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Re: Transformers 2019 (IDW comic series) discussion

Posted: Thu May 19, 2022 10:40 am
by andersonh1
Transformers 43 - This is a $6 comic that was worth the money. Feels like we still have so much story to tell, but as far as I know this is the last issue, with a coming one-shot to wrap up this series. Looks like every existing group of surviving Autobots get some page time, as they attempt to survive the Decepticons, the rust-worms, and the Insecticon swarm. The mixture of art styles is a little off-putting, but I'm guessing the extra-sized issue and a desire to give all the artists some work as the series ends explain them all being involved. I still predict, given that Hound mentions that they've been repairing it, that the surviving Autobots will take the sole remaining Ark and leave Cybertron. There's no way for them to win the war ar this point, given how outmatched and on the backfoot they are, so living to fight another day seems like the best outcome.

Re: Transformers 2019 (IDW comic series) discussion

Posted: Thu May 19, 2022 11:53 am
by Dominic
I am not sure that the comic had extra pages to justify the price-bump. (Honestly, as much as I like this series, if it were not ending the price-bump would be enough to make me think twice about keeping it.)

Re: Transformers 2019 (IDW comic series) discussion

Posted: Thu May 19, 2022 12:11 pm
by andersonh1
Dominic wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 11:53 am I am not sure that the comic had extra pages to justify the price-bump. (Honestly, as much as I like this series, if it were not ending the price-bump would be enough to make me think twice about keeping it.)
It's a double-sized issue. I wouldn't have paid $6 for a 20 page book either.

War's End #4

Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 12:26 pm
by Dominic
War's End #4:

The next to last issue of IDW's second run with the license is distinctive primarily for shipping out of order with issue 43 of the main series. (The last page explains where Megatron got the McGuffin bomb that he already has in issue 43).

This is particularly sloppy, even allowing for IDW's tendency to play fast and loose with story cohesion. (They really could not ship the last few issues of their last arc in order? I am generally forgiving about this sort of thing, and even my patience is taxed by this sort of thing.)

Similar to issue 43, this issue ties off a few plots that I suspect were meant to be in play longer. But, with the series being curtailed, the incentive shifted from long-term plotting to resolving plots.
Spoiler
The titan spark ends up being the McGuffin that solves Exarchon. I am skeptical that Ruckley was planning that at the beginning of the series. But, the upcoming end of the series obligates him to resolve things quickly.

I am not sure why IDW is closing out the license with a one-shot (Fate of Cybertron), rather than one more regularly numbered issue. But, they are. Most sure your local comic shop knows to order one.

Re: Transformers 2019 (IDW comic series) discussion

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2022 10:42 am
by andersonh1
War's End #4 - IDW is publishing a lot of double sized issues lately, trying to squeeze as much out of the license as they can before it's gone. I can't really blame them. War's End also ends on a double sized $6 issue, and it lacks the flair for dialogue and character than much of Ruckley's writing has given us up to this point, but like Dom says, it's a faster than planned wrap-up, and that shows. Exarchon was built up as some unnatural creature that was a pretty frightening threat, but here he's another big-talking Transformer who feels pretty standard. There are some nice touches to this final issue, such as Cyclonus sitting down to enjoy the end of the last war, finally, and someone finally remembering that Frenzy kicked this whole thing off by killing Brainstorm, so Frenzy gets a fitting punishment, left buried alive far beneath Cybertron's surface. The Titanspark is a fairly novel way to trap and kill Exarchon, sad though it is to see it extinguished. And it seems clear to me that these issues and subplots would have been part of the main series if not for the time crunch, given how much the events here blend with and run alongside the main series.

One issue to go, and this continuity gets wrapped up. I hope it's a good finale. This issue was fine, if not quite as good as I've come to expect from Ruckley, but we're in the "tie it all up, quick" phase of the storyline, so that's to be expected.

Re: Transformers 2019 (IDW comic series) discussion

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 7:20 am
by Ursus mellifera
After reading Fate of Cybertron, my first reaction is disappointment. I did not like the very end. Maybe I was expecting too much from this. I don't know.

On another note, some of the pages have gorgeous art. I wish we had gotten more of this during the actual run of the main series.

Fate of Cybertron

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 7:23 am
by Dominic
Fate of Cybertron:

This is the one-shot meant to tie-off IDW's second run with the license.

Much like the recent "Beast Wars" series, "Fate of Cybertron" is a rushed ending. Ruckley manages to tie off the major plot-threads from the last 3 years, leaving the series at the "start" of the war between Autobots and Decepticons. A few characters are going to switch sides. But, the factions are pretty well defined.

IDW has at least 2 or 3 months left with the license, and it is hard to discount the idea that they could have used that time on this series. My guess is that IDW wants time to compile the series before time runs out.


If not for the art, this would have been my favorite IDW "Transformers", if not my favorite TF comic. But, as I pointed out ~10 years ago, "Transformers" comics tend to be defined by moments of brilliance, along with 1 or more glaring defects that prevent them from being truly great.

Re: Transformers 2019 (IDW comic series) discussion

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 6:21 am
by andersonh1
I read it last night. I like the reminder of where the series began, with Rubble and Bumblebee's mentor-mentee relationship mentioned by Optimus. Ruckley's callbacks feel earned, and are an appropriate reminder of where we began versus where the characters are as the series ends. I didn't expect them to settle on Cybertron's lost moon though, that was a nice surprise for the final page. We're still getting some new ideas in this final issue with Scattershot apparently able to create the ability to combine without an Enigma (a possible future explanation for futher gestalts which we're never going to see in this continuity?). The Constructicons desire to return home is another nice callback to where they began and adds a nice facet to what are otherwise fairly cruel characters. And I think this is the first and only time we see Optimus and Megatron fighting each other, so that old tradition of the two leaders squaring off did make it into the series before the end. I liked the mix of artists from across IDW's publishing history, and that we ended with Angel Hernandez drawing the final pages as another bookend and callback to the beginning.

It's a shame to see this series end, and I could almost hope that if another company ends up with the license that they'd pick up where this left off, but it may be best just to let it be an excellent piece of self-contained Transformers fiction that was largely successful in telling a good story, rather than taint it with future additions that don't live up to the promise. I would like to see Ruckley tackle the property again sometime, he's done an excellent job.

Re: Transformers 2019 (IDW comic series) discussion

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2023 7:50 am
by andersonh1
I've started re-reading this series now that I have all of it in collected form, which is honestly how it reads best. It's nice to be reminded of just how much I enjoyed it and why.

Re: Transformers 2019 (IDW comic series) discussion

Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2024 9:22 am
by Dominic
Been meaning to read through this series again.

Honestly, the Skybound series is not quite hitting the mark. It is good enough to read because I am still (barely) reading comics. But, it will not be the thing that keeps me coming back.