I'm a huge comic fan. I have been buying comics since the 70s. My local comic shop dropped the ball on my pull box too many times, and a year or more so ago, I pretty much stopped all my comic collecting. It's a shame, because there is SO much good stuff out there. I have most of the spotlights, and a sprinkling of other titles. What I would hope could come from this thread, is to have a bunch of you comic guys, that KNOW modern TF comics well, come together, and agree on a "must read" list. For example..when it was DONE and most agreed on the must reads, it could be stickied, or referenced for guys like me that want to get back into it, or people that just have an interest. For example, you should tell a run, or book, and WHY you think its important to TF fiction. The spotlights I have a great, but if I were to suggest anything for the list I would suggest 2 things.. LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS. Why: because its a nearly flawless story about no names that makes you care about them. The story itself has been told many different ways throught history, but the way this one is laid out with no name TF characters in such a mortal suicide mission makes each page shine. ORIGINS:MEGATRON. I think that's what its called. I have this 4 (i think its 4) issue run about how Megatron was a regular ol' worker and depicts his rise up through the gladiator ranks in kaon, how he gets some of his signature looks, how he meets starscream..for any fan of Megatron, I would point to THIS as Canon.
Yeah, Megatron: Origins is pretty terrible. Not just for the incomprehensible art, but the way it unintentionally depicts Megatron as being bipolar. "*brutally kills a guy with a pickaxe* OH NO WHUT HAVE I DUNNNN?" It was the worst Transformers comic IDW had published up until All Hail Megatron and Costa's trainwreck.
Wow! Harsh...I thought it was pretty cool. So that one is shot down. You guys say "all hail Megatron" is the better origin story? As for the Bipolar thing..I kinda read deeper into it, that you watched Megatron slowly lose all of his compassion as he went further through the fights, to become a nasty calloused leader he was. I would agree with the art. There are SO many panels that I just cannot figure out what the hell is going on in there. Cant figure out who is who..what is what..just a jumble of mechanized like drawing. I did really like how some of the Deceps came to be, the assistants that upgraded him...The seekers coming to him because of his popularity.. As for the current MTMTE run..is it THAT good? Am I missing out?
Yeah, Megatron Origin was a good concept, but the execution was lacking. Kind of dull to begin with, and not helped by the early Alex Milne artwork (it does go to show just how much nicer his art for MTMTE nowadays is, though). Also, it kind of ends up feeling like Megatron basically starts a war 'cause he's annoyed he lost his job, although the additional context given by later Roberts stuff has helped that, expanding on the state of Cybertronian society at the time. Again, AHM could've been okay, but the 12 issue length meant it ended up deathly boring and drawn out. As for stuff that is must read, I'll agree that pretty much anything James Roberts has written is top-quality. I'd also single out Spotlights Shockwave and Kup as good issues, as well as the first, Nick Roche-penned, story in AHM#15. That story solidified the 'Prowl is an amoral ruthless manipulator' character interpretation, and is lovely to read. With regards to the -ations era Furman material, most of it is consistently decent, so it's hard to choose anything in particular, but I'd say Escalation is probably my favourite; it lacks the slow initial pace of Infiltration and is less hectic than Devastation and Revelation...
You know what? I like All Hail Megatron ;p Last Stand of the Wreckers is superb. I also enjoyed Stormbringer. There was also a 4 part Dinobot series like Rage of the Dinobots only it wasn't Rage of the Dinobots. That was good too.
Stormbringer Maximum Dinobots All the Spotlights All Hail Megatron For All Mankind International Incident Revenge of the Decepticons Ironhide Drift Infiltration Escalation Devaestation As short lived as it was I liked The War Within. What bothers me is the art work...it changes from one issue or series to the next. I have Bumblebee but the artwork is soo deplorable that I havent brought myself to read it yet. Megatron Origin is a fun read. I still need...Chaos Theory...Police Action...Last Stand of the Wreckers... But I use this as a guide...http://tfwiki.net/wiki/IDW_Generation_1_continuity#Media
Oh my gosh.... I clicked your link and my Freakin head is spinning. There are SO MANY runs... I don't even know where to start. Ok...I have a lot of spotlights. I do have the kup and shockwave spotlights. Is there a check list of those? Id like to make sure I have all of those. I enjoyed spotliights. So rid and mtmte, how long have they been going? Is it too late to jump on or should I track down tpb? Nemesis, you say Stormbringer Maximum Dinobots All the Spotlights All Hail Megatron For All Mankind International Incident Revenge of the Decepticons Ironhide Drift Infiltration Escalation Devaestation Is that your definitive "must read list"? I have the drift series, its cool. Are those all different comic runs or titles within runs? I know some of those are small shot runs
AHM isn't bad if you read it as a first time thing, but it buttfucked SOOOOO many things in the continuity and the plotpoints that Furman was doing that it gets all the hate for that. Plus it was slooooooooow. Not to mention that the last 5 or so issues are basicaly just damage control for the continuity as a whole. But yeah MTMTE is the best this franchise has ever been. RiD is getting there and it would be a lot more popular if it came out earlier but it's kinda in MTMTE's shadow at the moment but things look like they're picking up. @Snake_eyes1975 As far as MTMTE go it's got 12 issues and an annual. Best way to jump in is to get the first two tpbs and then you can either waut for what march is it(?) and get the third one. Or if you can't wait you can try to track down the annual, #9, #10, #11 and #12 in seperate form and just continue from there. Also a pretty much must read for MTMTE is the Chaos Theory two parter that Roberts did, and The Last Stand of The Wreckers. They help flesh out some of the things that happen in MTMTE so you can appreciate them more.
I thought Megatron Origin was actually sort of ok - although I don't like that Ratbat was a senator, nor the part where Megatron takes off his helmet I will admit I have not read everything from IDW, and nothing from Dreamwave. I started with the Mike Costa ongoing and I have read *some* of the material before that (mostly Spotlights). But here's my (cliché) MUST READ list: Last Stand of the Wreckers Chaos Theory Chaos Death of Optimus Prime More than Meets the Eye Chaos is in there, not because it's particularly good (it isn't), but it's kind of fun in an 'final balls out action scene' kind of way. Plus Livio's art was fresh at that time - and while I think it looks really awkward sometimes, it fitted the mood and was a fun change. Drift miniseries is ok. So is Ironhide miniseres.
Those are the best, yeah. I haven't begun collecting RID or MTMTE, yet. But I will be shortly. As for "All Hail Megatron" I have the Hard Cover and I didn't find it slow at all, I enjoyed it very much. I've read it 4 times.
Must read? Last stand of the wreckers, more than meets the eye, some of the spotlights. Avoid: Stormbringer: totally shit -tion series: ranges from boring to dull to ok Movie tie ins: even worse than stormbringer.
Holy crap I can appreciate that. My comic shop had a clearance table. There was "the reign of starscream" for like..I dunno..a dollar? I picked it up and said, "shit...the things a.Freakin inch think..that's worth a dollar..ill read that shit..". It was worth exactly one dollar. The high point of the entire tpb being when starscream pits a human in his cockpit, flies up into space, and the human pops from pressure. That was it. Best part for me in the whole book. It seems chaos theory is something that keeps popping up. My buddy told me about that one I think, does it have Magnus in it, kind of a loose connection to LSOTW?
I feel the same way. It isn't bad, but not on the MUST READ list. If you are just looking for more Transformers trades to read, by all means give it a go.
Hopefully this list takes off and gets some more opinions. Having never read a single TF comic, I could really use some guidance.
Botom line...there isn't a definative "must read" list. Like everything else its all opinion and personal preference. And like the rest of us you're gonna wind up buyin books that you might wind up not liking. However the good ones far outnumber the bad. but I think you will enjoy the ride. My opinion, ignore this thread and just buy what looks interesting to you and go from there. Have fun my friend!!
Totally, when reign of starscream came out it seemed to generate some positive vibes but I couldn't believe how terrible it was.
I recommend Heart of Darkness. You must suffer its awful art. Last Stand of the Wreckers, Chaos Theory, Police Action, and Chaos helps you understand events of current two ongiong, MTMTE and RID.
