IDW is opening a satellite office in Portland, Oregon, where Vice-President – Marketing Dirk Wood will take on a new role as Creative Director for Woodworks, a new imprint publishing books and a “high-end, curated magazine.” The magazine will include contributions from and conversations with comic creators, along with features from “film, TV, art, music, history and more.”

Portland has turned into a huge comics creative center in the last few years, as comic creators, unshackled from living in expensive locations near publishers by the ability to easily send art and stories digitally, began moving to places they wanted to live, rather than places they had to live.  It helped that Dark Horse and Oni were already there, and in the last two years, Heavy Metal (see “’Heavy Metal’ to Base Its Comic Book Line in Portland”) and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (see “CBLDF Holds Moving Sale”) located there, and Image is joining them next year (see “Image Comics Moving to Portland”).

Wood is a long-time Portland resident (he’s been commuting to IDW’s headquarters in southern California for years), and sounds happy about IDW’s new beachhead.  “To be able to start this new chapter of the company I love, and expand our reach into the hometown that I love, is an incredible opportunity,” he said.  I can’t wait to get started.”  Wood will continue to advise IDW on trade shows and marketing, especially as it relates to the Direct Market.

IDW CEO Ted Adams, who hails from Oregon originally as well, hinted at some experimentation with the Woodworks line.  “[T]his new line will represent the independent streak that’s part of the DNA of everyone born there,” he said.  “That independence will include not just the books and magazines we make but also in the way we get them into the hands of readers.”