Comics industry veteran Joseph Illidge has spent the last several years working on a new project, Illuminous, and The Beat has all the details on its launch.
Illuminous is a production and creative services company developing original IP for comics, animation, movies, TV, and more. To understand exactly what that means and how the agency plans to position itself in an ever-changing industry, The Beat spoke with Illidge via e-mail about the new venture, his plans, and what creators who want to work with Illuminous can expect.
The Beat: Congratulations on launching Illuminous!
Joseph Illidge: Thank you! Illuminous and its division, Illuminous Creative Services, have been in the works for quite some time, so it’s quite exciting to finally open its doors to the global creative and business communities!
How does it differ from other creative agencies in the industry right now?
Illidge: Illuminous differs from all of the other creative agencies in the industry right now because it represents the next phase of my specific promise to comics and the world: the elevation of creators and the language of comics by working with clients to develop their original ideas into formidable intellectual properties with long legs.
To get more granular, my decades of editorial and brand management experience working on high-profile IP from DC Comics’ Batman (arguably one of the most popular, iconic fictional characters on Planet Earth) to Milestone’s Static to Heavy Metal Magazine combined with my creative experience and insights as a writer for Todd McFarlane Production’s Guinness World Record-breaking Spawn Universe and Image Comics and Milestone Comics’ Dakotaverse of superheroes including Static and Rocket from DC’s Young Justice franchise makes for a fluid bomb mixture of business knowledge and story knowledge that you would be hard pressed to find elsewhere.
Illuminous is the means through which my wealth of experience will be put in service to those ambitious creators and entities with ideas in need of Batman-level creative guidance to level up and make their ideas formidable, starting with realizing them in the form of comic books and graphic novels.
Why launch at this particular moment?
Illidge: It’s a great question. We’re in a time of a confluence of events, which has the Direct Market publishers of non-superhero fare looking for, almost exclusively, limited series content. The term “ongoing series” has become anathema to them. What does that mean?
It means the Direct Market is becoming a relentless machine of robust activity in the creation, development, financing, and production of original ideas as limited-run IP. Publishers need a formidable backlist at the same time they are producing their frontlists at 125 miles per hour.
We are in a time of hot demand for new comic book and graphic novel-originated IP, and that is beyond debate. It’s in the best interest of creators and publishers alike that we have a greater percentage of high-quality stories with long legs potential to be the next Something Is Killing The Children, Invincible, or Iyanu, Child of Wonder. This moment in the comics industry is the perfect time for Illuminous to be of service.
Who is the ideal creator or client for Illuminous?
Illidge: The ideal creator is a creator with high ambition and financial resources, combined with the wherewithal to take the leap of faith and bet on themselves.
Now let’s be honest: an unfortunate reality of comics is that experienced editors are not perceived by all creators as being a necessary ingredient to the realization of their vision.
However, the savvy creators, the people who know that they don’t know what they don’t know, those who want nothing less than the best for their ideas…they are the ideal creators for whom Illuminous can be of service.
In terms of clients, in addition to the aforementioned creators, companies, and entrepreneurs who have a specific story to tell, and see the potency and business agency of the language of comics and its capacity to facilitate ambitious ideas of mythic scale.
Finally, comic book publishers who have a high-volume output and have overwhelmed their editorial staff. Illuminous can curate and manage a focused collection of titles for Direct Market publishers, much in the way Marvel and DC have curated imprints and collections of titles through the years, the most notable example of which may be Marvel Knights.
Take the Marvel Knights paradigm and apply it to growing independent publishers who are working tirelessly to keep up with the robust machine of new project development.
Illuminous is ready to be of service to those publishers looking for focused subcontracting of projects.
Many creators in the industry have spoken up about poor working conditions, pay, and benefits—is Illuminous prepared to address these issues? If so, how?
Illuminous: That’s a good question, but Illuminous is not a publisher. Labor issues are more for the publishers of comics to address.
That said, let me explain two aspects of what Illuminous will provide to its clients: One is referrals, to legal, marketing, and PR experts, so that once a client’s project is completed, we can put you on the road to protect and promote your IP from a 360-degree perspective.
Second, as Illuminous expands, we will hire freelance editors to support the scale of project volume in conjunction with my editorial oversight. There are some keenly experienced new-generation editors out there who are independent contractors. Editorial ronins.
When the time comes, Illuminous will seek them out and align them with projects where they can provide support and be paid properly for their services.
How has your experience helped you shape this new venture?
Illidge: My career has been a decades-long journey through the corporate halls of globally-recognized IP to the virtual halls of independent publishers. In the years of that journey, I’ve had some of the best editorial mentors, business mentors, and life mentors.
Illuminous is the inevitable culmination of those experiences and lessons, represented as a company of purpose, which has always been the elevation of people in the comics and entertainment communities as creators, artists, and businesspersons.
Astrologically speaking, I’m a Libra/Scorpio cusp child, so I have a combination of passionate and analytical perspectives, which describes how I approach the business of comics.
I’m the Firestorm of comics.
How have you learned to adapt to the major industry shake-ups that have occurred over the last several years?
Illidge: I’ve learned to adapt to change by focusing on gratitude, abundance over scarcity, knowing my worth, and continuing to be of purpose to the comics community.
Through the work Illuminous will do for creators and clients, others will be the recipients of that purpose, gain a crystalline sense of the value of their ideas, and see the abundance of creativity they have realized in high-quality visual and narrative comic book format.
Can you talk about any of your immediate plans for Illuminous?
Illidge: Not without breaking NDAs.
That said, in 2026 I will be traveling to more events than in previous years, to speak more directly with the creators and businesspersons of comics through in-person discussions, in order for Illuminous to be of focused purpose in real-time.
Face-to-face relationships are more important now than ever, especially for those of us in creative businesses, and I’m looking forward to many conversations with great people in our industry next year!
