IDW interview at Newsarama, publishing plans

Osku · Post by **Osku** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 1:16 pm

Link spotted from NTFA forum.

Newsarma article here.

In short new(ish) info.
-Hasbro owns rights for both Marvel and Dreamwave material.
-Transformers Generations is a reprint title. Best of old stories, from Marvel run, I'd suppose as Dreamwave's run is still pretty recent.
-Collections of old material coming, also of Dreamwave material that wasn't collected before.

And the most exciting thing IMO, though not new information.

"(Matt Brady, Newsarama) The fourth tier of IDW’sTransformers publishing plan goes by the name Transformers: Evolution, a series which will be made up of rotating creative teams, each telling their own story.

“(Chris Ryall, IDW editor) Essentially, this will be out-of-continuity, stand-alone tales from established comics pros who might've never had a chance to tackle Transformers before, but have one good story in them. The first one is going to be a blast, and offer art that will blow people away--someone you'd definitely never associate with Transformers but will be hard-pressed to think of otherwise after you see what he's doing.”"

deej · Post by **deej** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 1:44 pm

nice.. I've been missing having TF Comics to read for a bit now, so another 6 months won't hurt... That said - are we ever going to see the end of War Within vol3? Don't recall ever seeing anyone comment on the DW stuff that was mid-story when they went kaboom...

wreckie · Post by **wreckie** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 2:59 pm

Originally posted by deej
nice.. I've been missing having TF Comics to read for a bit now, so another 6 months won't hurt... That said - are we ever going to see the end of War Within vol3? Don't recall ever seeing anyone comment on the DW stuff that was mid-story when they went kaboom...

Chris Ryall has made some encouraging (if slightly vague) noises on the subject of unfinished DW stories. More specifically, Simon Furman has expressed a definite desire to finish War Within vol 3. Given that the rights issues appear to have been resolved, I think that one's pretty likely... perhaps when IDW release it as a trade paperback... I hope.

Commander Shockwav · Post by **Commander Shockwav** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 5:27 pm

I think the whole Tranformers:Generations idea is poor business strategy.

Let's face it, given the TPBs from DW and the Titan books that have already been released, what kind of sales can you expect from the sale of older books now? Granted, they will bring in some income from these, but I doubt it would cover the expense of getting these things out.

Unless? Unless they are releasing these older books from DW and Marvel to use as a springboard for some of their Transformers:Evolution stories. In other words, getting fans up to speed with these past stories so they can add their own stories based on these tales from the past.

Hmmmmm..........

This just might work......

Prime Maximus · Post by **Prime Maximus** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 6:12 pm

There is a method to their madness.

Even though shelling out bones for all these publications could cause some strains on the pockets, I will do my best to keep up but just as long as they throw me something fresh and exciting. If they end up finishing up DW runs, then I will definately invest in those copies but pretty much anything old is out of the question. I'm into the new...I got all 80 original issues...thats all I need as far as a hook into the past.

Bring me Evolutions: I love to see different artists and writers' take on Transformers.

DrEvil · Post by **DrEvil** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 9:38 pm

Each telling their own story.

Hmm sounds promising. It worked for Star Wars Tales and that was always very enjoyable.

DrEvil is looking forward to the comics

Commander Shockwav · Post by **Commander Shockwav** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 9:13 pm

The Transformers will always be a divided one in their tastes and opinions, quite a challenge that IDW will have to be willing to take on. I think IDW thus far has developed an excellent strategy, probably the only one that could possibly work.

They know that varied covers and multiple titles brought DW money. So, they will have varied covers and multiple titles. Smart move. They also know that there are many Furman fans out there. So they brought in Furman. They know TF fans wanted a "What If?" series. So they have Transformers:Evolutions. They have realized that the only way to bring in new fans is to bring in the big name comic guys. And what did they do? They have hinted that we will be seeing big name comic guys. Finally, they have realized there are many Marvel fans out there. So what have they done? They are turning back the clock and re-releasing the best of Marvel TF in TPB form. And I can bet its only a matter of time before they bring in the likes of a certain Don Figueroa.

This company, IDW, has done their homework. They have studied us fans like lab rats, trying to find out what makes us tick. I see this as a very intelligent group of people who will make many, many TF fans happy all over the globe.

Hell, don't be surprised if we see Bob Budiansky back on the Transformers.