This is a relatively large rant, brought on by my purchase of Infiltration #1 today.

I am disappointed with Infiltration, so far. I realize that IDW might be going for a very far-reaching, encompassing view about how the Transformers have been on Earth for many years and they're very secretly moving through our modern day society...

...but one of the reasons I buy Transformers comic books is for robot-smashin' action. So far, #0 and #1 have had nearly none of that. If nothing else, I'd AT LEAST like a good look at the robot modes of the Autobots and/or Decepticons. Please give me some fan favorites, like a scene of the Autobots at their base (which was only hinted at in #1) or a full-page spread detailing the Transformers' crash-landing on Earth or SOMETHING...these human characters are boring already. I didn't buy a Transformers comic book so I could read hackneyed dialogue between two cliche'd teenage characters.

That's not the only thing that rubs me wrong about IDW right now. What bothers me is that, when the license was acquired by IDW, Ryall & co. claimed that they would be handling the Transformers license differently from Dreamwave, learning from their mistakes and taking a simplified approach.

However, thus far...
-Infiltration #0 came out in Oct/Nov, with #1 finally reaching store shelves in Jan/Feb...
-Infiltration #0 and #1 have (at the least) four different variant covers...
-IDW plans to release several other comic books based on the TF license, including Beast Wars, the "Generations" comic, etc.

How is this different from the big, bombastic claims of Dreamwave, several years back? Several months of inconsistent comic book distribution, with only a foggy answer of "we're working as hard as we can on getting #1 on the shelves" does not a satisfied customer make. Where did the production time and resources go for getting the TFcomics out on time? Maybe to...publishing variant covers?

Publishing variant covers - at least to my amateur knowledge of comic book production - costs money, takes time and expends art resources in places not necessary for the comic book - i.e., there's less comic book to read. While I like a nice glory shot of Autobots and Decepticons occasionally, all I need is one cover and a good story. I don't know if I speak for others on this one.

On top of that, the one thing that smacks the most eerily of Dreamwave for me is the talk of these various other comic books - the Generations comic, beast wars, finishing the Dreamwave comic. All of this costs money and takes time and resources as well! And A LOT OF THEM! It's great to fantasize about making Transformers a monstrous comic juggernaut again but it goes contrary to one of Ryall's early interviews, which, if I remember correctly, talk of "focusing on one story for a continuous period of time and building from there." * Issue #0 and #1 do not constitute a continuous period of time in the comic book's lifespan, in my opinion. (Of course, they span a LARGE amount of time in real life, regarding that great production/distribution schedule...   )

Now. I will not spend this entire post going on a blindsided polemic. I realize that IDW is a bit more situated as a comic book publisher and has a bevy of titles under its belt, unlike Dreamwave during the launch of its Transformers comic. What does this mean for the future of the TF comics, should IDW go ahead with its plan to continuously publish several Transformers stories at once? I predict sluggish production and distribution and perhaps eventual disinterest in one (or several) of the stories they've started, leaving us with another great cutoff like Dreamwave's demise.

Maybe I'm still a little shellshocked after the shutdown of Dreamwave, but I've yet to see much out of IDW - story-wise and production-wise - that actually makes me entertained and interested in Transformers again.

Also, I do want to note that I've got nothing against the actual art in the comics - the visuals in Infiltration #0 and #1 are fantastic and a whole lot of fun...and while this stuff is badass, it, combined with the writing, just isn't keeping my attention - see "robot-smashin' action" above.

Aight, I'll shut up.

* (For the life of me, I couldn't find the TFW2005 boards archives to find links to back this stuff up, so I'm sorta flying blind while writing this. If anyone wants to point me in the right direction, I might be able to bolster what I say.  )

 

Good rant. Totally valid points. I supported Dreamwave and felt the same way when they shut down. I will not buy Gen1, but maybe get the Beast Wars, cause Dreamwave didn't do it.

 

I'm pretty meh on the IDW stuff so far, Beast Wars will be mine and if they get brad and adam back to finish off the arc from the DW G1 series. I will go out and buy every IDW TF comic, including the shutty high priced variant covers and vow to support them from that point on. But so far seems like a lot of big promises and little delivery; not unlike DW.

 

Wasn't Infiltration #1 supposed to come out a few months after #0? I don't remember anything about the two books being released in consecutive months.

But I see your point about the variant covers.

 

the gap between issue 0 and issue 1 was *on purpose*

Chris said the reason for the gap was so they had a nice gap of time to read people's reactions on #0 and use that to tweak and tailor the book. There was no delay because they couldnt meet some deadline they set

 

Fair enough. I'll admit mistake on my behalf. At the same time, I hope that Ryall gets a chance to read this too.

 

Gotta agree on the general feeling of what's being said.

If I wasn't a big TF fan and knew about some of the characters/action etc. I would not pick up another issue based on my experience buying 0 and 1.

They're dead dull.

 

What I find odd is that I've never heard any mention of a Cybertron series. I havn't been keeping up too well with the whole IDW deal, but I would assume that Hasbro would be interested in a comic being made of their current main Transformers toy line.

 

Its already been said that both Hasbro and IDW are interested in producing a TF:Cybertron comic, but at the moment they lack the proper ability to distribute them to reach Hasbro's target audience



as for lack of "high octane robo-smashing action"
IDW has stated that they want to focus on telling a good story over than just blatant fan-wank. The first issue may have been "slow" but there's a lot of set-up that needs to be grounded first [and even the way it is i feel like the story kinda rushes into things. i mean, how did they all get there? why did they leave cybertron? Stuff you think you already know but being its a brand new universe hasnt been dealt with. but then maybe thats just me]. Besides, you've already been promised all the amazing robot action in issue 2 [which comes out in a week or so]


I think that everyone is still re-cooping from the DW shutdown
All the books were just right in the middle of everything and then it all stopped like a train wreck. I think people are wanting things to pick up right where things left off, in all the action and "good stuff" when in reality, things are starting from scratch. There's alot of stuff that needs to be done to get back to the same pace DW was at [mind you they've already been making the TF comics for 2 or so years before things stopped].

Just be patient and enjoy the comics. Things are only gonna get better  

 

Hey, if they actually pay their talent and don't spend all their money on Porsches, they're automatically better than DW in my book.

 

So far things have been slow and dull for the most part, but I have hope that this is The Phantom Menace chapter of the story.

 

Yeah but TPM is a better movie than Eps 2 and 3!. If that's what we have in store it's going to be a long time before it gets better in A New Hope!

But leaving that aside, my issue is that if I were a first time reader there's really not much to catch my eye in these first books. The art is nice, but the characters are not very interesting and the plot is slow.
Even as a TF and comic book fan I'm wondering how much longer I'm willing to pay for these comics before it picks up.

Also - in general comic books deal with a fantastical world, so I'm expecting that when I pick up a mainstream comic. I'm used to worlds in peril and people who can fly. I've seen tons of giant robots before.
So the reveal at the end of #1 barely registers beyond "uh?, whatever"

Who are these Robots? Why are they different? Yes, I know this will be addressed soon (or eventually) but you don't have much time to grab people's attention and get them hooked, or at least interested enough to keep buying. If I shell out a couple bucks for a comic book there better be something damn good in there to get me to buy another one!

Right now we're being sold on the promise of something exciting to come.

I mean, I'll stick with it for a while, but only because as a TF fan I want to see what they do with it. I want more narrative about the characters I love.

They've already gone an issue and a half without anything that makes me say "i've got to buy this book" or " wow. that's great" or " I can't wait to see what happens next"

I want the project to do well, but I am worried that they are staggering out of the starting gate.

 

IDW: GuNDaM lEgS MakE it BeTTeR!

 

Well after three years of total fanwank, people are spoiled. Of course three years of fanwank chased away every other potential reader that might want to buy a TF comic, and a good portion of the existing fanbase that were starved for good stories instead of rehashed dialog & situations from the cartoon & movie.

This all comes down to one question: do you trust Simon enough to tell a new story?

If the answer is no, then you should just skip out on the book now.

If the answer is yes, then sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

True Dat! But yeah, I really have to say that Dreamwave set the standard for how a Mecha comic should look. It's art, story, action were all fantastic, and so far IDW has to live up to that. I mean come on, there will only be 16 characters revealed during the whole infiltration series. In the first comic there were sixteen characters ( an exaggeration but whatever). Hopefully they rock with Beast Wars, seeing as how they really have no predecessor so they have to set the bar high. That and Beast Wars does look very good, art wise.

 

 

 

I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for the first full arc of six issues or whatever. As much as I mourned the DW G1 ongoing being cut off right as it was getting really good, I was expecting a slow start to the IDW title since they said it was a reimagining/reboot. So far it's just okay, but there better be something damn good in store.


Edit: Yay, 2,500th post.
 

 

wait until this summer

eee!!!!!!


   

 

Ooooh, must be the "big project" Mr. Ryall was hinting at the end of the letters page of issue #1.  

Can't wait to hear some tidbits soon!

 

i prefer robo bashing action like the next geek, but we had that a plenty with DW (plus all the fanwanks), AND they still went under.

so even if i'm underwhelmed with the current issue, i'm giving it a chance because it seems that they do have a focus direction. i may not agree 100% with that direction, but if they manage to sustain a decent run, i'll be content, if not happy.

i just want to be able to continue buying new TF comics. if theres one thing wonderful abt the franchise that transcend their toy origin, its the stories.

 

I'm enjoying what I've read of Infiltration so far, and I'm looking forward to the rest. I also loved the US and UK Marvel stories, and hell, I was a fan of the DW comics. I like the designs in this, in that they look more like robots... actual robots, who can move in ways that don't bend metal in obvious ways (faces excluded)... and I think the whole so-called "gundam look" (which I'm personally not seeing) is more the fact that traditionally, Transformers have had magic Gumby-like limbs... and Gundams are more based on visually-sound mechanics, which is how IDW seem to be approaching it.

And there are humans. Wow. On a planet with 6 billion of them, I like comics and shows that deal with the human factor... otherwise, put the Transformers on a lifeless rock in orbit of a dead star, because that seems to be what you're asking for.

God, though, do we have to have an "I hate IDW-style comics they don't feel like G1 toon they suck because they have humans" thread *every* week? It gets extremely monotonous. By now, everyone knows a few loud people don't like the new comic... same thing happened with DW while they were operational, and again there were "I hate DW" threads every week that rehashed the same points... at least come up with an original reason to post.