“We’re surfing the rogue wave—backward, in
sunglasses. Because we can.”
We live in polarized days, broadly, though the
surf world has been much insulated from the pitched partisanship
haunting politics or sick-and-ball sport. Surfers, by and large,
agree on basic fundamental principles. There are too many other
surfers out there, for example, and the majority of them are
kooks.
Well, the detente took a hard turn, yesterday, with surfers
across the spectrum splitting into camps and digging right in. The
explosion of sectarianism not at all related to a changing of the
guard in the United States but rather IDW Comics’ controversial
logo change.
The publisher, founded in 1999 and holder of the GI Joe, Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers and Star Trek titles amongst
others, unveiled the artwork and received massive criticism from
the general comic book reading public. VP of marketing, Aub Driver,
became frustrated with the haters and released a scathing statement
in defense, reading:
Hold on to your hot takes, because its official—we’re
shaking things up! This isn’t your run-of-the-mill slapdash logo;
we’re ushering in a whole new era with a logo so bold it
practically leaps off the page and into your imagination.
We’re not just sprucing up a color scheme: we’re revamping,
reinvigorating. and hitting the refresh button so hard it might
just break. This isn’t a change of clothes—it’s our battle armor as
we gear up for the next 25 years. Why? Because at IDW—short for
“Idea and Design Works.” remember?—we’re all about big swings and
even bigger ideas.
Our new logo isn’t just a fancy set of letters in a font
type; it’s a unique symbol calling out to every reader to try
something different. It declares that IDW isn’t only present in the
comics industry; we’re leading the charge. We’re surfing the rogue
wave—backward, in sunglasses. Because we can.
Surfers, worldwide, breaking hard.
One group insisting that “surfing the rogue wave — backward” a
clear reference to backdooring a section.
The other demanding that it means surfing switch.
Which side do you find yourself upon?
Please make your case.
