I'm glad that people who are into the old cartoon aesthetic are getting fed right now, but it feels like going backwards to me. Feels like regression instead of progression. This is, of course, an inherent issue with these legacy IPs and nostalgia and all that. I guess I've been in this nerd-pop-culture game so long that I'm bored with the retreads.
I guess there are two ways to address the meat of this.
The first is that I don't think looking to the past is regression. This isn't politics, this isn't social justice theory... constant progress isn't necessary. We're talking about something incredibly subjective. I think looking forward is definitely valid but I also think nostalgia is just as valid a source of inspiration. Going "we can't look forward" or "we can't look back" seems like an unnecessary handicap. Like you're leaving potential on the table.
At the end of the day we're talking plastic robots. Nostalgia is part of the fun.
The second way I wanna tackle this is... as someone whose tastes trend towards G1/2 and the UT... I felt like I was out in the cold through the Bayverse, Animated, and the Aligned eras. Sure, Classics/Universe/Generations existed but between its unwillingness to just do the simple thing and its bi-yearly nature, it felt like most of the franchise just wasn't aimed at what I wanted.
Now it is. And I'm very appreciative for that. I understand people on the other side of the fence won't like it... but I mean. I had to do my time on the outside looking in. I really don't want this to come off wrong but... maybe it's just how it goes? Your time to sit it out? I donno. The pendulum will swing back eventually and it'll be more along what you're into. Just how it goes.
I crave exploration and experimentation.
I've said this before, but experimentation doesn't happen for its own sake.
G2 bombed, that's the only reason the Beast Era happened. Then Beast Machines bombed, and that was the only reason we got the UT. Aligned's struggles opened the door for today's hyper-referential take.
Had none of these underperformances happened Hasbro would have happily continued doing what it was doing. They absolutely employ very talented engineers and artists, but radical sea changes only happen for financial reasons.
Where am I going with this? Well AotP preorders sold out a couple times over so... I donno. For now things seem to be working.
That's less a "I told you so" and more me stating that you'll probably see a big push behind something new when the current direction starts to see diminishing returns.
Which will happen. I don't know when... but this stuff is like the tides, it all shifts eventually.
Focusing on those old designs for current comics...
My love of SkyBound is less about the art (I think it's a bit rough myself) and more about... well... the character work. IDW had the licence for the better part of twenty years and never got Optimus right. SkyBound nailed that two issues in.
All in all SkyBound's writing has been like cold water after so much time stuck with IDW's moral greyness that I can't help but find it refreshing. The character designs really aren't a factor one way or another.
That being said, I do have a genuine question for you. I don't mean to come off as a prick (I hope I'm not despite our differing viewpoints)...
You said you enjoyed IDW's designs. Well IDW's stuff is coming up on being five years in the past. At a certain point wouldn't wanting a return to IDW's aesthetic be just as much relying on the past as returning to the well on G1?
