Energon Universe - ongoing Transformers and G.I. Joe comics from Skybound

[Magnusblitz]

Hasbro at present seems completely ready to ride the “84 cartoon cast doing 84 cartoon stuff” until it kills the brand again (for the second time).

Earthspark aside.

Not sure that's really accurate... we just had a blockbuster summer movie that was mostly Beast Wars guys and new characters (with some name re-use), the only '84 guys are Optimus and arguably Bumblebee. The next line of toys (United) doesn't have a single G1 guy in it, much less '84. So one branch (comics) is all '84 cartoon, while three others (movies, cartoon, toys) aren't.

And going full-on 1984 makes a lot of sense for the comic book, IMO. I know stuff like Roberts' MTMTE/LL was a hit with a different-than-usual segment of comics fandom, but the majority of people buying comics are still dudes in their 40s who would've grown up on the G1 cartoon and that's what they're looking for. I think that's a big reason (along with getting DWJ as the creator) issue #1 sold so well and garnered so much hype (and good reviews, general consensus I've seen on non-TF sites is positive), it hits the casual fan a lot better, in a market that is already going to be predisposed towards liking the '84 cartoon side of the franchise. I know all of us superfans get kinda bored with it, but I think it's accurate as Shadewing points out that it actually hasn't really been done for awhile.

 

[Sabrblade]

hat was the one where Cobra found them and woke them all up, right?

Yup!

I much prefer that one to the (Dreamwave?) one

Dreamwave is correct.

where the art was so murky and it seemed like almost everyone died.

So murky and so ugly you could barely tell what was going on.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

United absolutely has G1 characters. We have listings for Gears, Sureshot, Quake, Sandstorm and a new G1 Prime

 

[LordGigaIce]

I think you guys are conflating multiple things.

I don't think I am?
And please note I'm not trying to be argumentative here. I'm just explaining why I, personally, found this first issue of this new series interesting, engaging, and good.

 

[Shadewing]

United absolutely has G1 characters. We have listings for Gears, Sureshot, Quake, Sandstorm and a new G1 Prime

Wave 1 is starting off with None though. And that's 5 characters out of a line that's gonna have about 50ish. The fact that that Titan and Commander this year are both non-g1 and non-primary characters. And you can't overlook the Toxitron Collection, where its all Unreleased G2/Universe decos. Seriously, they've been damn good about giving us non-g1 stuff with the whole of Legacy.

 

[LordGigaIce]

Hasbro at present seems completely ready to ride the “84 cartoon cast doing 84 cartoon stuff” until it kills the brand again (for the second time).

Earthspark aside.

I think you may be off base in two ways.
First, as has been pointed out, there's a lot of stuff in the current iteration(s) of the brand that aren't G1. Even Generations, which has traditionally been the G1 revival tour, has been getting increasingly varied to the point that we're getting and entire wave devoid of true blue 80s G1 characters.

Secondly, I think you're wrong for equating the brand today to the brand in the early/mid 90s.
Back then Transformers was just an 80s fad. One of many that didn't quite adapt to the 90s. And had it just died after G2 it would have been a neat, if unremarkable, thing. A massive gamble was needed to keep it fresh for the 90s and beyond, and Beast Wars was that gamble.
Today though? Transformers isn't a dying toyline fighting for relevancy. It's an engrained pop culture entity. It's become a corporate friendly, reliable, nostalgia-driven IP.

Frankly? The old argument of "Transformers evolved that's why it's still going strong, stuff like He-Man stayed stuck in the past, that's why it failed" doesn't hold water anymore. Don't get me wrong. It was right, but the circumstances and market have changed considerably.

Transformers as a crystallized IP is very valuable and can sustain itself like other crystallized IPs like Marvel, Dragon Ball, Nintendo, Ghostbusters, Star Wars, hell even Jurassic Park. And so many more.

This isn't all great- in fact I've complained on these very forums (or a previous version of them) about how IP has stagnated over the past decade or so regardless of franchise. Regardless, it's stable. By reaching this point Transformers has insulated itself against the crashes that plagued it before, when it was still new and small enough to die.

And even if we reach a point where G1 and G1 inspired stuff just doesn't sell anymore? The brand has enough history and concepts to recycle until something else hits.

But perhaps the greatest argument to that is that Hasbro isn't just letting TFers stay as this static nostalgia-driven IP. Everything mentioned before shows that Hasbro isn't staying too reliant on G1 and everything from various comics to Cyberverse to Earthspark to the movies are introducing new characters and concepts on the regular.

 

[LordGigaIce]

The thing is, I can go and read Marvel G1 or watch the G1 cartoon anytime I want; I come to a new comic or show to get a new things. New characters, new ideas, new possibilities that in turn feed into the franchise and can be utilized in the future.

Another thing is I don't want Marvel G1 again. I don't want the G1 cartoon again. Agreed and co-signed.

But I'm also well aware that the G1 cartoon setup is pretty well known in the pop culture sphere and yet it's sort of been crystallized in G1- it's never really been re-invented. Which seems odd to me and why I'm here for this. The first issue made it clear it's not going to be a G1 cartoon rehash. It's using its setup as a starting point to tell a new story. One I'm interested in and intrigued by.

As for new characters and concepts? How long did IDW1 last? Assuming things go well there's plenty of time for this new continuity to get to new characters and concepts. Writing it off after issue one seems like jumping the gun.

 

[Sabrblade]

But I'm also well aware that the G1 cartoon setup is pretty well known in the pop culture sphere and yet it's sort of been crystallized in G1- it's never really been re-invented.

*Devil's Due TF/Joe comics weep in the corner*

 

[LordGigaIce]

*Devil's Due TF/Joe comics weep in the corner*

Much like George Lazenby, it exists between two headliners for better or worse.

 

[Blot]

Hasbro at present seems completely ready to ride the “84 cartoon cast doing 84 cartoon stuff” until it kills the brand again (for the second time).

My favorite '84 cartoon characters: Rad, Gutcruncher, Treadshot.

 

[Shadewing]

As for new characters and concepts? How long did IDW1 last? Assuming things go well there's plenty of time for this new continuity to get to new characters and concepts. Writing it off after issue one seems like jumping the gun.

On this, IDW1 was basically defined its eras by the writers. Each writer did something completely different, for good or ill; and eventually Barber and Roberts managed to pull that all togeather to make the IDW1 that people really remember. When people talk about IDW1, they're usually not refering to the -ations. They layed a lot of the groundwork; but what people seem to hype and remember the most is the last few years when RiD and MTMTE were the main titles. So yeah, while this might start heavily cartoon based now; DWJ probably isn't going to be the sole writer on this series forever. That's incredibly rare.

Also, I kinda wanna wrap back around to the Autobot cast; where it was said Arcee the only outlier; but lets be honest here. Using ******* Cliffjumper rather then Bumblebee is just as daring and out there; even if he is an 84 character. They kinda literally removed a face of the brand to bring in who most would likely consider "Bumblebee at home". Cliffjumper is not someone that gets a lot of love or attention in the franchise. I think this is the first time he's had a real staring role in a series, where he wasn't immediately fridge'd.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I've said it before. A few 1984 characters and TFTM quotes have been done to death, but basically nothing else about G1 gets reused at all. Most of the tiresome stuff was defined later. Even the choice of which few 1984 characters to spam forever was defined by later media. The 2007 movie has far more of a stranglehold on Transformers media than anything G1 did.

At this point a back to basics G1 retread might be the most refreshing thing we've had in a while.

 

[LordGigaIce]

At this point a back to basics G1 retread might be the most refreshing thing we've had in a while.

Pretty much how I feel. Jetfire and Bumblebee's usage shows this won't just be Sunbow G1 Again. It's using its starting point as... well... a starting point for a new mythos.

 

[Daith]

All I know is I’m going to wait on buying any more issues. This initial issue has nothing that’s drawing me in. It’s not just the initial Ark find that’s killing me. Why do we still need Spike, Carly, and “Sparky” as named characters?

I guess as an adult I find the pun names kind of stupid for one. Who is actually going to own up to the name Spike? Carly is believable. With just his coworker calling him by name yet it is likely Sparky is a nickname. But again why the need to reuse these names? It’s obvious from a glance these aren’t going to be the same characters from G1, so why did we need to reuse the names?

I don’t know. It just feels like the whole of the Energon Universe so far is a G1 love fest. I’ll admit bringing in stuff like the Skuxxoid was cool because they don’t see references much at all. But I love that in recent years the franchise has been more of a melting pot with characters and concepts from all over being used. So far this feels restrained to G1 fan fic.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

I literally had to look it up before I realized "Sparky" might be referring to Sparkplug.

 

[LordGigaIce]

But again why the need to reuse these names?

Counterpoint- they're names fans know and do a lot of legwork to get people invested in them from go.

Also... again... it's not like Spike, Carly, etc... have been used over and over and over. Spike was far from the human viewpoint character in IDW1, which is probably his most prominent usage outside of actual G1?

Transformers has a habit of creating whole new human characters with every reinvention, even within G1. I mean... I could list them all but it would dominate this post.
Point is that actually using these names and characters as starting points actually is the fresh new thing instead of creating yet another human protagonist with a CW Drama Protagonist Name Generator moniker.

I mean... think about it. Does every version of Batman reinvent the police commissioner down to their name? No, he's Gordon. Sure specifics may change here and there depending on direction, but it's still Gordon.

So I don't see what the harm is in using Spike and Carly again. Especially considering how little they've been used since G1.

 

[Dekafox]

Has there even BEEN a Carly outside G1 itself? I;m even tempted to limit that question to the toon, but there was probably some toon-adjacent stuff she was in I'd guess(setting aside the Japanese timeline stuff derived from it of course).

 

[Haywire]

Wasn't Carly a character in Dark of the Moon? I vaguely remember a Carly in DotM...

 

[LordGigaIce]

Carly was Sam's new gf in DotM and Sam was clearly a live action adaptation of Spike... in so far as they used his last name and gave him a first name that starts with S.

That's kind of an outlier though? The Beast Era didn't feature any (anatomically modern) humans and RiD, Armada, Energon, Cybertron, Animated, IDW1, Prime RiD2k15, and everything else all took the approach of creating new human characters from scratch. Some worked others didn't, but they all did it.

Actually treating Spike, Carly, and Sparkplug as legacy characters even when they haven't been is kind of fresh and new.

 

[Sabrblade]

Has there even BEEN a Carly outside G1 itself?