I blame James Roberts.

 

That was a cringefest. An awful lot of back patting going on. If he actually did all those things, great, but let the actions speak for themselves and don't drive it all home with your own words.

I don't really have a dog in this race, I don't read comics, but I do read the boards and I'm in Facebook groups and while there are fans, there are also those who are very vocal in terms of criticism. Are they right? Not all, I'm sure, but some of them have to be legit complaints.

Money issues, roles changing, tooting one's own horn, that's a big uphill battle... Put your money where your mouth is.

 

Dude's just writing a holiday letter to retailers. Needling for more than platitudes is an exercise in futility

No, of course they're not right. That should have been been obvious from "I'm in Facebook groups"

 

Manlet?

Yes, clearly commentary worth attending to, yours.

 

Man, you've easily won the "Angriest Board Member" when it comes to anything IDW related. I think I've seen at least one post in every thread regarding IDW. It's almost as though they've hurt you personally.

Where is this resentment coming from?

It's not back patting if he's making truthful statements about what took place in the past and present of the company, while also stating hopeful plans for the future.

I believe most companies do have some sort of forward-planning statement or letter towards the year's end. This isn't anything different than a tech company or a furniture distributor would do.

Facebook and other social media outlets, hell, even our own forums are usually a brewing grounds for anger and "I could do it better" tirades. Make your own judgments by experiencing it for yourself. Don't let others dictate your beliefs and feelings on any subject.

This being said, I really don't understand some of the venom coming from some people. It's as though there is no middle ground. It's either:

ZOMG! THIS IS THE GREATEST COMIC EVAH!!

or...

ErrmaGrrrRRRDH! thIZ sUX sooooo BAD! PlZ maKe tHe bAD MAN Stahp!!! TRANSFORMERS ARE RUINED FOREVER!!!! EveRYOnE MUST HATE IT nOw!! If you DoN't agrEE with ME then YOU SUCK TOO!!!

I've had a number of instances where I posted about enjoying an issue and then get a dozen replies telling me that I'm wrong, I really don't like it, it's the worst comic ever, and HOW DARE I have enjoyed it.

Seriously? Have we all just lost our sense of self-respect?

 

Im confused.

What happened in a quick brief explanation?

 

F8&:ing millennials. Everyone needs relax. We don’t need the negativity. I am actually excited to see what happens in the comics

 

Nothing happened. He wrote a letter thanking people for their support and hopes to continue their projects with success in 2019.

Put the magnifying glass away folks. Don't make it more than it is.

Probably true. The "Too Long Didn't Read So I'll Just Assume Whatever I Want and Preach It As Fact" comments are tiresome.

 

I don't get the negativity. Are folks wanting IDW to go under?

I took the message as: "Hey, we're still here and we're still gonna keep making books." If a company is surrounded by rumors that they're gonna go under then its beneficial for them to speak up and say they're not. Otherwise folks think the rumors are true and they're validated by the silence. Regardless, its just a simple message to retailers. We already know that IDW is continuing to work with Hasbro.

 

I'm lost... When did IDW become the bad guys? You'd think this guy promised you a canvas bag or offered you a mobile Diablo or something...

 

To be honest, this is fairly normal business-friendly talk. This letter seems to be about preserving and strengthening image. I can respect that.

I hope he knows that this level of decorum should be how he and his employees treat fans as well. If this professionalism and civility is a "luxury" only awarded to retailer partners, I think everyone involved needs to rethink their priorities going in to the new year.

 

Looking forward to the new series.  Hopefully it\'s more along the lines of early Simon Furman run, rather than the later Optimus Prime/Lost Light/post-Revolution stuff.  That stuff got dull and convoluted.

 

Well, I just hope they improve, leave politics and personal ideology behind and concentrate into making good comics.


But I doubt this will happen....

 

Politics and ideology have been a staple of comics since, well, forever. The X-Men are a famous example of using superheroes as a metaphor for opressed minorities.

Transformers is a brand whose original cartoon show had female exec producer, tonnes of female writers, and minority representation in the form of Raoul and Chip Chase, plus numerous BAME voice actors. Political G1 episodes include ‘The Golden Lagoon’ (environmental politics) and ‘Fight or Flee’ (colonialism).

The G1 comics fared just as well - ‘Guess Who The Mecannibals Are Having For Dinner’ is, as its name would suggest, a message of anti-racism (the space station residents are all robophobic). The entire narrative of the comics is essentially the Transformers being immigrants/asylum seekers on the planet Earth and being either accepted as friends (by the likes of Buster and Cecilia Santiago), or rejected by government groups like RAAT and Triple-I. The Headmaster mini-series is especially rife with political point-making. (Galen and Zarak clearly mirror the left/right ideological split, and the scripts come down hard in favour of one side of that divide).

You want robot adventures free of politics? You came to the wrong franchise!!!

 

I said there were exceptions.

I mean, the law of averages says there must be.













Somewhere.

As if the two things are mutually exclusive. Unless all you ever want in your life is generic pap, an author telling a story personal to him/herself is the best thing that can happen in fiction.

 

Actually, a big thing dividing a lot of casual fans is the lack of subtlety. In this day and age, it's becoming more common for these themes to take a center stage to the point where it's barely disguised at all, such as Sentinel Prime being rather shamelessly Trump. Some folk DO come to these works to find a means of escapism, and while Transformers had moments of it, it was originally most known as just another Saturday morning cartoon. Not to mention its not as wholesome or good with messages. After all, the series lost Casey Kasem over the overtly insensitive handling of the details centering around Carbombya.

I fully understand the tired reaction to works that beat you over the head with unsubtle messages and politics while knowing many works will at least subtly show influence of the politics and ethics of the era. When it gets a bit too in your face with it and anvilicious, it starts to grate on viewers who would rather not have that seep into every facet of their life when they turn to fiction to get away from it.

 

Look, I will make this more simple, concentrate in making stories about robot fighting each other, less kissing or hugging, gay or not gay robots.

Then maybe IDW sales will improve....


But again, I doubt this will happen.

Ps: yes, I am straight, loves beautiful women and watch Robot War for robots shredding each other to death!

• If you don't like my opinion, who cares!

 

See, the thing is, when people complain about "politics in Transformers", it's hard to know whether they're talking about "Getaway saying "fake news" and "will of the people"" or "racism is bad and gay people exist".

So if you could clarify in future that'd be swell.

 

At this point, the damage is done. Most of the people who are interested in comics don't read them at all any more. Shit publishers have chased them away for a variety of reasons:

*Price. No one in their right mind thinks that a 20 page chapter of a novel is worth $3.99-4.99. Adding bad art and fewer words doesn't make this a better buy for my entertainment dollar.

*You're not Thomas Paine. Stop making political pamphlets. If you insist on being political, be interesting.

*Stop retelling the same stories from your childhood. We own those already. I'll save my $4 and read the back issues.

*Even the worst comic book TV show is better than most actual comic books. Yeah. I said it. Even the worst season of Agents of Shield or the Flash is better than their modern comics. Those are also free over the air.