Why I Dislike The IDW Comics

[Arctofire 225]

Now first off, I want to start off by saying that this is less about the comics themselves, but more about the concept of these comics and why it annoys me so much. If you enjoy these comics, good on you, I actually enjoy some of them to.

 

I'm not going to waste time on an introduction, so I'm just going to get straight to it.

 

The reason why I don't like these comics is simple. I see it as expensive DLC to the show, and seems like just a money grab from Hasbro. Now I have no doubt that a lot of effort were put into these comics, the artwork by Katie Cook is great, and while the content is mixed, it's clear that they are trying to make a continuation of the show. But what I see it as is ripping us off. They really started to piss me off around the time of EQG 1, because they thought up of this plan of containing all the juicy material that you fan boys have been DYING to see, in the comics. There now doing backstorys of all of the villains, and this is so infuriating because I strongly believe that this should be in the show. However, Hasbro now has us all under their grip, and their using us to make as much $$$ as possible.

 

If the Cutie Mark Chronicles idea had been pitched in season 4, chances are it would have been slapped in the comics and put on a price of 7 bucks. When I first saw that they were doing villain backstorys, I was overjoyed, misreading it and thinking it was for season 5, but alas no. The price of ONE ISSUE is 7 dollars, and that's just for a simple, boring, slice of life issue that nobody in their right mind going to pay extra money for. For the juicy material, like the backstorys and the arcs, their all like 4 issues, so your going to have to pay 48 dollars for The Return of Queen Chrysalis arc. 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,153]

@@Arctofire

 

Just to let you know I moved your topic from Show Discussion to Comics & Books. Any comic related topic should go here.

 

Thanks.

[AlbaTross 1,581]

That's an interesting way of looking at it, but valid I suppose. I like the comics in spite of that though. One of the advantages of additional media is that it not only provides extra stories alongside the show that are released even during the off season, but by leaving extra backstory, character development and expanded mythos to the comics, as well as the novels, the writers of the show can focus more on the story arcs they want to tell, and still provide the bulk of character development while spending less time on obligatory backstory stuff. Besides, learning more about past villains would disrupt the flow of the show IMHO, and take up unnecessary episodes. I don't buy the individual issues mind you, since they're too expensive. I prefer to get the graphic novels when they come out. I've fallen behind on them but I plan on catching up in the near future.

[MysticShine 529]

I can kind of agree with you in some ways. Though, I've never been a big fan of the comics. They screw too much with the show's canon.

[Megas 27,113]

Seems like a really silly, if not poor reason, to dislike the comics to me. By that logic, the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Avatar: The Search, the Ian Flynn Megaman comics, or any sort of comic/manga/book adaptions or continuations, are just sleezy business tactics to milk fans and make money(rather than attempts to expand the franchises horizons), regardless of how much effort they put into them

 

Also the DLC example you gave wasn't a good example, there ARE such things as good DLC, don't knock it because Capcom and EA are stupid with it

Edited March 10, 2015 by Megas75

[shy0wl 484]

It's a fair point.   The comics in my opinion are really great.  Though I do see how you would say they're extra money for Hasbro.  They are a little expensive.  I buy my books on iTunes, and on the iTunes store (I don't know about any other store) after a new issue comes out, they lower the price of the older issues by $2 so I just wait until that.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,298]

If you wait for the issues to be compiled into volumes (and keep an eye on the always-fluctuating prices), you can save a good deal of money by purchasing them on Amazon.  For example: As of right now, the first volume of the MLP: FIM comics (containing four issues) is priced at under $12, new.

 

The series is limited because of the just-over 20 minute window many stories are expected to be told during.  And there are things in the comics that you'd likely never see in the show; I don't think we'll be seeing too many Stephen King references in future seasons.  The comics are allowed to be something of a departure from the series, and they can further explore things the series doesn't.  This isn't a negative, in my opinion, and I'm just glad there even are comics.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Ziggy and Angelbaby

[IJoinedForPonies 124]

A valid point, and I do agree that some of that stuff should have been in the show. Especially Nightmare Rarity, that would have been amazing to see on the show. But the main thing about those comics, is that they get made after a season ends so they can keep people interested until the next season comes. That's great and all, but they are over priced, if they dropped the price and made more of them, it wouldn't be so bad.

[Arctofire 225]

Seems like a really silly, if not poor reason, to dislike the comics to me. By that logic, the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Avatar: The Search, the Ian Flynn Megaman comics, or any sort of comic/manga/book adaptions or continuations, are just sleezy business tactics to milk fans and make money(rather than attempts to expand the franchises horizons), regardless of how much effort they put into them

 

Also the DLC example you gave wasn't a good example, there ARE such things as good DLC, don't knock it because Capcom and EA are stupid with it

 

The difference between the Star Wars expanded universe was that the Star Wars Trilogy were a bunch of MOVIES. In a movie, pacing and run time is very important, and you only tell the backstories which are essential to the story because otherwise the movie would be to long and disjointed. The expanded universe explores these characters which there really just wasn't time for in the movies.

 

MLP is a TV show spanning 13-26 episodes each season. There is PLENTY of time to do all of these backstories, but no, they waste it on another Spike episode. They went back and explored the mane 6's backstory in season 1, there's no reason why they can't do it again.

 

However, this Fendship is Magic series looks so interesting that I'm going to have to buy it. Well done Hasbro, your plan is working.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Arctofire

[Megas 27,113]

The difference between the Star Wars expanded universe was that the Star Wars Trilogy were a bunch of MOVIES. In a movie, pacing and run time is very important, and you only tell the backstories which are essential to the story because otherwise the movie would be to long and disjointed. The expanded universe explores these characters which there really just wasn't time for in the movies.

 

MLP is a TV show spanning 13-26 episodes each season. There is PLENTY of time to do all of these backstories, but no, they waste it on another Spike episode. They went back and explored the mane 6's backstory in season 1, there's no reason why they can't do it again.

I still think it's a poor reason. There are plenty of benefits of having a comic series, for starters the writers are allowed to do things that they otherwise wouldn't be able to do in the comics, and it does allow for more expansion of the world and characters, and shouldn't be ignored just because they're comics. On that tangent, there are comic adaptations of almost anything these days, and the reason for that is that fans love seeing their favorite characters/franchises in other forms of media, comics/games/books/movies, you name it. It's not corporate greed, just common business sense. As long as they have the right people working on it, there's really no reason to complain.

[Steve Piranha 28,909]

I get some of your points about the comics, but also keep in mind that there are many good stories in them, and keep us from going insane of each season hiatus, besides, there are ways to get around the prices, many explained above