McCarthy's new Drift book has Gigatron in it

The modern comics universe has had such a different take on G1, one that's significantly represented by the Generations toys, so they share a forum. A modern take on a Real Cybertronian Hero. Currently starring Generations toys, IDW "The Transformers" comics, MTMTE, TF vs GI Joe, and Windblade. Oh wait, and now Skybound, wheee!
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JediTricks
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Re: McCarthy's new Drift book has Gigatron in it

Post by JediTricks »

Dominic wrote:How is that a fanboy answer?
Because you are saying that there are some authors who can write stuff that the reader may not care about or may even dislike and yet that reader should follow them regardless of all other factors.
You are the one who said you want Transformers because....Transformers, prioritizing for that over something that might be good but not-Transformers.

The fanboy is the guy who blindly buys in a book because he wants to read about his favourite characters.

I said that knowing about and following creators is a better metric to use because it can be a good indicator of what you are getting in to.

I also pointed out that a company screwing around with distribution (as WWE/Papercutz did) is a problem (because it makes the books harder to get). The fanboy would just go ahead and jump through hoops.
The difference is that I didn't buy just any old Transformers comics, I only bought the smart ones, MTMTE and RID, and once a book lost its way I dropped it (RID/TF). There is plenty of stuff I won't bother consuming just because it's in the brand.
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Re: McCarthy's new Drift book has Gigatron in it

Post by Dominic »

There seems to be a consensus on this. Sounds like something to check out if I can find it at a major discount, but not otherwise.
It is purely an adventure of the week. You have read it before, and will probably read it again somewhere.

Because you are saying that there are some authors who can write stuff that the reader may not care about or may even dislike and yet that reader should follow them regardless of all other factors.
No, I am prioritizing for the creators and their work over branding.

I am less a fan of Byrne than I was 5 years ago. (He was good for his time. But, he has not aged well and has too much of a fixation on the Silver Age and stasis quo.) However, plenty of people do like Byrne. He had has "faithful 50", roughly 50,000 readers who would follow him to and from various books in the mid to late 80s (as evidenced by sales numbers).

Those readers figured that if *Byrne* delivered the goods on one book, he would deliver on another. Nobody knew or cared about "Next Men" in the late 80s. But, people followed Byrne to that book because they wanted to see what he could do.


The only reason I gave "Uber" a try was because of Kieron Gillen. (And, when I saw how much he conformed to Avatar Press' house style, I dropped the book. But, damn, his Germans are fun to read.)

The difference is that I didn't buy just any old Transformers comics, I only bought the smart ones, MTMTE and RID, and once a book lost its way I dropped it (RID/TF). There is plenty of stuff I won't bother consuming just because it's in the brand.
And, you said you would not follow a good writer off of TF to another book because the other book did not have the right branding.


Yes, branding (either by publisher or license) matters.

There are differences between Marvel and DC. (The traditional differences are eroding. But, there are still differences, mostly in the form of Marvel having better planning and direction.)

"BOOM!" studios tries to coast on licenses and high concept art books (like that one using public domain heroes a few years back) while producing anemic comics.

Avatar Press goes for cheap shock value, even when it undermines the concept of a series (.....fucking ruined "Uber" goddammit stupidfuckinghavetoget Klaudianekkidinthefuckingannual).


But, the comics are good, or bad, because of the creative teams. I do not care about Iron Man as a character. But, Kieron Gillen did good things with that book when he was on it. I do not care about "Axis". But, Tom Taylor did a good job on "Injustice" which is enough to make me care about his current run on "Superior Iron Man". (Still need to get caught up on that one....)


Similarly, I used to like "Star Wars". Then, the good:bad ratio tipped too far towards bad. It might have been Ostrander. It might have been Lucas licensing. I did not, nor do I, care. Comic sucked and I dropped it. After a few years of not being impressed, I dropped SW completely. Given how tightly controlled it seems to be at Marvel/Disney, I am not likely to get back in. (The "Rebels" show is not likely to get me, as I rarely watch TV and am not likely to get caught up on much of anything.)
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Re: McCarthy's new Drift book has Gigatron in it

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Dominic wrote:The fanboy is the guy who blindly buys in a book because he wants to read about his favourite characters.
Following a specific creator blindly just because you liked their work on a previous title is also being a fanboy. It's just being a fanboy of a creator rather than the branding.
There are differences between Marvel and DC. (The traditional differences are eroding. But, there are still differences, mostly in the form of Marvel having better planning and direction.)
I dunno that I'd say Marvel is any better at planning and direction than DC. Marvel might be planning their upcoming reboot better than DC did their previous one, but both companies have their fair share of mis-steps over the years, as well as successes. I'd have to say they're pretty even in that regard.
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Re: McCarthy's new Drift book has Gigatron in it

Post by JediTricks »

Dominic wrote:
There seems to be a consensus on this. Sounds like something to check out if I can find it at a major discount, but not otherwise.
It is purely an adventure of the week. You have read it before, and will probably read it again somewhere.
Be fair, it also doesn't look as good as most TF comics today.
Because you are saying that there are some authors who can write stuff that the reader may not care about or may even dislike and yet that reader should follow them regardless of all other factors.
No, I am prioritizing for the creators and their work over branding.

I am less a fan of Byrne than I was 5 years ago. (He was good for his time. But, he has not aged well and has too much of a fixation on the Silver Age and stasis quo.) However, plenty of people do like Byrne. He had has "faithful 50", roughly 50,000 readers who would follow him to and from various books in the mid to late 80s (as evidenced by sales numbers).

Those readers figured that if *Byrne* delivered the goods on one book, he would deliver on another. Nobody knew or cared about "Next Men" in the late 80s. But, people followed Byrne to that book because they wanted to see what he could do.


The only reason I gave "Uber" a try was because of Kieron Gillen. (And, when I saw how much he conformed to Avatar Press' house style, I dropped the book. But, damn, his Germans are fun to read.)
That's not an encouraging response, Dom. Look at what you're saying, you aren't as much a fan of Byrne as you used to be, his work hasn't aged well. And you bring up Uber, a book you are CONSTANTLY bitching about and threatening to drop. How is that supporting your premise of following authors blindly over following a license?
The difference is that I didn't buy just any old Transformers comics, I only bought the smart ones, MTMTE and RID, and once a book lost its way I dropped it (RID/TF). There is plenty of stuff I won't bother consuming just because it's in the brand.
And, you said you would not follow a good writer off of TF to another book because the other book did not have the right branding.
Actually, what I said is I wouldn't blindly follow them, a substantial difference to what you're saying.
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Re: McCarthy's new Drift book has Gigatron in it

Post by Dominic »

Look at what you're saying, you aren't as much a fan of Byrne as you used to be, his work hasn't aged well. And you bring up Uber, a book you are CONSTANTLY bitching about and threatening to drop. How is that supporting your premise of following authors blindly over following a license?

You conflated following a writer to another book/franchise with following them blindly.

I am not as much a fan of Byrne as I used to be because my tastes changed over time.

(I dropped "Uber" a while ago. Read it casually for a while after. But, I am not even bothering with that any more.)
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Re: McCarthy's new Drift book has Gigatron in it

Post by Shockwave »

I don't think anyone here is blindly following anything. Ok, well I might be, but I would be the exception. And, even I have my limits. I think what we're seeing here is just a difference in preferred fandom. Dom is a fan writers and comics whereas the rest of us are fans of a particular franchise rather than the medium or creative team. One isn't necessarily better than the other, it's just different.
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