Transformers vs. GI Joe, aside from just being a magnificent comic in it's own right, is also the only thing that's ever made me give a shit about GI Joe.

 

God no. That way lies the hands of Brian Michael Bendis. There are plenty of writers at DC, but he's the last one I would ever want Transformers to end up anywhere near.
I doubt DC editorial would do anything as stupid as try to induct TFs into mainstream DC canon - Marvel didn't, after all - so I'm not worried about that. But Transformers and DC aren't a combo I want to see.

 

Good. Those three are my favorite series finales of Transformers.

 

I'll agree on 1DW and Animated.

 

"The goal isn't important.
The journey is.
And it never ends."
Optimus Prime #25

 

Ya know, right before rumors of IDW loosing the license began I started to think about buying all the collections books.  Would they even finish it now?  Should I buy them in case I can\'t get them later?  Would another company gain the rights and be the ones publishing them?

 

Bugger.

I've loved almost everything that IDW has done with Transformers (the things I didn't love were the stupid "events" and cross-overs dictated by Hasbro). James Roberts' work is, to me, the best TF fiction there has been, and I don't see it being topped (although that would of course be wonderful).

Amazing how there are so many people here who appear to have read so much of IDW's comics whilst simultaneously reviling them. I can understand not liking them, but why carry on reading them, or indeed carry on about it at all? Why is it so hard to just accept that something is not for you, not to your tastes, and then move on?

Ah, sorry, forgot for a moment where I was posting...

 

I'm hoping they go back to Marvel. Unlikely, but I'd love it. Pick up after the Gen 2 comic.

 

You should by them now and PRAY they get the last collection out the door.

When the license changes hands, IDW will be unable to reprint back issues or publish new collections or reprint older collections. It's exactly what happened with IDW and Marvel when they lost the license, or Dark Horse when they lost the Star Wars and Aliens licenses.

The new publisher may.... MAY... want to publish some retro material at some point, likely years away. But that is likely to be the real retro stuff - Marvel and maybe early Dreamwave. No chance of IDW. They'll be more interested in publishing trades of their own material, which will sell better for them.

My guess? The IDW stuff may become digitally available again at some point, but it'll go away for a while and will never be collected in physical form ever again. There's (A) too much of it (by far the biggest Transformers saga) and (B) a single precedent for that kind of mass republication, and that's when Marvel got Star Wars and republished the best Dark Horse material under the "Legends" banner. And Transformers, which sells about 7,000 copies a month, isn't anywhere close to Star Wars when it comes to comic book demand (it was at one time, thanks IDW for blowing it).

So I'd get buying. The final countdown has begun.

 

Marvel is generally (but not entirely) moving away from licensed works. They've been leaning in hard on synergies with Disney-owned properties instead. It's just a very different situation than the 80s when they were a successful but pretty small business and their biggest book was Larry Hama's GI Joe.

 

Either the next publisher will do something new and interesting that this website will hate, or they'll do some boring nostalgia bait that this website will love.

 

God I love being in this fandom.

 

It will truly be the end of an era. I just hope Skybound can deliver quality Transformers comics. I've never touched a single one of their comics nor do I really know or care about Walking Dead so I have no frame of reference as to their quality.

 

I followed the first IDW continuity right from the very beginning to its finale and whilst it was certainly a mixed bag in terms of quality control and tone it also had some of the best fiction we have had in this franchise.

Writers like Roberts when at their best managed to bring together complexities of ambitious storytelling with playful creativity, heartfelt emotion and silly humour that only occasionally dipped into self-indulgent territory.

The rest of the writers ranged competent to just plain boring and ponderous like Barber so it’s a strange continuity to recommend to another person as it’s a huge commitment to attempt to read it which doesn’t always reward the reader for their hard work and financial spending.

I personally chose the change of continuity’s to IDW2 as a jumping off point for financial reasons as I was spending lots of money on it for only the occasional well written comic.

from what I’ve seen of the IDW2 previews here and people’s reactions to it on this website that was probably the best choice for me as the art in most of them looked cheap and dialogue seemed as wooden and unimaginative as the first continuity at its absolute worst.

I’m aware that judging IDW2 in that way isn’t fair at all and there probably is the occasional good comic that I’ve missed out on but I could no longer continue to justify the financial investment in it for such a low success rate in return.

I hope whoever gets the licence next invests some money and talent into it and doesn’t get insecure and ruin the storylines by doing terrible epic ‘event’ comics whenever the sales occasionally dip from time to time.

 

Do we have any idea what this will do to availability of the back catalogue?

I've probably got what i want, but this may mean I need to re-assess that if it's going away.

 

I imagine the IDW back catalogue will be digitally available very quickly after whoever takes over the license gets set up, much like how the Dark Horse Star Wars stuff has been readily accessible after the Marvel takeover.

Physically? Who knows. There's a lot to reprint and it's kind of a mess to sort out unless the new publisher just decides to reprint the IDW Collection hardcovers basically as is, though I assume they wouldn't want another publisher's name on it like that.

 

Can we start the bring back Simon Furman in some capacity club? Doesn’t have to be in a writing role, but having him around with Transformers is always a good thing.

 

Wishful thinking but I'd like that whoever picks it up and produces material coincides with a fresh start from Hasbro themselves. New characters, new stories, new beginnings.

IDW1 ran for thirteen years with significant highs and lows but when it soared it was some of the best Transformers fiction there has ever been. After it ended it kinda drew a line under things personally. I love G1 focused stuff as much as anyone who's been in this game since the beginning, but as media it's done and it shows. The joyless drag of IDW2 and the Netflix series are testament to that.

I want to see them take a risk. To break some new ground. G1 inspired toys can sell themselves, they don't need some tepid accompaniment to bolster their shelf presence.

Or forego all of that and just go right back to dastardly Decepticon plot of the week and braindead fortysomething appeasement. I suppose that's where the dollar is likely lurking after all.

 

if only whoever picks up the license, i know it wont ever happen but, imagine that if they used some of the weirdest bayformers designs as ACTUAL characters even if only in the background