I’ll start… 1: Monthly, self contained stories. That means “one and done” per issue. 2: Roche, Roberts, Milne on creative. Furman is editor.
Number two sounds good. I'd agree with number one, but with some caveats. I want every issue to be a complete entertainment unit in and of itself, but I want subplots and such and don't want to limit them in that way. I just don't want monthly readers being punished because it's secretly a graphic novel split into six parts or whatever.
Fire the current writing team and art team. Bring back some of idw1 artists and bring back the idw1 writing team back. Maybe hire the some of the cyberverse team. Stop explaining every freaking detail and get to the main point of the story. If going In depth about certain characters just give the a mini arc or a spotlight issue. More to add later
I would love for Brian Ruckley's series to carry over to a new publisher. I was really hoping for Brian Ruckley's Transformers to move toward the crash landing on earth with a big multi-part crossover with Beast Wars, but that doesn't look likely. Maybe more likely would be more Transformers '84 by Simon Furman and Guido Guidi, but I doubt I'll see that either. If the new publisher gets G.I. Joe too, I would hope they would keep Larry Hama's A Real American Hero! series going as long as Larry wants to do it.
Editors that actually have a degree in story editing or something to that effect. Better acquisitions for pitches, and maybe a requirement for writers and artists to have some published comics in their portfolios. Also something pretty different. Like if the comic was about the Transformers being human made and on Earth, or if the Decepticons all had a bayformer aesthetic and the Autobots a Sunbow aesthetic like I would be down. I think a lot of tf fiction has been really safe lately. To the point where I would be down for a complete lore reboot. Also it would be refreshing to not see any toy designs in the comic. Like back when More than Meets the Eye dropped and all the designs were either made by Milne or Roche and weren't just whatever toy was on the shelf, that was a pretty okay standard.
The only humans in the book are the ones fleeing in terror as the Dinobots fight the Predacons in Times Square. Or Omega Supreme tries to stop Sixshot from destroying St. Louis. I want to see Ultra Magnus get ambushed by the Stunticons on Cybertron. I want to see some Autobots discover the gruesome aftermath of an Insecticon swarm attack on an alien planet. I want exciting action, brutal combat, and high stakes adventure.
Autobots and Decepticons shooting each other, while standing 20 feet away from each other, and they only speak in catch phrases and one liners. Their dialogue must be written with clear accent, so people can say "I can hear their voices from the cartoon when I read it! Awesome!". Apperantly that's what most people want this days, even if they wont admit it. Nostalgia targeted at the "old guard", and nothing else.
Absolutely fucking not. Hiring Ruckley is abject suicide, and a large contributing factor to IDW losing the license. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that Skybound should steer clear of ANY of the current “creative” team.
I have no hope, so right now I don't wish for anything and I highly doubt that publisher will bring JRo and Roche back. Chances for that to happen would have been higher for IDW, since they have already written for them multiple times. And Milne isn't drawing much because of health issues and other serious problems, not because IDW is conspiring against his fans. So far I have only heard a few rather worrisome things about this new publisher and that guy that owns it. And if it's true that they are into NFT I rather not give them any money. I won't elaborate on why I hate NFT here. Guess I will just expect the absolute worst, basically what Gridlock1987 said, but monitor the 4chan threads and skim through it every now and then. Maybe I am completely wrong and a miracle happens and it's good despite that the owner likes the Bay movies. Who knows. If that would happen I will read them, but better not getting any hopes up that might end up getting evaporated, good things rarely happen these days.
I wouldn't mind if they tried doing transformers spotlight again. I always thought that having self contained "done in one" stories that focused on one character was one of the best ideas IDW had, but I found a lot of them to be pretty hit or miss.
An ongoing with a small, tight cast and plot that progresses issue-to-issue. Better writing, which I know is a broad statement, but specifically dialogue and exposition. Less unbroken message board posts for word balloons. Dialogue paces a story, if shit's hectic characters speak briefly and simply as you would in that kind of situation. Functional art. Actual style and quality is subjective, but the art should be to a standard enough that the story is accurately and effectively conveyed. I know I'm basically describing "making a comic book 101" but honestly these were all things IDW struggled with near the end. I just want competently made books. I should be criticizing story direction and characterization choices I dislike, not whether or not an image effectively conveys its intended meaning or if the characters sound at all like they have consistency to their dialogue and personality.
You want depth. I get it. I do too. But comic books are meant to be disposable periodicals - to be passed around and discarded. Maybe simple action could be just what’s needed these days. (Food for thought)
So, the way Simon Furman approached early IDW was by trying to make it as distinct from the original Marvel run as he could. He reinvented the war to be more espionage-based, really leaning into the whole "robots in disguise" idea in a way that no one before or since really has. He also expanded its scope greatly, having the war be this galaxy-spanning conflict instead of being confined merely to Earth and Cybertron (and I guess Nebulos too). The Ark didn't crash on Earth four million years ago--there were a whole bunch of Arks, all with their own crews fighting the war on different fronts. And Cybertron, instead of being under the total control of the Decepticons, was a barren, uninhabitable planet. And he took this approach with characters too: look at Ultra Magnus, Bludgeon, Thunderwing, Jhiaxus, Fortress Maximus, Galvatron, etc. To put it simply, early IDW was designed to be a fresh take on the brand. That's not to say that Furman's run was perfect, of course, or that all of his reinventions hit the mark, but they were different at the very least. IDW has evolved considerably since Furman has left, and it's covered a lot of ground and really helped define the modern Transformers lore. Given that, I think that it's important for Skybound to really break from that and try to do something new. That's not because I think IDW is bad, it's just done, and I don't really think there's a point in retelling the same stories over and over again, especially given that Transformers has never really been about that--the brand has always been much more open to reinvention than others, and that's a good thing that I think Skybound can really lean into here. I think it'd be nice to get back to basics and tell the story of the Autobots and Decepticons fighting on Earth. That premise is pretty central to the brand, but I think the worldbuilding around all of that could definitely be reinvented. You could change up the reasons their fighting the war, the power structure, how widespread the conflict is, how they fight it, etc. You could even mess around with Earth: maybe humanity is already a spacefaring civilization at this point, and that's how they come into first contact with the Transformers? You can keep the general premise but make it fresh is what I'm trying to get at here. I also really hope that we get genuinely well-defined and interesting characters. A lot of the IDW2 characters have been pretty uninteresting and lifeless to me. We should have our A-listers, but also keep the IDW tradition of breathing life into obscure characters going, though--that's genuinely awesome. Also, while a lot of IDW's versions of certain characters have become iconic, I think it'd be interesting to see these characters taken in completely different directions. This goes like doubly so for Optimus; while he's always been much more conservatively adapted than a lot of other Transformers characters, I feel like every version of Optimus since, like, 2007 has been pretty much the exact same guy. Like, I dunno, maybe we could have an Optimus who's a bit gruffer and more of a man of action? I also don't think we need to really look at the start of the war again--that's literally all IDW2 has been doing, and IDW covered that era a lot as well. I'm kind of over it at this point, but if we do get this story again, I'd like a different one altogether. Credit where credit is due, IDW2 has made a consistent effort to differentiate itself from the original IDW1 take, but I think that it still feels really similar in a lot of ways, especially in terms of characters. We really don't need another take on "Optimus the archivist and Megatron the gladiator try to change Cybertron together but war breaks over how they should bring about this change." I guess my point is that I'd like something new, please. Also, Skybound, if you're looking for a pitch just hit me up.
Agreed. I mean, sure people are asking for some of this, but we’ve been post war/pre-war since 20 - freaking - 12. 10 years is plenty to “explore” all of that.
I'm going to add "sincerity" on my wishlist. Something that feels genuine. Beast Wars and Wreckers read like they were written by teenagers who haven't seen nearly enough of the world to know how to reflect it in writing, and as much as people don't like how human the characters in MTMTE were, it makes for so much better of a Transformers story when the characters have down to earth, even petty, issues to deal with on top of their big sci-fi conflicts. I want the characters to feel like real people. I want them to have interpersonal relationships, people they love, people they don't get along with, people they don't have a lot in common with and are just awkward around even. I want them to have real-ass opinions, and for those opinions to be challenged. I want them to have written dialogue meant to conceal something from another character, and to do what they can to maintain those secrets. I want all their dialogue to be based on concealing information rather than revealing information, and for us to pick apart what it is they say that informs their true character. I want conversations that are a battle with one character trying to convince another character of something, and having actual intelligent, salient points that could realistically convince hard to convince characters dead set in their views. I don't want to see characters talk just for the sake of talking. Have some panels devoid of speech bubbles and just have a character do something, or react to something in silence, because sometimes, with the right framing, silence is louder. I want to see characters have to make choices that will result in them losing something either way, and to see the ramifications of these choices. I want to see them walking through the rain to a convenience store at night and be reminded of someone when they see a shadow flicker in the corner of their eye. I want them to act like real people. I want them to be smart because the writer is smart and makes mistakes out of established personal flaws and not because the story calls for it. I want the characters to be treated with dignity, and the things that happen to them, negative or positive, to be treated with dignity as well. Because conflict is based on real conflicts, and you need to have some degree of respect for the real victims of these conflicts, even if the conflict is just a fight over who does the dishes. I want the writer to recognize that death is real, and the gravity of this reality should be recognized when making art of it. I can take or leave depth but I need some kind of core idea or theme for the story to hinge on, even if it's just "war is bad because" as long as the theme is taken seriously and given just as much dignity as the characters when framing the story around it. I just want these robots to seem real when I read about them, and for the conflicts they engage in to feel just as real and tangible. I don't want to read stories that are centered around the dopamine rush someone gets when they see an obscure character cameo and recognize them, or the shock value of a character being killed off for the sake of inciting that feeling of shock. Those kind of adrenaline rushes are no different from the same feeling you get when you watch ROTF and see Optimus tear Grindor's face apart, it's cheap. In fact in a comic medium, which hinges on framing panels to accomplish the simulation of movement and dynamism, it's worse. The characters can be completely new, even when they are given known names they are usually completely distinct with each reboot anyway. As long as they are real and not what some vapid-minded tumblr writer thinks is real based on anime or cartoons. I want to see these comics taken seriously. I also just want to feel the same level of excitement for these comics I used to a decade ago, when all I could think about each Wednesday was picking up the new Wreckers or MTMTE issue to see what was going to happen next, and feeling disappointed when I'd reach the last page and have to wait another month. Also if a sentence ever begins with "As you know," I'm boycotting Skybound.
I want these characters to feel like robots from another planet… replete with thoughts, functions, and motives I couldn’t comprehend as an alien to them. And “ah-ha!” moments where we see overlap in “shared humanity.” I personally dont need or want to see myself or humans necessarily in transformers. I want to explore “new life, new civilizations” etc. And obviously because I’m a bigot, no kissing robots. That makes zero sense.
You can do both, but the essence of what I’m saying is they need to be believable. All the lore for their physiology, history, language, culture, biology and psychology can be distinct in their own way. But any aliens that are going to have a conversation in a work of fiction are inevitably going to fall back on human traits. Because humans are the only thing we have a reference to for conversation. Since we’re the only ones who do it. Even fictional robots like Cylons “act human” even when the plot is trying to convey their alienness to us, because conversation is a distinctly human trait.
I feel like people sometimes forget some of the oneshot human in g1 that had a small story that helped with the plot of the episode, like I get why because mostly of the live action movies basically just being about the human but we can do a lot if we add new stuff for human and or other aliens like in spotlight Cliffjumper. But maybe thats just me Also more motorcycle transformers fighting.
