So I've been a bit out of the comics ever since the end of Unicron and I've been wondering-what the overall consensus on the new stuff? Recently remembered I hadn't finished Sins of the Wreckers nor Requiem, and after having done so, I've been thinking of reading the new stuff, but wanted to set my expectations before spending money. How are they?
6/10 is my vote. Can't say for everybody, but if you skim through the discussions here, you'll have an idea.
When the issues were on sale, I bought some. It was OK, then I stopped reading as the newer issues were full price and I'm not really missing it or wanting to continue. I don't even remember what they were about.
It's a decent, but very slow sci-fi police vs. terrorists story, but it didn't really have to be set in the Transformers universe. Most of the characters are average joe cops, politicians and street thugs.
It's legitimately good at this point, but it starts off SLOW. I have to say though that, plotwise, the slow burn really starts to pay off after the initial arc (which is frankly kind of boring). The art was my major objection from the jump BUT: 1) They pretty much always had multiple artists so Angel Hernandez couldn't ruin any book TOO badly, and 2) they seem to have switched up their primary art team to much more competent pencilers. It's been a while since the art was an active negative against an issue, IMO. Also, the Galaxies spinoff stories, thus far, have bee quite good and arguably the best characterization of the Constructicons as individuals (and also as a team) that we've ever gotten. Their take on the origins of the Insecticons is also very interesting. I'd say the strength of the new title is in the world-building and also slowly building up tension. Things that seem to be 'blah' and rote or even kind of not make sense at first actually take on far more interesting dimensions as the story carries on, from the War of the Threefold Spark down to Bumblebee's story arc. This is the first time a TF story has actually shown some of the key characters doing the stuff we were told they did in previous continuities and G1 tech specs. Overall it's worth getting. It's the only TF series that really took a lot of time diving into how the war started and what the participants and society were like before the war. Even though IDW1 ended up with lots of prewar lore, it always felt like it was a retroactively envisioned "peacetime" --- one that existed only to serve the narrative of endless war --- so it never WAS peaceful or really even functional. The 'golden age' was just a gilded prison and the Autobot regime was hopelessly corrupt, and their motivations for being so weren't really all that clear. THIS prewar cybertron makes WAY more sense to me, and even the way all the players are being positioned -- with pretty much all the key characters being COMPLETELY convinced they're right, and moreover having legit reasons to feel that way -- the devolution of their entire society into eons of warfare is playing out more like a tragedy (in the classical sense, where characters' hubris leads to their bad outcomes) than an inevitable, foregone conclusion.
Whack early on, due to being overly focused on introducing concepts that been introduced in the previous continuity. It gets better later on.
Unless something major happens in this arc, I'm probably going to be dropping it. I cant find a character I like or a plot I'm interested in. The pacing is sheer torture, but thankfully it was fortnightly to begin with. I think 15 issues is more than generous (althoug I reckon a good three of those were due to hometown loyalty!) Galaxies has some bright spots thus far
If you thought MTMTE was filled with too many fruits and nuts, well...here's a big loaf of dry white bread for you. I found what I read to be tedious and not especially engaging. MTMTE/LL & Wreckers I could breeze through and then re-read to savor all of the little bits that I missed. The regular ongoing series wasn't as engaging but at least held my attention for the most part (being adjacent to the MTMTE story at times helped). This current series found my attention drifting off starting with the very first issue and nothing ever happened with the plot or the way the dialogue was written that really grabbed me before dropping it after ten issues. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's bad, just not my thing I guess. I have yet to peruse the Galaxies stuff, but I plan to.
It's a slowburn but fun once it gets going. Definitely the kind of storytelling that won't spell out the situation for you. It wants you to figure things out yourself by handing you little details and pieces of lore that will slowly start painting this picture of a far more dangerous situation than the utopia Cybertron is initially introduced as. This has made it a lot of fun for me personally but I could see others hating that sort of thing. One other bonus: You have the A listers right out of the gate but we're also getting some strange characters and characters who are typically introduced faaaar later into continuities. Cyclonus, Springer, and Sixhot are 3 examples of the latter and former.
They are going on a long ride. I think they are doing the same with Sonic and TMNT. IDW can't afford to do the fastballs that Marvel or DC does because they don't have the content.
I proselytized for mtmte. Now I recommend staying away and not wasting your money. The main book is boring, predictable, pointless, and stupid. The art can be good at times tho. Galaxies is okay. Vs Ghostbusters and terminator seem gimmicky. It's a shame
There's too much proselytizing in the new comics. Along with too much backtalk and defiance by the female Autobots to their superiors. The Transformers are supposed to be war machines. Not vessels for the writers' personal morality, beliefs, and convictions.
Didn’t you hear? Transformers is an allegory for real life now! Say hi to shit that never mattered to transformers and allegories for stuff the writers hate!
