TF Views

Dominic wrote:Did Hasbro insist on the use of certain characters, or the stupid event? (I honestly do not recall.)

They wanted an event, IIRC.

That goes far beyond comics, you are correct. The toys have cheaper designs. The toys are not well distributed. But, what is to be done about that?

A lot of things, but Hasbro stands in the way of all of them.

But, this gets to something Costa said a few years ago. Do you want comics/toys/cartoons, or do you want *Transformers* comics/toys/cartoons. Personally, I am in for comics. If the TF comics go bad, there are plenty of other options.

I want Transformers specifically, I'm drawn to the premise and the concept first and foremost, Transformers got me back into the comic shop, not the other way around.

The fans need to be led to the new through quality work, not pandered to and stuck in a downward spiral.

Not quite. *New* fans need to be led in. But, many older fans want to be pandered to.

That's wrong behavior though, you don't let your audience dictate what you create, you figure out what they should want next and you lead them to it. You don't give them what you want, you tell them what they want.

Telling the audience what they want only works so well though.

I want Transformers specifically, I'm drawn to the premise and the concept first and foremost, Transformers got me back into the comic shop, not the other way around.

But, now you are in the comic shop. TF is not the only game in town. When Costa went over to DC briefly, I did not say "I want GI Joe". I followed Costa to "Blackhawks". If Roberts jumps to Marvel or DC, are you going to stay with "Transformers" or are you going to follow Roberts (a writer that you seem to be fan of)?


Hasbro seems to have forgotten the lessons of the 90s (up through the last decade). They used to understand that a light editorial hand was best. Now, they seem to be forgetting that. Part of me wonders what will happen with that "Combiner Wars" Cyclonus. Will it derail "More than Meets the Eye"? And, if it does, will that ruin "More Than Meets the Eye"? And, if so, why should we stick around?

Dominic wrote:Telling the audience what they want only works so well though.

The key is to be good at determining what they should want, to creating new products that they don't even know they want yet but they will want. Pandering to what they already wants is a downward spiral path.

But, now you are in the comic shop. TF is not the only game in town. When Costa went over to DC briefly, I did not say "I want GI Joe". I followed Costa to "Blackhawks". If Roberts jumps to Marvel or DC, are you going to stay with "Transformers" or are you going to follow Roberts (a writer that you seem to be fan of)?

I'm not likely to follow, but I'm probably not going to stick with TF either. It was the insight of RID and MTMTE that got me interested in TF comic storytelling, and RID has already burned that and is out of my life.

Why not follow Roberts though? You are a fan of his writing. Does it really need to be "Roberts on TF" rather than "Roberts writing comics"?

I can see bailing on TF if the property deteriorates much more. But, if something good from the property (such as a writer) can be found elsewhere, why not follow it?

JediTricks wrote:]I want Transformers specifically, I'm drawn to the premise and the concept first and foremost,

I agree.

Transformers got me back into the comic shop, not the other way around.

Same here, and It was Dreamwave's books that got me back into comics after a few years away. I still wish IDW had been able to finish that last mini-series that Dreamwave was in the middle of publishing.

That's wrong behavior though, you don't let your audience dictate what you create, you figure out what they should want next and you lead them to it. You don't give them what you want, you tell them what they want.

I tend to instinctively rebel at the notion that comic creators should tell me what I want. I'm not going to be dictated to. It's their prerogative to write and create whatever they want, but if it's not what I'm looking for, sooner or later I'm out. And no amount of "you should like this" is likely to change my mind.

I don't think these comic creators should "pander", because I think that leads to an inconsistent product as they try to keep up with the various likes and dislikes of a fickle readership. But there's a difference between that and knowing the audience and tailoring the product accordingly.

Dominic wrote:Why not follow Roberts though? You are a fan of his writing. Does it really need to be "Roberts on TF" rather than "Roberts writing comics"?

I can see bailing on TF if the property deteriorates much more. But, if something good from the property (such as a writer) can be found elsewhere, why not follow it?

Because I have limited time and limited interests, I'm not going to follow anything blindly.

andersonh1 wrote:

That's wrong behavior though, you don't let your audience dictate what you create, you figure out what they should want next and you lead them to it. You don't give them what you want, you tell them what they want.

I tend to instinctively rebel at the notion that comic creators should tell me what I want. I'm not going to be dictated to. It's their prerogative to write and create whatever they want, but if it's not what I'm looking for, sooner or later I'm out. And no amount of "you should like this" is likely to change my mind.

They aren't supposed to tell you what you should like, they should make things that you don't know that you'll like yet, and if they fail to figure out what works then they leave and are no longer your audience.

How is it "following blindly" to follow a writer who has delivered?

Roberts delivers the goods on "More than Meets the Eye". Why wouldn't you follow him to his next project? That is not blindly following, that is going where you expect to be rewarded. And, if the writer does not deliver the goods, then you can always drop the book.

(I really liked Gillen's run on "Iron Man" and his early run on "Uber". But, "Uber" indulged a little too much in "we are published by Avatar Press" style low-pitches. And, he has not impressed me on "Darth Vader". So, I am no longer following him as aggressively. Taylor has impressed the hell out of me with "Injustice". So, I followed him to "Superior Iron Man".)

Dominic wrote:How is it "following blindly" to follow a writer who has delivered?

Roberts delivers the goods on "More than Meets the Eye". Why wouldn't you follow him to his next project? That is not blindly following, that is going where you expect to be rewarded. And, if the writer does not deliver the goods, then you can always drop the book.

(I really liked Gillen's run on "Iron Man" and his early run on "Uber". But, "Uber" indulged a little too much in "we are published by Avatar Press" style low-pitches. And, he has not impressed me on "Darth Vader". So, I am no longer following him as aggressively. Taylor has impressed the hell out of me with "Injustice". So, I followed him to "Superior Iron Man".)

Because for me, I'm a fan of "Transformers", not comics. I'm not in the comic shop for anything that doesn't have Transformers or He-Man in it. If that stops, I stop going to the comic shop. I have interests in other things besides comics that I would rather spend money on before comics as a medium in general. Sure, Roberts may well be writing other comics that are good, but that's going to be a hard sell over say, a new video game or movie or spending my time watching a tv show that I like. In the bigger picture of my hobbies, comics is going to be pretty far down the list, if not at the bottom. As such, I have little reason to follow writers to other projects, especially for franchises and mediums that I'm generally unwilling to spend money on to begin with.

Dominic wrote:How is it "following blindly" to follow a writer who has delivered?

Just to add my $.02, not everyone reads a comic book for the writers, but rather for the characters. For me, I liked Bendis on Ultimate Spider-Man, but I'm not that big of an X-Men fan to start reading that just because he's writing that title. And just because a writer delivered on one title, that doesn't mean they'll do the same on another.

I don't usually follow writers or artists either. I'm more interested in characters or concepts. The rare exceptions I can think of are trying Daredevil because Mark Waid was writing, and getting back into the IDW Transformers books after about year away because Don Figeroa was drawing the ongoing series when it began.