not to be confused with that other thread abt the price hike, how are you liking IDWs progress so far? lets recap:

- starts of slow, very slow with infiltration. cries of annoying kids and gundam feet. gets better at the end with megs appearance.
- DW leftovers with BW. doesnt really count.
- crowd pleaser with stormbringer 4 parter. marketed as 'no humans!'. couldnt go wrong with don n josh even if the story was meh.
- filler stories with the spotlights. had its up n downs, great start with shockwave, lowest point was nightbeat. new artist with nick n rob.
- and escalation is shaping up to be a good to above average fare, with new story elements, at least to TF lore and guys warming up to EJ su.

i'll keep my thought brief.
- love the spotlights, been down with furmy and su since day 1. only thing i wished they go with 4 parters with the main series, but 6 parters seems the be the standard elsewhere. i just think with TFs you can pick up the pace due to wealth of cast.

 

Personally, I'm enjoying what they're doing. Sure, Infiltration was a little slow to get going, but I ultimately really liked it. It reminds me of how it took 6 issues or whatever of Ultimate Spider-Man for Uncle Ben to be killed and for Peter to put on the suit.

I don't think it's Su's art that's the issue, I think it's the coloring - very flat, but getting better. Or maybe I'm just getting used to it. Furman's developing a very large tapestry here. It's interesting to see that Earth is not the center of this TF universe. I loved the BW miniseries and would love to see it continue. Don on any TF book is a MUST. I find it interesting that things seem to be really connected to the Beast Wars cartoon with mentions of CR chambers and Grimlock's cry of "BEAST MODES!" The "Dyno-Bots" robot modes also seemed very Transmetal-ish to me.

The Spotlight issues have been hit or miss. I don't want a Spotlight book on a random bot just because he exists and I'd like to see artists who can actually draw mechanical beings. In other words, I've never been a fan of Wildman's TF art and would not be interested in seeing his work on TF again. But that's just my opinion.

I'm in it for the long haul, as long as they learned from Dreamwave's mistakes. Keep Pat Lee as far away as possible.

 

It started off a bit boring but I think it's starting to get better. Frankly, I'm enjoying/enjoyed shane's 'Obsidian's Lament" more than anything they've put out thus far.

 

I've liked Infiltration and Escalation the most, and Stormbringer was my least favorite thing they've done. I hate the no humans angle personally. The Spotlights have been hit and miss; some were great and some were not.

 

Spotlight: Hit and Miss...some art was terrible. Story should of been a mini-series type to give it more depth instead of trying to rush everything into one issue.

Infiltration/Escalation: Infiltration was way too slow...Escalation, didnt even bother.

Stormbringer: good read, but kind wish it didn't continue into Escalation. If i knew that, i wouldn't of picked it up.

Generations: Dont even bring this up. What's the point of this series, it dont even finish the story.

Beast Wars: Best IDW TF series ever.

 

Eh, I'm gonna have to be a Negative Nancy here. I like IDW as a company overall and Chris Ryall seems like a genuinely good guy, but I don't agree with the way they're handling the franchise. I really appreciate the enthusiasm they're showing for it, but they're playing it way too safe. They need to bring in some fresh writing talent and stop relying on Simon Furman. He's still coming up with some interesting ideas, but he's being spread too thin. Imagine if someone like Brian K. Vaughan or Warren Ellis was brought on. Admittedly, those are long shots, but my point is that the series really needs some fresh ideas or at least a really solid storyteller.

 

but sometimes a new writer might not be a good thing....i liked Morrison's X-Men and Chuck Austin's Uncanny X-Men while others though it was horrible...new ideas were brought up but its all about making the money (and Furman so far is where its at)....they could always use the TF/Joe writer, he aint so bad.

 

I like it so far. I haven't had any issues i didn't like yet, the lowest point IMO was the Hearts Of Steel mini series, and even that was better than Micromasters or many of the ols Marvel issues. Sure, the main story is moving a bit slow, I'd like to have some story resolution within at most the first year of the run, but that seems to be a problem with most comics companies and their stories these days.

 

But sometimes it's a very good thing. We probably wouldn't have the X-Men franchise as know it today if Chris Claremont hadn't come in. Hell, Transformers comics probably wouldn't still be around if Furman himself hadn't been brought in as the new writer way back when.

I don't know about that. With Transformers, it's the brand that brings people to the comic and the writer that makes them stay. That's why the first DW mini-series had spectacular first issue sales then plummeted like a rock. The same thing is happening with the IDW series, only not as drastically. Furman isn't driving people away in droves, but he's not attracting any new readers either. A "name" writer, for better or worse, would at least get more people reading the book.

Why should we settle for "not so bad"? Transformers is a great mythos and it deserves a great writer.

 

I'm really happy with the way IDW is handling the franchise overall.

- I think they are wasting their time on Generations, but people must be buying them for it to continue this long.

- The Spotlights are a bit of a mixed bag, but even the worst of them (probably Nightbeat) was still decent enough.

- Infiltration did seem to go slow when reading it on a month-to-month basis, but when read as a whole via the TPB, it seems so much more satisfying. A great starting point, IMO.

- Stormbringer was a pretty good 'side-story' that gives us a nice glimpse of both teh past and present state of Cybertron. I think the ending was a bit meh, but overall I liked it.

- Escalation... the best so far. More action-packed than Infiltration and we're really starting to see the seeds that have been laid out in Infiltration and the Spotights come together.

I wouldn't mind seeing another writer be brought in, though, as much as I'm enjoying Furman's work. Maybe when this overall arc is finished (I think Devestation is the end?) bring in somebody else for awhile. Keep Furman around as liek a story editor and have him handle things like Beast Wars or other side-stories. PLEASE KEEP E.J. SU! DON is great and all, but I think I'm enjoying Su's work even more...

 

Sixshot. Enjoyed the Nightbeat one with the talk of the first ark and Nightbeat earning his noir credentials by running on hunches and getting pistol-whipped. Sixshot was unremarkable, and I'm really not gonna be bothered if we don't see its plot points again.

Hmm... in rough order...

Infiltration was a nice change of pace from epic / space opera, I thought, and very much in the style of early Marvel. Mostly I'm glad the colourist has changed for Escalation, because it didn't help the art at a time it needed to be building a rapport with readers. As a story it built up the idea of a really galactic scope for the war... Earth being just one world amongst many to start with, then gaining significance. Maybe could've been shorter.

Stormbringer... I'd rather have seen Cybertron destroyed. Would've made the build up more worthwhile. Liked the Wreckers/Predacons angle.

Beast Wars... like Stormbringer, it looked nice, but throw in a large unfamiliar cast and no particular interest in the BW concepts, and I think I've done my dabbling in that universe. In particular the "chronal displacement" (how does that work, when they're building a base?)... pass.

HoS... enjoyed a surprising amount. I think Dixon's a good example of a writer not quite getting TFs, though -- on the one hand they could reconfigure effortlessly, whilst on the other seemed to need earth modes to fly. He also wrote them as pretty incidental to the story.

Spotlights are my favourites so far -- give Furman limitations, such as a single-issue page count or having to use different characters, and he tends to come up trumps more often.

 

I think IDW is doing a very good job, for the most part, with a few missteps along the way. Some general thoughts...

- The G1 pseudo-ongoing (Inf/Esc/Dec, Spotlights) is probably the best TF comic I've read since the last days of Marvel. I love that the two Transformers factions are finally being represented as realistic armies, with proper chain of command, procedures, ranks and carefully laid-out over-arching strategies. For too long, TF fiction has been stuck in "Megatron has some crazy scheme, the Autobots run in willy-nilly and hit him until it stops", but this series gives the feel of these characters being in a serious, long-term war. I also like that the humans are kept to background characters but are actually serving a useful purpose in moving the story forward (although I am a little bored with the 'humans attack the Autobots first' cliche). I haven't found the plot slow at all, so I can't really understand those complaints, and the pace of important revelations is just right; it's a refreshing change from the DW days, where each issue would raise 5 new questions and resolve maybe 1 standing plotline. The art did take me a little bit to get used to but, other than a few weird panels, I actually prefer Su's style over Figueroa.

- Looking at Stormbringer specifically, I think it was a neat idea, but it didn't need a four-issue mini-series. They could have easily boiled that down to two issues or even broken it up over a couple of Spotlights. We got a little backstory, but I didn't get the feeling much significant happened.

- The TF Animated Movie was a good idea in theory, but very poorly executed. Figueroa's art is subpar for some reason, Budiansky's 'narration' is terrible and the story would be completely incoherent for anyone who hadn't seen the movie. Serious misstep on IDW's part, IMO.

- Generations...meh. I don't really see the logic of reprinting, out-of-order, the worst part of the Marvel run.

- Beast Wars was fairly mediocre, but blaming IDW for that is like blaming them for the stories and art being reprinted in Generations; they were just unlucky enough to have inherited BW from DW's "fanwank = story" atmosphere. I'd be interested in seeing where they go with the next Beast Wars mini-series but...

- Furman doesn't need to be writing everything. I like Furman's writing, and I think it's good for keeping everything in a solid continuity, but he is doing too much and there's the risk of things getting stagnant without other people bringing in new ideas. Which brings me to...

- The Spotlights are a neat idea and I've enjoyed most of the single-character focused stories; I'd put Shockwave and Ultra Magnus at the top and Six Shot at the bottom, for being just generally bad. I hope the future brings more focus to characters that are (or are going to be) important to the ongoing, rather than just being a venue to showcase 'fan favorites' (ie - Six Shot). One other thing I like about this series is that it's providing a spotlight not only for the characters, but for different artists and different styles to shine as well. In the future, I'd like to see them bring in some artists who don't typically do TFs to take a shot at this title. I'd also like to see them use this title as a spot for different writers to take on the TFs. Keep Furman on as an editor or 'continuity watchdog', but otherwise just use it for other perspectives; it might even yield some new ideas to keep the pseudo-ongoing fresh.

- On the other hand, I'm against bringing in 'big-name writers' just for the sole purpose of having a big-name writer. Look at "Hearts of Steel": They brought in a 'big-name writer' who doesn't normally do TFs and the result was terrible. Having a well-known creator might bring in people initially, but if the results are bad then the new readers won't stick around and the old fans will get displeased and drop the books. If there is going to be a big-name writer brought in, I'd like to see them get a Spotlight issue first as a test before getting a miniseries or sudden promotion to the main book.

 

I have always wanted to read a series like this, where Ops and Megs are more akin to generals than tribal chiefs. This is the first series to really show the promise of living up to those expectations, as long as neither of these characters are discarded I will remain very happy with IDW.

 

Whoa! Where did you get that signature? As it looks great! For me, IDW is doing a decent job but there were some aspects that I'm not too pleased...for example, Sunstreaker dying, Optimus taking out his anger on human soldiers etc.

 

About that, they are already on it, the Kup Spotlight will be written by somone else and i'd guess Furman will make sure that it fits into continuity. Nick Roche will be writing.

 

Thanks! I scanned the cover to the Genesis book. It's some of my favorite TF art.

I just read The Animated Movie adaptation (I wait until I get all the mini-series issues before I read them) and see it as a huge missed opportunity. The books followed the movie a little too closely. I'm not sure how you can give writing credit to Bob Budiansky since it was practically transcribed word for word from the movie. I can see him sitting on his couch with his laptop in his lap, pausing the new 20th anniversary dvd every few seconds so he can write down all the dialogue.

I would have liked to have seen it go 6 issues and really flesh things out a bit. Instead it seemed rushed and aside from Snarl showing up, I didn't see that they added anything to it at all. The major battles (Optimus Prime vs Megatron and the Decepticons and Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime vs Galvatron) were condensed into one or two panels max and they even left out Megatron's classic line, "Such heroic nonsense!" right before he killed Ironhide. How about showing Unicron leaving more of a path of destruction on his way to Cybertron? How about showing Ultra Magnus being the true leader he is, during the Battle of Autobot City, instead of the guy who said "I can't deal with that now!"? I mean, Optimus Prime chose him for a reason, right? This should have been "The Director's Cut" of the movie but it wasn't.

Still, I loved Don's art, as usual. The one thing I really miss about Dreamwave is the art production. Say what you will about the stories they told, and all the mess behind the scenes, but I always thought the art was some of the best out there.

 

I might've liked Infiltration (bought them all) and Escalation (looked at them all, bought none) better if they had an artist worth a damn. As it is, I'm currently buying zero TF books.

 

I am loving the way IDW is handling the TF story.

Spotlights have been hit or miss but its great to have single-issue standalone stories that directly tie into the main storyline. This is awesome!

I love the angle taken in Infiltration/Escalation. I love that disguise actually means something and I love the fact that both factions are actively covert. This gives us a great sense of tension and fear.

I also like the pacing-- we are slowly getting new characters and new surprises. By doing this, it makes a death or an appearance MEAN SOMETHING. I was excited to see Hot Rod, Hardhead and Nightbeat at the end of the last issue. The reason I was excited to see them was because the cast has been so small for such a long time that it meant something to see new characters introduced.

Even though I like the books a lot, I am not perfectly happy with them either. My main negatives against the books are the fact that Furman can write bad dialogue sometimes. I was not impressed with Stormbringer. It had a great beginning and then a lame, run-of-the-mill ending (IMO).

Regardless, I am very happy. Its not perfect but with the slow pacing it feels like IDW is really building something. The Spotlight books give you glimpses of the "bigger picture" that is going on in the background. I really feel like we are just barely seeing the tip of the iceberg- and that excites me.

Make Mine IDW!

 

Overall, I like the way IDW is handling the Transformers license.

Infiltration\Escalation has been deliberately slow and I like it. The humans are a necessary element in a story centered on Earth, and so far I don't think the humans have "gotten in the way". Personally, I love EJ's artwork.
I think Furman did a great job of making the Transformers a huge epic in the 80s and so far he is doing a great job of showing a closer, localized battlefront.

Spotlights have been of varying quality, but every one has been worth the cover price. The art on Nightbeat was off, but the story was all on. I really think the Spotlights are a clever way of delivering a second book in the main continuity.

Stormbringer was great. Cybertron is abandoned? No origin references to the Matrix\Primus\Unicron? I liked it even if the ending seemed rushed.

My only problem with the main continuity is that the "Holomatter" simulacrums seem like they would take a huge energy expenditure to generate, but I've gotten used to it.

Beast Wars was total fan service, but good fan service. I would like to see the series continue with less of a focus on showing every single non-show character. And please ditch the "chronal displacement" concept. I mean, why not chronally displace yourself whenever you needed to invade the enemies base?

Transformers: The Movie was less than I expected. I don't agree that Don's art was sub-par. I have never seen Don's art sub-par. However, I expected extended scenes (6 issues perhaps) but instead some of the greatest scenes in the movie were reduced to 2 or 3 panels! A lot of the best dialogue was deleted.

Transformers Generations: I look at the covers and not much else.

Cover Gallery is a great concept because I can't afford to buy all the variant covers, but I can buy one collection of them all.

There, that's my thoughts.  s

 

I think IDW is doing a great job on all fronts.

I have enjoyed almost everything, save the following exceptions:

Sixshot Spotlight- Not sure what the whole point of that issue was. Even more disappointing was that they took such a kickass character with loads of potential and made him quite lame. And let's not even talk about that circus crew the Reapers.

Stormbringer #4-The first three issues of build up were awesome. The ending with Prime talking Thunderwing to death really didn't do it for me, nor did the fact that Cybertron survived. I always liked the way in issue #2? of the DW ongoing the Ark was detonated. It really shakes things up when something of a TF icon buys the farm. Didn't happen here though. Overall, the series was good, but if that last issue had been as strong as it's predecessors, we would have had one kickass series.

Hearts of Steel #4-That was the worst single issue to come out of IDW. It just...ended. Loved Guido's work on the series overall though.

--Commander Shockwav