MTMTE and RID annuals

[Dominic]

Has the "More than Meets the Eye" annual shipped? Has anybody seen it?


Dom

[Sparky Prime]

According to Diamond's shipping lists, it comes out next week. September 12th.

[Onslaught Six]

Yeah, it sounds like it was quietly pushed back when nobody was looking.

[andersonh1]

Picked it up today. I'm not sure why this story ended up in an annual rather than the main series, but at least the packaging is nice. It's almost a trade paperback format rather than the usual comic book cover.

[Dominic]

I was wondering where we should talk about this. Ah well, I guess this thread is the place. (And, I amended the title to cover the RID annual as well.)

More than Meets the Eye annual:
The crew of the Lost Light reaches their destination....and finds a dormant MetroTitan. (For the purposes of IDW, "MetroTitan" is a class, similar to "Seeker" or "Combiner", rather than an individual character.) Roberts is in full world-builder mode. But, the Council is an admittedly good idea assuming that Roberts or somebody else does something with it beyond "Spaaaaace Pooooolice". This issue basically sets up for the next year or so worth of plot for the comics and has some more of those character moments that fans are willing to put Roberts over for.

Aside: I recall some complaints about Costa's HotRod(imus) being a jerk. I am not hearing those complaints about Roberts (even more reprehensible) HotRod.

Hopefully, Barber will handle the MetroTitan better in the RiD annual later this month.

After nearly 7 years, IDW finally tackles the mystical jibber-wank elements of the TF creation story. For the purposes of IDW, at least some TFs believe that first there was Primus and some unnamed bad thing. Primus split in to the first 5, (including another guy named Primus), and there was great rending of metal. And, thus, the TFs were born. Roberts did build a "not necessarily clause" in to this origin. He makes a point of saying that not everybody believes in the mystical side, and by extension the story presented in this annual may not be true in context.

At the very least, we got non-Furman mystical jibber-wank, and it is different jibber-wank. But, it is still jibber-wank.
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Late edit:

The art on the flashback to the jibber-wank is really solid. It manages to look like an old UK book, and still look good using modern printing. That is not what boosts the revised grade however.

Roberts does actually seem to have a high concept, specifically "chasing phantoms" or "being let down by one's ideals. Not only are the Knights not in their city, (which the crew of the Lost Light was searching for), but it turns out that even the Knights (thought of as being paragons by the crew) were kind of jerks given that they enslaved the MetroTitan. Even the Council is shown being let down by Magnus not acting as they would have hoped.

The problem is that the high-concept is obscured by all of the bull-shit stuff like "omfg, Ultra Magnus smiled and Chromedome has a mysterious past omfg".

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Grade: C
Revised Grade: B/C

It's almost a trade paperback format rather than the usual comic book cover.

True enough. This is actually the standard MO for IDW. The fact that it feels like a compilation, (complete with character design pages), takes some of the sting out of the $8 price tag.


Dom
-willing to sift a bit, but......

[andersonh1]

This is the first IDW annual I've ever bought. Very nice.

Re: the mystical "jibber-wank". Look at it as some of the religious beliefs that various Transformers hold. Like humans, they have different beliefs, and some (Ratchet) don't believe at all. It adds depth and color to the characters.

[Onslaught Six]

I love this. I absolutely love everything about it. This is the best thing in Transformers ever. I am not exaggerating. From here on out, this is the bar.

I love the way Guido Guidi did the "flashback" panels like they're an old Marvel comic. I love the way the one guy looks like Galactus. I love making Metrotitan into a class (it opens up the idea that Metroplex is one of them!) I love all the little character bits. I love Swerve. I love Whirl. I love Ultra Magnus. I love the new backstory and I love that it's non-exclusive. (Rewind even hints that there exist many different variations on this, and that he hasn't heard this particular take before.)

I mean, it's a series about them seeking out the First Cybertronians. It was always going to have some kind of gibberwank in it. The fact that it's as good as it is, and as self-contained as it is, is awesome. (I also love how it's ENTIRELY disparate from the stupid shit Hasbro has been shoveling out lately. I'll take this every day over Nexus MaxiPrime, or the movies' shitty "13 but only 7 were Primes" retcon.)

I love how Rodimus calls himself "Rodimus Prime." I love that they bring the Magnificence up briefly. (I hate that they don't resolve what happened to it.) I love the nanobots in Magnus's mouth. I love the Galactic Council and their stupid hats.

I can't stop talking about how much I love this.

[Dominic]

Like humans, they have different beliefs, and some (Ratchet) don't believe at all. It adds depth and color to the characters.

Yeah, but gibberwank is kind of a red flag in TF. We can debate religion without expecting G*d, Satan, some other god or gods or a floating pasta monster to show up a few days later. In TF, a theological discussion is usually a precursor to the god or gods in question showing up and doing stuff.

It adds depth and color to the characters.

I will agree, so long as the scenario does not play out as above. If nothing else, showing divergent beliefs would be consistent with the theme of the series as a whole, muddied as it may be.

I love making Metrotitan into a class (it opens up the idea that Metroplex is one of them!)

I think we should assume that Metroplex is one of them. (I really want a MetroTitan or a good KO right now....)

I hate that they don't resolve what happened to it.)

I think some stuff happened during "Revalations". Obligatory "Simpsons" reference: It's in Revalations people!

The problem is that this book seems like it is getting distracted from the important stuff. I will stick with it until I drop RiD. But, MTMTE has not been good enough to keep on its own.



Dom
-agrees that the Prime context is anemic at best.

[Onslaught Six]

I think some stuff happened during "Revalations". Obligatory "Simpsons" reference: It's in Revalations people!

Nope! He got it in Spotlight: Doubledealer, and that is literally the last we ever see or hear of it--at least until this most recent issue, where it's spoken of in the past tense as if Rodimus doesn't have it anymore.

[Shockwave]

Didn't Rodimus bury it somewhere where nobody would ever find it again?

Also, got the annual and I really liked this. I also like that Metrotitan is now a class and a lot of the characters seem to have grown and changed in this issue. It certainly sets up for a diferrent tone for the series from here on out.