maggie Howell has been promoted to Group Editor, Originals at the company.

Howell joined IDW in 2021 as a senior editor in the Originals program — the official name given by IDW for its non-licensed comic book projects — working under Mark Doyle, who headed up the Originals line upon his own arrival at IDW a handful of months earlier. The two had earlier worked together at DC, where both were part of the editorial team of the mature readers imprint DC Vertigo, and later DC Black Label after Vertigo’s 2019 closure.

Howell’s new position was announced, fittingly, on Twitter by another former DC colleague, Chris Conroy, who now works as an executive editor overseeing DC’s Black Label, Milestone, and Sandman Universe lines. Conroy called Howell “one of THE best editors I have EVER worked with,” and joked, “I can only say both CONGRATULATIONS and LET THE BATTLE BEGIN.”

The new position has been confirmed by Howell herself via her LinkedIn profile.

Howell’s new position is the latest in a line of changes at IDW since parent company IDW Media Holdings laid off 39% of the workforce last week; in the wake of that significant shift, a new editor-in-chief, co-publisher duo and group editor of licensed material have been named.

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.