I only have to look at what happened to Rewind to sort of see your point, but it's the fun and adventurous side that gives the darker times their impact. It doesn't focus on any one particular approach, it incorporates many, and the fun seems to come out on top.

The Rewind/Chromedome relationship was beautifully depicted and Rewind's farewell to his Conjunx Endura was perhaps the most beautiful, emotional sequence I can recall seeing in any Transformers comic. The tragedy only worked because of the joy, I believed in the emotions of these characters in multiple situations.

Agreed on the Megatron bit though, but it does seem to be being addressed in story.