In a ceremony held this week at Hasbro’s offices in Providence, RI, IDW was presented with a prestigious Spud Award for Best Brand Execution in Publishing! Senior Editor John Barber was on hand to receive the award, presented by Hasbro’s Director of Global Publishing Michael Kelly.
This year’s Spud was presented for IDW’s role in the massive success of MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC comics and their role in expanding the comics market to a new young audience, as well as achieving record sales.
“We’ve had a long, enjoyable, and very fruitful collaboration with Hasbro, so receiving this award is really meaningful,” said IDW’s CEO and Publisher Ted Adams. “The success of MY LITTLE PONY was due in no small part to that relationship and to the hard work of the series’ editor, Bobby Curnow. Needless to say, we’re looking forward to many more comics with our friends at Hasbro.”
“When I first floated the idea of MY LITTLE PONY comics back in 2011, the idea was met with a bit of skepticism,” said Hasbro’s Michael Kelly. “But IDW is a publisher Hasbro can count on for both creativity and vision, and they delivered on that once again with comics that capture the magic and humor of the brand. The storytelling, the editorial, and the overall success of the launch made IDW the clear choice for this year’s award.”