In a milestone moment for independent comics, IDW Publishing announced this morning that Kickstarter phenom White Ash Comics will be joining forces as an imprint of the media company.

Praised as Supernatural meets Saga, the White Ash Universe takes place in the struggling coal-mining town of White Ash, Pennsylvania, blending epic fantasy worldbuilding with compelling romance. Now remastered and featuring new bonus stories, the White Ash universe will be released in its originally intended format for the first time ever through the new White Ash Comics imprint at IDW.

White Ash Comics is helmed by Publisher and CEO Charlie Stickney, Chief Creative Officer Conor Hughes (Void Rivals), Editorial Director Nicole D’Andria, Head of Designer Tango, and Head of Production Travis Escarfullery.

“White Ash has a very loyal and passionate, homegrown fanbase,” notes Charlie Stickney. “But at some point as a small publisher, you reach a limit with the amount of time you can spend growing your audience. I’m so excited to be partnering with a company like IDW that has infrastructure and established distribution channels that can take some of that load off my shoulders — freeing the team and me up to do what we do best at White Ash Comics: creating stories and characters that people fall in love with.”

With support from IDW, White Ash Comics is making its transition from focusing primarily on Kickstarter to a direct-market focused publisher. White Ash #1 launches in April as an ongoing series, followed by The Game #1 in June. Next September, White Ash Comics will begin a consistent release of limited series that further flesh out the backstory of the flagship series, beginning with Glarien: Short and Deadly, starring the world’s most dangerous elf. An ashcan is being planned for ComicsPRO next February, while other retailer-facing promotions are in development, along with an impressive cover program and ambitious collections rollout strategy, with more details to come.