This is exactly right. I wanted to suggest to my friend that they read the IDW stuff, but it's near impossible to do. Telling someone to go back and read the -Ations (which were meh), Stormbringer and the Spotlights, then AHM and Costa's Transformers, along with Maximum Dinobots and Last Stand of the Wreckers, all just to get up to when the comics are really worth reading is a big ask. Heavy continuity (and that's why TF comics are, heavy continuity) are a burden and a reward. The company and the comics will benefit from a fresh start.

 

None of the current writers will be back. No pen names to disguise the current writers either. Fool me once. Etc. This is one of Hasbro's conditions for the license being renewed. Clean break.

I don't believe that they are publicly discussing the story yet, so I'll leave that alone.

 

I for one am hoping they do start crossovers at the beginning here. I think there's a place in the Hasbro-verse for Transformers and MASK and GI Joe and others to coexist, even if they don't do stuff together too often.

 

They're doing stand alone stories outside of the reboot Continuity. Like the Star Trek crossover and the G1 Bumblebee OGN. I'd expect more of that. That would certainly open up something for a classic TF creative team to do a stand alone story.

 

I just hope the reboot sticks to one or two titles for the run.
I've been trying to read the IDW run and while I'm enjoying what I'm reading (Still not on "Phase 2" though), having to check some list to see which is the next entry after finishing all the issues of something is a real pain, especially when they started expecting me to bounce between a few at a time.

 

Definitely. Likely a relaunch that's start with Transformers and GI Joe, but slowly pull in other books from a refined history that's more cohesive from the start now that they have the chance and have been brainstorming elements for that.

As for new talents, my only hope is that they keep Furman away from it this time until things are established so he doesn't put in more stuff they have to actively work around or find ways to retcon or fix.

Is a little sad though to see how new GI Joe legacy characters are going to have to get full new interpretations in the relaunch. But that bodes well for some characters too. And some titles may not be as impacted either. Like the side universe titles that continued on from where Marvel left off.

Hopefully they've got a better timeline in place now too, so if they choose to pull an "action comics/Superman" type concept of past and present, there won't be as much of a rush to fix inconsistencies between titles because everything will be working off of the same full timeline planned ahead of time with some open room for deviation.

With as much as they seem to want to combine Dire Wraiths to Visionaries though, I expect there might be a return of Rom's book and a better starting at the beginning for Visionaries too. They've seemingly been planning out for a bit how a ground zero approach for a Hasbro Universe could go, and some of that is spilling over into Unicron as teases for what's in the relaunched universe.

Really, that's the only thing that's a little disappointing in the relaunch. There seemed to be a lot of potential in Visionaries as a prequel series to show how they got to that point, but starting over gives them a chance to do that still too. And I'm definitely looking forward to see how Stardrive might be re-integrated into Rom again too.

They'll likely stick to the normal comic pattern of you can read one title to grasp that title, occasionally have crossovers (marketing to boost sales kind of demands it), and then have other titles that all take place in the same universe across different properties.

So it shouldn't be anywhere near like the crazy patchwork quilt that IDW became from the early days.

 

I believe this is all a promotional stunt. After 6 months to a year of the new continuity, we\'ll see some rift in the fabric of space or time travel story that takes us right back to the current IDW continuity or characters.  Or, like Age of Apocalypse, one or more of the current characters will bridge over to this new universe.

 

You have inside information?  

 

I'm quite looking forward to it. I've tried reading some of the current IDW-verse, and I can't say it's really my cup of tea. I enjoyed some of the earlier stuff like Infiltration, but think it feels kind of bogged down and stale. I think there's a problem when every ongoing series takes place on Cybertron or outer space, you lose the disguise factor (which is the funnest thing for me). I'm kind of hoping the reboot gets back to basics. Just give me a story about the Transformers meeting some kids and going on an adventure or something. That's my kind of Transformers story.

I don't have anything against any of the authors, but I'd honestly like to see some fresh talent. It kind of feels pointless to reboot if the reboot is just going to be handled by the same team. We'll ultimately end up with more-or-less the same thing.

Yes! Truer words have never been spoken!

 

Requiem for the Wreckers and where it left Springer sounds very reboot friendly, in a Flashpoint sort of way. Although that would then hit the whole continuity lock-out issue which I personally believe this reboot is intended to address.

I figure context is important if you're visiting the site for the first time. Something like "Transformers reboot" could be your first experience of the site through Google.

Also, I can do far, far worse with much less. See my piece on TF Cyberverse for how much I can ramble about a single promotional picture  

 

Agreed. I'm definitely wanting a "less is more" approach here. I hopped on at the beginning of phase 2, and even just that is a bit too much, tbh.

Fresh talent would be nice, but if they're going with fresh talent, they need to be very careful about who they get. Brian Michael Bendis was fresh talent for DC, and he's not doing Superman and Action Comics any favors.

 

That one quote was as indicative that nothing changes and there is nothing to be excited about as it could get.
"It's going to be great!"
Guy might as well have been talking newspeak.h
Our guy/girl had litte choice but to bury the emptyness under his/her own enthusiasm.

 

Agreed. Most of the titles these past years have been godawful.
We need writers who give a damn but are not afraid to think outside the box.

 

Also, stay the hell off twitter or tumblr unless it is to promote their work. I swear those places turn people into idiots.

 

As long as we don’t get crap like this again, I don’t care what they do.

 

Ouch, right in the Rodimus.

 

E V E R G R E E N

 

Damn he thicc

 

Not really. Once you 'subvert' things for 13 years, it becomes the new norm. Current writers have a very, very predictable way of writing and storytelling.

 

You guys know something I wish we got but never did in the current universe?

Optimus vs. Overlord.

Maybe we'll get that here? It'd be sweet.

But who would you guys like to see writing Transformers (2019)? I can't stop thinking of:

• Ian Flynn
• Al Ewing
• Warren Ellis
• Ryan North

As for artists, I'm not picky, but it'd be sweet if Sarah Stone came back...