IDW Publishing continues to rebuild with hiring of new marketing director Aub Driver
Driver will jump straight into the role, appearing at New York Comic Con this weekend
IDW Publishing continues to staff up following its April “reset” that saw 32 staff members laid off, with the announcement that Dark Horse Comics veteran Aub Driver has joined the company as its new Director of Marketing.
Driver spent five years as a public relations manager at Dark Horse between 2011 and 2016, before leaving to take on a number of PR gigs for outlets and companies including Digital Trends, Discogs, gaming hardware company Glorious, and even ReedPop. His new position at IDW marks his full-time return to the comic book industry. His hiring was initially reported by ComicBook.com.
According to IDW, Driver will “work with an all-new Marketing and Sales team” at the publisher, with today’s release also naming Sean Brice, Ryan Balkam, and Reina Strauss as new hires across the past few months — as senior director of sales, direct market sales manager, and sales and marketing co-ordinator, respectively — alongside Gregg Katzman, who joined the company back in May.
Since its April layoffs and “reset,” to use the term favored by IDW, the publisher has canceled a number of creator-owned titles that were in development, as the company looks to new areas including crowdfunding, webtoons, and more to grow its market.
In a statement accompanying the news of his hire, Driver said, "IDW is a legacy brand with an incredible history in both licensed and original content. Walking into the 25th anniversary of the company, I couldn't be more excited to bring my experience to the table. There are new initiatives coming that we believe the comics market is going to appreciate and there are new projects coming to the table that will only bolster IDW's publishing line."
Driver, Brice, Balkham, and Katzman will be representing IDW at New York Comic Con 2023 across the next four days.
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