Regarding Ted Anderson - IDW Comics

[Banul 3,831]

Ladies and gentlemen comic sales are starting to take a hit.

 

http://www.horse-news.net/2014/10/idw-pony-sales-take-hit.html

 

I hope it doesn't get too bad. I'd hate for the comics to get canceled.

[Nuke87654 1,849]

I hope it doesn't get too bad. I'd hate for the comics to get canceled.

 

Hopefully not, as I see what's far more likely to happen is that since there's a market for the MLP comics and if Hasbro finds out the reason for declining sales ( a couple of IDW writers and artists entering a pissing contest with their consumer base), they'll far more likely demand that they be reprimanded at least to try to heal the fissures being caused here.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

I'm not able to find them, but what I know is that in the reflections arc, on issue #20, there was a written message on  a wall where Twilight was gathering every info she could about the AU verse. The message was 'If you're reading this, you're reading too much into this', and how Pinkie Pie remarked of how their main verse doesn't make much sense, possibly an indication of how the main verse has it's own continuity issues as well to try and stare away from the many mistakes they've made in the arc.

 

Then in the final issue of the arc, where it showed the AU mane 6 away from the battle, Pinkie Pie remarked 'Boy, I sure don't wish to be a part of this convoluted story', which essentially was a middle finger to fans who had expected an epic main verse vs. AU verse mane 6.

 

There was several tweets (which they've deleted) from Andy Price showing him getting pissed of at someone when they tried to politely question about the decisions made in the arc and telling him to leave him alone. You'll probably need to go to /mlp/ or horse news, or even derpibooru if you wish to know more about it as they're better able at keeping records of crap like this then I' am.

 

I don't mean to take things off topic, but I honestly can't fathom how people can take those playful jabs as attacks or middle fingers on the fandom. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Really, I found the jabs chuckle-inducing, at worst.

 

No offense, and while I can see your point on Price tweet, the rest...I can't connect. I know you've shown me the numbers, but to say all of that is the cause of lost sales is something that still have trouble believing.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,329]

I'm not able to find them, but what I know is that in the reflections arc, on issue #20, there was a written message on a wall where Twilight was gathering every info she could about the AU verse. The message was 'If you're reading this, you're reading too much into this', and how Pinkie Pie remarked of how their main verse doesn't make much sense, possibly an indication of how the main verse has it's own continuity issues as well to try and stare away from the many mistakes they've made in the arc.

 

Then in the final issue of the arc, where it showed the AU mane 6 away from the battle, Pinkie Pie remarked 'Boy, I sure don't wish to be a part of this convoluted story', which essentially was a middle finger to fans who had expected an epic main verse vs. AU verse mane 6.

 

There was several tweets (which they've deleted) from Andy Price showing him getting pissed of at someone when they tried to politely question about the decisions made in the arc and telling him to leave him alone. You'll probably need to go to /mlp/ or horse news, or even derpibooru if you wish to know more about it as they're better able at keeping records of crap like this then I' am.

This is why I prefer the show to the comics. Not only do I find it has overall better writing (the comics premises just seem a bit to ambitions, leading to a convoluted mess. But also that the show writers handle criticism better. If they make a whoopsie in writing, they somehow akbowledge it in a later episode.

[JonasDarkmane 19,777]

Is this for real? Wow. I had no idea that such a man was working for IDW. I hope your complaint will be viewed. But I don't know about boycotting the comics. Perhaps at least not buy anything that is penned by Ted Anderson as @Banul suggested. 

[Nuke87654 1,849]

I don't mean to take things off topic, but I honestly can't fathom how people can take those playful jabs as attacks or middle fingers on the fandom. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Really, I found the jabs chuckle-inducing, at worst.

 

No offense, and while I can see your point on Price tweet, the rest...I can't connect. I know you've shown me the numbers, but to say all of that is the cause of lost sales is something that still have trouble believing.

 

True, I may not have the evidences available at my hand for this case, but rest assured, you can go on /mlp/ or derpibooru to find that those jobs weren't well meaning but rather to attack their critics they've incurred, especially Katie as I've heard that she didn't handled the amount of criticism for her writing for the Reflections arc very well. Another thing was that they also posted many overtly positive reviews of their arc in response, something I haven't seen them do before, which leads me to believe they were trying to take down the consumer's criticism down a peg.

This is why I prefer the show to the comics. Not only do I find it has overall better writing (the comics premises just seem a bit to ambitions, leading to a convoluted mess. But also that the show writers handle criticism better. If they make a whoopsie in writing, they somehow akbowledge it in a later episode.

 

And I never recalled them attacking their critics in a manner that Katie and Andy did in the Reflections arc. Heck, it was IDW who write that infamous moral lesson with Fluttershy's micro series that pissed every critic in the fandom off.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,329]

True, I may not have the evidences available at my hand for this case, but rest assured, you can go on /mlp/ or derpibooru to find that those jobs weren't well meaning but rather to attack their critics they've incurred, especially Katie as I've heard that she didn't handled the amount of criticism for her writing for the Reflections arc very well. Another thing was that they also posted many overtly positive reviews of their arc in response, something I haven't seen them do before, which leads me to believe they were trying to take down the consumer's criticism down a peg.

 

 

And I never recalled them attacking their critics in a manner that Katie and Andy did in the Reflections arc. Heck, it was IDW who write that infamous moral lesson with Fluttershy's micro series that pissed every critic in the fandom off.

I heard about that. Wasn't the moral to not listen to criticism or something?

[Nuke87654 1,849]

I heard about that. Wasn't the moral to not listen to criticism or something?

 

It was pretty much that, and of how the critic in the comic was portrayed as he was shown to be a terrible person because he offered a negative opinion on Fluttershy's art but then when Celestia shows up and offers a good one, he backs away like a coward, implying critics are spineless curs. I haven't read that issue in a while so I'm not 100% certain, but I know critics like VoiceofReason hated that issue for it.

[Banul 3,831]

I don't mean to take things off topic, but I honestly can't fathom how people can take those playful jabs as attacks or middle fingers on the fandom. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Really, I found the jabs chuckle-inducing, at worst.

 

No offense, and while I can see your point on Price tweet, the rest...I can't connect. I know you've shown me the numbers, but to say all of that is the cause of lost sales is something that still have trouble believing.

 

I tend to agree with this. I couldn't find Andy or Katie's tweets so I don't have a good position to argue from. However, from what I have seen of them, they tended to be pretty friendly with the fandom. I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt here and assume that they didn't intend anything too malicious. 

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,329]

It was pretty much that, and of how the critic in the comic was portrayed as he was shown to be a terrible person because he offered a negative opinion on Fluttershy's art but then when Celestia shows up and offers a good one, he backs away like a coward, implying critics are spineless curs. I haven't read that issue in a while so I'm not 100% certain, but I know critics like VoiceofReason hated that issue for it.

Never read it either, heard how bad it was from Mr. Enter.

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

 

And I never recalled them attacking their critics in a manner that Katie and Andy did in the Reflections arc. Heck, it was IDW who write that infamous moral lesson with Fluttershy's micro series that pissed every critic in the fandom off.

Okay, I just re-read that, and the butthurt must be seriously strong with the fandom if anyone could interpret that as an attack on the fans.

 

The moral was "don't let criticism make you afraid to create art". That's a great message and it's true.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

True, I may not have the evidences available at my hand for this case, but rest assured, you can go on /mlp/ or derpibooru to find that those jobs weren't well meaning but rather to attack their critics they've incurred, especially Katie as I've heard that she didn't handled the amount of criticism for her writing for the Reflections arc very well. Another thing was that they also posted many overtly positive reviews of their arc in response, something I haven't seen them do before, which leads me to believe they were trying to take down the consumer's criticism down a peg.

 

And I never recalled them attacking their critics in a manner that Katie and Andy did in the Reflections arc. Heck, it was IDW who write that infamous moral lesson with Fluttershy's micro series that pissed every critic in the fandom off.

 

Honestly, and this is from my own personal experience, I tend to remain skeptical when have complaints such as that. Was it valid criticisms that led to these said attacks? Or were people actually thinking too hard and taking things too seriously? Were the artists/writers really attacking fans, or was the defence somewhat harsh and taken out of context?

 

It's nothing against you or even these fans, but it's just something that doesn't ring with me.

 

I tend to agree with this. I couldn't find Andy or Katie's tweets so I don't have a good position to argue from. However, from what I have seen of them, they tended to be pretty friendly with the fandom. I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt here and assume that they didn't intend anything too malicious. 

 

And this is pretty my view on things. From what I have seen, Cook & Price have been quite friendly with the fandom and even inviting when it came to what bits of citicism I've seen. I'm not saying they're perfect, but I have my doubts on their guilt here; if you will.

[Nuke87654 1,849]

Okay, I just re-read that, and the butthurt must be seriously strong with the fandom if anyone could interpret that as an attack on the fans.

 

The moral was "don't let criticism make you afraid to create art". That's a great message and it's true.

 

I have a feeling it may have been that, though I don't think it was an attack on fans but rather how critics were disgusted with how the pony critic was portrayed and how he was essentially punished for giving a negative opinion for it. I'll need to review it again in the future as my knowledge on it is starting to sag from not viewing it for so long.

Honestly, and this is from my own personal experience, I tend to remain skeptical when have complaints such as that. Was it valid criticisms that led to these said attacks? Or were people actually thinking too hard and taking things too seriously? Were the artists/writers really attacking fans, or was the defence somewhat harsh and taken out of context?

 

It's nothing against you or even these fans, but it's just something that doesn't ring with me.

 

 

And this is pretty my view on things. From what I have seen, Cook & Price have been quite friendly with the fandom and even inviting when it came to what bits of citicism I've seen. I'm not saying they're perfect, but I have my doubts on their guilt here; of you will.

 

As you should, especially without any definite proof of it. I've recalled reading the fan's tweet as being rather polite and asking something that wasn't so terrible (I don't remember what the question was however), and I did remembered me thinking Andy's response to his question was especially harsh, hence why I thought he may have felt a little guilty on it and why he told him to drop the conversation.

 

I would believe in that regard as well. What has me casting doubt is mainly of how convinced /mlp/ has been on their views on Katie Cook especially in that regard of handling criticism. Usually when they hold such strong views, it's normally backed up by something, course they've also been known to be overtly negative on anything so it could be their hyper negative views reacting to something that wasn't as harsh as people would believe deserves to be responded.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Nuke87654

[Megas 27,068]

Yeah, I never got a "criticism is bad" vibe from the Fluttershy Comic.

 

I won't lie, they could've worded it better, but to me it sounded more like "don't let criticism discourage you from doing things you like", though they probably could've thrown in a "there's a difference between criticism and being a jerk" moral in there instead.

 

That said, I can't help but notice the majority of people who really hated that comic were the fand analysts/critics 

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,329]

Yeah, I never got a "criticism is bad" vibe from the Fluttershy Comic.

 

I won't lie, they could've worded it better, but to me it sounded more like "don't let criticism discourage you from doing things you like", though they probably could've thrown in a "there's a difference between criticism and being a jerk" moral in there instead.

 

That said, I can't help but notice the majority of people who really hated that comic were the fand analysts/critics 

I think that moral would be good if executed and worded better. Because I can agree with that but they should also teach the difference between good criticism, and bad criticism and to take criticism into consideration but don't let it ruin what you love. It's like the comics equivalent of Feeling Pinkie Keen.

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

I think that moral would be good if executed and worded better. Because I can agree with that but they should also teach the difference between good criticism, and bad criticism and to take criticism into consideration but don't let it ruin what you love. It's like the comics equivalent of Feeling Pinkie Keen.

That would probably have been a bit much to cover in the one issue though. Plus the story wasn't really about the critic, it was about Fluttershy not being able to handle the criticism.

[Wulfgar Von Heltzer 42]

It was pretty much that, and of how the critic in the comic was portrayed as he was shown to be a terrible person because he offered a negative opinion on Fluttershy's art but then when Celestia shows up and offers a good one, he backs away like a coward, implying critics are spineless curs. I haven't read that issue in a while so I'm not 100% certain, but I know critics like VoiceofReason hated that issue for it.

 

Was the comic written by Tom Preston?

That would probably have been a bit much to cover in the one issue though. Plus the story wasn't really about the critic, it was about Fluttershy not being able to handle the criticism.

Even still, based on what you guys have said (I never read the comics), the author is basically saying to disregard criticism and never improve, even if you're a shitty artist. Anyone who writes a moral like that is a terrible artist who can't handle any critique regardless of whether or not it's valid.

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

well now hang on a second. Regarding the HN article, those comic sales have been steadily declining for eons, long before this whole thing kicked off. It also stands to reason the Annual would see less sales as well, if the comic series is dropping. There's also the subject matter to consider. #23 is probably more uninteresting to readers than the conclusion of Trixie's mini arc. I don't see any relation to TeddyGate at all.

[Nuke87654 1,849]

No it was written by Babara Randall Kesel and art done by Tony Fleecs.

 

I've read the issue once more and I've found that while yes the comic is mediocre still and deserves some degrees of scorn, but as the lesson, it felt more like a case of 'Don't let criticism bring you down from expressing your art' rather than what I previously thought it to be 'Ignore criticism' as many, including I had suppositioned it to be. It's biggest problem was just the execution of the lesson and story as the critic's portrayal deserves every reason to be disliked as he was just straight up vicious to anyone that didn't fit into his category of art and we never see what is his vision for art, thus he was just insulting artists left and right without any real reason other than not fitting into his vision of what is art instead of criticizing what is legitimately wrong with the art. The criticisms in question just felt more like insults rather than backed up and well thought out critiques to explain the issues of a problem compared to simple compliments that were thrown in there to showcase that some ponies liked her art.

 

Also, the comic spends a third of the issue trying to explain about Fluttershy's talent and her problem through exposition that frankly the rest of the issue would've done fine without.

 

What do you think about my brief review guys?

well now hang on a second. Regarding the HN article, those comic sales have been steadily declining for eons, long before this whole thing kicked off. It also stands to reason the Annual would see less sales as well, if the comic series is dropping. There's also the subject matter to consider. #23 is probably more uninteresting to readers than the conclusion of Trixie's mini arc. I don't see any relation to TeddyGate at all.

 

I don't think it's a result of Teddy Gate yet, but I feel it was from a previous issue with the Reflections arc turning alot of people off from the comics.

[Wulfgar Von Heltzer 42]

What was so shit about the reflections arc? I didn't read the entire thing (just a youtube vid showing the ending) but I don't know what exactly about it people hated.

 

edit: oh, found your review, will read through:

 

http://mlpforums.com/blog/1527/entry-12251-reflections-arc-review-and-discussion/

Edited October 7, 2014 by Wulfgar Von Heltzer

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

 

 

I don't think it's a result of Teddy Gate yet, but I feel it was from a previous issue with the Reflections arc turning alot of people off from the comics.

I dunno. I just can't imagine some people feeling somehow slighted by the Reflections arc amounting to a measurable impact on sales, especially since those sales only continued precisely down the steady downward slide. If there was a significant deviation, I'd be inclined to agree, but as it stands now, I really can't.

[Nuke87654 1,849]

I dunno. I just can't imagine some people feeling somehow slighted by the Reflections arc amounting to a measurable impact on sales, especially since those sales only continued precisely down the steady downward slide. If there was a significant deviation, I'd be inclined to agree, but as it stands now, I really can't.

 

It was actually pretty significant as the final issue for the Reflections arc lost around 6000 issues out of 26000 in sales that the first issue in the arc started with. To make it more apparent, Ted's Trixie arc actually gained sales in the final issue that caused many Katie/Andy fans to get butthurt on IDW's forums.

What was so shit about the reflections arc? I didn't read the entire thing (just a youtube vid showing the ending) but I don't know what exactly about it people hated.

 

edit: oh, found your review, will read through:

 

http://mlpforums.com/blog/1527/entry-12251-reflections-arc-review-and-discussion/

 

Thank you, though that review is kinda of outdated as I was filled with raw emotion and I didn't took into account of Equestria Girls all that well. When I do the review on the comics again, I'll have reviewed every episode and move on the show side and I plan on doing another review and correcting and fixing whatever issues I've had with it as I still think of it as terrible arc for loads of reasons.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Nuke87654

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,329]

It was actually pretty significant as the final issue for the Reflections arc lost around 6000 issues out of 26000 in sales that the first issue in the arc started with. To make it more apparent, Ted's Trixie arc actually gained sales in the final issue that caused many Katie/Andy fans to get butthurt on IDW's forums.

 

 

Thank you, though that review is kinda of outdated as I was filled with raw emotion and I didn't took into account of Equestria Girls all that well. When I do the review on the comics again, I'll have reviewed every episode and move on the show side and I plan on doing another review and correcting and fixing whatever issues I've had with it as I still think of it as terrible arc for loads of reasons.

Upon reading your review, I've come to the conclusion that the Reflections arc seems like a great concept (I'm a sucker for AU plots) that was horribly executed. In fact, in one of my fanfics that I never post was where the mane six go to different universes, but it's more played up for comedy, like most of my fanfics.

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

It was actually pretty significant as the final issue for the Reflections arc lost around 6000 issues out of 26000 in sales that the first issue in the arc started with. To make it more apparent, Ted's Trixie arc actually gained sales in the final issue that caused many Katie/Andy fans to get butthurt on IDW's forums.

That is quite significant. Can't please everyone, I guess. 25% is a sizable portion, but at least 3/4 were interested enough to stick through it.

[FoxyCryptid 4,327]

It was pretty much that, and of how the critic in the comic was portrayed as he was shown to be a terrible person because he offered a negative opinion on Fluttershy's art but then when Celestia shows up and offers a good one, he backs away like a coward, implying critics are spineless curs. I haven't read that issue in a while so I'm not 100% certain, but I know critics like VoiceofReason hated that issue for it.

 

I dunno, I was getting more that he was meant to satirize people that do the whole "true art" thing and judge stuff based on whatever is going to them in good with their pretentious social circles instead on it's actual merits(thus why he backed down when someone important like Celestia liked it)