Transformers - ongoing series

[Sparky Prime]

Sparky, the math for #125 works as well as any other legacy numbering. The ongoing, various "Spotlights", "All Hail Megatron", the Furman run and the like all add up to 125 issues. The math works. I did it once. That was enough.

I counted everything that currently been released. That number is 114, or 116 including the "Infestation" crossover. The only way to come up with 125 is to count things IDW has announced coming up, but not yet released.

[Dominic]

Maybe I over counted "Spotlights" or something.

Ryall's comments make me a bit nervous. It almost sounds like he is saying that IDW is going to start pandering to fans. That, and the gimmicky numbering along with Costa leaving, makes me wonder how much longer until TF turns into the sort of capes and tights book that I avoid.

I am keeping my pull-list at 5, come hell or high-water. And, I am not sure that I want too many of those slots to be TF dominated unless both books are really good.


Dom
-forgot to drop "Batman Inc" last week.

[Dominic]

Wooohooo! 3 issues behind!

[Dominic]

From the All Spark:
http://www.allspark.com/content/view/9182/20/

I am not sure what to make of this.

Barber made a strong showing on the TF movie tie in books. But, as we have discussed, the upcoming "Chaos" arc and re-numbering are similar to the bad old days of the 90s. We know that Barber's title will be Senior Editor. But, how much of a say did he have in?

I have flipped through the last 3 issues, (and am still planning to read/review them more fully). It does not look promising. From what I have seen, it looks like Costa is moving pieces around, setting things up for the next arc. Was that the whole reason that Sunstreaker was brought back, just to make things like they were?


Dom
-planning to catch up on this series soonish.

[Onslaught Six]

Who knows (re: Sunstreaker). Costa could very well have liked Sunstreaker and disliked that McCarthy killed him off; and in a classic 90s move, brought him back to life mere months after his death. Granted, Costa claims to be doing this whole "what death means to TFs" thing but besides Ironhide (who he killed in the first place) and Thundercracker (who wasn't really dead anyway) I haven't seen much...

As long as Barber can edit competantly, I'll be happy. No more of this bullshit where characters disappear during scenes, or major issues with continuity. (I'll admit that AHM's biggest flaw is that it arbitrarily changes a few things around; I usually don't have an issue with this because it changed them around to how I liked them, and didn't go and give a messy explanation for anything--things simply 'were,' as if they had always been. Which, if you're going to retcon shit, that's how I prefer to do it.)

EDIT: Okay well we're not gonna be seeing THAT anytime soon. From 2005:

If you need persuading that this is a good thing, look no further than the excellent Sector Seven miniseries - which includes pages of notes explaining how the events of previous movie comics tie together as well as actual historic events.

I fucking laughed out loud.

Sector Seven was "excellent"? Did we read the same series? The one where the damn guy couldn't keep his own characters' names straight?

[Dominic]

Granted, Costa claims to be doing this whole "what death means to TFs" thing but besides Ironhide (who he killed in the first place) and Thundercracker (who wasn't really dead anyway) I haven't seen much...

I get the feeling, (purely gut feeling here), that Costa planned to be sticking around longer than he is in fact going to. And, as a result, some of his plans are being truncated. At the very least, I would hate to think that Costa just brought Sunstreaker back for such a petulant reason.

(I'll admit that AHM's biggest flaw is that it arbitrarily changes a few things around; I usually don't have an issue with this because it changed them around to how I liked them, and didn't go and give a messy explanation for anything--things simply 'were,' as if they had always been. Which, if you're going to retcon shit, that's how I prefer to do it.)

Many of the problems were explained later. But, I take your meaning here.

I fucking laughed out loud.

Sector Seven was "excellent"? Did we read the same series? The one where the damn guy couldn't keep his own characters' names straight?

I think that the compilation fixed these problems. And, to be fair to Barber, said mistakes easily could have been a question of lettering, not writing.


Dom
-but, yeah, it all feels very 90s.

[BWprowl]

I wouldn't put too much stock in this Chaos thing staying super-consistent with previous stuff either. You know who shows up in Issue 21? Beachcomber. Yeah, Beachcomber, who died way back in Spotlight: Blaster.

Silly (and pointless to discuss) continuity flubs aside, I actually liked #21. It sets up the two main arcs we're going to be following in a brisk, well-paced way, and I like where they're going with them (As burned as I was by the end of Heart of Darkness, I'm intrigued by the possibility of the Autobots mistakenly fighting Galvatron's army to the death and inadvertently dooming the universe). Plus they did the smart thing and got Optimus Prime off Earth so we can properly do the "Bumblebee as leader" thing again. And Prowl's back up to the old tricks that made him such a hoot before the Ongoing (was that THE fucking data card on his desk at the end there?). The tension between Prowl and Thundercracker in their scene was pulled off really well, and I'm a sucker for that sort of thing. I can't be sure it's all going to pay off, but as event book set-ups go, it's clean, brisk, and somewhat entertaining, even with the creative time-lapses to obscure the Big Revelations we'll obviously be getting later. My main complaint, is I really think the book could've done without Alpha Trion's overt biblical narration, especially since most of the scenes where it's just him talking could have easily stood WITHOUT any dialogue, and would've been a lot stronger for it.

I continue to love how IDW G1 uses the Matrix. Hot Rod becomes Rodimus because of the Matrix here, not in the way that we're used to, but in a way that perfectly suits how the Matrix has been used in these comics. Awesome.

I really could've done without Schmidt being all MYSTERIIIIOOOOOUS about what #125 was going to be about. We're on the internet dude, we're going to spoil it for ourselves somehow like three weeks for now. Don't be a dick.

[Dominic]

In fairness, Beachcomber was injured, not dead, at the end of "Spotlight: Blaster".


Transformers #19-21:

I had originally planned to have some fun with this review, writing it in the style of the much maligned narration boxes from the first half of issue 21 and gradually transitioning to a more standard review. But, I really cannot bring myself to put that kind of effort in for these.

Characters get moved around more or less to where they were. The Autobots just decide that they are okay with Sunstreaker. Thundercracker leaves the Autobots, and will likely be a Decepticon again. Prowl just goes back to pre-ongoing standard. I actually kind of chuckled when the narration box said that Hot Rod had changed, more or less at the same time that everything was changing back to what it was. There are still echoes of what might have been. Leadership and change are still themes, if much more subdued.

I definitely get the impression that Costa was planning for more time, or at least fewer mandates at the end.

Schmidt's write up at the end of the issue is....worrisome. He acknowledges that mistakes have been made, but tries to position them as being made pre-AHM. I am hardly a fan of Furman. But, even I will admit to cringing a bit while reading Schmidt's advertorial. There were mistakes before, during and after AHM, with some of the sloppiest being during the ongoing itself. (I will say this despite being a huge fan of the series as a whole.) Schmidt tries to justify the gimmicked numbering. But, it is unlikely that anybody will take this attempt seriously.

If the preview of the upcoming issue and the reactions at AllSpark are anything to go by, Roberts is going to get a pass on things that other writers would be lambasted for. (If any other writer picked up a thread from "Megatron: Origins", fan reaction would likely be much more hostile. But, so far, Roberts has enjoyed gushing praise, largely due to his making obscure references).


Grade: I am not even going to bother grading these.



Dom
-would have dropped any other book by this point.

[Shockwave]

I dunno that Thundy can just go back to the Decepticons, I get the impression that he's still gonna be rogue rather than aligned with either side. Costa made him a complex character and that's what's great about the ongoing.

[Dominic]

Costa is leaving.

Thundercracker will be on his own for a little while. But, he will be back with Megatron and the others by issue 25 of the next renumbering.

I get the feeling that "Transformers" is going to become like every other capes and tights book.

Objectively, it is to be expected, but this is the first time it has ever happened with "Transformers".

The only longer run has been Marvel UK, itself subordinated to the comparable Marvel US run. Marvel US was a longer run in terms of the calendar. But, IDW has more issues in a comparable amount of time. (This comparison works with or without G2.)

The Marvel US run followed a very linear structure. For good or ill, it changed over time. It started to fall back on redundancy a bit towards the end. But, even so, the status quo had changed meaningfully. And, more importantly, it ended before frequent reboots became the norm.

DW was not around for long enough for this sort of reboot to really be a meaningful question.


Dom
-and now, TF is doing the same stupid things that other books have been doing.