Then you'd better get used to no-on caring what you think. Especially with an insulting attitude like that. Comments like yours do nothing except undermine your argument and make you look like an idiot.

The past. A great past, yes; but nonetheless, G1 is still the past. Better get used to that.

 

thats exactly what theyre going for, in hopes of capturing new readers.

as much as i'd like the continuity to be consistent with previous incarnations, i'd like to think the publishers are givng serious consideration in what they think will make the series more accessible to a larger audience, beyond the hardcore fans.

more accessible = better sales = longer run

as much as i'd like to avoid reducing it to formulas, TF is basically a licensed property. it comes with the territory.

 

I was wondering about that. Maybe that's why the pic of Meg's head inside the cover looks different than the last page's head.

 

What's with this 25 years bit? 2004 was the 20TH Anniversary year, add two more for 2005 and 2006 and all you have is 22 years of Transformers... when it hits 25 years you just know Hasbro's going to add another Anniversary piece or something equally special... And sorry for being totally anal retentive or whatever, but I'm a facts kind of guy and it's hard to keep my mouth shut.




On a topic related note; this issue was a blast to read, I can't wait for #5, but it's a month away now and damn am I just bursting at the seams to see what's what with good ol' Megabreath.

 

If by "the past" you mean "current", then yes, G1 is "the past". We've been getting dozens of G1 toys in the US and Japan for the past few years, over multiple product lines. Both new molds & reissues. We've even been getting once rare & expensive Japanese G1 exclusives released in the US & Europe. We're getting an entire product line that is an update of G1 this fall, as well as a second go at G1 Optimus Prime in the US, Europe & Japan. And let's not forget Masterpiece G1 Starscream. Or the little G1 Optimus Prime that Takara JUST released a month ago. A new mold no less. Better get used to accepting G1 as today's TFs, 'cause if the movie is a hit, it ain't going away again anytime soon.

 

it's not like acknowledging one of the most popular cartoons of all time is going to suddenly confuse potential readers. They are tying into Beast Wars' cartoon and no one is confused about anything other than when during the series is the comic set.

"Mainstream" western comic sales today are based almost exclusively on nostalgia. whether it's someone reading the X-Men because they grew up reading it, or someone buying the Transformers because they loved the old toys & cartoon. There are almost no new readers picking these comics up anymore based purely on looking at the title and going "wow, that's a neat cover, I'll buy that & see what this Transformers thing is all about". If you're buying Transformers comics, it's because you already know who the frak the Transformers are.

IDW certainly doesn't think that Angel or CSI needed a new continuity so that people that don't watch those TV shows could follow the comics. That's because they understand that people buying those comics are already fans of the show. Dreamwave, for all it's many, many, many, many faults, did at least grasp that a comic like this IS basing it's sales around people who already know the basics of the story. Recap the "story so far" for those that haven't been following the series since the '86 movie and move on.

 

You sir are mistaken; G1 is the PAST 1984-1990 in the Us or 91, 92 for Europene/Japanese market... There is no longer a G1 continuity, the Cartoon ended with Rebirth Part Three, the Marvel run ended with Issue 80... No one has revived those continuities, no one has revived those characters with todays audiences in mind realistically speaking.

Optimus Prime from 84 is not the same Optimus Prime from 2005/Cybertron. They share the same basic transform and the name, but they don't share personalities, or pretty much anything else... Optimus Prime of 84 relied on Prowl, Hound, Wheeljack, est all... Todays Optimus Prime has Leobreaker, Wing Saber, Hot Shot, Override, Evac and other brand new totally different characters.

G1 is PAST, just because Takara gives us special items based on that series does not mean it's current, the K I D S, KIDS of today wouldn't know G1 Prime from Adam or Leader-1 of Go-Bots fame. All they know is Armada/Energon/Cybertron.
The kids of today still won't know him even with the forthcoming live action film or the current IDW comics; because that version of G1 Prime isn't G1 Prime, he may look like him, may even sound like him if they go for Peter Cullen, but he won't BE him because it will be an entirely NEW story based on, BASED ON mind you, the original from 20+ years ago.


The Neo-G1, the Alternators, the Special Products like HST-02; those are just limited items we Collectors go for, the kids don't care for them, they don't want Masterpiece Optimus Prime because he doesn't have Mini-Con ports... Or maybe they do want him because he looks cool, but they still won't know him unless they've got parents or older relatives who followed the G1 era and know a thing or two about him.

Generation One is the first, what we have nowadays is NOT Generation One, it may look like it, may even taste like it, but it ain't G1... It's Alternators or It's Classics; a line designed to re-invent the characters of the past with modern engineering and different ideas... And they don't have any storylines or comics or OVA one shots to tie them into the original series and I doubt Hasbro even has plans to do something like that... They may consider them a modern take on it, but for all intents and purposes G1 is PAST, GONE, FINITO, living on only in a few ways that aren't really true continuings of the past stories.


I think I've made my point; or at least the point some others may have been trying to get across, Dreamwave failed, they failed because they crammed in as many dang blasted easter eggs and fanwanks as they possibly could and even with all that they still lost readers, still lost buyers, lost the SALES.
If IDW followed with that failing concept they would have faced the same predicament; and comparing what IDW is doing with Transformers to stuff like Angel or CSI is really not fair, they have nothing in common... Angel and CSI are Adult stories with Adult fans, the comics are aimed at the hard core fans who like to read further stories based on those series.

With The Transformers IDW chose to try a different path; a path that the casual Nostalgia fans who started buying DWs TF comics, but maybe dropped them or got rid of them because of all the stuff they didn't know or understand was going on or maybe they seriously just lost interest in re-reading stories they'd read fifteen years ago or so.
This new take is designed to pull that niche back into TFs again; with a fresh start, a fresh look, a modern take on the cast of G1 and if you ask me it's doing something right even if some people consider it a total waste of time or snub to the face because it doesn't conform to their dream comic of Giant Robot battles, Unicron on every page and Megatron kicking Optimus Prime's ass every three panels in. If you want G1 stories; go read Marvel's comics or watch the cartoons, if you want to at least pretend to be interested in keeping the franchise alive for another 20+ years without relying on the same tired gimmicks and old hat war stories featuring three hundred or so assorted Autobots and Decepticons, then please enjoy the comics for what they are... Damn good stories... Of course if you're of the camp that feels their pacing is off and such I really can't help you there because that's personal preferance not blinders over the eyes syndrome only seeing the nostalgia factor that you want to see.
Honor the past and what has come before; don't cling to it like a hopeless person trying to hold onto his/her childhood.

 

If IDW wanted to ignore G1, why are all the characters the same ones from 1984? Why did they hire Simon Furman, the guy who wrote more G1 comics than anyone else? This is neither "all new" nor is it "old hat". This is it's own thing and the company who takes over after IDW will have a new continuity too. I don't take this any more seriously than the TF/GI Joe crossovers.

And Dreamwave failed because Pat Lee and his brother were incompetent at best and thieves and crooks at worst. Don't rewrite history and put that on creators who are also fans who were ripped off.

 

Hmmm, I was thinking about that as well. So, if the last page was his Cybertronian mode as Mr. Furman pointed out, I wonder what issue 5's gun-like G1 Megatron is supposed to indicate.

Hmmm. Maybe the idea involves infiltrating that clandestine inflitration introduced more fully in this issue?

Otherwise, I'm still enjoying the series greatly. Bumblebee is a feisty lil' bot. 

 

Look Ma. Forthcoming mainline product line.

G1 = Current. Deal with it.

Batman started in 1939. He's still "current" too.

 

Gee; thanks for pointing that out to me, I had nooooooooo idea whatsoever.

It seems that people were missing the point of my post; I said what we're getting nowadays isn't G1 in the sense that it has no ties to the original story continuity begun in Marvel's comics or the Sunbow Cartoon, that continuity is in the past. What we're getting nowadays is alternate reality G1, different modern takes on the G1 cast, I didn't say G1 is dead all I said is some people seem to be badmouthing IDW because they aren't following the original cartoon continuity... They aren't telling stories about giant robot battles with Combaticons, Stunticons, Seacons, Predacons and all the rest fighting against Aerialbots, Protectabots, Technobots etcetera...


Incidentally, using the quote function and then replacing my post with the words blah, blah, blah is seriously inappropriate, childish and quite literally assinine... However there's no sense in trying to have intelligent conversations with you people, all you have to say on the subject is G1 is CURRENT End of Story. Well to that I say... HAH, And try not to trip over the hoverboards on your stay here in good ol' 1984, if you'd like to rent one of our flying deloreans just go see Doc over on fifth he'll set ya up real nice.


Hmmm; perhaps that was childish on my part, oh well sometimes one's mood can not be denied no matter how hard one tries.

 

1. Yes, it was a problem for Dreamwave. They hemorraged readers like a wounded anemic. Hence why they no longer exist. The first rule of survival: adapt or die.

2. I want what I read to be at least one of intelligent or properly spelled. Calling me a "free-loater" is neither.

3. G1 was the first, but it died completely. It was the reason we had Transformers for 5 years. Then G2 gave us a few more. But then it too died and stayed dead. BW is the reason why we have had an unbroken line of successful series for the last 10 years. Even BM wasn't unsucessful enough to kill it, just to change it's direction.

4. Yes, Batman has been around for decades. The reason he has maintained his popularity was that he changed with the times. If the G1 characters are going to survive for 60 some years, they need to change a little. Megatron as something other than a pistol is something that had to be.

5. Nostalgia is what makes someone pick up an issue. What makes them keep reading is the well written story and good art. What may drive them away is realising that what they thought was cool as a kid really isn't.

 

1) Where on earth did you get the idea that the G1 series "hemorraged readers"? They are out for mis-management and gross incompetance- not for low readership.

2) Sorry if my insulting reply to your condescending post hurt your feelings. I'll try to disagree more sensitively.

3) In actuality, G2, Beast Wars / Machines, the re-releases and Dreamwave are all G1. G2 wasn't a new line, or a replacement: it was a continuation. So, you can't really say that G1 died

4) Aside from the Batmobile, what has changed in the Batman saga? What has changed in the Superman saga? Spider Man?

5) Yes, nostalgia is a reason. Yes, the content is what keeps readers. That is why many of us gave IDW's version of a try, and are looking for reasons- or excuses- to keep up with it.

IDW's title, I'm sure, will be around for quite a while. Not because everyone likes it (because not everyone does) but because they are more likely to know how to run a business- unlike Dreamwave. If Dreamwave wasn't mis-managed, G1 would still be around.

6) I still don't care what annoys you; you should spend less time worrying about what I think.

SB

 

Probably the sales figures, the book was dropping 2 to 5 thousand a month with no sign of stabilization after almost a year.

Unless the sales trends changed almost immediatly, I very much doubt that. Another 6 months and nobody would have been reading the book at all, let alone enougth to make it worthwhile.

 

as long as they don't tuck with my fruck

 

1. Already dealt with.
2. I'm sorry you thought I was condescending, that was unintentional.
3. G2 was a G1 relaunch with puke colors, except for the comic. While BW/BM WAS a sequal to G1 (most likely the comic), it wasn't a direct continuation and came about after G1 and G2 had both died.
4. When Batman first launched he was very dark, like most detective stories of the day. Then he became the loony hero made famous by Adam West, then returned to darkness. For how different Superman is now take a look at www.superdickery.com. Super-knitting anyone? The early comics were farcical by todays standards. Spiderman has changed the least in terms of tone, but unlike Batman and Superman the character literally grew up. They have all changed, mostly subtly, over the decades to stay relevant.
5. Already dealt with.
6. Maybe I should, but if our argument can show even one poster the illogicallity of GUNN not TANKK then I've done a good job today. Usually anyone you argue against on the internet will never move thier position. It's like political debate. What matters is swaying others.

 

er... so... Nice to see the pick has picked up it's pace a little. Still not sure if I'll stick around after the first arc though. If the art improves drastically and the pace continues to quicken, they just make a fan out of me yet.

 

saw the megatron redesign. pretty kewl.

 

Man, I avoided this thread because I have yet to read the issue. Just finished so I thought I'd join in and what do I see? Bickering.

Come on guys, this is a comic. Who cares what happened to the last licence holders. They failed, end of story. Hopefully IDW doesn't and changing someone's form I doubt will do so.

I mean, look at the success of Alternators.

 

And IDW's isn't? I can't find an exact number for #0, but since it was a $1 promo deal that no doubt inflated the numbers (100K was bandied about), it's not terribly relevant:

#1 45,468 (30)
#2 35,828 (53)
#3 30,344 (74)
#4 ? (but $10 says it's dipped below 30K)

The sales figures for IDW have, by #3, dropped to practically the same numbers as DW vol 3 #10 (29,682). IDW's #1 sales are about what DW vol. 3 #2's sales were (44,714). However you want to disect that, IDW is losing readers at a faster clip...without any of the mismanagement and delayed books that plagued DW.