Kaiju, Cowabunga, and Klingons – IDW Goes Thermonuclear at San Diego Comic-Con 2025.
There’s going big… and then there’s IDW Publishing at San Diego Comic-Con 2025. If you thought Godzilla was the biggest beast in comics, wait until you see the scale of IDW’s plans. Booth #2729 has undergone its own evolution this year – possibly irradiated – now redesigned and brimming with exclusives, freebies, and a guest list that reads like a comic book Hall of Fame mixed with a nerdy fever dream.
Yes, it’s time for another year of cosplay chaos and panel pandemonium, and IDW is bringing everything from sewer-dwelling ninjas and radioactive reptiles to interstellar diplomacy and eldritch horrors. Whether you’re a kaiju connoisseur, a TMNT traditionalist, or a Trekker with a penchant for red shirts, IDW has a seat at the nerd table with your name lovingly Sharpied on it.
Let’s talk exclusives, because your wallet won’t be safe. There’s an SDCC-only cover for Godzilla #1 by the mighty Attack Peter, a foil-tastic TMNT x Naruto #1, and even a Star Trek: Red Shirts cover – presumably with characters already halfway to their doom. Plus, IDW’s doing gold foil on Godzilla 70th, because if you’re not worshipping the lizard like a shiny deity by now, are you even paying attention?
Want it before your mates? Then get your mitts on early access editions like Starship Godzilla #1 in stark black & white, or the Street Sharks ashcan – yes, those 90s jawed jocks are back, because the 2020s are essentially a time-looped fever dream.
Panels? IDW’s got panels spilling over with revelations. Thursday’s Godzilla: Enter the Kai-Sei Era promises big reveals and possibly a few buildings stomped flat. Friday’s TMNT: The New Era of Turtle Power is reportedly going to “leave fans shellshocked” – which, frankly, sounds like a public health warning. Saturday, IDW Dark unleashes its haunted horde – think 30 Days of Night meets Sleepy Hollow via The Twilight Zone, with creators ready to whisper ghost stories and drop exclusive news into the void. And Sunday? We boldly go into Star Trek: The Next Frontier before closing the con with the incomparable George Takei, who’ll be serving insight, memoirs, and gravitas with trademark grace and twinkle.
And signings? Oh, just a small affair involving 20+ creators including Kevin Eastman (TMNT), Art Adams (Godzilla 70th), Patrick Horvath (Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees), and yes, the aforementioned George Takei himself. Get your wristbands early – or bring a transporter.
Freebies are also being handed out like sweets on Halloween. Posters, ashcans, exclusive pins, and more are up for grabs. If you leave the IDW booth empty-handed, it’s probably because you were too stunned by the sheer firepower of it all.
Here at SFcrowsnest magazine, we love this kind of thing – the mad collision of creativity, nostalgia, radioactive nostalgia, and pure geek joy that SDCC provides. And IDW is charging into the con like a kaiju with a press badge.
So grab your badge, your swag bag, and possibly a reinforced spine. Booth #2729 awaits. Just try not to get flattened by a stampede of Godzilla fans on your way in.
