The Technodrome Forums - View Single Post - Paramount buying WB, are we looking at the real possibility of IDW TMNT ending?

*DrSpengler* · 02-26-2026, 06:06 PM

One thing to consider is that even though WB owns both DC and Hanna-Barbera, DC is still required to pay the HB people a licensing fee to publish comics with HB characters like Scooby-Doo in them and also adhere to the licensing approvals office for HB.

That's why the Scooby-Doo DC comics use stock model sheet art for all the Scooby characters (rearranged like paper dolls) because that is the only way to get them past the HB approvals office (any original drawings require greater scrutiny and revisions that can delay publishing).

Meanwhile, WB licensed HB characters to other publishers besides DC despite owning DC. There is currently a Space Ghost comic being published by Dynamite, for instance.

All that is to say, TMNT and SpongeBob and anything else owned by Paramount/Viacom will likely stay under separate offices and require individual licensing and approval authority. So TMNT could very well end up at DC, or they could just as easily stay at IDW.

My guess is that the merger might offer an opportunity for a "fresh start" that might entice a DC published TMNT comic and an end to the IDW continuity, if just as a marketing gimmick.

02-26-2026, 06:06 PM	#4
DrSpengler Foot Elite Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 4,842	One thing to consider is that even though WB owns both DC and Hanna-Barbera, DC is still required to pay the HB people a licensing fee to publish comics with HB characters like Scooby-Doo in them and also adhere to the licensing approvals office for HB. That's why the Scooby-Doo DC comics use stock model sheet art for all the Scooby characters (rearranged like paper dolls) because that is the only way to get them past the HB approvals office (any original drawings require greater scrutiny and revisions that can delay publishing). Meanwhile, WB licensed HB characters to other publishers besides DC despite owning DC. There is currently a Space Ghost comic being published by Dynamite, for instance. All that is to say, TMNT and SpongeBob and anything else owned by Paramount/Viacom will likely stay under separate offices and require individual licensing and approval authority. So TMNT could very well end up at DC, or they could just as easily stay at IDW. My guess is that the merger might offer an opportunity for a "fresh start" that might entice a DC published TMNT comic and an end to the IDW continuity, if just as a marketing gimmick.