Following several years marked by turbulence and downsizing, IDW Publishing has announced that Bobby Curnow will return to the comics publisher as editor-in-chief. Curnow previously spent 12 years at IDW before joining Magma Comix in 2023 as its editor-in-chief.

Curnow, who worked at IDW from 2010 to 2022, had served as an associate editor, editor, and finally group editor for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He also wrote such comics as Battle Beasts, Godzilla Legends, Night of 1,000 Wolves, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures, Ward’s Valley, My Little Pony: Friend Forever, and TMNT Universe, and cocreated the Ghost Tree series.

Along with Curnow, Andy Khouri will also join IDW as senior editor, leading the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics line and reporting to Curnow. From 2015 to 2020, Khouri was an editor at DC, working on such comics as Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, Far Sector, Omega Men: The End Is Here, Batman ‘89, Harleen, and Wonder Woman: Dead Earth. He also cofounded DC’s Black Label and spent four years contributing to the Comics Alliance blog.

The hiring of Curnow and Khouri comes during a tumultuous time at IDW. Curnow’s successor, former editor-in-chief Jamie S. Rich, left the company this summer after just two years in the role, to join Eric Gitter’s as-yet-unnamed comics publishing startup. Editor Scott Dunbier and chief digital officer Josh Frankel also departed earlier this year to launch their own ventures, and last month, IDW copublisher Mark Doyle was among four employees let go at the comics publisher. Prior to that, in April 2023, the publisher reorganized after laying of 39% of its staff and delisting from the NYSE.