Ryall also announced he's stepping down as President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer at IDW Publishing. Ryall, who's been a prominent force inside IDW since 2004, has had a prolific career as an editor, publisher, writer, and as of late as an Executive Producer on the Netflix adaptation of ‘Locke & Key’.
While one of the main news sources reporting his departure has been a post at the Hollywood Reporter, interestingly it's another report from the fansite Tformers (Hey, Transformers fans mean business and IDW has published a ton of Transformers books) that identified his next project as Ryall explains, “I’m thrilled to be back working alongside Ashley Wood, as well as other creators to come, in developing interesting projects for our World of Syzygy venture.”
Syzygy itself is not a new creation as its site and blog first popped up in 2018. Back in June 4th 2018 they released the following statement:
We Love Comics.
That’s it. And we want to make comics for others who love comics. And we want to make comics WITH others who love comics. Unique concepts. Fun stories. Amazing art. No events, crossovers, corporate dictates or commercial tie-ins. Just comics the way they’re supposed to be.
We’ll get things started, as you’ll see in Fall ’18 (but teased here all summer long). Coming from Syzygy:
UNNAMED.
ANIMAL KINGDOM.
AQUANAUTS
A.R.H.
ISOBEL PASCHA.
ADVENTURE KARTEL.
TOMORROW KINGS.
CYBERGODS.
EVOLVER.
MIDDLEMARS.
TABULA RASA.
LEVIATHANS.
TERRORCLOUD.
For starters.
We want to make great comics but have more ideas than hours, which is where many of you are going to be invited in, too. Syzygy isn’t a pair; it’s a collective.
We’re going to make great comics and hope you’ll join us in the making or the reading or, either way, the loving.
We Love Comics.
Since then there have been no updates until July 18th, 2020, where the blog post title simply states 'SYZ IS ABOUT TO WAKE UP!'
Ryall's strengths as a publisher and creative officer who can make a company gel quickly is one thing, but his ability to attract new and innovative creators alongside top tier established talents will definitely set the stage for an interesting new player in the publishing world.
Also I just really want to find out what the deal is with Terrorcloud because that title alone sounds great.