It’s easy to tune out just how much Angry Birds-branded
merchandise there is floating out there in the world. Everywhere you look,
there’s some food/toy/clothing item festooned with the likeness of Rovio’s
super-ubiquitous characters on it. So, it’s really surprising that there
haven’t been any Angry Birds comic books in print yet. That changes with a new series
coming this summer.
There have been webcomics produced by Rovio, but starting this June, Angry Birds comics will be appearing on shelves from publisher IDW, who also do comics based on Star Trek, G.I. Joe and
Transformers:
The world of Angry Birds has already expanded beyond its
initial gameplay, with popular characters such as Red, Chuck, Bomb, Stella,
Matilda, King Pig and many other colorful and delightful personalities
inhabiting the Piggie Island and forming the basis for an unending series of
adventures.The partnership between IDW and Rovio provides a relationship greater than just
a license as Rovio has applied their unique creative vision towards the comic
adaptation of Angry Birds.
Enlisting top talent from across the comics industry, such as Jeff Parker (Thunderbolts) and Eisner Award-winning writer Paul Tobin (Bandette), Angry Birds captures the fun and originality of the game itself.
Going with IDW instead of a bigger outfit like Marvel or DC
makes sense as the publisher has shown a deft hand with licensed properties, as
seen with the strong success of its My Little Pony comics. Angry Birds Comics
is also the kind of project I’d imagine comics creators would line up to work
on, at least the ones with kids who are obsessed with the games. There’s no
mention of a digital edition in the press release but it’d be very odd to have
this series be limited to print only.
