Does anyone have any idea of when it is most likely we will find out who the new Transformers comic publisher and why it has not happened yet?

Soundwave2.0

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Citizen
Maybe we will find out who the publisher is and what their Transformers comics are going to be about at different times.
 

UndeadScottsman

Well-known member
Citizen
Was there not a interview about the license in august that were not ready to reveal who the new publisher was?
Also what is going on with the publishing and licensing arms of Hasbro?
Nothing in and of itself, but Hasbro, by way of Wizards of the Coast, is embroiled in a bit of a scandal at the moment. Long story short is that Dungeons and Dragons 3E was published under something called the "Open Gaming License" which meant anyone could make content, or even their own games, with a stripped down version of D&D, usually labeled D20. Wizard's said it would never go away and for 22 years it stood. Now Wizard's is killing it (despite years of saying they couldn't) for the new version of D&D and replacing it with "OGL 1.1," which, on top of not being "Open" in the slighest, is a breathtakingly transparent money grab that basically screws over the entire D20 community. I have honestly never seen a community quite this united on something, if you want an idea of how bad this new OGL is. Hasbro would probably have to excommunicate Peter Cullen to get a similar response from us.

Anywho, this is relevant because mere days after this news leaked, it was announced that Paramount+ is producing a new D&D show, and like 90% of the comments for that show are people being extremely angry about the OGL, so now Hasbro has to explain to Paramount about why the license they paid a bunch of money for is pissing people off instead of making them excited to watch a D&D show.
 
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Nevermore

Well-known member
Citizen
The troll inside me is half hoping that nothing gets announced until April just that someone could use the opportunity of announcing that Pat Lee got the winning bid on April 1.
 

Magnusblitz

Active member
Citizen
I think probably whoever has the license now will announce something when they're close to having their first issue published and in comic stores.

It got announced in May 2022 that Marvel was losing the rights to Conan the Barbarian at the end of the year, and a month later in June 2022 it was announced Titan Comics had picked up the license and would be publishing new Conan stuff in May 2023. I know that's just one data point but I think it shows that 1) there's not really a reason to wait until the last possible moment (i.e. the 3 months for Previews) to announce it, or 2) wait until the current license holder is done (as Marvel was publishing Conan stuff through the end of 2022).

I think it's far more likely Hasbro is having trouble finding someone to take the license at a price/terms they like. At this point part of me is wondering how legitimate the reported talks between Hasbro and Skybound were.
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
I wonder if there's any possibility of Hasbro starting up their own comic book company so that they could publish comics for their own properties all in-house, like how they have done for their film and television properties by creating their own film/TV production company.
 

Echowarrior

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I wonder if there's any possibility of Hasbro starting up their own comic book company so that they could publish comics for their own properties all in-house, like how they have done for their film and television properties by creating their own film/TV production company.

I somehow doubt they'll go that far. Purchasing or starting their own film or television company is one thing, as it's relatively easier to find distribution for a TV show or film (especially with the rise of streaming services), but a comic book company? There's far fewer profitable distribution avenues for something like that.

And yes, I know that digital comics are a thing, but do we really know how much digital sales are a factor for comic book companies nowadays? Seriously, I'm curious, and more information would be welcome.
 

UndeadScottsman

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Citizen
I somehow doubt they'll go that far. Purchasing or starting their own film or television company is one thing, as it's relatively easier to find distribution for a TV show or film (especially with the rise of streaming services), but a comic book company? There's far fewer profitable distribution avenues for something like that.

And yes, I know that digital comics are a thing, but do we really know how much digital sales are a factor for comic book companies nowadays? Seriously, I'm curious, and more information would be welcome.

It's been awhile since I followed comics, but Marvel and DC weren't big about talking about thier digital numbers. We knew the physical numbers thanks to Diamond publishing, but the pandemic really made that go screwy, and DC broke away from Diamond so we don't even get numbers for them anymore. At least not on the website I used to visit for this info - https://www.comichron.com/
 

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I somehow doubt they'll go that far. Purchasing or starting their own film or television company is one thing, as it's relatively easier to find distribution for a TV show or film (especially with the rise of streaming services), but a comic book company? There's far fewer profitable distribution avenues for something like that.

And yes, I know that digital comics are a thing, but do we really know how much digital sales are a factor for comic book companies nowadays? Seriously, I'm curious, and more information would be welcome.
Heck, they could probably buy IDW for less than it would take to start up their own.
 

MrBlud

Well-known member
Citizen
Print media is essentially a dead industry so I don’t blame them not wanting to pointlessly jump in.
 

Soundwave2.0

Member
Citizen
It got announced in May 2022 that Marvel was losing the rights to Conan the Barbarian at the end of the year, and a month later in June 2022 it was announced Titan Comics had picked up the license and would be publishing new Conan stuff in May 2023. I know that's just one data point but I think it shows that 1) there's not really a reason to wait until the last possible moment (i.e. the 3 months for Previews) to announce it, or 2) wait until the current license holder is done (as Marvel was publishing Conan stuff through the end of 2022).

I think it's far more likely Hasbro is having trouble finding someone to take the license at a price/terms they like. At this point part of me is wondering how legitimate the reported talks between Hasbro and Skybound were.
Could they have a new Publisher but still have work out some things with out it being the price?
 

The Phazer

Well-known member
Citizen
We don't know how it sold digitally.

It sold fine in print, not great, not terrible for a one off. If it had sold really well IDW would have done some more tbh.

Reception was generally... not very good from what I remember.
 

Soundwave2.0

Member
Citizen
We don't know how it sold digitally.

It sold fine in print, not great, not terrible for a one off. If it had sold really well IDW would have done some more tbh.

Reception was generally... not very good from what I remember.
Who do you mean by tbh?
I may have read in a interview that writer had other what if Transformers ideas.
I would like to see them because I like what if's and Transformers and may have liked this one short.
 

MrBlud

Well-known member
Citizen
I remember the reception being generally negative from actual fans of the franchise.

Those of us that (as CoffeeHorse said) don’t hate the Movie cast.

It struck me as a very Geewunner book (and not in a good way).
 

Superomegaprime

Wondering bot
Citizen
IF Hasbro decided to do comics with their toys again on mass, it likely be like it was back in the days of Armada & Energon, small pack in comics hiding with the instructions and they would be very simple stories because the speech bubbles need to take into account other languages! Thou realistically speaking, its unlikely, they'll just outsource the license for comics, books and stuff as they always have done, Hasbro isn't likely going to make a great deal out of the comic book side of things, given that the market outside of manga is pretty much a very small amount!
 


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