So I decided to check out the IDW Transformers comics more closely and have some questions. The only comics I have are the ones that have been packed in with the Generations figures I bought last year. I am planing on ordering the comics from IDW's website: https://read.idwpublishing.com/

1. It looks like I can get all of the More Than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise by ordering the Collection Volumes and the single issues that have not been released in a collection yet. Is this right and are they physical copies and not digital downloads?

2. For the subscription, is it a monthly fee and does the fee remain the same for each month?

3. If I order the Collection Volumes for both More Than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise, will they include the Dark Cybertron series or is that a separate thing altogether?

4. Is the 4 issue Windblade series essential to understanding More Than Meets the Eye, Robots in Disguise, and the Combiner Wars comics?

5. The new Windblade 2015 comics are separate from More Than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise from a subscription standpoint, correct?

6. The Combiner Wars comics that are coming with the Combiner Wars figures are part of the More Than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise subscriptions, correct?

7. Are there any other Transformers series that you would suggest?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I get started with the comics correctly.

 

That website is basically IDW's storefront for Comixology which is a DIGITAL distribution platform. You do not get physical copies.

I am pretty sure that you just get charged for each issue as they are released. Unless the price of the comic increases, then it will essentially be $4 per issue.

You will need to get Dark Cybertron separately. Volumes 1-5 of RID and MTMTE run parallel and meet together in Dark Cybertron. Volume 6+ of each series takes place following DC.

Maybe not essential to understanding MTMTE, but it does help with RID/Combiner Wars at least as far as introducing some of the dynamics of life on Cybertron post DC.

Correct.

We don't know for sure which issues will be packed into all the various figures, but the Combiner Wars event proper only takes place in (formerly) RID and the new 2015 Windblade ongoing.

Last Stand of the Wreckers is pretty good, especially for a bit of background for a character in MTMTE. Likewise #22 and #23 (aka Chaos Theory) of the old ongoing title both contain events that are very important to MTMTE.

 

Autocracy
Monstorsity
Primacy

Read these if you.want to.keep.better track of War Era on Cybertron

 

Thanks guys.

So do you prefer digital or physical comics?
Where can you get physical copies of these series?

 

They weren't that great from what I heard.

 

try this to find a local store

Comic Shop Locator| Find Your Nearest Comic Book, Graphic Novel and Pop-Culture Store - There's A Lot to See and Do at Your Local Comic Shop!

or you can order physical copies online... or im sure amazon has the collected editions that combine 5 or 6 single issues into 1 book


i do have a couple digital comixology subscriptions. how it works is it notifies you a week before the book comes out, then charges you the (tues) night before. then Wednesday morning you can download it to your device or view it online.. there is no price break, and its not like they will ever run out. its more of a symbolic gesture then anything


as far as what do i prefer, both.. actually... there are times i want the physical comic... then there are times i prefer the coviniance of my ipad. so id say its a very personal preference.

 

Sadly, my nearest comic shop does not carry IDW Transformers Comics. I should be able to get them off of amazon.com or from Barnes & Noble.

Is the only difference between these two is that they have different covers:

Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Volume 1 by Andrew Griffith | 9781613772911 | Paperback | Barnes & Noble
Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Volume 1 by Andrew Griffith | 9781613779644 | Paperback | Barnes & Noble

I did notice that the one with only Bumblebee on the cover has Casey Coller listed as an artist, but the other one does not.

Edit: For Amazon, it seems like you do not subscribe, but that you can only preorder. Is this correct?

 

Comic shops will order a copy of whatever you want to put in a subscription box, since it's a guaranteed sale.

If your comic shop refuses to do this, you're dealing with a pretty crappy shop. Do you not live in the United States or something? I can't really see why a comic shop would refuse to stock one of IDW's bigger books.

 

Interesting. I was just going by what I found on their Facebook page, since I could not find a website. I may just have to visit them in person.

Edit: I found their e-mail and will see what they can do for me.

 

Yeah, no. If anything, those three contradict previously-established (and implied) events and muddle continuity even further. Not to mention they're pretty dumb, shoddily-written stories that have very little bearing on the greater continuity as a whole (aside from Autocracy, which is the least awful of the trilogy).

Last Stand of the Wreckers and the Chaos Theory two-parter as previously mentioned. Spotlight: Kup is also a great story. Some more good Spotlight issues include Trailcutter, Megatron, Hoist, and Orion Pax. A lot of the other Spotlights are good, but tie very much into the Furman era which is a bit of a mess to jump right into.

 

I'll add each is pretty much descending in order of importance.

Autocracy shows a key point in the turning of the early war and some major events.

Monstrosity shows it's aftermath and moves a few pieces around, but nothing as significant.

Primacy is, like, the aftermath of the aftermath, and isn't as significant as Monstrosity.


So, Autocracy yes. Monstrosity maybe. Primacy eh.

 

1. These will almost certainly be digital comics as this is a portal created by Comixology I believe. Go to Comixology for more info and clarity.

2. Subscription basically means once a comic becomes available you'll be autobilled and be able to read and/or download the comics the second it is released usually there's an hour or so between payment and access. Subscriptions do not include issues that have been released already.

3. IIRC Dark Cybertron has a single starter episode that was neither MTMTE or RID then continued via those two series.

4. Nope, but it is a great mini-series that explains more about the relationship between some now key characters. It probably wasn't important at the time of release but is more important now.

5. Yes. Once issue 4 is released your subscription will end.

6. It seems the Combiner Wars will carried via MTMTE, RID but ALSO the new Windblade miniseries.

7. If you want to get in somewhere without having to go back too far I would suggest just starting from the beginning of MTMTE and RID. There was a soft reboot art that point and it is a good point to get back in from. If that is too far back then start from Dark Cybertron.

Last Stand of the Wreckers is a good series and it has some marginal relevancy to MTMTE/RID. Everything that comes before it ties in, in some minor way but as mentioned MTMTE/RID is a soft reboot so it isn't critical to know all that came before.

 

actually it's just crossing over Windblade & RID. some Lost Lighters cameo in the first part (and the Protectobots are on the way) but that's about the extent to which MTMTE gets involved

also, just an fyi, but RID drops... well, the "RID" bit and becomes just "The Transformers" after issue #35 / volume 6 (if you're going by the trades)

 

Thanks for the clarification.

So MTMTE is stepping aside from CW?

CW will be carried by Windblade and what used to be RID - is that correct?

I think I was confused as Comixology subscriptions shows that RID ongoing is the prevailing title but I did not that there was just a # on the latest release.

 

Yes, and yes.

The first issue in Combiner Wars also lampshades how ridiculous it would be for the Lost Light (the ship Rodimus & Co. are traveling on) to just keep coming back to Cybertron every time there is an event.

 

Is there a standard frequency that the Volume Collections are made available, or is it pretty random. Also, I can only find digital versions of Transformers #39: Combiner Wars Opening Salvo, which the TFWiki says was first published on March 18th, but there are preorders for physical copies of Transformers: Combiner Wars, which has not even come out yet. So will Transformers #39 get a physical release?

 

#39 is out in physical form, it came out the same day as the digital release. if you're keen on getting physical copies of issues but can't find anywhere near you that stocks them, Midtown Comics usually has single issues available to ship as well as trades.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I think I am going to go with the digital comics, since the physical copies would be harder on my budget.

One more question, do you guys usually get the digital versions as they are released, or do you wait until a Volume Collection comes out?

 

Digital on release - that's the whole point!   Then buy the trade in physical form. The price drops on digital if you wait a while usually, but unless you're buying loads of comics each month to justify the saving, not worth the wait imo.

For non-TF comics, I do usually wait till the price drops, admittedly, and then see which works out cheaper (singles vs collection - sometimes singles are cheaper!).

 

Going by the dates on the TFWiki, it would seem that Volume Collections come out about 7 months after the first comic in the volume is released, and about 3 months after the last comic in the volume is released.