Transformers: The Movie Prequel #1 advance review [due 21st]

Post by **Denyer** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:12 am

http://tfarchive.com/comics/idw/movieprequel1a.php

Asked after staff of other TF sites doing advance reviews of stuff... the person to talk to is Dan Taylor. I've only seen them at Fractal Matter, so it'd be nice to get other TF places involved.

Anyway... enjoy, feel free to point out stupid mistakes on my part, etc.

edit:

Additional review here --

http://fractalmatter.com/main/?p=531

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:57 am

Hmm, interesting.

Will the comics be better than the film?

Post by **Best First** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:54 am

wouldn't suprise me given the respective creators.

Prime looks like the Guyver on that cover (that is Prime right?).

Good review - looking forward to this as a result, which reminds me i need to get my order in with the Bax Bot.

Not sure how mad i am on the co-ruler front as an initial origin of the conflict, but curious to see how it is handled.

BB's depiction sounds pretty cool...

Cheers.

Would love to see a Spidey special on the 'early review' front.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:42 pm

Best First wrote:
Would love to see a Spidey special on the 'early review' front.

Sure, I'll give it a whirl.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:55 pm

Nice (p)review, Denyer

I'm still nowhere near 100% into this, though. Looking at that cover, the only robot I recognise is Bumblebee - from seeing the movie designs - otherwise I'd be scratching my head going Um...Jackpot? Sinnertwin? Circuit? Powerflash? Omega Spreem? Death's Head 3.0?!? The way he's designed, you could tell me that he was Pretender Bumblebee, and I'd be quite able to believe it. I mean he looks cool and all, but there's nothing there that says "Bumblebee" to me, and there's nothing to suggest he's a "Transformer" at all. It's just too fluid and there's not even a hint of altmode about him. The same goes for the other two, brcause right now I really can't tell who he's paired up with - it looks like a fembot in Shiro's helmet and Energon Jetfire, and he's squaring off against another army of seeker clones, that look like a cross between Whirl and the Sweeps. Hopefully the story engages and explains what's going on adequately, but these guys are going to have to refer to each other by name A LOT for me to make much sense of it, I'm afraid.

Not to disparage Don's art or Josh's (I assume) colouring - the piece looks great, but this isn't really Transformers for me. Of course I'll still buy it, but it's not exciting me as much as the next three issues of Escalation, the next three Spotlights and the Megatron mini.

Post by **Denyer** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 6:40 pm

Metal Vendetta wrote:I'm still nowhere near 100% into this, though. Looking at that cover, the only robot I recognise is Bumblebee - from seeing the movie designs - otherwise I'd be scratching my head going Um...Jackpot? Sinnertwin? Circuit? Powerflash? Omega Spreem? Death's Head 3.0?!?

From what I gather, final designs for most of the "name" characters are still under wraps to a degree (in spite of any leaks) because of publicity arrangements for the movie. IDW is cleared to use them for the comics themselves, but having covers with too many spoilers out there ahead of time would be a big no-no. The first issue concentrates mainly on establishing a few characters. Reckon it'd confuse the new folk a lot otherwise.

Most of the cues I was talking about are interior art and appearances, though that bulky dark grey 'Con on the second cover reminds me a lot of Barricade.

I'm also mostly into main continuity stuff.

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 6:55 pm

It sounds like an interesting read.

Give me Escalation any day though

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:19 pm

Not going to spoil myself with this review, but could someone tell me if Shockwave is mentioned or seen anywhere in it?

Post by **Denyer** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:08 am

Not as such, though you may find some designs and mannerisms familiar.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 6:30 pm

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/imagehost ... 37fe7d.jpg

Aaaand. Yes, ladies and gentlebots. It's just like in the DW days! Shockwave did it!

Every Con has his head!

So, umm, any chance of, y'know, advance scans?

Post by **Best First** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 7:31 pm

BB Shockwave wrote:
So, umm, any chance of, y'know, advance scans?

don't be an idiot.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:28 pm

Here's your advance scan!

Or a close approximation to it, anyway!

February's only a day or two away. You can wait.

Looks interesting, if a little Cyclopean.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:13 am

Best First wrote:don't be an idiot.

Laydeeees and gentlemen, BF is back!

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:09 am

Hey, I was just asking. How come some people receive their comics a week before they are released? Spotlight UM was too reviewed many days before it hit the stores...

Post by **Best First** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:51 am

see the bit that says ADVANCE?

and the bit where Stu says he talked to IDW to arrange this?

Its almost as if IDW are letting trusted sources do early reviews as a means to engage with the fans and generate some positiove buzz isn't it?

So... chances of someone who is given an advance copy because they are trusted with it then scanning it and sharing it are...exactly how high would you say?

Christ.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:58 pm

Didn't really read how he got it, only read the review. Sheesh, no need to get so riled up...

Post by **Best First** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:06 pm

i love the fact people think i'm angry when i make posts like that. its rarely the case.

often flabbergasted though.

6. Please do not use Transfans to request or distribute free copies of material that is currently available to buy.

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:40 pm

6. Please do not use Transfans to request or distribute free copies of material that is currently available to buy.

Well, it's actually not available to buy at this moment...

*is banned*

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:51 pm

Sorry Besty, I really thought you were. Won't happen again! :P

flabbergasted... now that's a word I often heard and I only bothered to look it up in a dictionary today! Now I know! (and that's half the battle...)

Back on topic... I wonder how actually these co-written comics are actually written. I mean, Chris came up with the idea and gave it to Simon to wrote it? Or they sat down and wrote it together? I always wondered about these, already back when DW published Micromasters (co-written by Mad Brick and Adam Patyk, well unless Adam was another alias...)

I'm actually quite looking forward to this. Much more then looking forward to the movie...

Btw, any of you seen the old sketch for movie Ratchet (that actually uses a head more like G1 comic Ratchet's head!) - I think Denyer or someone else confirmed he's Inferno and is in the prequel.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/vbimghost ... imgid=2097

Predabot · Post by **Predabot** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 3:35 pm

OMG!

I don't think I care if the movie itself is bad now. Because those covers, and thereby the interiors, look utterly awesome! It's almost like an entirely fresh new take on the Transformers.

The reason for the Allspark being hurled into space until it reaches our planet is sound, should they all perish in the war that has already turned their planet into a cindered nothing, new transformable life will in time rise on our planet.

( And seeing those camphones and stuff, I suppose that's exactly what happens eventually, a new kind of Transformer-life, more sleak simplified, early on in it's evolution.)

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 3:40 pm

Predabot wrote: The reason for the Allspark being hurled into space until it reaches our planet is sound, should they all perish in the war that has already turned their planet into a cindered nothing, new transformable life will in time rise on our planet.

And it's almost exactly done for the same reasons when Prime shot the Underbase out of Boltax's mountain... interesting paralells...

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 9:07 pm

Denyer wrote:
Metal Vendetta wrote:I'm still nowhere near 100% into this, though. Looking at that cover, the only robot I recognise is Bumblebee - from seeing the movie designs - otherwise I'd be scratching my head going Um...Jackpot? Sinnertwin? Circuit? Powerflash? Omega Spreem? Death's Head 3.0?!?
From what I gather, final designs for most of the "name" characters are still under wraps to a degree (in spite of any leaks) because of publicity arrangements for the movie. IDW is cleared to use them for the comics themselves, but having covers with too many spoilers out there ahead of time would be a big no-no. The first issue concentrates mainly on establishing a few characters. Reckon it'd confuse the new folk a lot otherwise.

Most of the cues I was talking about are interior art and appearances, though that bulky dark grey 'Con on the second cover reminds me a lot of Barricade.

I'm also mostly into main continuity stuff.

actually, we were told to make the bots look as much like the protoform bots [seen in the trailer and toys] as we could [thus the similar look and monochrome color schemes]

seems to me that maybe the transformers dont really transform [or need to transform] on cybertron. Just that its used as a disguise reflex should they encounter other planets or what not. the only thing the protoforms seem to transform into are their "entry pod" mode things

[little tidbit, bumblebee was actually first drawn VERY differently than you'll see him. He was drawn based off another design [mishap on hasbros end i guess] so we had to redo bumblebee for the whole issue.

yeah...

maybe we'll get to show how he originally looked later

anyways, cant wait for this to come out. im super pumped. [and issue 2 rocks even harder >:}

Post by **Denyer** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 5:53 am

Josh wrote:actually, we were told to make the bots look as much like the protoform bots [seen in the trailer and toys] as we could [thus the similar look and monochrome color schemes]

The loss of the pink's a good thing IMO...

Starscream and Prime are quite clearly based on the pre-Earth toys, but was there a specific "protoform" pic drawn up for the Ratchet/Inferno style guy or d'you know if Don worked from the image in the TFW thread?

Josh wrote:seems to me that maybe the transformers dont really transform [or need to transform] on cybertron.

Some seem to, others don't... maybe the Autobots are newer to the tech? Megatron feels the need to mention what his alt-mode is, and the Autobots seem unaware of its capabilities, suggesting he hasn't long had it.

Josh wrote:we had to redo bumblebee for the whole issue.

Ouch.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 10:36 am

Josh wrote:seems to me that maybe the transformers dont really transform [or need to transform] on cybertron.

That pretty much takes away all the unique-ness of the TFs. They are just like general giant mechanoid robots. Alt modes should be useful on Cybertron too: faster traveling, better armor, greater firepower, etc.

Post by **Denyer** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:29 pm

New review here -- http://fractalmatter.com/main/?p=531

Post by **Denyer** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 11:00 pm

Wizard also have a short featurette, found by Raymond T:

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/ ... 270922.cfm

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:28 pm

BB Shockwave wrote:
Josh wrote:seems to me that maybe the transformers dont really transform [or need to transform] on cybertron.

That pretty much takes away all the unique-ness of the TFs. They are just like general giant mechanoid robots. Alt modes should be useful on Cybertron too: faster traveling, better armor, greater firepower, etc.

well, i guess i take back my statement. probably made in haste. i think what i meant to say was that they are all very generic and similar. Seems that the only time they would need to transform is for space travel

most have the entry mode but then megatron rigged himself up as a kind of interstellar jet

i dunno. i wont pretend to know anything other than whats said in the prequel books. this is an entirely new take so who knows what kind of alt modes [if any] the general populace has other than whats specifically noted/shown

and yeah, the misc "red shirt" behind bee on the cover [and seen in the issue] was based off the early ratchet concept. don liked the design and figured he'd use it. Though its not supposed to be anyone in particular

Post by **Denyer** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:49 pm

Preview pages... the site has overdone the compression a bit, IMO.

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=100548

Still readable, but trust me that everything's gonna be much clearer on the page.

edit: Actually, it's mainly the last page that's come out with JPEG artifacts.