Considering how much the fandom loves the Generations Drift toy, I started thinking about how Drift could be improved. The character, that is.

Without the toy, Drift was to IDW what Scrappy-Doo was to Scooby-Doo, i.e. the one character that nearly everyone hated. Considering how much he's actually done within the comics (not much), this hate seems rather out of proportion. In my view, what's really to blame for Drift's unpopularity is a combination of IDW hype backlash, Drift not actually doing much despite what IDW have said, appearing in AHM (and so becoming the figurehead for the bad things about it), and the whole 'bad fancharacter' aspects.

(Some may claim Drift to be a Mary Sue, or the male equivalent, Marty Stu. I direct those people to IDW Spike, who is much more of a Marty Stu than Drift ever was)

How do we rescue Drift from the Scrappy heap? I think the answer's simple: give him things to do. A character is not improved by not doing anything with them, and Drift has done nothing outside of AHM and his spotlight (the Robot Heroes book doesn't count). In the ongoing, Drift has appeared twice, both times as a background character. This hardly endears him to the audience, and so he isn't improving.

Drift's redemption may come in the upcoming miniseries exploring his origins, but I don't think there's much in his backstory that needs expanding on, unless it turns out that there IS. If he's to really improve, he needs to be able to contribute to the ongoing, considering that's where the plot is.