The Four Color Media Monitor

According to Seibertron, the latest Transformers series from Skybound appears to be outselling any and all current DC comics published:

The Skybound comic is currently beloved by many fans and critics. So much so that it won the most prestigious awards at the Esiner’s, the Best Continuing series (equivalent of Best Picture at the Oscars) and Best Writer/Artist. And when it comes to fans, well, comic shops have such great demand for it that in the latest sales charts, for the month of May, the 8th issue of the series outsold every single comic published by DC that month. And yes, that includes Batman, which is DC’s best selling comic/character.

The only problem is, for the millionth time in at least a few years, no actual sales figures are provided. Just dollar prices. So is this a serious victory? Because how do we know it even sold in the 6-digit figures? Unfortunately, we don't, and it's dishonest to withhold the figures at all. What I do hope is that, from an artistic perspective, Hasbro's famous robo-franchise that's already 4 decades old will be handled with talent in this new take, and be an improvement upon IDW's previous renditions, which sank into wokeness after a number of years.

Something I do find odd is that, if the material I've currently found of Skybound's comics is any indication, Soundwave is depicted as he originally was - a tape recorder robot. When I checked this fansite's listings, I noticed that by the turn of the century, Hasbro's designers changed this Decepticon considerably, to look more like an aircraft in later renditions, based clearly on how, practically by the mid-90s, the tape recorders of the 20th century were becoming dated, as CDs became more the norm. Even odder, Blaster, the Autobot counterpart, does not appear to have changed much in later toy renditions. These days, it would be more plausible if such Transformers were designed more like CD players, and any accompanying robo-cassettes (eg-Buzzsaw) were more like laser-discs in some kind of special casing. So while I'm fully in favor of surrealism and suspension of disbelief, it's still admittedly surprising to see something old-fashioned like this in emphasis.

As for outselling even Batman, well, let us decidedly take the moment to note again how sad it is that Superman continues to be marginalized in favor of the series with the dark emphasis. All because some of the worst writers and editors brought everything down to a shambles since the early 2000s, for the sake of political correctness of all sorts that only got worse ever since. On the other hand, a shame there aren't more independent comics selling high, since I realize there's bound to be better stuff out there in various genres that could be given more sales. Though as realists must remember, even those sales are bound to be well below 100,000 copies, if they continue to be published as pamphlets.

Congratulations to Skybound, if anything, for achieving success for the new Transformers take. But a shame if GI Joe doesn't find the same success, and again, a shame if sales aren't in millions, and nobody's willing to change the format to paperbacks and hardcovers, if that offered a chance for better success.

Labels: Batman, dc comics, indie publishers, licensed products, marvel comics, msm propaganda, sales