Agreed. But...the ironicthing is.... that this style is pretty much what some particular diehard fans have been wanting the actual movie bots to look like. Now we are seeing that 'compromise' style in the comic book, and they're all crying about it.
LOL, well said. I love Don's work and have long felt that he's been the best TF artist yet. However, I don't like this new direction. In fact, I didn't even recognize it as Don's work. Also well said. These faces, while an interesting attempt at blending G1 and movieverse styles, are just too creepy. To me, the skeletal look has never felt right on a Transformer (aside from Bludgeon, of course), nor have any faces that are too "human" in design. I wanted the movie designs to have faces more reminiscent of the G1 versions and have even thought that something in between the two would work. This, however is not what I had in mind. There's more than one way to compromise between these designs and this is just one attempt. I say keep trying, there's got to be a more pleasant happy medium. Don, if you're reading this, you still do awesome work. I just don't feel this approach captures the classic TF qualities like your work up until now has done very well.
Well, I might agree with these faces being 'odd' but it still shows, people are going to be pissed off whatever 'solution' happens, i.e. the moving target principle.
Just not digging the faces, everything else is all good. Not my faviorte work but I respect it as good work.
I just got my issue in the mail today (subscription service strait from IDW). I agree that Don's work is awesome. I like what he's done with their bodies, just not the faces. I've been trying some similar things with my own work. I just keep coming back to the more emotive nature of the "liquid metal" approach (witch I've never seen as liquid metal but as some sort of combination of metallic cells bonded with a softer cellular bond to make a flexible, yet durable metal-like "skin". If you think of TFs as living biological organisms with cells like every other living thing we know of [just metallic ones], then it makes sens.). I think that it might have worked for the movie, but in a comic book all the extra lines just make the faces look too busy and cluttered, not to mention skeletal. Witch (as was stated before) is cool for bad guys like Bludgeon, but not good for the good guys. Especially if you want a human reader to identify emotionally with the characters. Judge for yourself: For those of you who are worried about a comic-wide shift to this style, don't. In this very same issue the Starscream portion is done in a very painterly style with "liquid" faces.
Thanks for the good news about the other half of the comic! I'll take this as Don experimenting with his style and hope he reverts back to the facial style of his previous TF work.
Don's done more than just movie stuff. He did Stormbringer, and Beast Wars, and War Within from DW just to name a few. He's really good, I guess he's just trying something new. As an artist, I can appreciate that. Like I said, I've been doing the same thing. A good artist is always trying to test his/her own limits, and grow better. ... that doesn't mean I have to like the end result.
I thought that things looked odd, but didn't know what to make of it. Now seeing everyone's comment, it's nice to see it wasn't just me. Me, I'll chalk this one up to an 'oops' and let it go. I don't have any problem with Don exploring in his artistic world. On the other hand, I wonder if Hasbro steered it in this direction. I'm not too impressed if that is the case. Even if it is their property, it has been LICENSED out to IDW. Let them have free reign with it unless they are actually hurting the Transformers brand.
Yeah, Don does some good stuff and this is probably experiment. IT works in some ways, but it doesn't in others. The bodies, for instance, look good with a more mechanical look, but the faces don't look right and are too small.
Art be damned, I'm worried about the story here. "Like this old ordnance, I'm ready to be stood down" Eugh... Tacky, cliche shit. But then, that's what I've come to expect from AHM and the Spotlights surrounding it. Who's writing this one?
Not what I've come to exxpect from AHM at all, but then this isn't really AHM. I really liked Shane McCarthy's run. Breath of fresh air. Still, will be interested to see Mike Costa's story as he's going to be the new writer of the ongoing series. Actually is that common knowledge yet? I heard it from someone, but haven't seen it anywhere online yet.
If by "breath of fresh air" you mean inconsistant with with promised explainations that haven't been carried out, then yeah, it was. I kinda liked it, but it was just so out of line with the previous stuff that it overall ruined the experiance. But as long as it has it's fans, that's all that matters, really.
I wish they'd keep Furman away. I really do. Shane got me back into the comics. Furman turns me away. No matter how good the art is.