Chaos preview

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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Onslaught Six
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Re: Chaos preview

Post by Onslaught Six »

Mako Crab wrote:As much as I like Roberts (Barber I'm less familiar with), I don't feel any desire to pick up anything set in IDW's universe. And sadly, at this point, I'm so sick of the constant rebooting of the G1 universe, that I'd be unlikely to pick up yet another #1 issue, where all the characters and their war have to be reintroduced again. I'm sure Roberts will do fine in the head writer position, but he's stuck writing in the post-ongoing setting where everything is a jumbled mess.
...If it's going to be a jumbled mess than how is the war and the characters being reintroduced again? We've had zero indication that's what's going to happen. IDW are pretty good about that.

Really, it's actually becoming rather obvious that, with IDW, we get about two years of consistant tone across the board. Furman's run lasted from about '06 to '08 when AHM came to dethrone it. AHM lasted about a year and a half and then the ongoing happened. The ongoing's lasted a little over two years and now we're getting things changed around a little bit again. To me, this is okay. Maybe if you were a fan of how a certain writer was going with things (McCarthy for me) you might be disappointed he's not writing it anymore...but you'll get over it.
BWprowl wrote:Side note: The people asking the questions at that thing sound like a bunch of fucking idiots. They seriously asked if these were in the same continuity as the live-action movies? And acted surprised at the notion of killing off Optimus Prime, despite the fact that he dies every other Tuesday? And don't give me that "They're just regular reporters" excuse; when you're a reporter, you're goddamn job is to do a little research before you go to something like this, so you can ask questions anyone might actually care about, as opposed to something you could've found in three seconds with a Google search.
Remember, though, these are reporters working for regular newspapers. Know your audience. Joe Blow Transformers Movie Fan isn't going to really know that these particular comic books don't have anything to do with the movies. I tried to explain the notion of "canon" to my father one time and he had a really hard time understanding it. (What finally did it was the Batman films. "Look, The Dark Knight isn't in the same canon as Batman 1989. The two don't fit together--Joker's dead at the end of Batman '89 for one thing, and two, Joker didn't kill Batman's parents this time around." He finally started to kind of maybe understand it a little bit.)
Mako Crab wrote:I can forgive the reporters for not knowing the long history of Transformers and that Prime dying is a common event, but the whole world saw RotF in theaters just a couple years ago. Prime died pretty dramatically in that. And if they thought that the ongoing was set in the movie universe, one of their questions should've been, "Why are you killing Optimus again?" I seriously do hope that his death is a metaphorical one. That's the only way this could possibly escape being a gimmick. One of the running themes throughout the ongoing (also mentioned in AHM) was how the Autobots were losing their way and becoming more and more like Decepticons. So a metaphorical death of Prime and all his ideals and values could work.
I tried to find where I read it, but one description Roberts gave of it highly pointed to it being metaphorical rather than literal...

EDIT: Not exactly what I was looking for but:
Celebrating 125 issues of IDW’s Transformers! After Chaos, Optimus Prime's fate was shrouded in mystery. Was he truly gone or could there be a way he had emerged unscathed? Now, Optimus sits in contemplation, in a place he does not recognize as home. And with the cost of the battle finally taking its brutal toll, does Optimus Prime even have the will to carry on? CHAOS changed everything, and Transformers #125 sets a new direction for the Autobot leader…
BWprowl wrote:I'm with O6 in hoping that "The Death of Optimus Prime" is a more metaphorical title, but considering IDW seemed content to spoil the shit out of the rest of the 'event' at this Q&A (Seriously, do they want people to actually read these comics, or did they always plan to tell us how everything ends with only like three issues out?), I'm not holding my breath.
This happens to comics all the time.
BWprowl wrote:The internet having this many different words to describe nerdy folks is akin to the whole eskimos/ice situation, I would presume.
People spend so much time worrying about whether a figure is "mint" or not that they never stop to consider other flavours.
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Dominic
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Re: Chaos preview

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If the Q and A was for general audiences, (not just fans), the reporters would be obligated to ask obvious and tedious questions to make sure things were clear for the general audience. (They might actually think that the comics and movie are the same thing.)


I'm gonna be more bold than I probably should be here and say that I'm not quite sure why everyone hates this so much. Is 'Decepti-God' a stupid name? Sure, but it seems to be a placeholder for something that won't actually be named on-page more than anything else. I think the actual idea is pretty aces.
To be honest, I hate the idea. "Big ad-hoc merge team"? Really? It reads like Furman on a bad day. (Yeah, I know what I just said.)
Really, it's actually becoming rather obvious that, with IDW, we get about two years of consistant tone across the board. Furman's run lasted from about '06 to '08 when AHM came to dethrone it. AHM lasted about a year and a half and then the ongoing happened. The ongoing's lasted a little over two years and now we're getting things changed around a little bit again. To me, this is okay. Maybe if you were a fan of how a certain writer was going with things (McCarthy for me) you might be disappointed he's not writing it anymore...but you'll get over it.
The last 1/3 of AHM was sorting loose ends and setting up for ongoing. AHM only lasted a year. (And, if you notice, not all of the "Coda" and "Spotlight" issues were even written by McCarthy.)

IDW seems kind of desperate to keep all of the fans happey, and is making text book mistakes in the process. Nobody likes gimmicky numbering, (legacy or re-numbering). But, what does IDW do? Big intrusive events? Reaction to "Chaos" is mixed among the fandom. This is really impressive considering that it is all but impossible for TF to have a crossover as part of the event. Of course, "Infestation" proved that we can have stupid crossovers in our licensed books....

Seriously, where are the chromium covers?

And, does anybody think that 3 ongoing TF books is a good idea? I have been a fan of the franchise since day one, and I have doubts that the market can sustain that.


Dom
-remember the black and white implosion of the 80s?
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Re: Chaos preview

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Three ongoings, where are you getting that?
BWprowl wrote:The internet having this many different words to describe nerdy folks is akin to the whole eskimos/ice situation, I would presume.
People spend so much time worrying about whether a figure is "mint" or not that they never stop to consider other flavours.
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Re: Chaos preview

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In January, IDW will have 3 ongoing books:
-"Robots in Disguise"
-"More than Meets the Eye"
-retro Furman book

That works out to 3 ongoing books. The franchise could wind up cannibalizing itself.


Dom
-will probably subscribe to all 3, but....
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Re: Chaos preview

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I dunno, GI Joe is sustaining itself with just as many if not more, isn't it? And besiding that, let's look at this objectively over the last few years, using AHM's time as an example:

-All Hail Megatron (12 issues plus coda)
-Maximum Dinobots, Spotlight
-Movie continuity books

Or the ongoing!

-Ongoing book
-Wreckers, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Drift
-Movie books (again)

I think it can sustain itself just fine; Furman's retro book has obviously taken the place of the Movie continuity books which appear to be doing fuck-all now that DOTM is over with. (A shame, I'd love to see them follow up on it in true IDW fashion.) Realistically, IDW isn't putting out any more books than they were before.
BWprowl wrote:The internet having this many different words to describe nerdy folks is akin to the whole eskimos/ice situation, I would presume.
People spend so much time worrying about whether a figure is "mint" or not that they never stop to consider other flavours.
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Dominic
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Re: Chaos preview

Post by Dominic »

I would not count the movie books because those were explicitly tied in with a blockbuster movie that had mass appeal.

G1, (any iteration), is simply not going to have that. As much as I have liked the last 3+ years of IDW, I would have a hard time giving them any points for accessibility and appeal to new (young or old) readers.

And, the other thing to keep in mind here is that all 3 books will be ongoing. Miniseries or one-shots (most any "Spotlight") are marketed and viewed differently. And, factor in that at least two will have very similar names and the same over-all setting, ("More than Meets the Eye" and "Robots in Disguise"), and you have a recipe for reader and retailer burnout.

I know of at least one store, (one not given to petulance), that is having trouble keeping track of the multiple "GI Joe" titles.


Dom
-might try to research hard numbers on "GI Joe" tomorrow.
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Re: Chaos preview

Post by Shockwave »

I can certainly see what Dom is saying about confusing titles. That actually happened with me when I was reading Marvel comics, particularly Avengers. After the Civil War event there were two similarly titled ongoing Avengers books and I wound up reading both because I couldn't figure out which one I was reading before. Course, I've since dropped Marvel and am now dropping comics altogether but that's not necessarily because of the confusion.
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