Oh! Of course...it’s the Liberal Politics because the Uncanny X-Men (Marvel’s Actual Greatest Comics Magazine) wasn’t based on the Civil Rights Movements at all. That was just pure coincidence. [Butter THICK Sarcasm].

 

I was looking for the right thing to say, but you've beaten me to it.

 

You can ignore the fact that comics in general are adopting fringe political ideas, but it doesn't change that it's one of the reasons less people are interested in them. Politics are always in media, but media starts to die when they try to appeal to the political sensibilities of audiences that won't buy anything/don't exist. You can do with that what you will, I guess.

Still sad that the continuity is over though. It got me back into the franchise back in the day.

 

A new continuity may get people back. Every story has start middle and end and for some folk an ending to this particular story is welcome. No one likes uncertainty in a franchise with what's coming next etc but its not all doom and gloom yet.

Let's get back to the roots of this franchise. Let's have robots use their altmodes and let's have a fresh take on the war between the bots and cons. Maybe throw in maximals and predacons for good measure.

 

Comics aren't adopting 'fringe political ideas'. Those are pretty much mainstream ideas now - more so in Europe, but increasingly in the US as well. And there's no evidence that this leads to people in general being 'less interested' - in fact, you could say that the fact that there's a cultural rift within the comics readership is something that piques people's interest more than ever before. Rather than it just being the province of geeks, now people with a political interest have some stake in it.

But the industry has in decline for a long time, and the Marvel films have knocked the bottom out of it - because now you can be a fan of a superhero franchise without coming within spitting distance of a comic. You could look at the injection of contemporary and forthright politics as a last-minute, clumsy attempt to revive some interest in the medium, but ultimately too little, too late.

 

Actually if anything it goes to show that sometimes it’s not about carrying a socio-political message, sometimes you have to do so in an entertaining way.
And frankly if you’re going to make a comic about giant transforming alien robots the best way to kill any interest in them is to make them about freaking politics, social justice and other such irrelevant topics that have nothing to do with giant transforming alien robots.
The formula is so simple it makes you wonder why IDW has been unnecessarily complicating it for so long.

Sure X-Men tackle racism and politics, but they do so with stories like the Phoenix Saga, Days of Future Past, X-Tinction Agenda, Mutant Massacre, X-Cutioners Song, Age of Apocalypse, etc...
The names of these stories alone sound ten times more exciting and interesting than anything IDW has churned out in a while. Here’s to hoping this new iteration comes across les convoluted and more focused on what makes Transformers so universally appealing.
Giant freaking transforming alien robots.

 

Generation 3? Veeeeerry interesting idea.

 

But IDW has been doing exactly what you're asking for here. The stories haven't been 'about' politics, social justice etc - they've been about robot ructions, quests, scheming, backstabbing, side-switching, planet-hopping - there've been massive battles and robots blasting chunks out of each other. There's been villainy and heroism in plentiful supply.

IDW Transformers never left its roots. But since it's been going over a decade, it has, of course, become quite convoluted, as all such continuities do. There hasn't been a clean jumping on spot for new readers since - well, probably since the beginning. At the same time, because there's not been much of a sense of when the story is ending, where it is going, people have gradually got bored with it. That's the fate of all long-form narrative fiction, including many major TV series.

In fact, I can't think of any medium outside comic books where anyone expects a story to just sort of ... carry on. TV soap operas manage it by constantly recycling cast members. Sitcoms hold out for a while by having nothing really change, and getting gradually more like shadows of their former selves (see The Simpsons). But outside of that, ten years of monthly issues is an absurdly good run for any fictional continuity.

It's definitely time for this continuity to finds its conclusion, but that's not because it's failed - it's because it's succeeded in ways no other TF continuity has, and it deserves a well-planned ending.

 

Well said my friend. My thoughts exactly. The IDW-verse was something I jumped onto only 2-3 years ago. I first read sins of the wreckers and got hooked by all the little info bubbles leaving easter eggs and references here and there. To see it end too soon in my opinion pains me on a emotional level, but I am satisfied with what has become of this universe.

Within the span of my 2-3 year experience I read everything from dark cybertron onwards and the autocracy trilogy. I have dug myself into a hole of intrigue I can never get myself out of. I feel that the IDW universe gave so much depth to characters that were seen as "background fodder" before this universe started and I won't lie it brought back hope for me that transformers can actually have great stories about war besides the usual "good vs evil".

I feel that with this conclusion it'll tear a hole in my heart as all my 3 years of emotionally investing myself into the series is about to draw to a close but I have hope for what IDW may bring to the future.

These fantastic groups of writers told many great stories and even though it pains me to say this, i'm kind of happy to see it end as I rather see this beloved continuity of mine, and many others, conclude with a solid ending, then spend another few more years churning out stale and repeated stories.

I loved everything from the political aspects of the aftermath of the war, to the (incomplete) conviction of megatron, to the psychological trauma that plagued many character in different ways. It made me connect with the characters more because they felt and acted like humans. They feel emotion, trauma and other things that I never fathomed a transformer to feel until now.

The only thing I wished they fixed was to make megatron come back from the alternate universe(that I shall not name for fear of spoilers) as I feel that there is a tension between the rodimus crew and megatron that needs to be addressed and be concluded, but that's just my thoughts.



God i'll miss this series like hell, but as shockwave said before his depressing demise, "remember me as I was".


And i'm done with my thoughts/rant. I'm sad and excited for what may be in store in the future at the same time.

 

I don’t know if I necessarily agree with all that. I feel like not too far after AHM things started getting too convoluted for their own good, and as many along with me, they lost us. Too much focus on third string bots, the never ending shoving of Autobot leader Bumblebee in our faces, too many characterizations being switched around or just plain changed completely for the sake of shock value that fizzles out too quickly. Too many deaths that leave little to no impact for the reader (admittedly this one just plagues comics in general), and more importantly, the loss of all around fun. The last one being the most important cause as readers we can put up with a lot of crap so long as it’s fun.

But yes, I do agree that ten years on the same continuity is a bit much to keep old readers while opening jumping points for new readers, especially once you’ve amassed a high enough death toll that it limits your character pool to work with. So I’m looking forward to seeing what comes from this new “Crisis” style reboot and seeing if they learned some lesson in keeping an audience or if it’s just a marketing ploy designed to stretch out the current formula.

 

If we're talking about in how cringy it is, indeed it has. I've never cringed more than at stuff from these comics. Not even fan art compares. How they could make even Unicron of all characters cringe worthy is truly a feat unsurpassed. I'd rather read my grandmother's romance novels.

 

Fantastic design, Love what Milne has done, Unicropn and Primus are Cthonic gods and should have looks that match them. I LOVE that Alex has riffed on Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann for his design, I'm not the only one that caught sight of the faces in the knees and gauntlets. That's not the only meta textual reference That maw in Unicron's chest? it's not just a reference to Armada Unicron, it's the anchor for a bunch of design elemets that reveal the other inspiration.

+
=

the new Alex Milne Unicron. ABSOLUTELY ON POINT.

 

Nah, I'm talking about character depth, world-building (particularly pre-war Cybertronian society), representation of conflicting motivations and, really importantly, exploration of what it means to be a transformer. No other continuity has put as much thought into the idea of having alt-modes - what they mean, how they operate in practice, their social import - plus storylines, mysteries and body horror linked to transforming.

As far as being cringy goes, sorry, but it can't compare to most of the other continuities! (I mean, cringing good-naturedly is part of the appeal of re-watching Sunbow, isn't it?)

Go for it - seems like you're best sticking with what you know.

 

Hm... I'm not sure I agree with this. Spider-man is essentially the same character now he was back in the 60's. They've had to make changes to the character to make him still interesting, but all the stuff that happened in the 60's still happened to the character today.

In that context, what IDW did isn't all that impressive, honestly. Don't get me wrong, the people responsible for the transformers have a right to pay themselves on the back, but this isn't the problem with the continuity. It's a problem with the writers. These comics need fresh-blood to continue making said comics relevant. I have a sneaking suspicion that even with this reboot that the numbers aren't going to go up. Again, the problem isn't the characters or the fiction. It's the stories being told.

 

It definitely became convoluted - on that we agree. This was in large part because of sudden changes in direction and 'soft reboots' that meant the continuity gap had to be plugged later on. I also agree that Bumblebee was done a massive disservice from pretty much the moment they decided to push him to the fore. Barber has rescued him since he started appearing as a ghost, but before that he was a very weak element.

And yes, we can agree on the problem with 'shock value' deaths too. But I can't agree about the loss of fun - the last few issues of Lost Light have had it in spades, and in general Roberts' run is more fun than anything else I've seen in Transformers.

I think it is - Spiderman, along with most superhuman franchises, relies heavily on a monster-of-the-week format. You have a core cast that you can keep in a holding pattern for years on end, as long as you invent a new foe every few months, and have a few fan favourite villains that always get away to rise again another day. The basic recurring pattern involves returning to 'normality' at the end of every arc, before a new event crops up. It's less a fictional continuity, more a playset with characters you can keep getting out of the box to tell largely disconnected stories.

What IDW have aimed to do is tell a single continuous, constantly evolving story for over a decade. There has been no point where you could have just left the thing hanging and said, "There, everything's back to normal". That's what makes it a feat. Not an entirely successful feat, mind you, but a rare thing nonetheless.

 

Jesus Christ people, it's not all that! This looks like a pinup from the 90s where everything had to be Darker and Edgier - couldn't Milne put more SPIKES in it, just so we're REALLY SURE the thing is evil? He's got as much spikes as Liefeld's characters had pouches. The size is just ridiculous, perhaps the Earth in there represents the amount of suspension of disbelief needed to make it work. Good thing there's no such thing as gravitational pull in the IDW universe.

 

Well... shit. I can't dispute that.

Still. I think IDW sticking with the current crop of writers for the past 6ish years without bringing in GOOD talent is mostly responsible for the current decline in the books.

 

INTERESTING.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm getting a vibe like the rocky parts are like the outer space equivalent of the kind of mineral deposits that accumulate underwater, like on shipwrecks and such.

 

I’m assuming that’s just his planet-alt mode outer shell.

But yes could be.

 

Spider-Man actually has a lot of continuity, and the character is one of the few that has actually aged significantly during his run. Starting out as a teenager dating Gwen Stacey to a middle-aged man married to Mary Jane (although modern Marvel has managed to completely bork that here recently).