When I was a kid,I loved Marvel Transformers ,it got me into reading comics. Years later the Dreamwave comics got me back into transformers. When IDW first started,I was kind of into it,but kind of didn’t like it. The Arcee forced gender reassignment thing was not really why I read robot fighting comics. I liked the crossover with all the Hasbro properties coming together,then after that I kind of fell off. Do I want to get back into transformers,and if so,where do I jump on?
Good question, but probably better asked in the Transformers Comic sub-forum. Transformers Comics Discussion
The IDW comics are in some ways better than what was produced in the past, but in some ways infinitely more disappointing. I guess the way I'd put it is that the Marvel comics were what they were, but the IDW comics fall way short of what they could have been.
I’d second asking this in the transformers comics forum. As far as IDW, I’d be selective. Furman’s phase one stuff (Infiltration, Stormbringer, etc) is decent. The “Phase 1.5” stuff from All Hail Megatron to the monthly to Chaos is all really suspect. Where things get the most interesting is the Phase 2 stuff. Chris Sims wrote a series of articles on it you can find at: The Transformed Man > ComicsAlliance I’m a fan of both Robots in Disguise and More than Meets the Eye up until the Dark Cybertron crossover. After Dark Cybertron I’m still pro MTMTE to Lost Light, but I’ll admit the quality slips. Robots in Disguise post Dark Cybertron really slides, and keeps sliding through the Optimus Prime relaunch. And the crossovers get worse and worse. Unicron is ok, which ends that take on Transformers. The real standout is the Wreckers Trilogy. That’s worth reading.
The Spotlight Arcee was one issue out of hundreds. That's like dismissing the entire run of Batman or Spider-Man comics because of one bad issue. Also, Arcee always had a gender. There was no "forced reassignment". Gender wasn't a known concept to Cybertronians until Jhiaxus introduced it as a concept.
An early one too, I love Furman, but I also toss this as an "early installment weirdness" example, to use a page from TV Trope's book.
I loved IDW from start to finish (okay a few rough spots in the middle). MtMtE, Lost Light, TF/ROM, the Wreckers material...all very good. And the Arcee stuff is addressed better later. The recent reboot though...eh.
The Hasbroverse thing worked far better than it had any right to. I’m not saying it was good, just that more of it worked on paper than it should have. There is a lot to learn from that tale so when they try it again in the future it will work better.
