Transformers (2019 -) 2021 Annual

Discussion in 'Transformers Comics Discussion' started by Issy543, Jun 8, 2021.

  1. Nemesisprime1975

    Nemesisprime1975 Well-Known Member

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    I think there are real reasons he isn't on an ongoing. Don't know for sure but I think there are genuine reasons
     
  2. Lucas35

    Lucas35 Well-Known Member

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    The IDW2 comics have a lineup and coloring problem, the Escape comics have this problem and the Malkova comics got better after the colorist changed, I noticed a bit about this and read about this problem on another site:

    [​IMG]

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  3. Nemesisprime1975

    Nemesisprime1975 Well-Known Member

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    Can people stop posting the last pages of each issue which seems to be an obsession for some. Even if it's in spoiler tags there is no reason for the last page to be there.

    The post above has no spoilers and shows the last page. It's ruining the issue. Some of us haven't read it yet. Some people want to be shocked with the last page.

    I get it that you are making a point etc but please leave the last page out of it even in spoiler tags.
     
  4. Treadshot 2.0

    Treadshot 2.0 Action Master

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    What if all the Titansparks hidden under the Forge weren't destroyed? What happens when a body is not intentionally forged? How did the first Cybertronians come to be? There MUST be some kind of NATURAL process. Maybe it's more unpredictable or takes longer, but my guess is that instead of being ancient Titans, Metro and Trypt will become the NEWEST Titans. Wouldn't be surprised to see Tidal Wave get in on the action either.
     
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  5. Coffee

    Coffee (╭☞ꗞᨓꗞ)╭☞

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    It's true, inking is a huge part of the comic's art and a lot of people don't seem to recognize that. I remember years ago back in MTMTE 13 people were less than thrilled about Guido Guidi's work in that particular issue, but couldn't really explain why. I mean it's Guidi, the dude's never bad. But then he started posting un-inked linework on his twitter and very very lowkey blamed the inking on why the art had such a dirty look to it. And he was right to do so, because the inking really was done haphazardly. But it just goes to show how poor inking can completely change how the art gets interpreted.
     
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  6. Strife

    Strife Well-Known Member

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    Inkers have gotten shafted in comics for many decades. It's been the ultimate no-respect subfield of the profession. Which is ironic because some of the greatest line artists (formerly pencilers) of the past 60 years have been carried by their inker. I think perhaps the most notable in this regard is Klaus Janson. When you're looking at Frank Miller's two greatest works - Daredevil and the Dark Knight Returns - you see a lot more of Klaus Janson drawing over (and often times, in place of) Miller's crude sketches. If you want to see what Frank Miller looks like without Klaus Janson, read the Dark Knight Strikes Again. It's not pretty.

    Another great example also is Adam Kubert and Andy Kubert, who have decades of a fairly consistent style under their belts. They did some things differently in the 1990s, but by in large, they draw their pages more or less the same. But being paired with different inkers and colorists in the mid 1990s vs mid 2000s vs today produces dramatically different looking art.

    The industry wide shift to largely digital production has seen inker jobs dry up as many line artists have started to do their ink jobs in Photoshop on their own. While sometime that' works out, I think it's quite clear when an line artist needs the support of an inker who just sees things differently in the scheme to bring out the essential detail. It's yet another case where a collaboration can outshine an solo project.
     
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  7. Strife

    Strife Well-Known Member

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    It got better, but frankly (and I'm not going to retread my old argument much), I don't think a better colorist could save this art. Anna Malkova is an absolutely terrible Transformers artist. Many of the IDW2 artists have been unmitigated disasters. Anna Malkova, Angel Hernandez, and Beth McGuire-Smith all conceal their obvious difficulty in drawing Transformers behind stylized art. I'll just quote myself.

    In quoting this I must note that after I wrote this, Josh Burcham chimed in and said that his IDW rates had been consistent. So while there is certainly an industry wide shift to more "cost effective" (cheaper) talent, that may not be the case here. The artistic choices of IDW2 may very well simply be (questionable) editorial choices.

    But the core point is, is that per-page, Transformers will necessarily be far more work intensive than your average X-Men comic, because you'll need more lines to convincingly pull off Transformers in a high detail style, than the X-Men. Compared to Milne, Roche or Zama the styles of Anna Malkova, Angel Hernandez, and Beth McGuire-Smith will simply allow them to produce comics in less time and to conceal the difficulty of drawing Transformers. If they're having problems with consistency in character models at given angles that have 1/8th the detail of what a Milne, Roche or Zama character models have, it's not style at work. It's that Transformers are an extremely specialized thing to draw, and not just any artist can be dropped into the book. Beth McGuire-Smith's non-Transformers art has a lot going for it. Her style just doesn't work for Transformers whatsoever.

    I'll maintain there is a baseline. The animation-friendly styles of Anna Malkova, Angel Hernandez, and Beth McGuire-Smith are wildly inappropriate for the theme of the books and undermines the story telling. Artist-plot-theme have to all match, and the books have largely been a dramatic mismatch. Which is why it's so nice to see in the annual what this book would look like well drawn for a change.
     
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  8. SPLIT LIP

    SPLIT LIP Be strong enough to be gentle

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    God damn, that dialogue is fucking awful. I try not to rag on art because it's really subjective on whether you find it pleasing and/or effectively conveys a story, but that dialogue hurts. It reads like a first draft.
     
  9. Bass X0

    Bass X0 Captain Commando

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    Its not a rule obviously, but you're generally not supposed to enter a comic book discussion thread until you have read the book or don't care about being spoiled. Those who have read the book should not be expected to tailor discussion of the book towards those who haven't. If you're someone who cares about not being spoiled, then just clicking on a thread discussing the book is a minefield. And having everything hidden in spoiler tags just ruins the discussion experience if you have read the book.
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2021
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  10. Bass X0

    Bass X0 Captain Commando

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    I'll be in the minority here but I would have preferred Bludgeon's design to be lifted straight from the Cyberverse toy. Just so readers can say that they have that representation on their toy shelves or are able to buy it if they wanted to. You can't buy a toy of that Bludgeon above. You can buy one like it, but you can't actually buy Bludgeon as he appears in the comics. As opposed to the Technobots which you can actually buy; I already have them myself.

    [​IMG]
     
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  11. Gladius

    Gladius Massive Tool

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    Ha, I think this was me. I made a (quick and shitty) alternative version of the bottom left panel from the Escape page of your post hoping to visualize how much different it looks with shading. Think most artists know of the problem that the own artwork gets worse first with the color layer before it gets better again when the shading, lighting and details are added. Without the latter the pure lineart looks usually better than the colored picture. I noticed it quite early with IDW2 that a bunch of the complaints coming from some readers were more color- than artist related.

    Here the example:
    1621526758897.jpg

    In the original I feel like things are a bit too flat and the more lines a panel has, the harder it is to distinguish between things and between fore- and background, as others have already said in this thread. And this doesn't even take the atmosphere into account yet. For comedy it's fine, but everything shady and every exciting or threatening scene needs shadows and flashy parts. An important panel should already give off its vibes as a thumbnail or colored sketch.

    This doesn't even mean that colorists are bad. It's the style that must match with the style of the lineart. I am a fan of Ramondelli's art for example, but don't think it would mix well with any coloring that isn't his own.
    Wish I could find that one big Malkova panel showing the senate. In her uncolored version you could see that it was drawn professionally and you could see that the hall was filled by multiple bots that were easy distinguish. With the colors then it looked a bit like mush and half of the background was filled with one color, whereas the current colorist has a style that matches Malkova perfectly and ads the proper depth to it.
     
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  12. axiant

    axiant Autobot paper pusher!

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    Is it just me or are the Technobots a little bit more competent than SecOps?

    Even the rest of the Autobots we've seen so far save for Pyra's companions, seem naive.
     
  13. MECHADOOM

    MECHADOOM I'm Doombot and I know it

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    To be fair, the "last page image" that @Nemesisprime1975 is referring to in *THIS* thread(for TF: Annual 2021) is the "last page image" from Transformers: Escape #3. So their point is valid. That should have at least had spoiler warnings, as it's for a completely separate title that they may not have caught up to yet.

    Speaking of getting caught up, I have just read this annual, and it was great. It makes me lament whatever it is that's keeping Milne from being able to do more books. But I will cherish everything that can get released. :D 
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2021
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  14. markerguru

    markerguru tech master TFW2005 Supporter

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    There are no open projects available to work on, and others need work as well. So it will be some covers for now :) 
     
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  15. Treadshot 2.0

    Treadshot 2.0 Action Master

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    You absolutely KILLED IT this issue. I hope you get an ongoing gig again, soon.

    But I'm not gonna jump on the disrespect bandwagon to your peers... I think Anna and Bethany are also really good TF artists. I think the art could be better, and it WILL be over time, but I think their art is really expressive and they're really good visual storytellers. (Not gonna lie though, that last issue of Escape looked REALLY rushed.)
     
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