i get they are trying to push newer toy designs with this series but some just dont sit right with me. So many characters have still carried over their old IDW designs and i feel more of those should have been retained. the most glaring and annoying to me right now is firestar(novastar), who i loved the new direction of the design they gave her in the old IDW, just to be forgot for something g1 and generic in the new one.

idw 2 just feels so simplistic and is taking backwards steps in story and creativity compared to its predecessor. you arent going to get a more in-depth/detailed account of the complexity of the post war society/build up to the war that IDW1 gave us.

like i said, i just feel like were are working backwards in this new IDW, and there is no place more obvious at first glance than the designs.

 

Well, this version of Megatron doesn't infuriate me to no end, i'd say this is a foward step

 

While the artsyle is generally a step down, I personally do like how fembots in IDW 2 aren't drawn with skinny "sexy" bodies. They're almost all given more bulkier designs to look more akin to their male counterparts, rather than waifish, strangely human bodies.

 

I have a few issues with the general design philosophy for this comic. First-most isn't necessarily the fact that they are typically based on a toyline, but the fact that the toys themselves aren't a great basis for characters in the comic, as these designs are meant to convey certain degrees of movement and posture, which the philosophy behind the look of the toys lacks. Prime's design is especially bulky in the torso, and it makes for a silhouette that I don't think fully matches the kind of character he is meant to be in IDW2. I love the way the Galaxy Force aesthetic bleeds into the toy, and the general idea of it, but it should have been edited or distorted somewhat for the comic. That's just one example, I can't get into Starscream's design either over the way the blue outlines the inner portion of his shoulder stacks (or whatever you'd call them) and the way it pulls the eye in the wrong direction due to how prominent it is against the red and white.

Second issue is kind of two-part. So a lot of the minibots have been scaled up in this comic. Brawn is not a squat tough guy, he is a big tough guy. Just as well, Pipes is the same height, if not a bit taller, than Ironhide. This was done briefly in IDW1, with Powerglide and Cosmos being scaled up by Milne. However what Milne did there, which is lacking here, is that he edited their proportions in accordance with this scaling up. Cosmos was given a heavier frame, whereas Powerglide was elongated and given a lankier appearance. The minibots have all had chibi-like proportions compared to the other first-wave Autobot cars, and this was reflected in their show-models. Here, those same proportions are kept. So while Brawn and Pipes are now physically larger than Ironhide, it's not just their bodies, but their heads and chubby limbs have been scaled up as well. The simpler details on the minibots, which work for robots that are smaller like Swerve and Cliffjumper, now stick out like sore thumbs next to the larger robots with a more complex aesthetic from the Siege Toyline. Even in cases where it should work, like Huffer, you end up with a design that just doesn't look like Huffer at all, since that design was based on a legends Optimus toy with a huffer head-- a retool meant to squeeze an extra toy on the market, and not an actual attempt to depict Huffer.

And this brings me to part 2, conflicting design aesthetics. This might sound contrary, but I think the way Cybertron was depicted in the earlier issues, with all the different sized robots in the background showing the diversity of the types of Transformers living on the planet, was cool. That said, while it was a diversity of designs, it wasn't a diversity in style or aesthetic. It was all handled under one stylistic umbrella, even if the style of those first few issues wasn't so well received. Because of the sheer multitude of universes being turned to for characters in this, you have some conflicting aesthetics, and it really stands out sometimes. And this might be subjective, but for me, it doesn't imbue the sense that Cybertron is a diverse place, and more that characters from different comics and shows are being copy-pasted into this one. Consider Flamewar. her design is a slight retool of Transformers Prime Arcee, whereas Shadow Striker appears 100% in the style of her Cyberverse depiction. Their teammates, the micromasters Blackjack, Hyperdrive, Tracer, and Skystalker, are all 1-1 with their Dreamwave MTMTE profile art. There isn't a binding design philosophy in this comic, it's just a hodgepodge of styles from various points in the franchise without any real attempt to streamline them visually. So whenever Team Stream appears in the comic, You have Flamewar and Shadowstriker coming off as being entirely out of place compared to the rest of that crew.

Lastly, Straxus. I was going to say the way certain artists design characters in a way that gravitates towards a more idealized version in the artists head. But it's only really been egregious with Straxus. Okay, what are the most iconic elements of Straxus' original design? His unique head and faceplate, his pudgy body, and his unique blue scheme right? 1/3 of these are maintained in the IDW2 design. And that's because Straxus' classic design isn't safe. The lack of an expressive face means he can't smirk, or be handsome, the thinner, almost bishonen body is so he can be appealing to a specific audience to make fanart of him. He is a robot drawn to be attractive to fan-creators, because fanart is essentially free advertising for the comic, and generates interest. I know that's a cynical way to look at it, but look at him, LOOK AT HIM! He's straight up an example of an artist that decided they didn't like Straxus and wanted to make their own villain. I know his personality has seen a huge shift in this comic, but to what extent remains unclear since we haven't seen that much of him. We just know he's going to be an antagonist based on the way he's been set up. Regardless, not unlike what was done by upscaling Brawn and removing Huffer's hood, a key unique visual element of the character has been removed, and this safer bet for his design reduces him imo.

But anyway I doubt anything could possibly compare to Andy Turnbull's Daily Straxus anyway.

 

Boring and generic as hell.

 

Boring.

 

Most of them look like the characters they're supposed to be, so there's that. Cyclonus looks a little too Combiner Wars for my taste, but oh well.

Straxxus Straxus is terrible though, he looks (and acts) like Starscream cosplaying as Straxus. They might as well have actually used Starscream instead of having him in the main series doing nothing.

 

I partly agree. Lots of bots looked better with their more modern, non-toy, designs and they stick out in the series. You can often spot who is an OC or an IDW1 guy without toy by comparing them with the others. On the other hand some other bots got better, simply because I didn't like their earlier cartoon or comic look that much and for others I simply dig the toy look the most. Loved IDW1 Sentinel for example, but the toy-look is more iconic for the gaudy color he wears, the four wings he has and the new head having that "Prime" style.
For lots of others like Cyclonus I am simply neutral. Liked him in IDW1 a lot, but the classic look is just as good and he was so prominent in MtmtE that I consider a slightly changed appearance a good choice here. He is a different guy after all, despite a bunch of similarities he shares with the former comic series he was in.

Not really happy with Optimus and Megatron though. I like the toys, but they don't work well in a comic imo. Both of them feel too clunky which sometimes shows in the stiff way they are standing or gesturing in the comic.

 

Haven't been reading, but I admit I really didn't like how they changed Straxus. One of the most unique non-toy character designs out there changed to be another pretty boy. A lot like what was done to the Liege Maximo, but in that instance I lay the blame more on Hasbro than and IDW creators.

 

I agree, it’s stiff, boring and ugly as hell. I mean get that they’re robots but come on even going back to early beginnings of the comics but I mean even they showed some life. I mean the few brief time you see a change in the style, you see a massive difference. But it’s not to say it’s not all bad some of the issue when paired with great dialogue can help a little but not much. I think if they bring the guys from mtme,lost light, windblade, till all are one and Rid and the dudes who did the rom and unicron crossovers. then we got a hook, but until then we just got to suck it up.

 

oh man. I didn’t think about it the way you put it, but it’s such a blatant play to fandom that I can’t believe I didn’t see the reason for it till now.

 

Story wise, I'm enjoying it. I think it has the same complexities as IDW 1.0 had. The difference is IDW 1.0 was more inspired by history (Russian revolution, I think) and IDW 2.0 is more contemporary (today).

As for the designs, yes I agree. While I enjoy seeing my figures in the artwork, they are clearly not as sophisticated as what IDW 1.0 gave us.

 

It was cooler to see the artwork in your figures

 

Oh that is true!

 

All of prime, and most of IDW have this issue

 

Don't really agree on Prime, but for IDW1, or more specifically Windblade, yup. Starscream and Blurr were so heavily distorted to market to that crowd that I remember people making a big deal about it back then. The Liege Maximo being a Loki expy was the worst though because of how obviously derivative he was of what just happened to be popular at the time. Like it's not morally wrong or anything it's just really really not creative at all. Bless the heart of Kei Zama for depicting Maximo with a more ugly crone-like face in his few remaining appearances though. With both of these series I will at LEAST say these styles were consistent under a single design philosophy. I'm not a fan of how derivative the style itself is, but a style is a style. They wanted to target a specific crowd with it, and they succeeded. But now you have handsome slender Straxus and WFC Toyline Hound having conversations on the same page because the artists are just doing whatever they want and haven't set any parameters for themselves when it comes to character design.

 

This series needs someone like Milne or Roche to come in and spruce up the character designs.

 

true but mostly people were drawing TFP Starscream and the Lost Light crew.

 

Straxus should be a hulking brute. Not an elgi toothpick.

 

IDW, DO NOT DEFILE A UT INSPIRED OPTIMUS BY GIVING HIM BLUE EYES.