IDW Publishing just replaced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Group Editor Andy Khouri after less than a year on the job. The move raises serious questions about what’s happening behind the scenes at the struggling publisher.
Jake Thomas, formerly Executive Editor at Humanoids, was just announced as taking over as the new TMNT Group Editor effective immediately. He’ll also oversee Godzilla and Sonic the Hedgehog lines. Thomas previously worked as an editor at Marvel before joining Humanoids, which recently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
“We’re thrilled to have Jake Thomas at IDW helming our TMNT line,” said Editor-in-Chief Bobby Curnow in the announcement. “I’ve been extremely impressed by Jake’s creativity, organization, and dedication to working with artists and business partners alike to find the best path forward in any given situation.”
That’s corporate speak for “we needed someone who won’t cause problems.”
Khouri joined IDW in November 2024 after five years at DC Comics, where he co-founded the Black Label imprint and worked on Eisner Award-winning titles like Wonder Woman Historia. The Black Label was notorious among fans for removing DC Comics’ beloved Vertigo line, and it started with a lot of controversy, with one of its first titles showing off Batman’s penis.
He came to IDW with a big mainstream resume and touted that he had genuine TMNT fandom credentials. “I’m from the original generation of Turtles fans,” Khouri said when he was hired. “Forty years ago, I was among those first kids to read the comics, those first kids to watch the cartoon, those first kids to play with the toys, and those first kids to see the Turtles in live action.”
Ten months later, he’s gone. That’s not normal.
Group editors don’t get replaced this quickly when things are going well. The TMNT 2024 relaunch started strong. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 had 300,000 copies in preorders before its July 24, 2024 release, making it one of the biggest launches of the year. But ten issues in, the momentum may have stalled. Subsequent issue sales data hasn’t been publicly released, which itself raises questions. If the books were still performing at launch levels, IDW would be shouting those numbers from the rooftops.
The creative direction hasn’t helped. Jason Aaron made controversial choices with the relaunch, most notably replacing Casey Jones with April O’Neill as the primary human ally—another “strong female lead” situation that’s become Aaron’s signature move. The art has been excellent, but commentators like Thinking Critical have noted the storyline is lackluster despite the visual quality. When your relaunch loses narrative momentum this quickly, something needs to change.
So why replace the group editor? IDW is trying to revitalize things fast, before the line completely loses the audience that showed up for issue #1.
According to inside sources at Fandom Pulse, the TMNT relaunch hasn’t been as profitable as IDW projected. The books started strong, but the company overpaid on talent deals, cutting into margins. IDW bet big on the relaunch, generating massive sustained revenue, and while it opened well, it’s not hitting the inflated targets executives set. That led to layoffs of senior staff last year as the company tried to course-correct.
But there’s more to the Khouri situation. Those same sources indicate Khouri upset Nickelodeon, IDW’s licensing partner for TMNT, early in his tenure. The details remain unclear, but there was friction between Khouri and Nickelodeon representatives that created problems for the working relationship. When you’re licensing someone else’s IP, keeping the licensor happy is non-negotiable. If Nickelodeon wasn’t comfortable with Khouri, IDW had no choice but to make a change.
That’s the kind of problem that gets you replaced regardless of sales performance. Licensing relationships are delicate, and TMNT is IDW’s most valuable property. The company can’t afford to alienate Nickelodeon over personnel issues.
The timing is particularly bad because IDW is in serious financial trouble. The publisher has been losing money for years, and the situation is getting worse. In October 2023, IDW announced it was ending its distribution agreement with Diamond Comic Distributors after decades of partnership. The move to Penguin Random House distribution was supposed to improve margins and expand bookstore presence, but it created chaos in the direct market.
Comic shops rely on Diamond’s ordering systems and infrastructure. Switching distributors mid-stream disrupted that relationship, and many retailers reduced their IDW orders or stopped carrying the publisher’s titles altogether. The transition cost IDW sales at exactly the wrong time—when they needed the TMNT relaunch to maintain momentum after its strong opening.
IDW’s parent company, IDW Media Holdings, reported a net loss of $8.7 million for fiscal year 2023. The publishing division specifically has been hemorrhaging money, with revenue declining year-over-year. The company laid off staff, consolidated operations, and sold assets to stay afloat. In August 2024, IDW sold its comic book and graphic novel publishing business to Davidi Jonas, who became CEO and Publisher. The sale was structured as a management buyout designed to separate the publishing business from the struggling media holdings company.
Jonas has been making changes. Bobby Curnow returned as Editor-in-Chief after a two-year absence. Darran Robinson joined as Art Director from DC Comics. Ryan Balkam was promoted to Director of Sales. Cassandra Jones moved up to Associate Editor. The company is rebuilding, but it’s doing so from a position of weakness.
Replacing Khouri with Thomas is part of that rebuilding. Thomas has experience managing licensed properties at Marvel, and he’s coming from Humanoids, where he dealt with a company in bankruptcy. He knows how to work in difficult situations with limited resources.
But the rapid turnover is concerning. Khouri was hired with fanfare less than a year ago. He was supposed to be the person who would “lead our Turtles on their perilous path forward,” according to Curnow’s hiring announcement. Now he’s gone, replaced by someone who just left a bankrupt publisher.
The TMNT franchise deserves better. The 2024 relaunch opened strong with impressive preorders and talented artists delivering quality work. But if the creative direction has caused the audience to drift away after ten issues, and if IDW can’t get its financial house in order while maintaining stable relationships with talent and licensors, none of that initial success matters.
The comic book industry is brutal right now. Marvel and DC are struggling. Independent publishers are closing or consolidating. Direct market sales continue declining. Readers are shifting to digital and trade paperbacks. Publishers that can’t adapt are dying.
IDW has survived this long because of TMNT. The Turtles are the company’s lifeline, generating consistent revenue when everything else falters. But that only works if IDW can maintain the Nickelodeon relationship and keep the books profitable. Burning through group editors in less than a year doesn’t inspire confidence that the company has things under control.
The next few months will be telling. If Thomas can stabilize the TMNT line, address the creative concerns, and rebuild the Nickelodeon relationship, IDW has a chance. If more problems emerge the company might not survive 2026.
What do you think? Can IDW stabilize, or is this just another sign the publisher is circling the drain?
I smell the aroma of Leftist nonsense all over this.