Mark Waid and Barry Kitson's "Empire" is their creator-owned saga of Golgoth -a space warlord who fights to remain the most powerful man in the galaxy. This spring, Waid is bringing the project back to print with IDW as another step in his attempt to build a comics empire of his own.

The publisher announced today that several of Waid's projects from his Thrillbent digital comics service will make their print debuts at IDW this spring. "Empire" will see its original graphic novel return to print with all-new material from Kitson in April, alongside a monthly print comic of "Empire: Uprising" - the new sequel story that's been running on Thrillbent. In May, Waid and artist Peter Krause's superhero story "Insufferable" will follow to print in May.

Originally launched in 2000 as part of the Gorilla Comics imprint at Image, "Empire" moved to DC in 2004 for a short run before arriving at Thrillbent last year. Waid talked to CBR News about the series' enduring draw for him back in May. "It's been 15 years in the making -- it's something that Barry and I have been wanting to do for years and years and years, but the stars hadn't been in alignment," he said.

"It's very liberating...With something like 'Empire,' it's of its own. It's of a piece and it's all out of our heads; so we have to build it from scratch, which is more work. At the same time, the upside that more than makes up for it is the freedom -- the freedom to be able to surprise the readers at any moment, and again, the idea that no one is safe."

The Thrillbent/IDW team-up was announced in November, and has already included print editions of online titles like "The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood."