IDW stock lost approximately 40% of its’ value this past year. They’re not exactly growing.

 

Fuck investors, jesus christ. I can't believe how much I've changed my tune over the years. People owning 9% act like they can dictate what happens because they're not making enough money. Go fuck yourselves or buy everyone else out.

 

Hopefully Hasbro buys them... so maybe we can get stories about actual characters and not the author\'s OCs (do not steal)TM again. Seriously, by the end of the last IDW run, I did not envy any TF fan who would have tried to pick up the pace, hardly any of the classic characters were around.

 

This is hilarious. Say whatever you want about evil investors, but IDW's profits are in the pits. The investors are right in this case - IDW needs a radical course correction, and fan-hating idiots like Chris Ryall aren't the sort of people who can make that happen.

 

Isn't Hasbro having their own money problems?

 

Remember, even at a loss, the comics are a steady stream of new IP and basically advertising for the toys, movies, video games, theme park rides, etc...

The Mouse isn't stupid about taking losses in one area to make profits elsewhere. They're good at the long game and not going to shut down any arm of their media empire until it's effectively replaced by something else.

 

I don’t believe the rumors but I don’t think it’s far fetched either. Circulation is shit for most titles. It’s advertising to a crowd that is already going to buy the supporting merchandise and media. Comics right now hold near zero marketing value for anything besides other comics. The steady stream of IP is realistically a drip. There are few marketable characters or stories that have been churned out over the last 20 or so years. The cash cow IPs can be maintained by other means than comics.

It’s not just IDW and Marvel. DC is going through shakeups internally and a line reduction. Comic shops are also closing at a high rate. We’re headed for another contraction of the industry at a minimum.

 

Good points.

 

This is horrible. IDW is the only company that does inclusivity right. Not forced as all hell like stupid marvel and dc. 

 

If Hasbro buys then the Transformers storys we'll be seeing will most likely be advertisement stuff mainly.

Anyone know when the new tf IDW comics are released?

 

I found IDW's star Trek and TMNT to be extremely enjoyable to read.

 

Get woke, go broke.

 

They're advertised to be releasing in March.

 

You and me both.

 

You know, comic book companies have risen and fallen all throughout the medium. Its not anything new and its not because of polarizing politics though it does play a part to muddle the waters of many a discussion. This feels like a company overstretched with its licensing, the problems faced by diversification of a company\'s financial portfolio (Marvel Entertainment Studios ring a bell? How about the infamous Marvel restaurant?) and the pressure from investors to make that Marvel movie money. In real life, such is the way of big companies. I myself have somehow (miraculously) survived 3 seperate corporate restructurings and 2 ownership changes in my 8-9 years on the job. I won\'t pretend to understand how the financials work but in this debt ridden financial market we are in right now, I don\'t really know who is rich or who is rich in debt.

I say screw that. Comics are comics. It is an indelible medium onto itself which has shaped a generation of storytelling and fiction, almost to the point of transcending mythology. When Radio came around, people still kept reading books and newspapers, when TV came around, same thing. With the internet, it gave comics a new platform to be marketed on and guess what, people still read them...the way they were meant to be read. Japan has a very very strong support for its printed medium and books like JUMP and Big Comics. 


And I really don\'t know what\'s happening over in the West but as an outsider looking on, I implore you guys, please get your stuff together. The amount of stories, movie and fiction that has come out of America has shaped pop cultures and influenced the world over. Don\'t be the ones to turn on that because everyone sees agendas everywhere. We are hitting a point where everything has to be hailed or hated and its infecting every franchise, fandom and discussion. Why can\'t we just like or dislike and move on? I love Nova the comic book character. I know I am probably the only one, but I am not going to hate EVERYONE who dislikes or is indifferent to it or blame the publisher for not making the effort to make the character work.

 

Well unfortunately for them I can't really think of an IDW specific property that Disney would be interested in...Most of what they have is actually licensed properties. And of those licenses, the only ones they might want coming to mind are ROM and Micronauts, which are owned by Hasbro (I think?) and licensed to IDW. Seems like it'd be easier and less costly to negotiate for those rather than buying a whole (or large part of) yet another company.

 

I want to thank you for posting this. Now I know where you views come from 'Son'.

 

The first issue comes out next week. It's set for biweekly, so assuming Diamond actually ships it we'll get it every two weeks after that.

 

I still think (I said it months ago) that Marvel is going to buy them. Now... will that violate the terms of the license agreement with IDW?

I don't know a lot about contract laws. But I do know that licensor agreements are contingent on various factors, and this could POTENTIALLY be bad news...

Remember, DW was making comics and telling people everything was fine right up until the very end. Could this be a similar situation with IDW?