Mike Costa Interview on Transformers the Ongoing Mission

Roll Out: Costa on IDW's Transformers - Comic Book Resources

i believe these are the first interiors we've seen?

some key points for the nashers-of-teath
I really like the art, but still not feeling the segmented faces ~ seems like takes away from the ability to emote. Bumblebee bothers me the most, i actually think Rodimus looks pretty cool.

Dude, Grimlock looks freakin' crazy in that picture. And... Devastators... face looks weird.

I'm diggin' all this for the most part. I may actually start buying this month to month instead of waiting for the trade

Also... I notice Runamuck and Runabout in there. They live!

Still doesn't feel like a good mix between movie and G1. It's basically G1/Universe designs with more seems, gaps and details. But I guess that was a restriction, seeing as it still takes place in the same universe.

I agree with artiepants, it looks good on some bots, but bad on others. Rodimus is definitely a kickass design.

And finally, another dead horse beater...the movie-style plates just don't transfer into black inklines well. I'm pretty sure, if these designs were cgi models they wouldn't look bad AT ALL, and it's a problem that's also apparent in the movie-comics.

I spot Drift.

Edit: And Hardhead?! By Prime's left armpit.

Thundercracker's there

Isn't he dead ??

Why is Hardhead there too? Sounds like it'll be cool but I'm still not diggin the faces... I think that was a screw up on Hasbro/IDW's part... let's keep the two universes separate please.

LOVING the art. Ironhide, for one, is much improved from AHM #13.

Can someone identify the Decepticon who's at the end of Megatron's outstretched right arm (with the spikes on his chest)? I know pretty much everyone else, but that guy's stumping me.

Cartoon homage on that cover: Ratchet kicking Thundercracker in the gut

HOLD THE PHONE! i saw sunstreaker alive in that poster pic

could be a photoshopping mistake on the insignia. it looks like one of the Dinobots

If I had to guess, the poster pic is just that: a poster, and doesn't completely represent what's in the comic. Thus, Sunstreaker, the Battlechargers, etc. being there isn't really a continuity goof.

Given the presences of Harhead and Abominus (I think), I suspect it's more a generic battle scene than something actually in canon.

That being said, we technically don't know that Thundercracker's dead, just that Skywarp shot him in the face. I wouldn't be surprised if he turns up again as an outcast of some sort.

I think you're referring to Scorponok

Just not feeling the faces

Yeah. Good point. He's also punching Devastator in the face, which isn't a very good move for a Decepticon to make.

And before this thread further dissolves into another "Rarrgh! I hate movie faces!" thread, may I just say:

1. Please give Don a chance before condemning the book.

2. Please keep this thread civil.

3. Please keep in mind that whatever happens, IT'S A FREAKIN' COMIC BOOK!

arnt runamuck and runaboat also dead? their under sound waves armpit

Got to agree. I like the rest of the art but the faces are really freaking me out.

And thats supposed to make everything okay with long-time fans of the comics? We take our comics very seriously indeed - just as much as the toys and the movies.

the teeth all make them look like terminators. i like the movies and all but i just wish they didn't feel the need to movie-ize g1.

That is just some badass art.

As someone else said in another thread, this style would have been the great halfway point for the movies. At least for those of us who expected revised & modernized designs but still wanted a basic sense of character recognition & resemblance to be maintained instead of getting... well, whatever the hell it is that we got instead.

I just hope that this is as far as it goes and doesn't end up being a design blueprint for a potential new toy line or show. We're so far into Movie and Classics/Universe figures now that I hope they stay separated and don't end up getting merged together. At least not until we get more Classics/Universe characters to eventually consider that series "done".

Many posters in this thread are failing to realize that that's just a cover, it doesn't necessarily ever take place, it just LOOKS cool.

The new "New Look" ain't my thing. It's Transforming Skeleton Warriors.
But then, I was just getting used to the AHM "New Look," and the -ation "New Look."

I'm not condemning the book, I'm curious why we're redesigning THE WHOLE FRANCHISE every 6-8 months. I like visual continuity, and the IDW-verse is really stretching it.

When other characters (Spider Man, Batman) get redesigned, there's often a story or two to explain why they're different now. IDW doesn't seem into that. (How/Why did the Seekers get their Masterpiece modes, anyway?)

Will the new series address why they all look different, as it's supposed to be the same continuity?

Here's a novel idea that we never get: make the toys and the fiction LOOK LIKE EACH OTHER!!!

On Megatron - the freaky face works. He's a villain. I still don't even like it, but at least it represents his personality well enough. On the Autobots it's just too far out there. With those faces, I don't see heroic Autobot - I see cold, heartless war machine. Feels off.

Yeah. Another new-face post

love the art, hate the separate jaws. I just pray when universe comes back again (in whatever form) they don't make them with these skeletal things.

saying that a lot recently but it's really that much of a turn of for me.

The faces will be a bit odd to watch but as long the plot is good they wont matter at all. ^^

I've never been able to read any Transformers comics (since there's no comic book store near me ), but that has to be the worst art I've ever seen. I have nothing against the movie aesthetic, but it just doesn't mesh well with Generation 1 designs.

I <3 that Devastator.

That's it, thanks.

Bumblebee will give me nightmares.....

but other than that LOVING THE NEW STYLE, its fucking horrific but I love it, it makes it feel like they've reached a whole new level of hardcore, cos jeez he made BB look so damn threatening.

Gotta agree (which is one of the biggest faults with Classics 2.0 IMO) Hopefully the writing will be good

if i remember right i think its a doublespread from inside the book.
maybe its more like a montage of all thats happened in the universe so far

but maybe im saying too much?

i've only seen the first issue [before it was even colored] so..ive no text to go off of or anything. just me takin a guess with what little i know

Since the faces are such a popular subject, I wondered if smoothing them out a bit, but perhaps not completely as simple as before, would look more "appropriate" or whatever you want to call it:



Well. It certainly takes away the whole SCARY ROBOT vibe.

And those relatively small alterations make a world of difference - Ironhide immediately looks less sinister.

I'm really diggin' Grimlock's new look. Now just introduce Smokescreen into the mix and I'll be one happy camper.

so just wondering since I've not really kept up to date with the comics (no moneyz) is their some reason behind the new look? I'm guessing its to cash in on the movie look as I cant really see why else they would just ignore continuity

Cool, but I think you have already changed slightly too much. The teeth, the moustache and the pointy chin, I give you that, but I think you can keep the rest the way it is

I don't really think the look *should* change, despite how much I think it'd be nice - I just wanted to see if smoothing out the same structure would fit the...I guess "expected" G1 aesthetic more. I honestly feel they should be able to do whatever the hell the want. Either way, there's gonna be fans that don't like it, that's just how it goes. My main protest is that I worry it's part of some shift in the brand to accommodate the movie-aesthetic above all else. Given the immense popularity of the movie...I guess that'd make sense, but for me, Transformers is so much more (Much more! They've got the power to survive!) and I just hate to think of it all fading into the background while center stage is more and more inspired by the movies.

BB's is awful.

All of you asking "why is so and so there, isn't he dead?" No, they're not. This a new series and while things will "fold into" this series, all other miniseries' are separate.

...Except that this is supposed to be in continuity, as the interview says.

can I haz toyz plz?

Exactly. No one can seem to get it through their heads that "ongoing series" means "we're going to start a new series with no set endcap, but which is still in continuity with what we've been publishing".

Draw in paper bags over each characters head and I'll read it. It might even give me a good chuckle. Heck, you might wanna double bag them... just to make sure the first one doesn't break.

This just fuels my the theory that the next cartoon will be very movie influenced....

I was at Botcon when Animated was unveiled, and I know Hasbro gave a reason as to why they wanted something different from the movie, but I can't remember what the reason was...



Chris

Done and done. You couldn't pay me money to read this. IDW hasn't been coherent since the -ation stuff and quite frankly the new art style is terrible. I'll download torrent scans to see if it is in the slightest bit interesting, but I'll be waiting for the next company to come along and get the liscence after IDW's continual train-wreck fuck up.

Those faces look like Universe box art.

Dull surprise!

No, i think he's just saying it's relative to real life... a comic book going to hell (in your opinion) isn't as bad as say, a lost job, a gained STD, things like that.

While I can half understand why everyone is freaked out (changes can do that), I'm alright with what I've seen so far, and I'm quite sure Don will tweak things as he goes along (like everyone else). They looked like robots before; they definitely look like robots now. Very little has changed, personally.

Oh, and Bee's face? I love it. Why? Because he doesn't look like a roboteen poster boy anymore. Thank. God.

It looks fairly interesting...I'll give it a try and see how it goes.