IDW Fatigue

[Scrapper6]

Is anybody else feeling burned out on IDW's Transformers Comics?

When they first started out they hadn't yet hit us with the inundation of titles that it feels like they just keep putting out as time goes on?

Then again it could have always been that way, or maybe it just seems like there are so many titles because my budget allows only for a few pick-ups every month, resulting in stuff being left behind months on end until such time as I have far too many books to ever hope to pick up all of them.

I guess it just seems like, with RID, MTMTE, Spotlights, Prime related titles, eventually some tie-ins for Movie 4 that may or may not be part of the original movie continuity in comics and stuff like Monstrosity or Autocracy (which I haven't even seen yet) that IDW is just pumping out more and more titles every month resulting in far too much money being spent on these books?

It's no DC or Marvel, but I feel like they're oversaturating the market just a tad with all these mini-series and stuff. They should just have the one or two main titles every month with one extra title a month honestly, be it a Spotlight, another type of one-shot like that Mars Attacks thing or even a mini-series of three or so issues.

I mean right now they've got, what, four titles running each month? Sometimes five or even six depending on when Spotlights are produced.

I'm beginning to feel burnt out, some of them are great titles with interesting stories, but do we really need them all? Hell I forgot about ReGeneration One, which is also an ongoing monthly deal until, if rumor is right, we reach issue #100 then it'll end definitively. (And who knows about that, with that cash cow bringing in more money for them.)

I just wish IDW would get their head in the game a bit better, but their business model is to run the same schtick with every title they've got, from My Little Pony and G.I.Joe to Star Trek, Doctor Who and the short stint of Angel comics they had before Dark Horse took them back. Ghostbusters and that too I'd wager.

They're a fun comic book company I suppose, but I do wish they'd avoid overreaching for collectors, especially when they charge more for each title. It all adds up, I'm thinking of just dropping every Transformer title and being done with it.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

[Super_Megatron]

No one is forcing you to buy every TF title out there. Just collect the books you really like.

[Shockwave 75]

I do kind of agree.

We have MTMTE, RID, Prime, ReG1, Spotlights, and any side projects that come out.

I know one could say, "No one is making you buy all of them." And that's true, but I really enjoy all of them. It's just my wallet that doesn't!

[Scrapper6]

Originally Posted by Super_Megatron

No one is forcing you to buy every TF title out there. Just collect the books you really like.

Technically they are, I mean all of them, with possible exception to the Autocracy/Monstrosity thing and of course naturally the Prime titles are pretty much interconnected with the current plotline of the main titles.

Plus, I tried telling my local comic shop I just wanted the two main titles, no more mini-series or anything like and they still keep sticking them in there. You tell one employee you only want certain issues and then the others aren't aware of this so they just go with what's still in the system.

I've made up my mind, I'm riding out the rest of the year, but come January I'm taking it off my pull list completely.

I gave up Joe titles once IDW took over, and while I do still enjoy the titles very much so, cutting out the monthly buys and just getting trades later on down the road is probably for the best. It's been a good run, and hopefully the final story arc I go out on will be awesome too.

[FEZaid]

Be patient and wait for the volumes, just don't buy all of the titles.

[gcuemjj23]

Get an ipad and get them digitally.

[canprime]

I actually like that IDW got away, for the most part, from a need to have humans in their stories. I much prefer the more bot' centric storylines.

That said, I do agree that IDW might have gone a little overboard on the amount of stuff they are putting out. I also get what people are saying about just buy what you like.

However success leads to problems, and as a universe gets bigger and bigger, it also becomes more cumbersome and can be difficult for new people to want to get into. Look at DC and Marvel, they both have had this problem a number of times over the years.

Personally, if there is any one thing that will be a problem for IDW in the future, it will be maintaining G1 sales. They have done a great job of telling new and different stories with the characters we know, but like most TF related media/merchandise, it leans heavy on G1. The problem with that is that we are an aging demo and the groups under us who grew up with BW, RID, AEC etc. just don't seem to have the same passion for collecting to warrant devoting large resources to them. Yes the movies are huge, but they don't generate the same passion outside of their runs like other franchises have done (LOTR, SW, hell even Cars, etc. etc.)

So in conclusion, I'm going to get a drink. Goodbye.

[Undrave]

I only buy MTME and RID, and I started with those titles (and some Spotlight issue I got used). Sometimes I buy a Spotlight if it's interesting but that's all.

You should focus on one or two ongoing, and put the other stuff on the backburner, and then get them on Comixology when they've gone down in price. Most IDW stuff ends up down to 1,99 after a month or two. All the little saving will end up adding up.

[Stapler]

I haven't experienced this myself because I have been getting my IDW goodness via the IDW Collection books. More for the convenience of all these stories and spotlights presented in a reading order for me (and putting them all in shelf friendly hard covers).

I've been thinking of reading through them again since these books get released at a nice relaxed pace of several months apart. I'll be ordering volumes 7 and 8 in the next few days and can't wait for them to get to the RiD and MTMTE stuff that I've been hearing such great stuff about.

[Robimus]

Several ongoing monthly titles is a bit extreme and it wouldn't surprise me if it is turning people off a little bit towards the product.

Whenever I pick up my pull list(I only go every few months) I'm always surprised just how many books are sitting there waiting for me.

In one sense it is good that there is so much available, but on the other hand if it is going to put people in a situation that they have to start picking and choosing it could create problems.

It would not surprise me if IDW loses some customers over the long term if they keep going at the pace they are currently cranking out books at.