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More than Meets the Eye (IDW ongoing comic)

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:24 am
by Dominic
The Roberts writtern ongoing starts today.

I will likely not be reading it for a few weeks at least.


Dom
-needs to catch up on "Cobra" and other comics.

Re: More than Meets the Eye (ongoing comic)

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:30 am
by Onslaught Six
I'll probably pick it up this weekend or next. I've already committed to buying both series, at least for the first arc or two. (I'm hoping Animal Man either improves or drops off into dramatically bad territory. I'm sick of it middling.)

Re: More than Meets the Eye (ongoing comic)

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:16 pm
by andersonh1
PIcked it up today and liked it quite a bit. Like all the Roberts/Roche combos we've read so far, it's a dense read, meaning more value for the $4.00. And like Wreckers, they've picked some well-known and more obscure characters, given them some personality quirks, and set the story rolling. I'll have to post a full review later.

Re: More than Meets the Eye (ongoing comic)

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 11:45 pm
by BWprowl
Alright, got it an' read it. Thoughts:

Foil effects on the cover! Hoohah! (I really did laugh, honestly.)

Okay, I honestly really wanted to like this one. Roche blew me away back in Spotlight Kup, and hasn't stopped doing so since. And Roberts has knocked his out of the part too; he wrote 'Chaos Theory', which was my favorite comic of last year! But this first issue of MTMTE just left me...cold, somehow. I think it really is the references. Don't get me wrong, I *love* cute little nods, not just in Transformers, but in any media I'm enjoying where I also happen to be a fan of the franchise. But there is such a thing as too much, and Roberts crosses it here. Just within the first third of the book, he name-checks so many different names, places, and concepts that it stops feeling like an acknowledgement of the franchise he's writing for, and starts to feel like he's just showing off. Yeah, James Roberts could kick my ass at Transformers Trivia, I get it, can we get on with the story here? Thing is, we really don't get on with the story that much. For as dense as this issue *seems* on account of all the (admittedly well-written) dialogue flavoring things every step of the way, at the end you realize that not much has actually happened. It's really just twenty pages of characters parading by, introducing themselves, and getting on the ship, and then in the last couple of pages the actual premise rather violently asserts itself. It feels like Roberts and Roche started assigning guys to the cast, and then just couldn't quit. "Ooh, this guy should be in there too! And we gotta have this guy! And this guy!" It makes you wonder where, in the future, they're going to find time to *do* anything with all of these characters, and if it'll have been worth spending the whole issue playing show-and-tell with all of them. This also brings me to the issue of this...issue as a jumping-on point, which copy in the back of the book and Roberts's letter at the end seem to imply that this is supposed to be. If that's so, it's not a very good one; this issue suffers from some seriously brutal continuity lock-out. Asterisks referencing past issues abound (I thought we were supposed to be phasing that crap out?), the aforementioned references are likely to leave new readers feeling lost and excluded, and the dozens of characters thrown at the reader would likely be a nightmare for new people to keep track of (I mean, people like us have no trouble with it, since we already 'know' who Red Alert and Chromedome and Brainstorm and Rewind are, but can you imagine how someone new to Transformers is going to react to all these guys being shoved in their face at once?). The rest of the 'plot' of this issue doesn't do a good enough job of distracting from the overbearing character-introdump either. I saw the 'plot twist' with Tailgate coming a mile away, and it mostly comes off like another disparate element that Roberts felt like he *just had* to get in there, and frankly just raises too many questions about how Tailgate survived down there that long, despite apparently not being able to get to his Energon. The surprise message at the end I'm not exactly fond of either. While it does kinda negate the 'Aimless adventures in space' concept I was worried would be the main feature of this book, it just comes off as too heavy handed a way of foreshadowing mysteeeeeeeerious consequences, and putting an ongoing story on an apparent deadline like this *in the first issue* is really not a good move, in my opinion. Despite what Roberts and IDW may say, this book comes off like it's squarely aimed at the fans, to the point that it feels like pandering. And even if you're the one being pandered too, it never feels like a good thing.

tl;dr this issue disappointed me because Roberts wouldn't shut up about Transformers long enough to write a story about Transformers.

Rant aside, this issue doesn't *totally* disappoint. I'm already quite fond of Cyclonus; Roberts takes Furman's annoying, contradictory Cyclonus and straightens him out into a more level-headed, likable character, and actually gets some good mileage out of the Autobot heritage this version sports. His reactions to Whirl are priceless (on the flip side, I get that Whirl is supposed to seem dangerous and edgy, but he just comes off as a one-note annoyance). Also, if Roberts and Roche had been painting Prowl as an overly pragmatic, but ultimately well-intentioned character, then they push him into full-on heel territory on this one.
Spoiler
I'm sorry, but you don't just up and try to murder 200 guys because they were going to leave the planet. That doesn't actually solve the problem, and it just makes you look like a colossal dick.
The thing, though, is that I actually *like* this direction for Prowl. I've thought they should just take him all the way for a while now, and they've created some interesting characteristic and story opportunities by doing so. It'll be interesting to see how much RID follows up with this. Finally, Roche is in top-form, art wise, on this one. He's smoothed out the sketchier, skinnier style we saw him trying out in Death of Optimus Prime, and the resulting look is one that I quite dig. It's a solid blending of G1, Animated, and War for Cybertron aesthetics, and it works quite well, letting him keep the numerous characters distinct and expressive. The art, at least, can keep me coming back for a few issues while I hope Roberts finds his footing with this story.

And, a token Dom-ish moment: Roberts's fan-character gets officially introduced in this issue. I find it interesting that Roberts and Image can stick their own personal characters into the canon with most of the fandom cheering behind them, but McCarthy doing it was enough to destroy his run almost from the outset. Ho-hum.

Re: More than Meets the Eye (ongoing comic)

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:11 am
by Onslaught Six
Who's Roberts' fancharacter?

I'm thinking that, with the movie gone, the split books are supposed to kind of cater to different audiences. Just look at the cast lists, for example. MTMTE has all the awesome obscure and underutilized guys, while RID stars...Bumblebee and Jazz and shit. Obviously this is the "hardcore fan" book while RID is supposed to cater to the GeeWunner crowd. (Which will also be catered to in the legacy book.)

Re: More than Meets the Eye (ongoing comic)

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:17 am
by BWprowl
Onslaught Six wrote:Who's Roberts' fancharacter?
Rung, Autobot psychologist. You might remember him from the LSotW profiles.
I'm thinking that, with the movie gone, the split books are supposed to kind of cater to different audiences. Just look at the cast lists, for example. MTMTE has all the awesome obscure and underutilized guys, while RID stars...Bumblebee and Jazz and shit. Obviously this is the "hardcore fan" book while RID is supposed to cater to the GeeWunner crowd. (Which will also be catered to in the legacy book.)
And people like me, who just want a decent Transformers story without feeling like particular characters are catering/pandering to me are left out in the cold.

I really do like the sound of the concept for RID. I just hope the execution is halfway decent.

Re: More than Meets the Eye (ongoing comic)

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:23 am
by Gomess
BWprowl wrote:
Onslaught Six wrote:I'm thinking that, with the movie gone, the split books are supposed to kind of cater to different audiences. Obviously this is the "hardcore fan" book while RID is supposed to cater to the GeeWunner crowd.
And people like me, who just want a decent Transformers story without feeling like particular characters are catering/pandering to me are left out in the cold.
Quite. I'm a "GeeWunner" by all accounts, and I couldn't give less of a toss about RiD.

Re: More than Meets the Eye (ongoing comic)

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:51 am
by Dominic
Okay, I have not read it. (This, much like "Cobra" is going in the "to read later" pile.)

First impressions and responses in this thread:

Wow. A half dozen variant covers, including one that is a combination of 4 of the other variants? Foil on the cover? Wacky numbering tricks? Damn, it is like 1992 all over again.

Roche's new art style looks like shit. There, I said it. Yes, I know that he has to grow and experiment. But, it is going to be an ordeal for us all while Roche gets to the next level. Right now, the book is hideous to look at. (I cannot even tell who some of the characters are.)
but McCarthy doing it was enough to destroy his run almost from the outset. Ho-hum.
Yeah. I was thinking the same about the obscure characters that apparently died on the last page or two. If Costa or McCarthy did that, the fantrums would have been swift and immediate.

For the record though, I am not against writers adding new characters as a principle unto itself.

I'm thinking that, with the movie gone, the split books are supposed to kind of cater to different audiences.
You might be on to something here. I tend to think/hope that Barber is going to pitch higher with "Robots in Disguise". But, it is too early to tell.

And people like me, who just want a decent Transformers story without feeling like particular characters are catering/pandering to me are left out in the cold.
I can see what you mean. But, lets give it time. Everybody on the two modern G1 books has earned a certain amount of trust from us over the last 6 years. I remember how bad I thought "Spotlight: Kup" was going to be.

I'm a "GeeWunner" by all accounts, and I couldn't give less of a toss about RiD.
Give it a chance. Try to enjoy the hobby as it is, not as it was 20+ years ago.

Prowl as an overly pragmatic, but ultimately well-intentioned character, then they push him into full-on heel territory on this one.
I only glanced over it, but I am not too upset by this.


Dom
-expect a full review...sometime this year.

Re: More than Meets the Eye (ongoing comic)

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:58 am
by Mako Crab
BWprowl wrote: Don't get me wrong, I *love* cute little nods, not just in Transformers, but in any media I'm enjoying where I also happen to be a fan of the franchise. But there is such a thing as too much, and Roberts crosses it here. Just within the first third of the book, he name-checks so many different names, places, and concepts that it stops feeling like an acknowledgement of the franchise he's writing for, and starts to feel like he's just showing off. Yeah, James Roberts could kick my ass at Transformers Trivia, I get it, can we get on with the story here?

tl;dr this issue disappointed me because Roberts wouldn't shut up about Transformers long enough to write a story about Transformers.
Well damn! His previous work had lots of references too, but they never got in the way of the story. Sounds like he went overboard here.

Re: More than Meets the Eye (ongoing comic)

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:05 am
by Gomess
Dominic wrote:
I'm a "GeeWunner" by all accounts, and I couldn't give less of a toss about RiD.
Give it a chance. Try to enjoy the hobby as it is, not as it was 20+ years ago.
Oh, I always give these things a chance, but the simple fact is I wasn't into "the hobby" 20 years ago, and I'm certainly not now. I don't collect the toys, I don't watch the show, I don't buy the comics. I'm just a kid who grew up on Transformers back in the day and still has fond memories of it. So yeah, most of the stuff since then has gone over my head, but some of it's been entertaining at least, and I hope this is too. I'm more interested in what you lot think of it, really.