Heather Antos on March 9, 2018 as she left her job at Marvel comics to go to E-sports site Unkrn: “It’s been a long-time goal of mine to branch out into the video game & competitive esports world. To do so under the guidance & leadership of @rahulsood & @theWonderCow is something I never would’ve thought possible.”
Many of the comic companies just didn't learn that they need to hire editors who know their jobs, and have no identity politic agenda or similar nonsense. Thank you Wes and Aaron
It's not difficult to understand you need an audiance for your product. Comics are way to expensive to buy just out of loyalty and a desire to keep your run complete. The only thing I can think of is they don't care because its not there money.
As Keith Giffen noted via AMBUSH BUG - _"Its the Editor's fault they Green light all of it" (even Bug's skin color)._ Plus IDW's CEO (Ezra) in 2022 earned over $550,000 in base salary! WoW!
@@floorboss R.I.P Keith. Loved his stuff I still think his Justice League glad to be silly run was there best ever. Legion of Super heroes '5 years later' with his 9 panel grid was seminal. Oh ff sake why do I have to constantly edit my posts. I know what I said. F you auto spell check.
You're right. Because of Aubrey Sitterson, he turned two of Hasbro's greatest creations to garbage with his stupidity. And I have a hunch that someone wants to sabotage IDW, I hate that kind of stuff. I want a regulation in which comic book companies would hire budding comic book artists and story writers, the type who is down to earth, real deep and lacks the crap that Aubrey has. Now that will bring IDW to their rightful place in the comic book world alongside all other in the top. I don't want sloppy stories and the shipping and the LGBTQ shit, it's nonsense. Also for Shockwave being one of the primes is the dumbest thing ever. I want the old IDW from the 2000's back. This year the woke community is going DOWN. I hate woke people, because of them, they love to make excuses out of the shit they've made, they ruined the lives of many comic book lovers and the kids who is gonna have their first comic book.
I think it's best to shut down now, than to keep on disgracing the name and lowering the standards, by having hack delusional activists shitting all over iconic IPs. But, it's a shame for coming to this situation. Always a breath of fresh air listening to Aaron! Keep on the great work Wes!🙏
I think the shipping stuff in IDW Transformers was just a symptom of a greater problem: the writers took established characters in directions that go against what was previously established. I don't like that the Maximals were sleeper agent villains working for a (horribly redesigned) Liege Maximo, and I don't like how Star Saber was made a villain because the writer's fanfic had him as one. In certain ways, I think that was a portent to what we would later get with these franchises - breaking characters to tell a specific story, rather than letting the character guide the story. At least IDW stories took place in their own continuity, and Transformers, as a franchise, is no stranger to multiple continuities - it didn't change what came before, and whatever comes after does not have to be beholden to their choices.
I didn’t mind the characters “being out of of character” stuff. Arguably MTMTE was some of the best storytelling in TF history. I’m with you on the “shipping” thing. I mean I understand you can’t have hate (something necessary for million years of war) without love but I drew the line on robots kissing and screwing. It was fine when Roberts hinted at the relationship but when he leaned into it so heavily it ruined the whole thing. Besides that what helped MTMTE was Alex Milne’s art which was just stunning and when they switched artists all of a sudden Roberts flaws (like really leaning into sex and relationship crap) were glaring. Sad really.
@@tarn1135 I have done lot of "shipping" but it doesn't belong in comics. We all want good stories and art. IDW can burn for what they have done to Transformers and TMNT which are my beloved to me.
Ask yourself why the company is struggling? Hiring this type of person and what they produce is the reason why th company sucks on the first place. The sad thing is the people who write this crap actually have some talent and could make better stuff than what they create. They just refuse to do so in favor of their nonsense that will not sell.
IDW problem was that they had no respect for artists…They paid so low they could only get the artists who have no other options. If a book has a solid franchise they needed to spend some bucks! No one was grabbing IDW books for great art because there wasn’t any. Which is now a huge problem at Marvel and DC….Terrible writers and worse artists….
I disagree, Alex Milne, Guido Gudi, Nick Rouch (to a point) and one or two others were simply amazing. Yes they were on TF comics but the detail was awesome. They’re still some of my favorite artists. When they stopped being regular artists on the books the problems or bad choices by writers became glaringly obvious. And yeah pay probably had a lot to do with that.
I did like Walt Simonsons new Thor comic ( which was not Marvel Thor connected) ….I got the first volume and I think ir got to vol 3 before IDW imploded.
I doubt we will see more of it … yes, it was nowhere near being done, but Walt is now 77 and IDW out of money to pay anything upfront (and maybe dead before able to pay at all). Imo it’s the most cautious approach to consider it dead.
Years ago I worked at a company that wasn't doing well and there was talk of making everybody reapply for their jobs. Either you'd prove your value in an interview or be let go. I realized this wouldn't do much good. Some of the dead wood would be eliminated, but one of the key problem people was very extroverted, a great bull💩er, and could sell ice to an eskimo, as they say. That guy would get to stay while many other people who were more valuable but also more modest would be let go. That has to be the Heather Antos story. There's no sane reason why a company making massive layoffs would choose to keep her of all people. There had to be better people than Antos that they fired.
Yeah Campbell really killed TMNT for me. I made it like 15 issues in and had to give up. The only writer who can twist characters to their own stories and still sell somehow is Tom King, IDW should know that.
Don’t forget they tell you “It’s not for you we don’t want you any more.” Then out scones the shocked pikachu face when people walk away. Then call you bigot for not buy something that hate you and wasn’t made for you.
Since a lot of Star Trek is talking at tables, the Ready Room is one of the most iconic images of TNG imo, you'd think with the amount of comics these people have created where the characters sit around having lunch and yappity-yap, they'd be the perfect one's to write Star Trek. Unfortunately for IDW, the nerds who like Star Trek enough to seek out comics for it tend to prefer it when the writers have working brains.
A bunch of writers not interested in comics. Comics are a great way for them to fill in their schedule as they chase Hollywood work. Plenty of comic artists are still in comics only to fill in their schedule as they court the video game industry. Not many of us are in comics for comics!
I still have my weekly pull list but it has decreased by about 85%. All I really care about still getting is my spawn stuff and ASM, even through lately I’ve been canceling all the ASM variants I used to get. I may be ditching it soon though it’s not looking that great anymore. I was spending $75-$125 a week but now that’s maybe $25. I feel a lot of other people are in a similar situation. New comics stink now. Just invest in good quality runs and keys from days past!
Try seeking out Indie comics too the indie scene is growing. We have many talented writers and artists taking to indie now or ex marvel and DC writers doing their own thing and we have the Rippaverse now which sets out to correct a lot of the things wrong with western comics+the woke crap
When you take established properties and EVERY SINGLE STORY revolves around sex and and gender identity crap tied in with crap art and some sub par stories it turns hardcore fans like me who has bought multiple copies of every single TF comic since the original marvel run suddenly decides “nah, I’m out.”
Antos is dead editor walking. This Bull Shit game of being dominated by weak feminists, weird trans men, and soy boys (like the pathetic Mark Waid) is over. By Christmas 2023 we will be in a hard Great Depression. Think I'm over reacting? Read up on the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the '73-74 oil Embargo, the extremely savage recession of '74-75, and the non-recovery of 77, 78, and 79 with a near depression in '80 - '83. Comics, the weak, the worthless, and the weird don't stand a chance in the coming decade.
Anyone else hear that chicken 🤣 But no really, it's sad to think that Star Trek would be a saving grace. Even the TNG comics that were gorgeous drawn had flat stories that just highlighted the difference in writers on the show and in the comics. I can't imagine it got better from there Also yeah, that made me chuckle, as soon as they started "oh well we lost money this quarter because blah blah blah" I went "what, did COVID shut you down again?"
@@EvandroACruz I’ve worked there; it was a while ago, but I wouldn’t want to see it there. They have angled for it though, with the Power Ranger crossovers.
Wes is having a "How do you do, fellow kids?" moment. Lol! It's so obvious when some of these older heads start introducing music when there wasn't any before.
TMNT was so good 1-100, than it got bad after. Glad I dropped it. When they had April and Casey break up or fight about a disagreement that didn't make sense, I'm unsure, it wasn't made clear. And they introduced Jenika, that's when I stopped. I stopped because I it seemed that Jenika was going to be a potential rival to April and possible partner to Casey. But obviously it didn't go that way, and I heard it went in a completely bad direction. Kinda glad Jenika wasn't shipped with Casey TBH, but it's sad the comics went down in quality, just like the cartoons and movies, and by that I mean Rise of TMNT and TMNT: Mutant Mayhem.
To: Thinking Critical - TS 8:03, had me ROLLIN’!! Out Loud!! 🤣🤣🤣. Aaron Sparrow’s oft times hilarious (and dead on accurate ) assessments of IDW, never ceases to make me Laugh Out Loud!! Keep ‘em coming! Someone has to speak the Truth about all these Comic Book Publishers, who prefer to serve the buying public, a recycled Press Release Diet of LIES.
The problem with Star Trek comics is that there are more than enough episodes and fan productions to keep everybody happy. Star Wars is going that way, but if you were into SW before the Disney take over you had to deep dive into spin offs to get your fix. I think its worth noting that you dont buy/licence a franchise itself but access to its inbuilt fan base (thats customers to real businesses)
The TMNT comic has actually been pretty good this year with the Armageddon Game event especially. I don't think it's as strong as it was pre issue 100, but it's been a pretty fun read after the honeymoon period with Jennika ended around issue 120 and it went back to being an action comic instead of a slice of life soap opera.
I began to hate IDW when i lost my favorite comic series, Sonic The Hedgehog, the more beloved and longest running videogame comic adaptation ever, and got something that has nothing to do with the franchise i love! Is just a random homage to a game that everybody hated, with none of my favorite characters or cool concepts! By that day on, i HATE IDW. I will cheer when i know i will not hear from them anymore.
It’s particularly sad for me because I personally thought that IDW up until 2017 was amazing. The initial runs of GI Joe and TMNT were fantastic, they did some great horror and indie series, and were for a time the publisher that made up the majority of my pull list. In less than 5 years, they’ve managed to run every single one of their properties into the ground. TMNT up until issue 100 was my favorite iteration of the Turtles, and now I’m actively hoping for it to end before it gets any worse. Who would have thought hiring someone who hates America to write GI Joe, or letting a fan fiction writer turn a series about ninjas and mutants into a slice of life, lesbian furry comic would drive away your audience ? /s
Sounds like they need to attract more readers. What type of people have they tried too little to attract? Maybe they can start having some chinese characters to hit big in china? Chinese freedom fighters defeating the government, so that it will definitely be shelved in chinese stores.
How is IDW still in business after loosing millions each year for what, 10 years? Really? How? How are they able to pay anyone? I hate what IDW has done to TMNT and Transformers cause these are two of my most beloved franchises and they have hurt them. Comics use to bring fans together but now . . .
Heather Antos isn't even marginally competent at her job. I read a Deep Space Nine Captain Sisko one shot last year that had rather noticeable spelling errors. It is hard to believe that there were fewer spelling mistakes back in the 70's when letterers did everything manually. Antos, armed with spellcheck, makes mistakes Artie Simek never made when working at Marvel in 1974. She is demonstrably bad at her job and she keeps failing upwards. IDW and other mainstream comic companies that keep employing her are reaping what they have sown.
Well star trek idw is now playing to the message then good sci Fi stories....I was reading star trek defiant started interesting until issue 5 where it was started to be a women empowerment story not worf who the story was sold on a dirty dozen in space .. ..star trek line needs people who like trek cannon and not ones who need to see the trek universe how they would have created it.....they need to respect the cannon.....
I'm gonna TWELL ya Dei Was SPOSE'to RSPLACE?! credit scores WE were Supposed To be in the MIDDLE of da New World right Now But Maga Effin Putin BRINGG back rhecIronCurTain Bidens\Barry HABBB da Wrath of HELL on Their Heels?! Technically. If a Communist run Editorial\piblisher ....COULDs Werk....Problems...AND querie Nwo rules Dictate NO marbles NO dizzy SO CONSOLIDATED SO there are NO gay Character invMOAT AOF those Books SocialC9mmie Dictates ALLL these Books .....Purged...Problem... MY OST japanese ONLY Habb that....THYNG that Wanders That Halls So does That count as xxx Representation?!? Hey,💬I'll just add an Android....cutt Corners.....PanSexuals!!
If it's not too late. I can save IDW. I inked for them off and on for many years. 22+ yrs in the business. And have many friends in our studio and out that would love to publish creator owned work. Also to work on other titles. Day 1... ask Peter David to write the Star Trek he wants to tell. He's written countless novels on it.
Comic industry is the Titanic with some people deluded that things are great.(tom Taylor) People supporting maybe 3 decent books (wes). Cg saying everything is bad and people trying to get Ms marvel popular (perch)
Transformers is my all time favorite IP and I liked most of what IDW did with it, but when they started putting the bs gender crap into the comics I was like what the hell. They're a race of asexual machines. They don't have sexes or genders. And when I would point this out so many people would get upset and start reeeing at me. It just shows how stupid our species is. Also, the ending to the first continuity where Shockwave turned out to be one of the Primes in disguise and he was responsible for basically everything was a stupid and horrible idea. The original Primes were finally being fleshed out and built up as characters. Why throw all of that away?
That was about deconstructing the mythic lore of the book. Furman built a mythological background on the primes to elevate the story and add a air of epic to their origins .barber shat all over it saying it was just a bunch of randos a time displaced shockwave chose. Who he made the main villain THREE times in a row. I got flak on the gender thing too when I pointed out cloudburst got decapitated in g1 addressing the very issue. They're not a dimorphic reproductive race .they're wholey different to us . If anything goin the gay route took away the only asexual characters out there.but by this stage the loons had taken over.
I tried to give campbell the benefit of the doubt, but stopped reading about 107, and stopped buying at 109. I did get The Last Ronin, but even that wasn't that great. I feel the reason why it is so popular is that so many other comics are far far worse. I'm so very thankful that I collected TMNT vol. 1-4 and IDW 1-100 before it all went down the drain
That's the most frustrating thing about IDW. They KNOW how to do good comics and have solid early runs on their respective IPs. They then just go full bait n switch on ya and next thing your reading about gay romances in a war story with no war. I can still re read idws transformers up to all hail Megatron,and the first volumes of mtmte/rid. After that it's full on unreadable ”progressive" nonsense. Wtf transformers has to do with BLM is beyond me but they went There.
@@HERITAGE12 A part of me regrets not having gotten IDWs Transformers during the good days. I've loved every Transformers comic I've ever read and for a while IDW was doing great work across their licensed properties. But nothing lasts forever, and nobody can take the good things we've gotten away from us. I'm looking forward to the day when this culture crap ends and people who understand these properties can make great stories again.
I understand the mess the comics industry is in, especially the monthlies/floppies sector of the business, but man there has to be something good out there right? never mind the big two...so much just bad news and negativity....we are watching the slow death.
All the creative mediums are doomed. And it is because of BOTH the studios themselves - and the fans. Studios are so afraid to upset the fans now, and the fans will absolutely condemn a product (often while the product is being created). And both sides wonder why the end result doesn't meet ANYONE'S expectations. It is like the two sides are wrestling each other while in a death spiral. This dynamic started when the creators started letting the fans see (too much) of what was going on behind the scenes. Then the fans - getting that exposure - started to think that they can drive the creative process. Just because you consider yourself a superfan - doesn't make you a creative. But every fan with a YT channel thinks they can run a studio or direct a movie or write a book or illustrate a comic or develop a hit game. NOPE. And the longer they delude themselves of this illusion - the more they actually get in the way of the creative process. And the studios - so afraid to upset this group - keep servicing them (all while the fans complain about too much fan service). It is frustrating to watch, but unfortunately - there's no way to pull out of the death spiral. You can see the toxic relation via these two talking heads. How many times do they call people idiots, morons, etc. It's not adding to anything - only makes the dynamic worse.
That Wynonna Earp show was IDW!? That show was bad. I forced myself to watch S1, but I tried and didn't finish S2. It was cringe, bad acting, bad dialogue, it would try to be funny but wasn't although comedy is subjective. It looked cheap, boring, the characters weren't good, etc. What was IDW thinking investing in that show? What a waste of time and money.
Unfortunately were going to have to lose some of these companies. They will not learn their lesson until the wheels fall off the car. Comic books have to crash just like the video game industry did before real change takes place. It would be a lot more painful for me decades ago,but these days I mostly read manga any way. I look forward to tmnt, transformers, Gi joe and thundercats being bolks being made by Japanese dudes.😂
IDW TMNT has now become a bad saturday morning cartoon and a soap. Plot-first writing keeps the series moving along so there's always something big happening, but it leaves you with a cast of characters who schizophrenically change goals and do a hard reverse on their character arcs repeatedly. Also, The Last Ronin series is a bit overrated. IDW overplayed Peter and Kevin involvement. It started really strong but got worse with each issue. Waltz apparently wrote most of bad storyline. Now, IDW started milking it for all its worth due to the surprise success of the original mini-series. Lost Years series shit, nobody care about April's mary sue daughter and the new turtles. Another dumbness things is Waltz kill Mikey instead of let him alive and become Splinter.
I was enjoying nearly all of IDW's stuff. Then they made the female turtle gay, made some of the transformers gay, made Arcee a transexual and all the females into lesbians, made Sulu gay (and this started with the movies making him gay just because George Takei is gay).
I think Star Trek could hit a richer vein of fandom than you give it credit for; it'd take some chasing down and social media outreach -WHICH IS SUPER CHEAP BY THE WAY, as well as competent scripts and editing. Or maybe just go with corgis? 🤦
"I don't want IDW to go away" I'm fine with it. Nothing of value lost. That means more tumbler writers are out of a job. If there's any good writers, they're more than welcome to apply to another company or make their own.
Having read every Transformers history by IDW, I can say that the issue weren´t gay robots... those were too damn well written to be a problem. The problem was fascist Optimus Prime and trans Arcee.
No one running IDW cares about the tradition of most of their IPs, and they don't want to care. Like so many companies, they view IP as a flag to draw in customers. It's great power without great responsibility in their minds. When fans do not buy your ersatz IP comic, it's because they're toxic or -ists or -phobes or whatever works for the creator. If you like the IP you are obligated to buy the creator's interpretation. It's quite hateful to demand that the money you spend go to a version of the IP that you think would be better. The Antoses of the world would rather their companies go out of business than understand the fans and give them what they want.
IDW went woke so it went broke. I wish TMNT would be canceled. It ran it's course and I refuse to be like the Amazing Spider-Man or Bayman title collectors who buy no matter what and file it away. I can't do it.
Well Actually....😉 I hate to be that guy, and I certainly am not supporting the modern gender ideology, but Transformers do have genders. We get the female Autobots in the original show. Sorry, this is a nerd channel, someone had to do the "Well actually" or we all lose collective nerd points. We got standards to maintain boys.🤣 My work here is done. I'll just see myself out...
I think these "writers" hate comics almost as much as they hate fans.
I think they hate the “fans” almost as much as they hate life. Granted looking at their lives we’d hate their life too.
@@andrewtaylor940they hate their lives, but not enough to end it
@@amadeusagripino6862their cowardice is shameful.
Eric July has it right. These writers are a bunch of WEIRDOS!
They hate themselves even more, they are pathetic
heather be thy name .
🤣
the woman's LITERALLY like a sign of the apocalypse for any company she's worked at
Heather on your payroll is a sign there is something seriously wrong in your HR Department.
Heather Antos on March 9, 2018 as she left her job at Marvel comics to go to E-sports site Unkrn: “It’s been a long-time goal of mine to branch out into the video game & competitive esports world. To do so under the guidance & leadership of @rahulsood & @theWonderCow is something I never would’ve thought possible.”
Many of the comic companies just didn't learn that they need to hire editors who know their jobs, and have no identity politic agenda or similar nonsense. Thank you Wes and Aaron
It's not difficult to understand you need an audiance for your product. Comics are way to expensive to buy just out of loyalty and a desire to keep your run complete. The only thing I can think of is they don't care because its not there money.
As Keith Giffen noted via AMBUSH BUG - _"Its the Editor's fault they Green light all of it" (even Bug's skin color)._
Plus IDW's CEO (Ezra) in 2022 earned over $550,000 in base salary! WoW!
@@floorboss R.I.P Keith. Loved his stuff I still think his Justice League glad to be silly run was there best ever. Legion of Super heroes '5 years later' with his 9 panel grid was seminal.
Oh ff sake why do I have to constantly edit my posts. I know what I said. F you auto spell check.
You're right. Because of Aubrey Sitterson, he turned two of Hasbro's greatest creations to garbage with his stupidity. And I have a hunch that someone wants to sabotage IDW, I hate that kind of stuff. I want a regulation in which comic book companies would hire budding comic book artists and story writers, the type who is down to earth, real deep and lacks the crap that Aubrey has. Now that will bring IDW to their rightful place in the comic book world alongside all other in the top. I don't want sloppy stories and the shipping and the LGBTQ shit, it's nonsense. Also for Shockwave being one of the primes is the dumbest thing ever. I want the old IDW from the 2000's back. This year the woke community is going DOWN. I hate woke people, because of them, they love to make excuses out of the shit they've made, they ruined the lives of many comic book lovers and the kids who is gonna have their first comic book.
I think it's best to shut down now, than to keep on disgracing the name and lowering the standards, by having hack delusional activists shitting all over iconic IPs. But, it's a shame for coming to this situation. Always a breath of fresh air listening to Aaron! Keep on the great work Wes!🙏
I disagree. Lowering the value of the IPs makes them cheaper to buy.
I think the shipping stuff in IDW Transformers was just a symptom of a greater problem: the writers took established characters in directions that go against what was previously established. I don't like that the Maximals were sleeper agent villains working for a (horribly redesigned) Liege Maximo, and I don't like how Star Saber was made a villain because the writer's fanfic had him as one. In certain ways, I think that was a portent to what we would later get with these franchises - breaking characters to tell a specific story, rather than letting the character guide the story. At least IDW stories took place in their own continuity, and Transformers, as a franchise, is no stranger to multiple continuities - it didn't change what came before, and whatever comes after does not have to be beholden to their choices.
I didn’t mind the characters “being out of of character” stuff. Arguably MTMTE was some of the best storytelling in TF history. I’m with you on the “shipping” thing. I mean I understand you can’t have hate (something necessary for million years of war) without love but I drew the line on robots kissing and screwing. It was fine when Roberts hinted at the relationship but when he leaned into it so heavily it ruined the whole thing. Besides that what helped MTMTE was Alex Milne’s art which was just stunning and when they switched artists all of a sudden Roberts flaws (like really leaning into sex and relationship crap) were glaring. Sad really.
Too bad nobody told Kirkman to completely reboot Joes. We still have Sitterson as canon
@@tarn1135 I have done lot of "shipping" but it doesn't belong in comics. We all want good stories and art. IDW can burn for what they have done to Transformers and TMNT which are my beloved to me.
The thing I don’t understand is hiring Antos, why on earth would a company that’s in trouble hire that person? Makes no sense.
Yeah that move makes no sense. It would be one thing if she turned around businesses but that isn't the case and it's probably the opposite in fact.
Maybe they needed someone to make milkshakes at IDW's mess hall
If you’re a struggling company, you need someone who is fan-forward. Someone who can read out to readers and get them in your side.
Ask yourself why the company is struggling? Hiring this type of person and what they produce is the reason why th company sucks on the first place.
The sad thing is the people who write this crap actually have some talent and could make better stuff than what they create. They just refuse to do so in favor of their nonsense that will not sell.
That's alot of milkshakes
The greatest mystery is how IDW still in business.
@@Vetusomaru
They better ask for an increase in their esg payouts.
I used to love the DC Star Trek comics back in the 80 s and 90s. I think Peter David worked on them for a time.
"Sitting on an island, eating cheesecake and talking about your feelings" - I've actually done that! When do I get my own IDW comic?
. . . it was Manhattan Island and my feelings were that I felt the cheesecake was overpriced, in case anyone is interested, which they aren't.
@@guygadbois3010
Sounds better than what IDW has been putting out.
IDW problem was that they had no respect for artists…They paid so low they could only get the artists who have no other options. If a book has a solid franchise they needed to spend some bucks! No one was grabbing IDW books for great art because there wasn’t any. Which is now a huge problem at Marvel and DC….Terrible writers and worse artists….
I disagree, Alex Milne, Guido Gudi, Nick Rouch (to a point) and one or two others were simply amazing. Yes they were on TF comics but the detail was awesome. They’re still some of my favorite artists. When they stopped being regular artists on the books the problems or bad choices by writers became glaringly obvious. And yeah pay probably had a lot to do with that.
I did like Walt Simonsons new Thor comic ( which was not Marvel Thor connected) ….I got the first volume and I think ir got to vol 3 before IDW imploded.
Whatever happened to Simonson's Ragnarok
I doubt we will see more of it … yes, it was nowhere near being done, but Walt is now 77 and IDW out of money to pay anything upfront (and maybe dead before able to pay at all). Imo it’s the most cautious approach to consider it dead.
@@davidgantenbein9362 - he should do a kickstarter
Man I enjoyed that book.
Good job Heather
Years ago I worked at a company that wasn't doing well and there was talk of making everybody reapply for their jobs. Either you'd prove your value in an interview or be let go. I realized this wouldn't do much good. Some of the dead wood would be eliminated, but one of the key problem people was very extroverted, a great bull💩er, and could sell ice to an eskimo, as they say. That guy would get to stay while many other people who were more valuable but also more modest would be let go. That has to be the Heather Antos story. There's no sane reason why a company making massive layoffs would choose to keep her of all people. There had to be better people than Antos that they fired.
I know the secret. Antos was willing to work for peanuts.
Heather on Star Trek is one of the stupidest things in the history of comics. She wasn’t even a fan…and it shows
Maybe Heather Antos should spend less time and energy diligently updating her Twitter blocked list.
Yeah Campbell really killed TMNT for me. I made it like 15 issues in and had to give up. The only writer who can twist characters to their own stories and still sell somehow is Tom King, IDW should know that.
I hate what Campbell did to TMNT. That hurt what was done. IDW can burn for what was done to TMNT and Transformers.
Don’t forget they tell you
“It’s not for you we don’t want you any more.”
Then out scones the shocked pikachu face when people walk away.
Then call you bigot for not buy something that hate you and wasn’t made for you.
Since a lot of Star Trek is talking at tables, the Ready Room is one of the most iconic images of TNG imo, you'd think with the amount of comics these people have created where the characters sit around having lunch and yappity-yap, they'd be the perfect one's to write Star Trek.
Unfortunately for IDW, the nerds who like Star Trek enough to seek out comics for it tend to prefer it when the writers have working brains.
In my opinion they should give TMNT to Dark Horse Comics
Not gonna lie, kinda expected that umbrella guy to give IDW news! 😂
He’s too busy trying to find out the latest Amber Heard news.
Music is too loud.
And they have nothing to blame but themselves. We're not surprised and soon they'll be joining with Dreamwave.
Will there like 20 plus covers for each issue maybe try two at least that might save them money.
A bunch of writers not interested in comics. Comics are a great way for them to fill in their schedule as they chase Hollywood work. Plenty of comic artists are still in comics only to fill in their schedule as they court the video game industry. Not many of us are in comics for comics!
Don't worry
In 5 years, Eric July will absorb IDW and every artist worth a damn
Making money is evil capitalism.
I still have my weekly pull list but it has decreased by about 85%. All I really care about still getting is my spawn stuff and ASM, even through lately I’ve been canceling all the ASM variants I used to get. I may be ditching it soon though it’s not looking that great anymore. I was spending $75-$125 a week but now that’s maybe $25. I feel a lot of other people are in a similar situation. New comics stink now. Just invest in good quality runs and keys from days past!
Try seeking out Indie comics too the indie scene is growing. We have many talented writers and artists taking to indie now or ex marvel and DC writers doing their own thing and we have the Rippaverse now which sets out to correct a lot of the things wrong with western comics+the woke crap
Wynona Earp is actually a creator-owned book originally published by Image. It actually ran for 4 seasons. Credit where credit is due.
When you take established properties and EVERY SINGLE STORY revolves around sex and and gender identity crap tied in with crap art and some sub par stories it turns hardcore fans like me who has bought multiple copies of every single TF comic since the original marvel run suddenly decides “nah, I’m out.”
Nooo! I don't want IDW go bankrupt! I love the Artifact/Artist editions... who is going to pick up that line if IDW disappear????
One of the better-run indies, maybe?
Is Aaron going to NYCC? It would be great to see him again.
No, MERC opted not to bring me this year.
@@SparrowAaronThat’s too bad. Hope to see you again in the future.
Liking the outro music Wes. Maybe just have it go from soft as you speaking nd louder as you finishing up. Like it tho
Sounds effects are too loud.
IDW drunk karaoke: "If Antos knows what's good for her, she best go run and hide, Daddy's gonna terminate her 9 to 5."
Antos is dead editor walking. This Bull Shit game of being dominated by weak feminists, weird trans men, and soy boys (like the pathetic Mark Waid) is over. By Christmas 2023 we will be in a hard Great Depression. Think I'm over reacting? Read up on the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the '73-74 oil Embargo, the extremely savage recession of '74-75, and the non-recovery of 77, 78, and 79 with a near depression in '80 - '83. Comics, the weak, the worthless, and the weird don't stand a chance in the coming decade.
Anyone else hear that chicken 🤣
But no really, it's sad to think that Star Trek would be a saving grace. Even the TNG comics that were gorgeous drawn had flat stories that just highlighted the difference in writers on the show and in the comics. I can't imagine it got better from there
Also yeah, that made me chuckle, as soon as they started "oh well we lost money this quarter because blah blah blah" I went "what, did COVID shut you down again?"
So IDW it's on the verge of bankruptcy? My only concern is the TMNT franchise.Who will publish them when IDW go out of the bussiness?
I hope it’s Dark Horse or Image
I’m sure Boom or Dynamite would like to… but I’d rather see it at Skybound.
@@SparrowAaron Boom is a good chance.
@@EvandroACruz I’ve worked there; it was a while ago, but I wouldn’t want to see it there. They have angled for it though, with the Power Ranger crossovers.
Great discussion guys.
What is it with the background music in this video ?!?
Wes is having a "How do you do, fellow kids?" moment. Lol! It's so obvious when some of these older heads start introducing music when there wasn't any before.
I know why IDW is losing so much money. They are clearly paying Heather Antos way too much money.
Woo hoo! The Man behind Darkwing Duck!
Not Dynamite’s version. 😜
TMNT was so good 1-100, than it got bad after. Glad I dropped it. When they had April and Casey break up or fight about a disagreement that didn't make sense, I'm unsure, it wasn't made clear. And they introduced Jenika, that's when I stopped. I stopped because I it seemed that Jenika was going to be a potential rival to April and possible partner to Casey. But obviously it didn't go that way, and I heard it went in a completely bad direction. Kinda glad Jenika wasn't shipped with Casey TBH, but it's sad the comics went down in quality, just like the cartoons and movies, and by that I mean Rise of TMNT and TMNT: Mutant Mayhem.
I thought John Byrne was doing books for IDW...
To: Thinking Critical - TS 8:03, had me ROLLIN’!! Out Loud!! 🤣🤣🤣.
Aaron Sparrow’s oft times hilarious (and dead on accurate ) assessments of IDW, never ceases to make me Laugh Out Loud!! Keep ‘em coming!
Someone has to speak the Truth about all these Comic Book Publishers, who prefer to serve the buying public, a recycled Press Release Diet of LIES.
Awesome work guys
I personally think that Skybound is ganna do Transformers 10x better then Idw.
Me too. I'm actually looking forward to the Energon Universe
Send these properties and ip to image and assign knowledgeable editors
I would give TMNT to Dark Horse
This what happens when you hire a work girlfriend who knows Jack all of what she's working on.
_Lucky for you it's already gone to the printer._
Should setup a subscribestar too, I deleted my Patreon after they became too political.
The problem with Star Trek comics is that there are more than enough episodes and fan productions to keep everybody happy. Star Wars is going that way, but if you were into SW before the Disney take over you had to deep dive into spin offs to get your fix.
I think its worth noting that you dont buy/licence a franchise itself but access to its inbuilt fan base (thats customers to real businesses)
The TMNT comic has actually been pretty good this year with the Armageddon Game event especially. I don't think it's as strong as it was pre issue 100, but it's been a pretty fun read after the honeymoon period with Jennika ended around issue 120 and it went back to being an action comic instead of a slice of life soap opera.
Lore of IDW Comics Lost A Staggering Amount of Money Momentum 100
Never selling my tmnt hardcovers just in case they go out of business
Nothing to worry about guys. It’s just the way of things. The big indies are dying and the rippaverse is hiring the good talent. It’s a win-win.
They haven’t hired me yet. 😜
I’ve been watching the stock since it was at $5.96.
I've really enjoyed some of IDW's reprint volumes, but they are rather niche.
I began to hate IDW when i lost my favorite comic series, Sonic The Hedgehog, the more beloved and longest running videogame comic adaptation ever, and got something that has nothing to do with the franchise i love! Is just a random homage to a game that everybody hated, with none of my favorite characters or cool concepts!
By that day on, i HATE IDW. I will cheer when i know i will not hear from them anymore.
It’s particularly sad for me because I personally thought that IDW up until 2017 was amazing. The initial runs of GI Joe and TMNT were fantastic, they did some great horror and indie series, and were for a time the publisher that made up the majority of my pull list. In less than 5 years, they’ve managed to run every single one of their properties into the ground. TMNT up until issue 100 was my favorite iteration of the Turtles, and now I’m actively hoping for it to end before it gets any worse. Who would have thought hiring someone who hates America to write GI Joe, or letting a fan fiction writer turn a series about ninjas and mutants into a slice of life, lesbian furry comic would drive away your audience ? /s
Crazy, right?
IDW can burn in hell for all that was done to TMNT and Transformers which are two franchises I love.
Sounds like they need to attract more readers. What type of people have they tried too little to attract? Maybe they can start having some chinese characters to hit big in china? Chinese freedom fighters defeating the government, so that it will definitely be shelved in chinese stores.
Maybe you could get away with rebels in China if you make a Water Margin comics series, after all, it’s a classic Chinese book.
How is IDW still in business after loosing millions each year for what, 10 years? Really? How? How are they able to pay anyone? I hate what IDW has done to TMNT and Transformers cause these are two of my most beloved franchises and they have hurt them. Comics use to bring fans together but now . . .
Heather Antos isn't even marginally competent at her job. I read a Deep Space Nine Captain Sisko one shot last year that had rather noticeable spelling errors. It is hard to believe that there were fewer spelling mistakes back in the 70's when letterers did everything manually. Antos, armed with spellcheck, makes mistakes Artie Simek never made when working at Marvel in 1974. She is demonstrably bad at her job and she keeps failing upwards. IDW and other mainstream comic companies that keep employing her are reaping what they have sown.
Well star trek idw is now playing to the message then good sci Fi stories....I was reading star trek defiant started interesting until issue 5 where it was started to be a women empowerment story not worf who the story was sold on a dirty dozen in space .. ..star trek line needs people who like trek cannon and not ones who need to see the trek universe how they would have created it.....they need to respect the cannon.....
I'm gonna TWELL ya
Dei
Was SPOSE'to RSPLACE?!
credit scores
WE were Supposed To be in the MIDDLE of da New World right Now But
Maga
Effin Putin BRINGG back rhecIronCurTain
Bidens\Barry
HABBB da Wrath of HELL on Their Heels?!
Technically. If a Communist run Editorial\piblisher ....COULDs Werk....Problems...AND querie
Nwo rules Dictate
NO marbles NO dizzy
SO
CONSOLIDATED
SO
there are NO gay Character invMOAT AOF those Books
SocialC9mmie Dictates ALLL these Books .....Purged...Problem... MY OST japanese ONLY Habb that....THYNG that Wanders That Halls
So does That count as xxx Representation?!?
Hey,💬I'll just add an Android....cutt Corners.....PanSexuals!!
If it's not too late. I can save IDW. I inked for them off and on for many years. 22+ yrs in the business. And have many friends in our studio and out that would love to publish creator owned work. Also to work on other titles. Day 1... ask Peter David to write the Star Trek he wants to tell. He's written countless novels on it.
Sadly, Peter has been in and out of the hospital recently, and appears to be in failing health.
Comic industry is the Titanic with some people deluded that things are great.(tom Taylor) People supporting maybe 3 decent books (wes). Cg saying everything is bad and people trying to get Ms marvel popular (perch)
Transformers is my all time favorite IP and I liked most of what IDW did with it, but when they started putting the bs gender crap into the comics I was like what the hell. They're a race of asexual machines. They don't have sexes or genders. And when I would point this out so many people would get upset and start reeeing at me. It just shows how stupid our species is. Also, the ending to the first continuity where Shockwave turned out to be one of the Primes in disguise and he was responsible for basically everything was a stupid and horrible idea. The original Primes were finally being fleshed out and built up as characters. Why throw all of that away?
That was about deconstructing the mythic lore of the book. Furman built a mythological background on the primes to elevate the story and add a air of epic to their origins .barber shat all over it saying it was just a bunch of randos a time displaced shockwave chose. Who he made the main villain THREE times in a row.
I got flak on the gender thing too when I pointed out cloudburst got decapitated in g1 addressing the very issue. They're not a dimorphic reproductive race .they're wholey different to us . If anything goin the gay route took away the only asexual characters out there.but by this stage the loons had taken over.
I tried to give campbell the benefit of the doubt, but stopped reading about 107, and stopped buying at 109. I did get The Last Ronin, but even that wasn't that great. I feel the reason why it is so popular is that so many other comics are far far worse. I'm so very thankful that I collected TMNT vol. 1-4 and IDW 1-100 before it all went down the drain
That's the most frustrating thing about IDW. They KNOW how to do good comics and have solid early runs on their respective IPs. They then just go full bait n switch on ya and next thing your reading about gay romances in a war story with no war.
I can still re read idws transformers up to all hail Megatron,and the first volumes of mtmte/rid. After that it's full on unreadable ”progressive" nonsense. Wtf transformers has to do with BLM is beyond me but they went There.
@@HERITAGE12 A part of me regrets not having gotten IDWs Transformers during the good days. I've loved every Transformers comic I've ever read and for a while IDW was doing great work across their licensed properties. But nothing lasts forever, and nobody can take the good things we've gotten away from us. I'm looking forward to the day when this culture crap ends and people who understand these properties can make great stories again.
I understand the mess the comics industry is in, especially the monthlies/floppies sector of the business, but man there has to be something good out there right? never mind the big two...so much just bad news and negativity....we are watching the slow death.
I like Aaron Sparrows
Thank you! I like you too! 😉
All the creative mediums are doomed. And it is because of BOTH the studios themselves - and the fans. Studios are so afraid to upset the fans now, and the fans will absolutely condemn a product (often while the product is being created). And both sides wonder why the end result doesn't meet ANYONE'S expectations. It is like the two sides are wrestling each other while in a death spiral. This dynamic started when the creators started letting the fans see (too much) of what was going on behind the scenes. Then the fans - getting that exposure - started to think that they can drive the creative process. Just because you consider yourself a superfan - doesn't make you a creative. But every fan with a YT channel thinks they can run a studio or direct a movie or write a book or illustrate a comic or develop a hit game. NOPE. And the longer they delude themselves of this illusion - the more they actually get in the way of the creative process. And the studios - so afraid to upset this group - keep servicing them (all while the fans complain about too much fan service). It is frustrating to watch, but unfortunately - there's no way to pull out of the death spiral. You can see the toxic relation via these two talking heads. How many times do they call people idiots, morons, etc. It's not adding to anything - only makes the dynamic worse.
That Wynonna Earp show was IDW!? That show was bad. I forced myself to watch S1, but I tried and didn't finish S2. It was cringe, bad acting, bad dialogue, it would try to be funny but wasn't although comedy is subjective. It looked cheap, boring, the characters weren't good, etc. What was IDW thinking investing in that show? What a waste of time and money.
Underestimating DWJ Transformers
Comics are dead. Long Live Comics.
I like the new musical ques. Keep it up 👍🏽
Why are yall our here sniping Beau Smith and Wynonna Earp. One of the few real dudes left in comics
Nothing against the comic at all. It just wasn’t a property to pour so much money into to bring to TV.
The milkshake girl lol
Sorry to know about IDW’s colossal mistakes. I really liked Kill Shakespeare and some of their intellectual properties.
Unfortunately were going to have to lose some of these companies. They will not learn their lesson until the wheels fall off the car.
Comic books have to crash just like the video game industry did before real change takes place.
It would be a lot more painful for me decades ago,but these days I mostly read manga any way. I look forward to tmnt, transformers, Gi joe and thundercats being bolks being made by Japanese dudes.😂
IDW TMNT has now become a bad saturday morning cartoon and a soap. Plot-first writing keeps the series moving along so there's always something big happening, but it leaves you with a cast of characters who schizophrenically change goals and do a hard reverse on their character arcs repeatedly.
Also, The Last Ronin series is a bit overrated. IDW overplayed Peter and Kevin involvement. It started really strong but got worse with each issue. Waltz apparently wrote most of bad storyline. Now, IDW started milking it for all its worth due to the surprise success of the original mini-series. Lost Years series shit, nobody care about April's mary sue daughter and the new turtles. Another dumbness things is Waltz kill Mikey instead of let him alive and become Splinter.
Their Star Trek comics are really good.
LGBTransformers.
Cantos was good
turn down the music is a little bit overwhelming.
Will the publishing and/or licensing rights to "ROM Space Knight" and the "Micronauts" revert back to Marvel if IDW goes under? 👺✨🗡👺
I was enjoying nearly all of IDW's stuff. Then they made the female turtle gay, made some of the transformers gay, made Arcee a transexual and all the females into lesbians, made Sulu gay (and this started with the movies making him gay just because George Takei is gay).
I think Star Trek could hit a richer vein of fandom than you give it credit for; it'd take some chasing down and social media outreach -WHICH IS SUPER CHEAP BY THE WAY, as well as competent scripts and editing.
Or maybe just go with corgis?
🤦
"I don't want IDW to go away"
I'm fine with it. Nothing of value lost.
That means more tumbler writers are out of a job. If there's any good writers, they're more than welcome to apply to another company or make their own.
Wes and Aaron are the peanut butter and jelly? Is Dok the bread that holds it all together?
Dok is the sour pickle on the side. 😉
@@SparrowAaron Got that Vlasic pickle crunch.
Having read every Transformers history by IDW, I can say that the issue weren´t gay robots... those were too damn well written to be a problem.
The problem was fascist Optimus Prime and trans Arcee.
Not surprising
Money Laundering
Oh yer. They made Matt Tracker black.
Antos is a failure. Always has been and that will not change. With the losses adding up it’s time for companies to seriously stop giving her a shot
No one running IDW cares about the tradition of most of their IPs, and they don't want to care. Like so many companies, they view IP as a flag to draw in customers. It's great power without great responsibility in their minds.
When fans do not buy your ersatz IP comic, it's because they're toxic or -ists or -phobes or whatever works for the creator. If you like the IP you are obligated to buy the creator's interpretation. It's quite hateful to demand that the money you spend go to a version of the IP that you think would be better.
The Antoses of the world would rather their companies go out of business than understand the fans and give them what they want.
IDW went woke so it went broke. I wish TMNT would be canceled. It ran it's course and I refuse to be like the Amazing Spider-Man or Bayman title collectors who buy no matter what and file it away. I can't do it.
Well Actually....😉
I hate to be that guy, and I certainly am not supporting the modern gender ideology, but Transformers do have genders. We get the female Autobots in the original show.
Sorry, this is a nerd channel, someone had to do the "Well actually" or we all lose collective nerd points. We got standards to maintain boys.🤣
My work here is done.
I'll just see myself out...
I maintain that female-presenting Transformers are design specifications and nothing more. 😂
Good, they ruined transformers
Do....NAUGJT...align..thyneSelf...wit' "LOSSRs"
.....God
Idw in trouble so what is new Wes? 😂😂
Their upper management is just incompetent
Naw, Star Trek doesn't translate to comics well. Lots of talking heads, very little action.
Go "woke", Go Broke.
"Barbie" (2023) wants a word with you. That movie went woke-as-fuck and made something like nine times its budget back. 👺✨🗡👺
@@kabukikommandofourthworld5266
By lying and deceiving half the country. Hiding the woke.
Get real.