M:O to be removed from official IDW continuity

[grahamthomson]

Well, not really, not quite. But the following thread on the official IDW boards started by one of IDW's editors makes for excellent Car Crash Internet!

forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?t=4921

[Andy Turnbull]

Hahahaha!

Andy

[The Doctor]

I wouldn't advise editors to start musing aloud whether stories should 'count'. When dealing with a niche market, tipping off the core audience that some of the product they buy doesn't 'matter'...not too clever I have to say. That's how you lose readers.

-Ralph

[grahamthomson]

I am wondering now if it's one of those "test the waters" things to see if fans/readers are happy for older stories to be kicked out of the storyline to make way for the likes of AHM and the New Direction to become the Official Continuity and the older *ation stories to be sidelined as "alternate" continuities.

[The Doctor]

I would think that would be a monumentally stupid idea for IDW, if that were the case. This is not a massive selling comic book franchise. It's a niche property. Give the readers the impression that they pay money to beta test 'continuities' before deciding what to chuck or keep and they will go away. Two other companies produce TF comics and there are movies, cartoons, etc competing for folk's wallets.

But sure, comic lines grow and evolve as they age. Some bits are kept, some are quietly forgotten. It's the nature of the medium. I'm just not impressed when editors muse aloud. But anyway, I am having some hot crumpets right now for lunch and they are most scrumptious.

-Ralph

[The Doctor]

*reads further into thread*

Hmmm, the shouting match between an editor and a reader is really unpleasant to read.

-Ralph

[primenova]

Bit like with Marvel & the bring new creatoirs onto the X-men or return of ...

We end up with the same team all the time - 2 books with Wolverine on both teams & nothing really changes.

But we really havn't had this with Transformers before - even with Marvel DW IDW

[Andy Turnbull]

Nov 14, 2008 12:41:17 GMT The Doctor said:

*reads further into thread*

Hmmm, the shouting match between an editor and a reader is really unpleasant to read.

-Ralph

Just read that and while KJ did overreact the response from Denton was equally disproportionate.

Another reason I'm glad I just occasionally lurk over there now.

Andy

[blueshift]

Anyone care to post some choice snippets for those who don't want to wade through the dozen or so pages or talk?

[charlesrocketboy]

Quoted for worrying truth:

To be honest, my first thought was wondering if it's just because Shane didn't read it, and contradicted it in SL:Blurr

I also fear that NeoSpringer is right on the money when he says that it feels like this publishing house is losing faith in its books from the last few years. Apparently, there was no confidence in the now-postmortem Expansino, and Revelation's abbreviation and seemingly arbitrary shoe-horning into the Spotlight realm cannot fail to make one wonder.

No.

It gives me the feeling that IDW doesn't know what it's doing with an important license, and that's what's keeping me awake at night.

I found Megatron Origin to fit in better with established continuity than AHM does, so in the interest of fairness, when are you going to ask if AHM should be cut out of continuity?

-

Besides, a number of fans actually like Origin and I can't think of anything in it that'll "restrict" later writers (except possibly the Ratbat backstory but sadly no one's using ol' Ratty).

[jameso]

I had no idea who this Denton guy was, despite having all IDWs comics, but he's come across as a massive twat to me. Really, really not how someone in an official capacity should act.

And, in general, that's just such a lame way to go about things. The editor at a company starting a one line thread suggesting a story should be removed from continuity? Is that really how IDW like to do things? I wonder what Ryall makes of it, if he's aware of it.

[charlesrocketboy]

Did I just see an editor, an employee of IDW, actually give a "warning" and slag off a fan with Internet meme pictures, and twice, over something from another board?

I mean, yeah, comparing someone to Pat Lee isn't something you should do unless they're also a fraudster bastard, and Denton did back down from the attack and tried to calm the situation, but Jeeeeeeeesus.

Ever since AHM came out, that board seems to be getting nasty a lot.

[Andy Turnbull]

You did indeed. I couldn't believe it. It doesn't matter what his personal feelings are, as a salaried employee of the company you do not get to belittle your fans.

I do miss Ryall being more hands on with the books, he could engage with the fans and actually defuse arguments as opposed to throwing in more fuel to the fire.

Andy

[The Doctor]

It's a bit of a mess.

Now. Who wants tea and crumpets?

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

I already have tea, but no crumpets. I've just had lunch you see.

Andy

[grahamthomson]

Like I said, it's Car Crash Internet.

But I myself have shied away from the IDW boards. Since AHM came out, especially, it has turned into a not very nice place to hang out.

I had crumpets with jam this morning, but a cup of tea (two sugars) would be most welcome!

[charlesrocketboy]

Nov 14, 2008 13:40:07 GMT @grahamthomson said:

Since AHM came out, especially, it has turned into a not very nice place to hang out.

Shane must be wondering why he bothered, some days...

[grahamthomson]

Money, perhaps?

Actually, I wonder if he gets paid less than Simon Furman? Maybe that's the reason for the changes.

12 issues of McCarthy < 4 issues of Furman?

[Andy Turnbull]

I'd imagine as a relative newcomer there's every chance he doesn't get the same rate as Furman. Not that anyone would ever let you know that. But I don't think the ration would be quite as severe as your suggestion G.

Andy

[grahamthomson]

I was only guessing at the figures there.

So even if AHM sells as "badly" as Devastation IDW will still make more money from it if McCarthy is cheaper.

[Bogatan]

Still not having read all of it I cant fully gage the horror of the story, but my first instinct is to say drop it. That does set a bad precident though. Better that at some future point this version be seen as some kind of self serving revisionist history by loyal decepticons and reshow the era from another perspective.

Andy

[blueshift]

I'd be surprised if they got /really/ different salaries to be honest. I get the feeling that unless you're a top tier writer you're not going to get a vastly different salary

[The Doctor]

I have run out of crumpets.

-Ralph

[karla]

Nov 14, 2008 16:43:02 GMT The Doctor said:

I have run out of crumpets.

-Ralph

Thats probably the saddest story i've ever heard doctor.
You have my sympathy

I couldn't ever argue over tranformers, I don't know enough lol they'd kick my ass

[legios]

Just catching up with reading the linked thread now. I have to say that the sight of a companies editor brawling in public in a thread with a poster (and customer) is unedifying, especially when it seems said editor need to resort to nonsense internet fads in order to communicate his point, is one of the more unedifying things I have seen recently.

I nearly signed up for the IDW boards at one stage. I am now rather glad I didn't.

On the actual point, I have to say that it would seem to set a dangerous precedent in terms of reader "buy-in" if stories from the immediate past (three years is not a long time in comics, especially comics for a very niche market with significant long-term loyalty), can be rendered outside of the fictional universe simply because someone writes something later that contradicts them. It risks eroding the attachment that parts of your audience have to your project if you advance the possibility that parts of it could be jetisoned at short notice. I had always felt that it was part of the job of an editor to point out to a writer that they can't do X because Y has already been established, listen to the arguement from the writer of why Y is such a distinctly good story that it deserves to overwrite X, and then decide whether to permit it or not after due consideration. Not to let Y go through and then debate in public whether X should be over-written because Y has happened. Not a sign of an editor who is on top of thing when they open this debate on a public forum.

(In terms of my own personal reaction - "Megatron: Origin" was a rotten comic, but IDW comissioned and published it as being part of the meta-story for their Transformers series. They now have to live with it, at least until enough time has gone by for it to be mostly forgotten. Then they can start tinkering with things.)

Karl

[Deleted]

MO is not closely intertwined with either Furman or McCarthy's stuff so it shouldn't impact too much if it gets jettisoned. Plus it's not that great a story. My only worry is if this opens the floodgates to more retconning, perhaps of stories people do like.

If MO does stay, then its differences with spotlight blurr are not insurmountable. In SL Blurr the Autobots are a movement on a par with the Decepticons, but they could have evolved out of the old Cybertron police Autobots. While Zeta Prime could be a stopgap who's got the job while Sentinel Prime is offline from his MO thrashing. It's not hard to get around the conflicts with a bit of effort.

I don't agree that Denton's done anything wrong by raising this though. It's just putting the feelers out and letting fans decide, as opposed to IDW making an arbitary decision.

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Nov 14, 2008 22:56:10 GMT legios said:

On the actual point, I have to say that it would seem to set a dangerous precedent in terms of reader "buy-in" if stories from the immediate past (three years is not a long time in comics, especially comics for a very niche market with significant long-term loyalty), can be rendered outside of the fictional universe simply because someone writes something later that contradicts them.

Simon Furman did it to himself all the time back in the days of Marvel TF.

Martin

[charlesrocketboy]

I don't think that was a deliberate policy though, I think he just forgot stuff.

[Gav]

Can you imagine Marvel comics removing a comic from continuity just because it was pish?

The last 12 mega events would be non-canon!

[The Doctor]

News just in: sausages to be removed from official IDW continuity, riots break out in many cities worldwide. In Dorset, a badger says: "Wuuuu?".

-Ralph