IDW Transformers Comics - retro reviews

The modern comics universe has had such a different take on G1, one that's significantly represented by the Generations toys, so they share a forum. A modern take on a Real Cybertronian Hero. Currently starring Generations toys, IDW "The Transformers" comics, MTMTE, TF vs GI Joe, and Windblade. Oh wait, and now Skybound, wheee!
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Dominic
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Re: IDW Transformers Comics - retro reviews

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Not sure where the idea that main characters need to be sympathetic or nice originates. (Some of my favorite scenes, in TF or otherwise, focus on bad guys.)
Every writer that followed him would use elements of his storylines, most notably the Dead Universe and the Heart of Darkness, but facsimiles and holomatter avatars were also used again, and his human characters would all appear sporadically down the line. This era still feels truncated, even with the wrap up issues Furman was given. There was a lot of potential in his setup, only some of which paid off before he was gone.
Furman's run was truncated. It was turning in to "Transformers: Desperation" and would have continued with "Transformers: Cancellation".

I actually like it better than most of Furman's output over the last 15+ years.

Maybe it's realistic, but am I reading these books for realism?
But, why read to pick a side?

What is the writer trying to do or say? There might not be any good purpose served by a "good" character, particularly in the lead.

Consider "Hamlet" (an old play by some guy with a funny name). Most of the characters in that play would make the "Seinfeld" cast seem admirable.
One of the few exceptions is a minor character names Fortinbras. His job in the story is to show how a responsible person handles their family's difficulties, providing a point of contrast to the conniving and sloth of other characters. He is also gets the least stage/screen time. (He leaves to handle his affairs in Act 1, and does not show up until most of the cast has murdered each other at the end.) Fortinbras did his job in the play, and did not need to be there for much more.
McCarthy gets a lot of flak for "All Hail Megatron", which has always seemed to me to be a more violent take on a more traditional G1 setup. It ties into Furman's earlier work better than is commonly asserted. Furman had evidently planned to have the Decepticons conquer Earth after the Autobots left, so McCarthy's basic idea is no great departure. I
I have always been curious about the (never-published) comics that "Hail and Farewell" referenced.

Bumblebee, completely unsuited to be in charge, is nonetheless made the leader and has to fight for everything he wants done. I'm not a big fan of Bumblebee, he's fine as a supporting cast member (and I think has been handled far better by Ruckley in the current series than he ever was in IDW1), but he's not suited to be in charge, making his tenure as a weak leader something quite different as the Autobots pull in different directions.
Some characters are wholly different between different creative teams, or iterations of a series. Bumblebee is one of them. Ruckley is not using Bumblebee better, he is writing a different character.
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Re: IDW Transformers Comics - retro reviews

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Dominic wrote: Fri Feb 26, 2021 11:08 amNot sure where the idea that main characters need to be sympathetic or nice originates. (Some of my favorite scenes, in TF or otherwise, focus on bad guys.)
Ursus mellifera put it well. Why get invested in a conflict at all if both sides are equally flawed? Someone in the cast has to be sympathetic. I'm not interested in reading about nothing but violent, murdering, amoral characters across the board. To put it another way, if I don't care about the characters, why care what happens to them?

Hamlet is a tragedy, where flawed characters all make bad choices and destroy themselves. As a one-off story, it's brilliant. I wouldn't want to read 300+ issues of that.
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Re: IDW Transformers Comics - retro reviews

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Dominic wrote: Fri Feb 26, 2021 11:08 amNot sure where the idea that main characters need to be sympathetic or nice originates. (Some of my favorite scenes, in TF or otherwise, focus on bad guys).
They don't need to be nice, but you do need to empathize with at least one of them over some aspect of their lives.
andersonh1 wrote: Fri Feb 26, 2021 1:16 pm To put it another way, if I don't care about the characters, why care what happens to them?
Exactly. It's not about being "nice" or "good" or whatever; it's about empathy. There has to be something humanely decent about the character that you can latch onto, even if it's small, to make you give a crap about what happens to them, and decide to invest the time finding out.
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Re: IDW Transformers Comics - retro reviews

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Transformers: the IDW Collection Phase 2 book 4

I often read faster than I write, so I've actually finished this volume and I'm just now getting back to typing up some thoughts about the stories in it.

Monstrosity #1–12
Written by Chris Metzen, Flint Dille Art Livio Ramondelli

This is the sequel to Autocracy, and once again it was new to me, I had not read it before. It adds the Dynobots into the story, shows Optimus Prime's efforts to form a democratic government on Cybertron, and details Scorponok's attempt to take over the Decepticons by exiling the wounded Megatron to Junkion where he will presumably die, though of course we all know he'll survive the ordeal. The Quintessons are introduced into IDW continuity in this story. I had wondered if they ever would be, given that we see an image of them back in Spotlight Wheelie. "Unstable energon" which can mutate the user is also introduced and it's had a deleterious effect on the Dynobots, who want to leave Cybertron because of this. Dai Atlas does not trust Optimus, and on top of all of this, Trypticon is introduced into the story. As you can tell, it's a busy story with a lot of plot strands, all of which hold up fairly well and most of which are resolved by the end of the 12 chapters.

I sort of compared this to Dreamwave's War Within in terms of the time frame, showing the immediate aftermath of Optimus Prime becoming the leader and the choices he has to make. It's a completely different story though, and I can't say I liked it as much as War Within, though I did enjoy it quite a bit. Ramondelli's art is well-suited for these trips into Cybertron's murky past, and It's good to see some of the history of the war filled in, as well as Optimus Prime's early history as a leader.
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Re: IDW Transformers Comics - retro reviews

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Robots in Disguise #12–16

I remember this story arc very well. This is Megatron's return after having not been seen since "Chaos" and his attempt to sieze control of Cybertron, during which many events and occurrences from the first year of this series are finally explained. Megatron gets a new body to replace the badly damaged stealth bomber form, Prowl has been under Bombshell's mind control since issue 4, and this is the storyline where Prowl is forcibly made into a part of Devastator. The writers will get a lot of mileage out of that down the road with the Constructicons becoming the Prowl fan club, and Prowl willingly becoming the leader of their group, but here it's forced on him. Megatron is defeated because Wheeljack was forced into helping complete his new body, and incorporated his force field tech from back in issue 3 into the spark casing, thus trapping Megatron in a field when it is activated. Wheeljack is shot in the head here, but survives, though he's out of the picture for a long time. Superion takes on Devastator and is ripped in half, taking him out of the picture until Combiner Wars. In the end, Starscream kills Metalhawk, whips up the crowd to get all Autobots and Decepticons exiled, and ends up as sole ruler of Cybertron.

A lot of ground is covered in this storyline, and the status quo set up in the first year of the title is upended fairly significantly. I shake my head at Prowl wondering how everyone couldn't tell that he was under mind control... if you're such a jerk that being taken over by Bombshell doesn't change your behavior enough for people to notice, it's time to reevaluate your life, Prowl. Not that he really learns anything from the experience. Bumblebee continues to look weak, and Starscream does a nice job staying ahead of the crowd and ultimately coming out on top. He's the only real winner of the storyline, though as we'll find out shortly, Shockwave getting Megatron rebuilt into another body with a built in space bridge is important to his long term plans.
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Re: IDW Transformers Comics - retro reviews

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More than Meets the Eye #14–16

This is essentially a sequel to "Last Stand of the Wreckers" as we finally deal with the fact that Overlord is on board the Lost Light. As much as I wanted to see the character followed up on after LSOTW, it made no sense to me at all that the Autobots would repair him, or that they wouldn't keep him imprisoned somewhere, probably by removing his spark (as we saw in Spotlight Arcee) rather than putting him on board the Lost Light. So I have trouble accepting the premise of the story, which makes the story itself problematic, despite the fact that it's undeniably dramatic and action packed.

Chromedome is exploring Overlord's memories, trying to understand how Phase Six bots are created (because Prowl wants to create one for the Autobots). But he lets slip that Megatron is alive, which gives Overlord new purpose in life, and he is able to take control of the mindlink and go on a rampage through the ship, killing several and badly wounding Ultra Magnus (who, in a nice touch, feels guilty that he did not go to Garrus 9 with the Wreckers), before being defeated by a combination of a mental trigger that temporarily throws him into confusion, Fortress Maximus beating him badly, and being trapped in his cell which is detached from the ship and destroyed, with Rewind inside unfortunately. The manner of Rewind's death is somewhat contrived, in my opinion, and of course we'll get his quantum duplicate back as a replacement down the road. Either way, I did not find his death as tragic as it's clearly meant to be. Pipes, on the other hand, is stomped to death by Overlord, and that's the death from the story that's always stuck with me.

The circumstances that permit the story are not terribly credible, but the entire ship taking on Overlord is undeniably dramatic and effective. I've got mixed feelings about this storyline, but on the whole I was able to enjoy more than I didn't enjoy.

And then issue 16 is the aftermath which details the history of "Ultra Magnus". Yes, we're nearly to the reveal that Magnus is dead, and multiple bots have held his identity ever since. It's another idea that I still do not care for, but we'll get to that down the road. And Tailgate finds that he is dying.
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Re: IDW Transformers Comics - retro reviews

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They don't need to be nice, but you do need to empathize with at least one of them over some aspect of their lives.
I disagree completely. It is more important that something be well-written (and otherwise produced) than being able to empathize with any of the characters. Consider Kieron Gillen's "Uber". How many of the best scenes, entire issues, are focused on the bad guys? (No good guy gets a line as good as "If worse comes to worst, there is always propaganda value in the death of a beautiful woman.")


To take a few steps back to Furman, any thoughts on the single-page "Hail and Farewell"?
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Re: IDW Transformers Comics - retro reviews

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Dominic wrote: Mon Mar 08, 2021 9:28 amTo take a few steps back to Furman, any thoughts on the single-page "Hail and Farewell"?
I hadn't read it in a long time, so I found it on Furman's blog:
https://simonfurman.files.wordpress.com ... ll_web.jpg

It's interesting how some of it lines up with what was actually published, while some does not. Hunter was obviously meant to continue to play a major part in the storyline, and I assume with the reference to "another dimension" that he would have gone to the Dead Universe as that storyline played out. He did encounter Scorponok during Maximum Dinobots, though I wouldn't say he went toe to toe with him, and there was a full scale Decepticon invasion, though Hunter ends up falling victim to it rather than facing it down. It's an interesting glimpse into what Furman had planned. Seems like we did get a lot of it, broadly speaking, even if Hunter's personal fate was entirely different.
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Re: IDW Transformers Comics - retro reviews

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Dominic wrote: Mon Mar 08, 2021 9:28 am
They don't need to be nice, but you do need to empathize with at least one of them over some aspect of their lives.
I disagree completely. It is more important that something be well-written (and otherwise produced) than being able to empathize with any of the characters. Consider Kieron Gillen's "Uber". How many of the best scenes, entire issues, are focused on the bad guys? (No good guy gets a line as good as "If worse comes to worst, there is always propaganda value in the death of a beautiful woman.")
First, I think you're narrowing your focus too much by referencing individual scenes and issues. It's about a series as a whole. Secondly, I don't think you can have something fictional be well-written without any characters to empathize with. I honestly can't think of anything.
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Re: IDW Transformers Comics - retro reviews

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I understand what Dom is saying, but his approach just does not work for me. I agree with you, I have to empathize with someone for some reason for me to care about the stakes or the outcome of a story.

Finishing up volume 4:

Robots in Disguise #17–18

RID 17 is a history of Shockwave's life as a prelude to Dark Cybertron, going back to his time as a student of Jhiaxus; a Senator who is always on the lookout for potential new Primes; an ally of Orion Pax; being Shadowplayed, and sparing Dai Atlas the fate of the other Senators (who are all killed) by wounding him in his living quarters. We learn that Shockwave did not seed the various planets with just one type of Ore, but many types with many properties. Ore-14, which restored the destroyed Crystal City and which brings Dreadwing back to life, has the properties of resurrection.

I'll have more to say about Dark Cybertron when we get to that story. I think the idea that Shockwave has had a long-term plan in place all along fits the character, and fits into what Furman was doing with him. The Ore-13 from Infiltration was used there as simply a more powerful fuel that suddenly made Earth a pivotal planet in the war rather than just another battlefield, but here it's shown to be one of many experimental ores that would take time to form and grow. I remember making fun of Dark Cybertron at one point as a story about Shockwave "trying to kill the universe with magic rocks", and to some extent that critique still holds. Ore that produces energy is reasonable, while ores that allow manipulation of time or resurrection are really moving into fantasy territory, and I note that we are given no explanation for how these ores could possibly work.

I just realized... Shockwave grew his own Infinity Stones. Hmmm....

RID 18 is another Dark Cybertron prelude (and everything will be for a few issues) as Starscream uses the mob to help boot all Autobots and Decepticons outside the city, where both sides sparring and setting up camps, and dealing with some of the fallout from all the events from the beginning of the series until now. This is where the Constructicons start following Prowl around because they like him so much. Arcee gets a lot of character examination in this issue, which she badly needed, since pretty much all she's been up until now is a psycho killer. Bumblebee has his body rebuilt to compensate for his injuries. As the dawn seemingly comes, it's not the dawn, it's something else entirely....

So there's a little action here, and a lot of good character material. I like this issue quite a bit for that, and for the way some of these characters have to start facing the consequences for what they've done. They're both breather issues after the all out action of the previous storyline.
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