I don't remember that much of a stink over the race change of Matt Trakker. Although the main complaint about the race change was that the view was the M.A.S.K. team already had a diverse cast of characters, and it just seemed redundant to change things for the sake of changing things. Especially, when Hasbro, a few years before released a classic version of Trakker as part of the Joe line's
25th Anniversary series not so long before.
I enjoyed Rom and Micronauts return via IDW. Rom a little more. But both Rom and Micronauts when introduced to the fan base that loves them today. The Spaceknight and the Voyagers From Inner-Space for a time were part of the MU as much as the X-Men ,and Spidey were when their books were published by Marvel. So I could see why it'd be hard to reignite the spark with those properties somewhere else ,and start from scratch too boot. Creating a new mythology out of something that already had a strong, small, but pretty strong fanbase. The odds might've been against it.
On Aubrey Sitterson, and his controversial tenure on G.I. Joe. The direction Sitterson and IDW wanted to go with the Joe team didn't go over too well with longtime fans. Which really blew up with the Aubrey's controversial statements on who had the right to mourn the events of 9/11 during the day of the event's fifteenth anniversary which ended up being the straw that broke the camel's back for the Joe fan collective.
And the stink Sitterson stirred up made a lot of Joe fans ready to dump the whole lot of Hasbro's product. Which Hasbro pushed to tell IDW to dump the yutz. Or else Hasbro would not renew their licensing agreement with IDW. Which IDW's boss Chris Ryall did end up doing. But with much kicking, screaming, and bitching.