Here's a trivia question: what was the first book ever published by IDW? It wasn't 30 Days of Night, the bestselling vampire horror series from writer Steve Niles that has become the company's signature property. It wasn't Dark Days, another popular IDW horror book, or any of the many licensed TV properties, such as 24 or CSI.
The first book that Idea + Design Works published after adding a comics department in 2000 was Uno Fanta, a collection of artwork from comics artist/illustrator Ashley Wood. Over the years, art book collections have been an important part of the IDW publishing list. At the time of the first Wood collection, IDW was mostly a creative services company, said IDW editor-in-chief Chris Ryall, and its first forays into publishing were done mostly as favors to Wood and other artists who worked with IDW.
"Actually, there have been Ashley Wood art books as long as there's been an IDW Publishing," Ryall said. "Ted Adams, IDW's president and one of its founding partners, had a friendship with Ash that dated back to their time together at Todd McFarlane Entertainment." IDW became known largely for its horror comics and adaptations, but the company has continued to focus on purely art-based book projects, such as Wood's series of anthology art collections, Swallow and Sparrow, which serve to highlight a variety of artists chosen by Wood for publication.
And the company is always looking to add new art book projects. IDW just announced that 30 Days of Night artist Ben Templesmith has signed an exclusive contract with plans to create future horror series as well as art books. The first of his art book collections, The Art of Wormwood, will be published in August.
But Wood is really the driving force behind most of IDW's art book projects, Ryall said. Wood finds contributors, plans the projects and serves as art director on the books. "Without Ash, there would be no art books at IDW," Ryall said.
Wood said IDW’s art book publishing is an effort to “create the type of ensemble art book that I would wish to buy." The first such effort, Swallow, recently released its fourth volume, featuring Wood and a dozen others including artists Kent Williams, Paul Pope and Teddy Kristiansen. There is no narrative, just a folio of free-standing work from each artist, showcasing their efforts in various medias.
"There seemed to me to be a hole in the market for a magazine or book that represented current illustrators, so I came up with the idea for Swallow and took it to IDW," Wood said. "It's a combination of artists I really like, suggestions from peers, or the sheer luck of running into someone's work,” Wood said, describing his method for choosing work. “I don't care whether an artist has been working for 20 years or two weeks,” Wood said. “If your work can hold up over 10 or 15 images, then you're in—10 or 15 pages of art really show up the artist's strengths and weaknesses."
Ryall said the books give comics artists a chance to show off their work outside the industry. "I think there's a big crossover between the people who enjoy art books and comics," Ryall said, pointing to the number of fans who seem to want Wood to sign both his art books and his comics. “His style has really done a lot to expand comics fans' notions of what a comic can be, and it's made fine art fans more willing to pick up comics,” Ryall said.
Books in the Sparrow series are much smaller and feature the work of only a single artist. The latest, books five and six, exhibit the work of Rick Berry and Phil Hale, both of whom have done some work in comics. But experience in comics isn't a prerequisite, Wood said. "Not everyone in Swallow is a comic artist. It's more of a case that comic fans [will] get to realize that there are great artists outside of comics that they can follow.”
While the art books have never sold as well as IDW's most popular books, they have consistently sold out their print runs, Ryall said, with many going through multiple printings. “I approach art as a whole and don't break it down,” Wood said. “I don't differentiate between comic art, fine art or illustration, it's just all art, period."
