BZZURKK has posted a four page preview of IDW Publishing’s Transformers Ongoing series, issue #4. This issue focuses on the Decepticon Thundercracker and what he’s been up to since the end of All Hail Megatron.
Check out the full preview by clicking on the link above.
mugen_prime
Picked it up yesterday, and while I'm still not a fan of the faces….. The story is starting to redeem itself and get kinda interesting.
matsuri
WHY?
I like Thundercracker. I don't wanna see him die. (and Sunstreaker not die.)
Digilaut
I think it was in one of the latest Q&A. Hasbro said something like they 'suggested' more movie influenced designs.
Maybe it's a mix of both..maybe Don was already experimenting with doing more moviestyle stuff (didn't he dislike it at first? Might be mistaken), or maybe he's saying it's his own choice to prevent fans from going "F U HASBROOOO" – I reckon they are more open to an artist experimenting than Hasbro 'forcing' movie influence onto G1 style products.
Still..a suggestion is only a suggestion, so I think nobody forced anyone.
Dys
I've never heard anyone from Hasbro say they requested the new art style, care to link to proof?
I know they requested the universe designs be used in AHM, but this is the first I've heard of them having anything to do with a style both DON and the IDW editorial staff say is his choice.
Kungfu Dinobot
Yeah, and Astrotrain, Hot Rod and Ratbat also had the same happen to them what happened to the seekers, and every transformer sans Cliffjumper given an earth disguise in AHM all had pretty much straight-from-the-80s designs.
It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to put 2 and 2 together and conclude that McCarthy's a GEEWUNNER
Valkysas
and don says the new art style is his idea, and hasbro said they requested it. you can't trust what people say.
Kungfu Dinobot
Incorrect, McCarthy more-or-less confirmed that the F-15 thing was entirely his idea, with no Hasbro involvement, on the IDW forums.
So, Schadenfreud!
cgibsonREX
BB is still a VW in the ongoing. But I think it's a bad idea to keep changing forms so often. Just think of someone like Spider-Man or Superman with a new suit every 6 months for no reason other than the artist just wanted to. Or watching a Batman film when the actor playing Batman changes every 30min.
It's weird that they will make note of certain forms but then change them as if they were always like that to begin with. Seeing them in different bodies so often is just tacky and a more uniformed approach needs to be taken to character design. It's cool for an artist to draw within his style but Prime has to look like Prime no matter who draws it.
Octane was always Tankor in IDW. I don't mind toys being in the comic, I much rather see toys of the comic characters. But I think those actions didn't affect toy sales much witch made it pointless.
DevilGalvatron
From what I have seen TC always acts like the responsible one. He's definitely pro though. It earned him a spot in the top 3. Otherwise he'd be flying with conehead squadron or worse yet….Rainmaker squadron.
Valkysas
no. he was just shot. it doesnt show where he was shot. the gun was right up against his head, but I think it's obvious now that either he moved, or skywarp did. when we see the gun fire, it is no longer right against his head, because his head isnt in the shot.
Bathawk
professional soldier? I always thought Thundercracker wasn't a "bad guy" but lured to the 'cons because they were able to stroke his ego, and he simply joined up with the "cool kids"
Or am I thinking of his dreamwave bio?
that ebing said I would kind of would want to see his ideological opposite show up in the book….Repungus (I know, I know)
mugen_prime
Ok, you guys convinced me. I WAS hoping that they'd end up bringing him back. I thought the fact that his eyes were still glowing at the end was them hinting that he's still alive. But it also makes sense that it was actually his "dieing breath" so to speak.
DevilGalvatron
Always loved THUNDERCRACKER! It seems like peeps are starting to see what I saw. The guy is professional soldier, one of the best there is. He focuses on the mission objective but takes no joy in causing needless suffering. This always made him the most interesting seeker IMO. One of the more thoughtful cons, and not just a metal monster.
No wonder Octane respects him too much to hide behind his marker in "Ghost in the Machine". I'd pick up the comic, but IDW is really going the wrong way with there things. They could be introducing the rest of the world to a broader TF universe like Starsaber and weaving the various continuities together. Instead they just kill characters people love? Pass.
BB Shockwave
I think Hasbro, and the fact that Masterpiece Startscream and Skywarp were in Target store shelves had more to do with the fact…
Also the sudden reformat of every Bot and Con into (if possible) Universe Classics toy bodies, as well as the sudden renaming of Octane into Tankor and the hi-then-die appearance of Dropshot.
I'm still pissed that Hasbro forced so much marketing into AHM, we haven't seen that much forced character redesign/placement since the Budiansky end era of Marvel. Why wasn't Hasbro happy with all the product placement in the Bayformer-verse comics?
Granted, not that the Bots being in old IDW form would have made AHM any better…
TC being back is… unreal. He was shot in the head, point blank range – that's instant death, with the brain module destroyed. But I guess I have got to get used to Transformers becoming like any Marvel or DC comic, writers coming and going every year/half a year, rebooting continuity and bringing back dead characters. You know, one of the endearing factor of the old TF comics for me was that there were only a few writers (Budiansky, Furman and a few others) and Furman was a master at writing stories so that they did not contradict previous established material. Costa doesn't even try hard.
ams
Can't say I'm a fan of any of the artwork, particularly the two covers.
Takeout
He's been caught in an explosion, decapitated and stranded on a barely habitable planet. Hunter's dead too.
Close enough.
Angelwave
The unfortunate thing about it, though, is when the writers acknowledge the dated designs and decide to actually point it out within the story. The end of Spotlight Soundwave was a prime example.
AniProwl
Looks interesting.
Can't wait to get the Paperback if it gets better story-wise.
I don't mind the art much.
iconscons
Regarding all this f15 stuff…it's pretty much been explained by IDW as allowing artists to express them how they want. BB is a VW bug in his mini, but a more stylized car in another. It's all just artistic interpretation. Thundercracker is still a jet, so I think they'll let the artist pick which ever type.
The truth is it really doesn't matter what model jet he is…so I'm cool with the different takes.
Now if they totally abandon the cool prowl/kup story with a super quicki-wrap up…I will be far less forgiving.
cgibsonREX
yeah it's hard to get behind how serious some of the events are in this story when all the bots look either too scared or too grumpy.
the humans seem kind'a emotionless to. the art isn't bad just needs less detail om the bots and more on the humans.