There's comiXology, which is on PC and most tablets. I think that relies on an internet connection, though - I believe you effectively stream the comics, rather than download them to your device.

 

The android app can be used off line as long as you have the comic downloaded.

 

I can't find it in myself to resent being entertained by whip-smart banter in an action comic. I get that not everyone responds to it the way I do, but it's really unfair to say that the writer's humor is actually working against the characters' personalities. I just couldn't find that less true. I feel like the days of not being able to tell who's who in a TF comic without consulting the Wiki are thankfully now numbered.

 

I'd recommend Jackpot's 'enhanced publishing order' here:

IDW Reading Order - The Allspark Forums

It makes for a way better read than strict chronological order, which can blow big reveals ahead of time and just generally be confusing compared to the order the series were actually released in.

 

A deliberate starting point was the start of the ongoings. That's where I started. They do a decent job explaining the past.

 

Whoever mentioned Eugenesis in this thread, thank you so much.

 

I really have to disagree. I think you're letting your nostalgia do the driving for you. Sure, Furman was good for the time, for an ostensible kids' comic. But he made the jump to modern comics a long time ago, and his writing is just not that great. I don't think the contextual analysis is generous to him. He was ONLY great for the time.  

I will say that his stuff had a slightly less pretentious, raw compulsive readability back in the Marvel UK days, as comics should. It was also more character driven... I don't find that in his modern stuff at all. And of course Roberts would give props to Furman... the guy pretty much introduced James to Transformers. But reverence and evaluation are not the same thing.

The difference with Roberts' use of glib humour in comics, compared to others, is purely a qualitative degree. The fact is that most self-consciously "quirky, funny" comics really are "dreadful" and Roberts almost never is. I think that's one of the things that surprises me the most... that he does something that I almost never like, and does it well enough to impress me. AND he doesn't lean on the humour too much. There is SO MUCH going on, on so many levels in Roberts' MTMTE, that it's impossible to call him a one-trick pony. Basically everything he brings to the table is solid.

I think his characters are INCREDIBLY differentiated and developed... and I think the smart-assery if anything just kind of camouflages that. Many people have said that they've been put off by the quirkiness, but if you strip that away, the characters are still extremely well developed portraits, moreso than any other writer has managed since Budiansky first penned all those G1 profiles. I completely disagree that Furman has EVER shown this degree of character depth AND variety.

Furman's characters are all variations on the same 3 types... the Brooder (Optimus, and anyone else who muses "It never ends..."), the Verbose Intellectual (Jetfire, Magmatron), and the No-Nonsense Tough Guy (Grimlock, Hardhead), and their only defining element is varying degrees of tragedy. True, he does have a lot of "decent, hardworking blue-collar hero" types too, but that's hardly much of a personality.

It's hard to say whether MTMTE is overrated. But it is absolutely consistently the best, cleverest, most in-depth, concept-based writing this franchise has ever had. Period. And more, I'm not sure anything else comes close. Now, the fact that Transformers comics have NEVER actually been "good" before (at best, "good enough") means that I'm not necessarily ready to hand Roberts an Eisner Award. It's not a strong field that he's dominating. But he's still damn good.

That's a terrible excuse. "They're alien machines, so it's logical that they all sound the same." Nope. I don't think that works.

And it's not exactly the eloquence... it's the utterly flat characterizations that sit under the surface of those voices. 90% of Furmans' characters are plot-mouthpieces. They don't express their own identities, they only serve to narrate events. This was especially an issue in his IDW stuff. At least in the 80's, his characters had a bit more life in them.

Writers, like any artist, have their high points and their lows... Claremont was the MAN back in 80's mutant books. Bendis... I can barely stand the guy now. He's a total hack, which may just be the result of him writing approximately 75% of all Marvel titles and spreading himself too thin, creatively speaking.

I've seen Furman writing other comics. It's not pretty. It's not awful either, but it really highlights how incredibly DULL he can be. When you see him outside of the Transformers context, you realize how average he really is. Roberts, if he ever stepped out of Transformers... I think he'd do okay.

Of course Roberts has been a lifelong Transformers fanboy, so he's had lots of time to immerse himself in the material.The real question is whether he'd be able to bring the same life to other franchises.

zmog

 

Robers writes the transformers as characters first, giant gimmicky robots second and no matter what book you start that way you can't really fail if you make your character interesting enought.

 

@SMOG:

I wasn't saying it's okay for them to sound the same, I was just saying that the verbose way his Transformers often speak suits them more than it suited most super heroes for an example, whose authors had the tendency to give them unrealistically long speeches back then. It had that bigger than life, mythical feel of it that was fitting in a way. Of course it is unnatural and arbitrary, but I seriously can't read most of Furman's sfuff with a frown on my face. I've read most of his UK runs fairly recently, so I can't even say that nostalgia's clouding my judgment. Sure, he has some hiccups, some of the Furmanisms were annoying me even as a kid, but I could look past them and find that it was worth doing so.

As for Furman's non TF work... I though his Robocop and recent Starcraft stuff weren't bad. Sure, his Wolverine What If was pretty bland, but all things considered I still like him better than, say Eric Larsen or Howard Mackie.

Oh, Bendis. I can forget almost everything he's done because of Ultimate Spider-Man... but I agree, he's like a real life Wolverine... he's friggin' everywhere, even where he shouldn't be!

As for Roberts, i think he's doing good compared to his non TF contemporaries. Even if you ignore the fact that he's writing about transformers, his dialogues, characteisation, plotting, pace and narration are still quite awesome. I've seen quite a few methods of non linear storytelling, but the was he's started out from the beginning to and the end and spiralled his way to the middle of the plot way pretty fantastic, and even relatively unique.

Hmmmm... that being said. How do you think Furman compares to Larry Hama?

 

Is this real? Saw it floating around tumblr.

I hope so, it's really awesome.

Edit: Everyone involved in the making of this cover is a perfect person ily kbye.

 

It's real. Just check out news and rumours.

Rung's avatar has me asking questions about myself I don't want to answer.

 

Look, Split, we all already know the question:

"Do I REALLY want for there to be a Masterpiece Rung?"

And the answer is yes, Split. Yes you do. We all do.

 

Well, I mean, I was making a gay joke but, yeah that's cool too.

Masterpiece Rung yesterday Assblow and FartkaraPhoney.

 

I think we all are. Whether or not anyone else will admit to it...