Valiant Entertainment has announced that celebrated comics professional Joe Illidge has joined the publishing company as Executive Editor. Illidge will work closely with Editor-in-Chief Warren Simons as they spearhead the publishing plan of Valiant titles like Shadowman, X-O Manowar, Bloodshot Salvation, Ninja-K, Quantum and Woody!, the upcoming crossover Harbinger Wars 2, 2019’s prestige series The Life and Death of Toyo Harada and more, yet-to-be-announced projects.
“I personally hand-picked Joe to join us here at Valiant not only because of his great skills and experience as a comics editor but because I know how passionate he is for these characters and how well he’ll treat them,” said Simons. “Joe is a fantastic addition to the editorial staff and will help us continue to be one of the best publishers in comics today. I can’t wait until we announce some of the titles and projects we are working on together.”
Illidge’s first job in the comic book industry was at Milestone Media, Inc., the groundbreaking comic book publisher and creators of Static Shock. As an editor on the Batman line of comic books for DC Entertainment, his tenure included the year-long event Batman: No Man’s Land and Batman line-wide relaunch. Illidge’s experience as a Batman editor led him to become the DC Entertainment liaison with Warner Bros.’ animation team on the critically acclaimed Batman Beyond animated series. Recently, Illidge was a Senior Editor for Lion Forge Comics where he spearheaded “Catalyst Prime,” the publisher’s superhero comic book line featured in The Hollywood Reporter and Entertainment Weekly.
In addition to his coverage by The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN Money, the BBC, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, and Publishers Weekly, Illidge has been an invited speaker at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the C3 Comic Creator Conference, Skidmore College, Comic-Con International: San Diego. and his alma mater The School of Visual Arts in New York City. Illidge was also listed as one of the “Best Editors of 2017” by Comicosity.
“In my new role as Executive Editor, I look forward to working with the great people here to lead the Valiant Universe of characters to the next evolutionary stage and unlocking the ideas that will further cement Valiant’s foothold in an industry of new growth areas and paradigm shifts,” Illidge added. “With Vin Diesel about to embark on playing Bloodshot in the upcoming film and people like friend Reginald Hudlin on board to shape the story of Shadowman for a global audience, Valiant Entertainment is going to continue to be the provider of quality stories on a worldwide scale.”
“There is no question that Joe has an intense love for these characters, and that is what really matters,” said Valiant Publisher Fred Pierce. “He is a fantastic new player on our team. What he and Warren are planning for the next year will stand up to – if not exceed – what we have done in the past. I think the fans will be very happy.”
Valiant was recently acquired by DMG Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based leader in global entertainment with diverse holdings and operations. Under the DMG umbrella, Valiant’s characters continue to be forged and brought to life in publishing, licensing, film, video games, and beyond. Valiant and DMG most recently announced a multi-picture deal to bring Bloodshot and Harbinger to the big screen as feature films.
