Chris Ryall has posted some feedback to the complaints from fans on Beast Wars Sourcebook #1, which was released last week.

“Hey, everyone– In the time we’ve been doing Transformers comics, there have been highs and lows for the fans, I know. As there’s going to be on anything — some projects work better than others, for various reasons.

This one seems to be ranking somewhere near the first issue of the TF Animated Series for most of you, from the responses I’ve seen.

Which sucks all around–the last thing we want to do is release product that doesn’t work for you. Especially since this particular book took so long to finally arrive. And because so many artists and colorists labored over it. And because Simon and Ben Yee did the same, and then waited patiently for the book to finally be assembled and released.

So for the person who just e-mailed me very angry and said “once again, IDW screws its fans,” well, that’s hardly true and hardly a sound approach to business, I would think. And nothing we would ever set out to do.

So what happened?

That’s a good question. But there’s really no need for me to make excuses or air any beasty-smelling laundry, so I’ll just say that the book is, like everything we publish, ultimately my responsibility. This book was one that sort of slipped through the crack while I was dealing with an editorial shift, and it went out with some errors. Book Two was completed during this same period. But Andrew is here as the TF Editor now, and is extremely competent and he and I will do what we can to ensure the rest of the books are produced as they should be. As many errors are able to be corrected in the collected version will be fixed, too.

I know that this book was a bit of a disappointment for fans who waited so long. Transition with art teams or editorial teams can cause hiccups that are evidenced in the finished product, but certainly not on purpose.

So know that I share your pain on this–maybe moreso, since so many people have shared their pain with me–but also know that putting out something you don’t love is never our intent. We’ll get ’em next time.”