MTMTE 29 - The Lost Light Insider

If I had all the time in the world I would make this a real fanzine:

I have too much time on my hands. Really. Sad.

But I don't, and it's sad enough that I'm such a lonely near-middle age man to make that in the first place. But it got me a surprisingly large amount of retweets. Like more than five.

EDIT:

@robotswcoffee You are a genius.

— James Roberts (@jroberts332) May 15, 2014

MTMTE 29 came out and it was great. Continues on with 28's back & forth of modern day Lost Light living & Megatron's trial, making more sense of everything. I haven't combed over every damn panel but there doesn't seem to be as many mysteries or clues BUT I AM PROBABLY WRONG so whatever, I will enjoy it on its zillionth read. Hey, there's a jump discussing this and, more importantly, Windblade. Possible Spoilers!



Well I was wrong about the coffin. And the coffin the first part of the warning in issue 1, well, odd that the warning was directed at Rodimus, huh? Random observations:
-is Ultra Magnus writing The Lost Light Insider?
-what is Swerve's old injury?
-Starscream is written amazingly well. So stoically weaselly. I even gotta wonder if he's trying to do Megatron a favor in his deposition.
-I almost ruined the whole issue by opening the comic in the middle. Do not open the comic in the middle.
-Trailbreaker is such a great character. Megatron's arm around Trailbreaker? Priceless.
-I loved Josh Burcham's coloring in this series, but I don't know what people are complaining about with Joanna LaFuente taking over with this issue. It's still great. Maybe they want it to be brighter for this season? I hope does he come back but I am glad she's working on the comic.
-The ship is alive and it likes Trailbreaker but hates Megatron. There, theorized.
I have more but really it's all just random blather until #30 comes out and completes this three parter flashback/set-up.

WINDBLADE.
Here's my post from last month about Windblade, and why, if it can't go ongoing, it should be a series of miniseries. Now, here are the monthly sales from Diamond to retailer for April 2014. You'll notice that Windblade is at #183 with just under 10,000 units shipped from distributor to retailer.

-That's from ONE distro to ONE TYPE of retailers. That means that, though I couldn't name smaller distributors to comic book retailers, there are other atypical ways to get comics, like magazine vendors, but I frankly don't know which ones do this anymore.
-That also means that it's sold to retailers. That could mean that all 9800+ copies are still sitting on the shelves.
-Buuuuut we know that retailers don't order indies unless they know they can sell indies (trust me on this). It's an uphill battle and yes, I call IDW an indie. So I imagine that there's sellthrough on the shelf for this book. I am sure that there are still copies of  bestselling #1 and #2 on the list on store shelves. Especially at $6 each.
-How many superhero books ship two issues a month (at $4 a comic, same as IDW books?)? How many related specials/one shots alluding to a crossover? Eliminate those and Windblade moves up a little higher on the list.
-It shipped with two covers, albeit not 50/50 ration. You had to (as retailer) request the Sub cover from Diamond, and most likely the fans asking for the book would ask the retailer. That doesn't include the incentive cover...I THINK. Those are 1 in 10 (generally) but that doesn't mean that 980 covers were sent out. It's 1 in 10 if you order 10 copies.
-MTMTE & RID debuted at 15,000+ and 12,000+ respectively, with five covers each. They are stable also at @ 9,500 units every month. Again, stores that take a chance on these books at the 28 issue mark do so because they're selling those consistently. There's a half million Amazing Spidey #1s because it's a #1 with several incentive covers and probably a lot of "if you buy this many, you get more incentive covers/a discount on all copies." Again, trust me on this. It's obnoxious. Issues 2 and 3 of a book with a half million #1s will drop.
-The last four issue TF mini, Heart Of Darkness, started off at 8500 units and went down to 7000+. It was not well received; I imagine that the last few issues weren't picked up by consumers, but that's my own theorizing. I had even heard through the grapevine that as a result, Chaos, planned as its own mini, was integrated with the regular series.
-ANYWAY, as a mini, regular comic fans might show less interest. HOWEVER, new readers, who like finite # of issues and low commitment ("No really, start at #566, that's where it really kicks into gear!"), that itself might be an incentive.
-But not only is (just under) 10,000 units nothing to sneeze at (and that number WILL be higher if there are re-orders, and maybe a 2nd print!), the comic also beat out Batman on iTunes for its debut. Digital comic distribution might be more appealing, and direct, for new readers, for a variety of reasons.

If Windblade can stay consistent throughout its four issues run (meaning, HEY fans, don't buy both covers and hoard them!) and every issue stays at the 8000-9000+ range, then this art team deserves a series of miniseries...if not an ongoing. I would love to see "#80 of a Four Issue Mini-Series!" by Scott & Stone in the far future. So if you dug #1, then get #2, #3, and #4 when they come out. And tell your friends, and raise your voice and tell your retailer this is a comic they need to carry.

Blah blah blah blah blah.
-Paul