IDW's The Transformers Discussion/Spoilers Thread

[The Steve Rogers]

Am I the only one who doesnt like teh attitude of the NAILS? They run away when the war starts and dont fight in it, and when it is finally over, they come back and do nothing but bitch at the robots who fought in the war.

There's also something about there being so many which doesnt sit right with me, for whatever reason it makes me feel that the war, Decepticons vs Autobots, was not as big or important as it should be, because so many of the population just didnt join in.

Yeah, I thought the Autobots response to the NAILs has been very calm so far. If I fought in a war for millions of years for my planet and as soon as it was over all these NAILs showed up and started giving me crap I'd probably tell them to get off the planet at gun point. I mean these autobots have been fighting and dying for millions of years and instead of some hero's reception they get treated like crap. As to your second comment about the population size of the NAILs I guess it depends on the overall population size of the Cybertronian race. I know that not only did the Cybertronians live on Cybertron but also its 2 moons and multiple colonies that have never been numbered to my recollection. In most wars the civilians usually outnumber the combatans but I'm merely speculating.

[Algus]

I think I am going to like More Than Meets the Eye more than Robots in Disguise, though RiD has better artwork IMO. I'm still not sold on Bee being a leader, though I have trouble differentiating the way IDW characterizes the Transformers from how they were characterized in the G1 animated stuff.

Was glad to see Ratchet go with Rodimus for MTMTE, liked how the two issues seemed to sync up in terms of introducing the story for both lines. While I hope both books maintain independent stories, I wouldn't mind seeing some crossover type stuff in the future.

Ultimately, I've got high hopes for both books. MTMTE seems like it will fulfill my need for fun action/adventure type stuff while RiD seems to be taking the approach of actually trying to take a very realistic approach to a war that essentially brought about planetary armageddeon

[dupersuper]

Is any one reading the Infestation II books?

[wyokid]

Is any one reading the Infestation II books?

I am. Loved that they're finally continuing Hearts of Steel.

[ayof]

Just finished reading MTMTE #2 and it was a fun read. Without going in depth and spoiling it, Roberts once again proves he understands the characters and it shows in his writing style. Honestly could do without the extra characterization of D-listers like Whirl and Swerve though even if Whirl was a mainstay of the Wreckers. Feels forced to include these characters along with Drift as they sound like an order from Hasbro to make these dudes more popular in mainstream culture.

I'm miffed IDW let Costa get away with 2 years of B.S.-ing in the previous series and in the end he still didn't understand the subject matter of what he was writing. I guess thats what happens when you make friends with random dude from Marvel and "know people" like former IDW editor Andy Schmidt who was still acting like a newbie to the business as the editing was next to non existent in the last few issues of the previous series. The crap stories still get told and this is pretty much indicative of modern comics in general.

Roberts and Barber truly get Transformers with the restart even though they are continuing the previous storylines is refreshing. Barber's work on the Robots in Disguise book is very much in the spirit of Classic Transformers from the Furman era and this is what was mainly missing from Costa's run.

[The Steve Rogers]

I'm miffed IDW let Costa get away with 2 years of B.S.-ing in the previous series and in the end he still didn't understand the subject matter of what he was writing. I guess thats what happens when you make friends with random dude from Marvel and "know people" like former IDW editor Andy Schmidt who was still acting like a newbie to the business as the editing was next to non existent in the last few issues of the previous series. The crap stories still get told and this is pretty much indicative of modern comics in general.

Couldn't disagree more. I loved Costa's run and felt the escalating tension between the humans and transformers was great. I was disappointed that Costa was not allowed to finish his story with Spike's assasination being revealed and Jazz destroying that military complex and telling that General off. I also felt Costa's depiction of a practically indestructable Megatron and a growingly hostile human population left the Autobots in an increasingly dire situation. However, I do agree that the future of our favorite bots looks to be in capable hands.

[MichaelPaytonMZ]

I'd've pulled Costa a year earlier than they did. Great ideas, zero ability to execute them, even less understanding of the concept. Michael Bay and the guy co-wrote DOTM handled the global politics of the TFs on Earth better in DOTM than Costa did in that entire run. That's like saying Rob Liefeld has a better grasp of the anatomy of the human foot than another artist. Even his "good book" Cobra, has suffered without a co-writer. Blackhawks was a fiasco. 3 for 3 as a solo writer should show publishers that the guy just can't write.

Thankfully we have new writers. Two issues in, we have a TF comic that can hold it's own with the best comics on the market.

[The Steve Rogers]

Currently there are three new Transformers books

Autocracy



Autocracy takes place at the beginning of the war and is an eight page, 99 cent, 12 issue digital exclusive.

Robots In Disguise



Robots In Disguise has Ironhide, Bumblebee, Wheeljack on Cybertron trying to re-build Cybertron into a unified planet by getting the Autobots, Decepticons, and the N.A.I.L.s (Non-Affiliated Indigenous Lifeforms) to play nice.

More Than Meets The Eye



More Than Meets The Eye has Rodimus and his gang out in the stars looking for Knights of Cybertron that legends tell the tale of.

I cant wait to read the #2s!

[Blackknight75]

I've been catching up on the IDW run of Transformers.

Love how the Transformer cultures from America, Japan and UK have been brought together and meshed into one huge TF Universe.

And all those preconcieved ideas about popular characters, forget about it.

Who knew that Megatron had such a tragic background, or that both he and Optimus share the same dream for Cyberton, but just have different ideas about how it can be achieved.

But can someone tell me when Last Stand of the Wreckers takes place with the events in the main title?

[UKComicFan]

But can someone tell me when Last Stand of the Wreckers takes place with the events in the main title?

It takes place around the same time it was published - circa issue #1 of Mike Costa's ongoing series.

[wyokid]

I've been catching up on the IDW run of Transformers.

Love how the Transformer cultures from America, Japan and UK have been brought together and meshed into one huge TF Universe.

And all those preconcieved ideas about popular characters, forget about it.

Who knew that Megatron had such a tragic background, or that both he and Optimus share the same dream for Cyberton, but just have different ideas about how it can be achieved.

But can someone tell me when Last Stand of the Wreckers takes place with the events in the main title?

1-4. Megatron Origin #1-4
5-16. Autocracy #1-12 (4-12 unpublished)
17. Spotlight - Blurr
18. Spotlight - Shockwave
19. Spotlight - Cliffjumper
20. Spotlight - Wheelie
21. Spotlight - Hot Rod
22. Spotlight - Sixshot
23. Spotlight - Ultra Magnus
24. Spotlight - Soundwave
25-28. Infiltration #0-3
29-31. Stormbringer #1-3
32-33. Infiltration #4-5
34. Stormbringer #4
35. Infiltration #6
36. Spotlight - Kup
37-40. New Avengers/Transformers #1-4
41-42. Escalation #1-2
43. Spotlight - Nightbeat
44-47. Escalation #3-6
48. Spotlight - Ramjet
49. Spotlight - Galvatron
50. Spotlight - Optimus Prime
51-54. Devastation #1-4
55. Spotlight - Blaster
56. Spotlight - Arcee
57-58. Devastation #5-6
59. Spotlight - Mirage
60. Spotlight - Grimlock
61-64. Revelation #1-4 (contains Spotlights on Cyclonus, Hardhead, Doubledealer & Sideswipe)
65-69. Maximum Dinobots #1-5
70. Spotlight - Drift
71. All Hail Megatron #15
72. Spotlight - Metroplex
73. Spotlight - Jazz
74-88. All Hail Megatron #1-14 & 16
89. Continuum
90. Spotlight - Prowl
91. Last Stand of the Wreckers #1
92. Transformers #1
93-94. Last Stand of the Wreckers #2-3
95. Transformers #2
96. Last Stand of the Wreckers #4
97-98. Transformers #3-4
99-102. Bumblebee #1-4
103-104. Transformers #5-6
105. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5
106-109. Ironhide #1-4
110-113. Drift #1-4
114-115. Heart of Darkness #1-2
116. Infestation #1 (main series)
117-118. Infestation #1-2 (Transformers series)
119. Infestation #2 (main series)
120-121. Heart of Darkness #3-4
122-146. Transformers #7-31
147. Transformers: Death of Optimus Prime
148-151. More Than Meets the Eye #1-4 (3-4 unpublished)
152-155. Robots in Disguise #1-4 (2-4 unpublished)

From Wikipedia

[Gryphon]

Im still catching up on everything via the hardcovers.

[Blackknight75]

Yeah, I'm also slowly catching up with the IDW Transformers universe.

Anyone else reading the Robots in Disguise series?

The political intrigue and drama is on the gradual slow boil. Can't wait to see what else happens.

The line of distinction between Autobot and Decepticon is becoming more an more hard to discern.

Are we to assume Arcee was the shadowy character Prowl was talking to in the first issue?

The only problem I have with the TF Universe is that we have these beings that can live for millions of years, can repair themselves from the most horrible of injurys and disfigurment, almost to the point that death becomes questionable. I am finding it hard to beleive when characters are killed off they are permanently gone.

[Art Monkey]

When it comes to the new direction of IDW's Transformers comics, one thing stands out in my mind. Something I heard in an online review: "These are Transformers comics, but they're actually surprisingly good." Says it all.

What I find interesting is that we currently have three (soon to be four) very different, yet all sublime, Transformers series. There is something for everyone and all stories are of high quality. If you like Decepticons and a more political storyline, and prefer more "traditional" Transformers art and storytelling, Robots in Disguise is for you. Autocracy seems to borrow as much from the cartoon as from the IDWverse (judging by the characterisation of Soundwave and his cassettes in #3), so if you're into that and like stories set in the early days of Transformers history, you can have a field day with this one. More than Meets the Eye, my personal favourite, is the quirky book of the lot; it has way more humour than you'd expect from a Transformers title and there are a lot of strange things happening already - although I expect the story will have its share of dark, bleak storytelling in time too. It also has some of the best characterisation of characters I've ever seen. At any rate I'm hard-pressed to think of a comic where all characters are my favourites. No, scrap that, I think MTMTE is the only one. If you like fun in your comic, and good characters (and a well-written story to boot), pick this one up.

[wyokid]

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