IDW sales figures so far.

[griffin]

Saw last month's sales figures for IDW's TFs comics (Ongoing, Bbee & Wreckers), and went to see how that compares to their past comic numbers.

From a tfw2005 article (http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/comics-16/transformers-comic-sales-rankings-for-february-2010-169299/), which takes some figures from an icv2 article (http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/17020.html).

For Feb:
Ongoing #4 - 12221
BB #3 - 8537
Last Stand #2 - 5744

And with the rest of the figures so far for those three series:

Ongoing #1 - 15220
Ongoing #2 - 12516
Ongoing #3 - 12609
Ongoing #4 - 12221

BB #1 - 10205
BB #2 - 9021
BB #3 - 8537

Last Stand #1 - 8862
Last Stand #2 - 5744

I expected as much of the Wreckers comic, featuring characters that non-fans wouldn't know or recognise enough to buy the comic. And I think the other two are suffering for using new forms for classic characters, that even fans have trouble recognising without name labels in the Panels.

Sales of IDW TFs comics have been declining to the point that it is getting harder to get above 4-digit sales per issue now:
http://tfarchive.com/comics/idw/sales.php

Maybe its time for a reboot, with a return to the classic Gen1 characters in their classic Gen1 forms & altmodes...

It helped Dreamwave be number one with six-digit TFs comic sales (don't know how they could have become bankrupt with these sort of sales).
http://tfarchive.com/comics/dreamwave/guide/sales.php

(interesting to note that IDW now have 95% of their TPB sales outside of comic shops (in book stores), so those Diamond figures for TPBs could be a bit misleading, and IDW could well be selling more Trades than regular issues these days if that claim is true)

[JustOwen]

they still got a Drift and Ironhide mini series coming up

plus Spotlight Prowl.

[SharkyMcShark]

As an aside, the people that complain about not being able to tell which character is which in the Ongoing series are being purposefully trite for my money, possibly out of hate of the designs closer to those seen in the movies.

It's ridiculously overplayed - there are two instances in which I've not been instantly able to identify a transformer across the four current issues. The first is Hot Spot (standing in the background during Hot Rod asking if anyone wants to come with him in the second issue), and the second is Sandstorm in the fourth issue. Yet you end up with fans having a cry (not you obviously griffin, just in general) on forums about how it's a sad indictment of the series that name tags have to be put on the first appearance of each transformer, as if that's something that has never been done before, and as if we've never been in a situation before where readers are unsure precisely which character is standing in the background of a comic panel.

Rant over.

[Paulbot]

/home/17020.html"]Maybe its time for a reboot, with a return to the classic Gen1 characters in their classic Gen1 forms & altmodes...

You mean they should do All Hail Megatron again right?

The current ongoing is great. If people stop complaining about ugly faces they could see how beautifully drawn and coloured the book is and how interesting the story is (read the Thundercracker issue people!).

[griffin]

AHM wasn't a reboot, even if some fans would like to hope it was. It did try to start a fresh new chapter, and featured classic forms, but failed to focus enough on the classic (robotic) characters. By the time the slow-starting story did pick up and feature robotic goodliness, 4-5 months (issues) had passed, and that's a long time in the comic industry - comic readers lost after the first issue just never came back.

I think having the story stretch over 12 issues might not have been the original intention, and IDW probably thought the story idea had potential to re-invigorate the brand but 'milked it' too much. It should have been a six issue story to lead into a new era of their universe, but stretching it without padding out the plot in the process spoilt the purpose of AHM.

Now they are taking a new approach of producing multiple comics at once - I guess they feel they can't please everyone with one comic, so why not produce something for each of the major fan groups. I guess if they can still make a profit from 4-digit production runs, we can see them stick with this approach. (or their growing sales in the TPB market in actual bookstores is probably offsetting losses made in the actual comic issues - something they still need to do, no matter the cost, to have the more profitable Trades exist).


As an aside, the people that complain about not being able to tell which character is which in the Ongoing series are being purposefully trite for my money, possibly out of hate of the designs closer to those seen in the movies.

Not having a go at you with this reply - just offering a view of one who isn't in that harshly critical category, but is more 'quietly' opposed.

(At least we haven't had too much whinging about the appearance of characters here - just complaints about the writing.)

My point though, was not having trouble recognising the characters (as you said, most can be recognised), but the mere fact that this is a Gen1 comic - and as a Gen1 fan wanting to buy new Gen1 comics, I want to see the Gen1 characters in their Gen1 forms.
It isn't criticism towards a Movie-look to the characters, as that style of artwork is quite complex and visually interesting - but the Movie, and Animated, and Beast Wars, etc, all have their own modes that we readers would expect to see in a comic based on those universes. This is a Gen1 Universe comic, so as selfish as it may sound to non-Gen1 fans, I expect to see Gen1 forms used.
I liked the guessing game we had with War Within's new forms, because it was pre-Gen1, but this comic doesn't need it, and I just feel that non-fans/semi-fans looking at a TFs comic are less likely to buy it if they don't see the classic forms that made these characters IDW are using, famous.

(yes, the name tag usage has been done before - even the first issue of Gen1 in 1984... but that was a new product line and they were recognisable to the toys once fans had them to refer to. This comic has no toyline, or existing line-up of character designs to recognise and refer to - the artists/IDW are making them up as they go along, and name tags end up being necessary.)

[GoktimusPrime]

Personal feelings about the art style aside, the thing that bugs me is the way the disruption to visual continuity. I can understand that different artists have different styles, but they're usually supposed to keep to the same basic model designs. Imagine if there were two series running concurrently which featured the Flash, only that one artist decided to draw Golden Age Flash while the other drew modern day Flash, but they were both meant to be the same Flash existing at the same time. Cos that's what it feels like for me when I switch between Don Fig's hybrid G1-movie designs and that of other artists like Chee.

I've since learned to suspend disbelief that Prowl now sometimes the Transformers look G1 then sometimes they look like movie hybrids for no apparent reason - but it was unsettling at first. I still don't really like it... I've just accepted it.

It makes Soundwave's brief stint during G1 with a mouth (http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/4/44/Soundwave_uscomics.jpg) look tame. :p

[kup]

There is a lot wrong with IDW and 'familiar characters' are not enough as AHM showed. You need coherent and involving stories behind those characters or at best you will only get an initial good response that will gradually dwindle down.

AHM had several issues in which absolutely nothing interesting happened and that is bad.

Despite the success of the movie, my interest in the continuing franchise is in a decline, particularly with the dominating influence of the Bay movies. Yeah, the Bay movies have helped to mainstream the franchise and get the big bucks in but its a little disturbing when a 'mainstream' guy finds out I like Transformers and comes to me only to chat about Megan Fox :mad:

I can only hope for the Bay movies to end and the franchise to move forward to something a little more 'sophisticated'.

[Lord_Zed]

I would actualy prefer if someone took the Bay Movies (or first movie only) and used them as a stepping stone. I always hoped IDW would take the movie backdrop with its unique designs and ideas and make their own story. Instead they have just produced meaning less side stories with paper thin characters and lots of pointless homages to G1.

As for the rest of the Franchise I have to wonder evolve to where? Everyone recalls the great success of Dreamwaves TF series, but that was part of an 80's nostalgia boom, and they were the first TF comics in years. And strangest off all (after the first series) they actualy started exploring some new ideas while keeping a healthy fistfull of nostalgia. Since then there have been several atempts to re-boot or redefine the modern G1 universe, but I can't help but feel it's getting rather tiresome. Sure having the classic G1 characters on the cover is probably a big draw for the casual G1 comic fan, but I find it's all getting a bit repetetive. Stuff like LSOTW is good because it features largely neglected characters (even if the mainstream don't seem to like it) and I understand where people who like Animated are comming from too (even though I really, really dislike the designs) as far as offering something a bit fresh to the Transformers universe goes.

It seems to me that the writters at IDW are only willing to take baby steps diverging from the G1 (or Bay movie) legacy just a bit, I can't help but think for me their comics would be a lot better if someone actualy did something totaly new, I mean isn't that how we got Beast Wars?