Transformers - ongoing series

[Dominic]

Barber was interviewed by the AllSpark.

The AllSparkers waste a couple of questions asking about Furman's issue 81. But, there is some good information here.

http://www.allspark.com/content/view/9723/20/

As annoyed that I am about Costa leaving, at least the new direction is a legitimately new direction. I will give IDW credit for having their reboots not be whole-hog resets, as is often the case with the big 2.


Dom
-actually interested in Barber's book....

[Mako Crab]

Yeah, I don't much care about Rodimus cruising through space, and doing whatever. The political/cultural atmosphere on Cybertron sounds more interesting to me. I still won't buy it though. Maybe the trade, but I'm done with IDW's single issues.

[Dominic]

Roberts has enough of my trust that I am in for both books. The one time I recall him writing on his own, "Bullets", was passable. I want to see how he does on a long-term book though.

But, yeah, I am definitely more interested in Barber's writing. Granted, "editor as writer" does not always work in the long run (as was the case with Budiansky on TF and just about everything else he worked on). But, Barber seems to have some grounding and ideas, which means he is probably good for a compilation or 2 worth of content.

I cannot say that I disagree with you giving up on single issues. If my regular shop got compilations more reliably, I likely would have done that about a year or so back. Right now, they are just good enough that geography is enough to keep me in. If I end up walking away from them, I might just end up being out of comics in any meaningful way.


Dom
-still no word on a release date for issue 81?

[andersonh1]

I like the idea behind both new series. I'm actually looking forward to having two Transformers books a month. This bi-weekly storyline has given us essentially the same thing, with the Earth storyline alternating with Cybertron. It's working well, IMO.

It'll come down to writing of course, but I like the direction in theory. I'm in for both books, for now anyway.

[Dominic]

Preview of issue 31 is up:

http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia ... 848&page=1

It looks like they are going to make the next few issues "catch up" stories, with characters having "story time" as an excuse for flashbacks.


Dom
-not expecting much until January at this point.

[Onslaught Six]

But, yeah, I am definitely more interested in Barber's writing. Granted, "editor as writer" does not always work in the long run (as was the case with Budiansky on TF and just about everything else he worked on). But, Barber seems to have some grounding and ideas, which means he is probably good for a compilation or 2 worth of content.

Keep in mind, Barber is not editing his own series, he's editing Roberts'. He mentions at one point that he has his own editor to answer to for his book.

http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia ... 848&page=1

Seeing the G2 Autobot logo plastered on that dude's chest has already made me more excited to read a Transformers book than I've been in two years.

[Dominic]

Remember though, Budiansky answered to editors as well. The problem was that he was an editor by instinct, not a writer. He was a good idea man in broad strokes. But, his execution faltered over time, likely because he was less interested in actually writing so much as he was interested in developing the content from a distance.


Dom
-wants to see G2 Decepticon sigils next.

[Dominic]

Issue 31:
And, it ends on something of a copout. Objectively, I cannot blame Costa. And, he tries to deliver the goods with a few thematic call-backs to his own run on the book and flashbacks to what came before him. But, the whole thing feels like a "write by numbers" catch-up issue. It is set in the sort of indeterminately distant future that will never come to pass and will probably end up getting over-written in a few years. And, it neither answers any questions about what the hell happened last issue nor make "Chaos" any more worthwhile.
Grade: B/C


Dom
-feeling generous.

[Onslaught Six]

Is this the issue with the G2 guys or no?

[andersonh1]

Issue 31
It looks like Costa had two goals here: to write a happy ending for the franchise (and put some punctuation on his turn as writer) and to give the readers a look back on a number of events from IDW's Transformers continuity, which often feels disconnected due to all the different writers and artists. The "distant future" is VERY distant, and so there's no pressing need to overwrite it any time soon. And it allows the reader to revisit characters and events from Furman's storylines, along with McCarthy and Costa's. It's nice to see a hopeful future for the Transformers, and I enjoyed the story. It's only disappointing in that it leaves last issue's cliffhanger unresolved. But I expected "The Death of Optimus Prime" to actually address the end of Chaos anyway, so I'm not surprised.