I mean, really the only way the entire romance in Clones works is if Padamame or Panda Bear or whatever the hell her name was is just as messed up in the head as Anakin. I mean, he admits to slaughtering women and children in front of him and she says to be angry is to be human. I mean, it doesn't occur to her that he might need prosecution... or at least therapy?

 

Padme was jealous because she yearns for the opportunity to flip out and kill a bunch of people in one big bloody act of revenge.

 

That's seriously offtopic but what makes this scene hilarious is that someone from Tatooine might even empathize with the "see a Tusken kill a Tusken" thing given for what the sand people are known locally. But Padme is not from there so all she knows is that Anakin moved down an entire tribe of people. XD

 

Gosh this thread is really hitting the nail on the head with a lot of things I never liked about IDW. I absolutely can't stand a lot of stuff in phase 2 and I felt like my interest in IDW1 sort of dipped off after AHM, which I felt was really good. Everything relating to Optimus' character as he was portrayed in phase 2 just left a sour taste in my mouth. The idea that they needed to change Optimus' personality into something more broken and edgy to appeal to readers when his original personality wasn't the problem. It's the same sentiment a lot of Superman fans share with how he's been portrayed in media sometimes, especially in Zack Snyder's stuff. It's like they're afraid of a naturally good character who can be hopeful.

Clearly in phase 1, Optimus felt like a natural progression of his G1 self, someone people looked up to and someone people wanted to be, even if they didn't agree with all of his actions. Phase 2 just felt like they were constantly spitting on him and his actions as if they were all someone above his actions, they criticize what he did even though none of them have been in the position he was in. Having Windblade call him a "liar" and "killer" at his funeral is disgusting. One of my friend's put it best when he said that you can still have Optimus be seen as father-like hero and leader, but make his heroism and good nature lead it to being seen as a crutch, like trusting the wrong people or letting your heart get in the way.

 

He will literally introduce an idea, then immediately interrupt it with another one. And not in the “Oh no, things just got more complicated!” kind of way that makes serialized stories great, it’s just messy. There’s no setup-complications-payoff to his -ation run, it’s just setup-setup-setup.

Jump to space early, I don’t care! It’s not what I want exactly, but it could still work. I’m just asking for the story to finish one thought before beginning the next one. And maybe have some character moments in the process.

The world introduced in Infiltration is really a perfect setting for Transformers stories. That mini doesn’t really have an ending either (it feels like the first trade in an ongoing, which, let’s be honest, it basically is), but I think that’s why it still connects in a way that Stormbringer and Devastation and all the rest just don’t.

Really, what a waste.

They should’ve given the ongoing to Roche

 

What made Windblade's eulogy at OP funeral particularly bad is that she also had to make questionable decisions and even needed to conceal the truth a few time starting with having to cover up Chromia. The only character less suited than her for saying those words would be IDW1 Prowl.

I used to joke that IDW1 made being a hypocrite a part of her characterization.

IDW1 was incredibly tone deaf at times.

 

Like I said, it's like when TF writers realized they can't be heroes it's like they decided no one can be. Because our heroes now have to be as broken and pathetic as us, rather than being something better and hopeful we can aspire to be. Because being happy, being strong, and being a good person is for dumb little kiddies I guess.

 

Yeah the fact that Beast Wars turned out so well is something to be thankful for, considering that many later shows that had more resources to work with actually ended up producing... less? A great example of turning your limitations into an advantage for sure.

Similar here -- Rewind and Chromedome were great for the most part, Cyclonus and Tailgate suddenly... happened, and it was so... but I had no idea how they got there, and Ratchet and Drift? The biggest reason I found Ratchet and Drift unrealistic was the huge gulf in their religious beliefs. Ratchet had none, of course, and Drift was all about religion and spirituality, and if you're THAT different in that regard I don't think it's possible to build a lasting relationship. Sure, one partner in a relationship can be more religious than the other, or in some cases you could even have different religions, but Ratchet and Drift were such polar opposites and neither were shy about expressing those beliefs at every opportunity. Just don't think it could possibly work.

 

IDW1 never had a concrete plan for its world. Most authors had cool ideas to implement into TF fiction, the issue was that they never had the opportunity to really gel together, aside from Barber's noble effort to make it all cohesive. The Roberts/Roche school could have worked separate from Furman/Barber (I would argue Furman and Barber are more similar than Furman and Roberts, as far as this continuity goes).

Yes!

I think there's a middle ground, between the Snyders and Donners of the world, where characters are full and complex without being entirely deconstructive nor idols. Ironically, in the context of this discussion, this is where Scott's Windlbade/TAAO shined - flawed characters striving for more in a complicated world. It's a shame IDW didn't make more attempts at this kind of approach. A bunch of focused, 12-issue series that connected together would have been an ideal format, especially if some kind of unified vision was behind it. I'd argue this would be preferable to what we got - several authors concurrently competing and cooperating on a huge universe.

-Sygi

 

The little weird mustached guy inside of Magnus. EW.

Also, making Magnus and Megs romantic. If Magnus loved anyone it would be Rodimus. Not fucking Megatron.

 

Not quite, Furman's intention for Optimus Prime was for him to be edgier and darker, and not be quite the classic Optimus we know from the 80s. Something that was made clear when Optimus stept infront of the Truck that carried Sunstreaker's fake remains, letting it crash into him and then watching the driver die in the wreck.

That's not really Furman's fault though. IDW wanted the storytelling to be in the vain of the 80s X-Men, an ongoing storyline that introduces multiple plot threads, follows one or two at a time and resolve one every now and then. Think Dark Phonex Saga. A story line that can't really be collected in TPB form, because some of the plot threads go back years and occasionally get revisited, a story line that's made up of like two or three other story lines.
IDW wanted that, but also wanted him to tell the story in the form of a six issue mini series a year they could collect in a TPB plus an unrelated 5 issue mini every year and a bunch of one shots.
You can't really go all out X-Men, and then only spring for six issues a year just because you're addicted to tpbs. And of course they only learned that after fucking up the continuity and replaying him with one hack after the other.
I mean they where really adamant about Infiltration not being a "stinkin" mini series, but the beginning of an ongoing saga, they should have just made an ongoing book.

I agree, Roche should have gotten that, he had already proved himsel with Spotlight Kup and further cemented his greatness with LSOTW.

I liked Minimus.
But Magnus and Megatron? sheesh, I heard about Ratchet and Drift and thought was was disgusting, Ratchet could have had a much better partner, heck he had more chemistry with Megatron. But this is the first I hear of this. I mean I dropped all TF books when they decided to go back on their years of "nononono, TF and Gi Joe can't crossover, our TF and Joe books are two completely separate entities and just cannot fit together, so shut up about asking for a crossover" with Revolution.
Honestly, I'm always surprised that this is the same company that makes the excellent TMNT and Ghostbusters books, yet they keep fucking up Transformers.

 

Wait, this actually happened? Magnus did end up respecting Megatron as a friend but there was a romantic aspect to it?

If there was, I have a feeling it would get mentioned on these boards a lot more but this is the first I'm hearing of it too

 

The worst thing IDW did was their amateur hour artist and colorist choices for the first few years. The lettering was pretty bad, too, but that had been bad at Dreamwave as well, so it was kind of a lateral move. But the art and especially the coloring were unconscionable. They completely undermined the entire thing at a point IDW was still trying to establish themselves as stewards of the license.

 

Roberts said if he was going to partner someone With Magnus it was going to be Megatron as he liked them together. And through hints in the books.

 

Well, MERCIFULLY that's non-canon. The characters really dodged a bullet here.

 

I honestly liked MOST of what happened in IDW's Transformers books but the one thing that really stood out as odd is how under-utilized Grimlock was. The dude is probably in the top 5 as far as popularity and recognizability for the brand but all things considered he barely has much of a role to play in the entire run. Has a few memorable moments but for the most part is off page and rarely factors into anything. I'd argue the other Dinobots have a more interesting arc during the last half of the run than Grimlock does (and thats not saying they show up much to begin with). What little he does is cool, the fact that he just kinda falls into the "Scavengers" group during MtMtE and then just stagnates for the entire run of Phase 2 and 3 is a huge waste of the character and generally disappointing. I like the arc for the most part, it just feels like what should have been one small part of the characters journey and for him to be stuck there and then eventually end out the entire universe in that spot feels wrong and kind of wasteful. While I don't mind that he never rejoins the team, for him to never actually encounter the other Dinobots again after Maximum Dinobots (way back at the end of phase 1) , makes his arc feel incomplete.

 

Honestly, that to me is such a dumb reason to make two characters a couple. “I liked them together” isn’t enough to build a relationship off of. It also disregards the agency of the characters, their histories, and their personalities.

 

Magnus is a character of such high morals. I can't imagine him seeing Megatron as a mate with everything Megatron has done. Forgiving him enough to work with him in making a better future for Cybertron. Yes. Bedding him? Hell fucking no.

 

This is all very interesting to read because I just recently purchased the phase one and two collections (I've read all of MTMTE, AHM, and some of RID years ago). Honestly, I like it a lot so far and I have just entered book 6 of phase one. There are definitely some stinkers, but overall enjoying it. I think Hunter's death in AHM was unnecessary, but Sunstreaker's betrayal felt justified and emotionally resonant to me in presentation. Also, I like the scene itself when Hunter dies, even though I don't like that he died in general. Other than that I just have pacing issues so far. Devastation in particular felt like to was racing to be over with while somehow also feeling too long.

 

I don't know if this will get me shot here, but I really love at least Chromedome and Rewind's relationship. It's honestly one of my favorite relationship stories I've seen... However, I think it should have ended with Rewind's death.

This is a great point because since I was going back and reading phase one with MTMTE in mind, I realized that Grimlock's arrest was probably the last time we'd see him until the Scavengers find him.