More than Meets the Eye (IDW ongoing comic)

[Dominic]

I was just more forgiving of Skids because his characterization was both clearly deliberate, and entirely consistent with the tone of the book. As my tolerance for the book dwindles, so does my tolerance for Skids as a character.


Dom

[Onslaught Six]

For what it's worth, I like Skids here because I always like Skids, even though this Skids is, so far, not at all like the Skids I liked. Because the Skids I liked got constantly shit on in his universe, and ended up in a black hole being constantly eaten by monsters for ten years. I figured this Skids was going to draw on that (especially given Roberts' love for the UK), and for all we know he still might.

I want a new Skids toy.

[BWprowl]

I want a new Skids toy.

And I will pass on it and buy the Crosscut repaint instead!

[andersonh1]

Issue 4
Star Trek (or Lost in Space) Transformers-style continues, and it's become obvious that this book so far lives more on quirky characters than it does on plots, though the plots are starting to emerge. But that's fine, I prefer characters that are larger than life and memorable to bland ciphers who get a panel or two and then nothing. We get some more off the wall concepts thrown at us, such as the religious order that has their transformation cogs removed because they're one-formers. And Fortress Maximus recovers, finally!

I love this book. It shouldn't work. It's clearly written in a fan-fictiony way, with someone who knows the franchise backward and forward coming up with non-stop ideas like the aforementioned one-formers. But the book manages to be both fun and entertaining, which is what I'm looking for. And as much as I enjoyed Costa's run, this is a lot better.

[Dominic]

I have to wonder how much this book is going to matter in a few years. The characters are memorable, but they are not doing anything.

In some ways, the middle of Budiansky's run (as bad as that was) is better.

[Shockwave]

I have to wonder how much this book is going to matter in a few years. The characters are memorable, but they are not doing anything.

In some ways, the middle of Budiansky's run (as bad as that was) is better.

Yeah... I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you there... I'd much rather read "oh so hilarious Swerve" vs. Cosmic Carnival or Menace of the Mechanibals. And I just recently read all of those.

[andersonh1]

I have to wonder how much this book is going to matter in a few years. The characters are memorable, but they are not doing anything.

In some ways, the middle of Budiansky's run (as bad as that was) is better.

I'm with Shockwave. I think this book is a lot more entertaining than many of the old Marvel issues. And the characters are starting to do things. The Spark-eater last issue and the medical emergency this issue are actual plots that require the characters to act and react.

I've got to get caught up on the other series. Starscream as a slimy politician seems like a perfect fit for the character.

[Onslaught Six]

Roberts is clearly playing the long game on this one, and expects to be on the series for a good two years, which is pretty consistent with Furman, McCarthy and Costa's runs.

[Dominic]

And the characters are starting to do things. The Spark-eater last issue and the medical emergency this issue are actual plots that require the characters to act and react.

So far, all this book has been is "Transformers doing stuff"....like most any other comic, swapping "superheroes doing stuff" for "robots doing stuff"....

Roberts is throwing in all kinds of kewl ideas, but not doing anything worthwhile with them.

I would be interested in TFs that deliberately gimp themselves by giving up the ability to transform, if there was a reason to add them to a setting besides "wouldn't it be kewl if...."

Roberts has a demonstrable ability to right. And, it is telling that most of the extra content in various IDW compilations is written by him, which means he is probably not lazy.

But, the fact that Roberts can (based on what evidence we do have) write better than this just makes MTMTE more insulting.

I've got to get caught up on the other series. Starscream as a slimy politician seems like a perfect fit for the character.

Without getting to far in to "Robots in Disguise" in this thread, Starscream may not be as sleazy in that book as you are thinking. Barber might be taking a page from "Reign of Starscream" or the UT in this case.


Dom
-can read "the Metro" for "stuff w'ot happunz".

[Onslaught Six]

And the characters are starting to do things. The Spark-eater last issue and the medical emergency this issue are actual plots that require the characters to act and react.

So far, all this book has been is "Transformers doing stuff"....like most any other comic, swapping "superheroes doing stuff" for "robots doing stuff"....

Roberts is throwing in all kinds of kewl ideas, but not doing anything worthwhile with them.

I would be interested in TFs that deliberately gimp themselves by giving up the ability to transform, if there was a reason to add them to a setting besides "wouldn't it be kewl if...."

Roberts has a demonstrable ability to right. And, it is telling that most of the extra content in various IDW compilations is written by him, which means he is probably not lazy.

But, the fact that Roberts can (based on what evidence we do have) write better than this just makes MTMTE more insulting.

The stories aren't objectively bad because they're not to your taste. Yes, you like overarching storylines with Big Fat Meaning in them. MTMTE wasn't really advertised as that. It was advertised as "Rodimus and co get in crazy adventures while looking for a Thirteen* equivalent." Maybe Roberts is going to go for something larger but we're literally not even six issues in--not even into a second arc. Roberts is clearly playing the long game and expecting about two years' worth of stuff before IDW "shakes up" the book due to Movie Hype or a standard need to rekerfuffle the books for no reason. Besiding that, each issue so far has been fairly episodic in nature and dealing with some cool new threats. We haven't really seen too many TF "infections" in the past (Cosmic Rust and the Hate Plague from Return of OP are the only ones I can really think of right now) and seeing how these guys deal with it is great. (I'm glad First Aid is back, too!) The larger story, we're still not sure of, but I'm sure it will all depend on where the ending goes and the ultimate goal of finding the Knights of Cybertron.

*(Incidentally, is anyone even reading summaries of Autocracy? I heard something vague about how it involves the Thirteen, which might neatly solve some of our arguments from before.)

I've got to get caught up on the other series. Starscream as a slimy politician seems like a perfect fit for the character.

Without getting to far in to "Robots in Disguise" in this thread, Starscream may not be as sleazy in that book as you are thinking. Barber might be taking a page from "Reign of Starscream" or the UT in this case.

Moved to RID thread.