Spotlight: Optimus Prime out today

Hot Shot · Post by **Hot Shot** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 10:39 pm

I managed to get my hands on a copy today, and thought it was a good read, though it feels like it ended too soon. Luckily they put in a preview of Devastation to satisfy me.

The art was a breath of fresh air after Megatron Origins. I loved the bonus art page with MP-01 Prime transforming. The story, as I said, was a little unfilling, but it managed to fit in some glimpses of whats to come(Gestalts, Nova Prime, possible Wheelie spotlight).

I give it a 8.5/10. It lacked a little, but set up many cool things to come.

Also, it said that BW: Ascending is out now but I haven't seen it. Was it pushed back?

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:01 am

I DEFY you to tell me Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there.

I defy you!

Don's work on this issue is fantastic, to say the least. He's gotten better at shrinking down the size of the characters to easily fit within the panels so things aren't crowded. His 'silhouette" shots from the side view in this issue are awesome, an effect used way too infrequently for my taste. And is there anyone better at pencilling gestalt battles than Don does? Omega vs. Monstructor was beautifully rendered, almost up there with his Bruticus vs. Predaking rendering while at Dreamwave.

The story was good too. Not that meaty, but still revealing some nice surprises, like where gestalt technology began, who the first Prime is, and the existence of a character Jhiaxus, who we can only hope is the one from the Generation 2 comic. Interesting it's not Devestator that was the prototype this time, but the Monsterbots instead. Nice surprise there Simon.

Very nice job, a solid "A-" in my book, both art and storywise.

Post by **Best First** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 7:59 am

Yaya wrote:I DEFY you to tell me Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there. .

Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there.

Easy.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 12:51 pm

Best First wrote:
Yaya wrote:I DEFY you to tell me Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there. .
Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there.

Easy.

I DEFY anyone except you to tell me Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there!

Post by **Best First** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 12:58 pm

step up Dave.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:16 pm

I think Dons good but not the best, I still think Geoffs better to be honest, he gets the story across better.

I think Don will get better tho, hes got great technicall ablity, but needs to losen up a bit.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:18 pm

So Prime feels sorry for the Monsterbots and wants to "help" them. For me, this was the weakest part of the writing.

Why would Prime feel inclined to "help" them when, as individuals they talk and act just like any other sane group of Decepticons? It's only as Monstructor where they become like Frankenstein's monster.

I think they should have been written as being much more pitiful incoherent mentally-challenged creatures, even as individual bots. Instead, they fell right into the same category that Simon usually writes obscure characters-namely, the same cookie-cutter personality, the one's who spout the same cute little one-liners.

Granted, we only heard one of them talk. I pray he was the only sane one of the group, and the rest talk something like this: "blaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhaacckkkkkkkkkkfffllll"

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:20 pm

Impactor returns 2.0 wrote:I think Dons good but not the best, I still think Geoffs better to be honest, he gets the story across better.

I think Don will get better tho, hes got great technicall ablity, but needs to losen up a bit.

I DEFY you and you to.......oh, **** it.

rusty_herring · Post by **rusty_herring** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:53 pm

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:01 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I DEFY you to tell me Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there.

What about rusty_herring?
/duck
/runs

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 4:29 pm

Yaya wrote:I DEFY you to tell me Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there.

Don is not the best TF artist out there. I rate Roche, Wildman and Senior higher, but Don has his own style which is still very very good.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 6:12 pm

Hound wrote:
Yaya wrote:I DEFY you to tell me Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there.
Don is not the best TF artist out there. I rate Roche, Wildman and Senior higher, but Don has his own style which is still very very good.

I DEFY me to type another post that reads "I DEFY you"!

The Last Autobot · Post by **The Last Autobot** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 6:38 pm

rusty_herring wrote:Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:01 pm

What about rusty_herring?
/duck
/runs

I agree with you my dear. *in the ducking and running part

And I defy everybody for it!

Well I prefer Don above all the other Tf artists. But I guess he is the Madureira of the Tfs franchise.

Predabot · Post by **Predabot** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 7:38 pm

Hound wrote:
Yaya wrote:I DEFY you to tell me Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there.
Don is not the best TF artist out there. I rate Roche, Wildman and Senior higher, but Don has his own style which is still very very good.

I used to rate the Wildman higher. But not anymore. His work the last few years have simply been too damn disappointing.

I hope he'll prove me utterly wrong in the new UK TF-mag.

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:17 pm

Predabot wrote:
Hound wrote:
Yaya wrote:I DEFY you to tell me Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there.
Don is not the best TF artist out there. I rate Roche, Wildman and Senior higher, but Don has his own style which is still very very good.
I used to rate the Wildman higher. But not anymore. His work the last few years have simply been too damn disappointing.

I hope he'll prove me utterly wrong in the new UK TF-mag.

May have to agree with you there. His work on the last GI Joe/ Transformers crossover was shocking. Fortunately the good far outweighs the bad.

rusty_herring · Post by **rusty_herring** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 3:50 am

Ha ha TLA thank you *slips him the 20 bucks*

I like a lot of TF artists for different reasons.

Roche for his characterization and expressions

E.J Su for his storytelling and detailed depictions

Don for his smooth style and character renders, coming up with a lot of pre-Earth modes for the different robots that hadn't been done prior (working alongside Furman)

Guido Guidi for his reference to the cartoon models

It'd be hard to choose a real favourite.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 11:22 am

So Prime feels sorry for the Monsterbots and wants to "help" them. For me, this was the weakest part of the writing.

No - that's exactly what Prime is about. That's what his character is about. Didn't you get the meaning of the whole story? He just found out the Primes he looked up to, whom he tried to live up to, were corrupted with power. And he decides to continue on in HIS way - compassion - to make right what they did wrong.

I think it's one of the best Spotlights since Soundwave's... we learn so many things.

-Omega is a weapon of last resorts, hidden in a star cloud. He's also ancient - he knew Nova Prime. He wanted the TF race to evolve intellectually, not to expand territorialy.

-Nova Prime was pretty much like the Leige Maximo - he thought the TF race was meant to dominate the galaxy and mold it in his image. The first Ark was all about expansion... and since he's gone to the Dead Universe, it's a good guess he's still 'alive' there and giving Galvatron orders. Jhiaxus was his tactical officier, much like Prowl is OP's. And the Autobots created the Gestalt technology, which seems to be immensly powerful... Monstructor trashed Omega easily.

-I can also guess that the Technobots will examine this new tech and try it out on themselves.

-Oh and Wheelie is lost in space...

Maybe he'll get a Spotlight? Simon hinted at this...

-Apparently Kup is better physically, but mentally... who knows.

-Montructor really looks like an 'it' rather then a 'he'. Slog's arms sticking out of his sides like small T-rex arms... he looks very alien.

-I dunno if it's Simon's idea or Don's, but the whole hangar bay battle really reminded me of 'Alien', no?

All in all, I'd say A+ ... and now I can't wait for devastation.

Post by **Best First** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:54 pm

Yaya wrote:
Why would Prime feel inclined to "help" them when, as individuals they talk and act just like any other sane group of Decepticons? It's only as Monstructor where they become like Frankenstein's monster.

the point is that they are not Decepticons though. They predate factions.

Great comic, although as with Galvy not so much a sporlight as a continuation of the story IMO.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 3:58 pm

BB Shockwave wrote:
So Prime feels sorry for the Monsterbots and wants to "help" them. For me, this was the weakest part of the writing.
No - that's exactly what Prime is about. That's what his character is about. Didn't you get the meaning of the whole story?

I got then meaning of the overall story, which I thought was great. Basically, Prime comes to realize that he really is, as a leader, on his own.

But that has nothing to do with the lameness of his over-concern for the Monster Pretenders. From what we gather, they talk and think and act like the Predacons or the Combaticons.

I mean, they aren't "monster" enough that they can't fly a ship and locate Omega in a nebulous cloud, are they? That's pretty sophisticated for these "poor, poor little creatures".

Lame. That's what that part was. I can see Prime showing more concern for Thunderwing and Bludgeon than I can these bots.

the point is that they are not Decepticons though. They predate factions.

That's true, but that has nothing to do Prime overdoing it in the compassion department.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this issue a lot, but I just found some weakness in parts of the writing.

It's interesting how every extended technology in the IDW verse has come with a price-Pretenders, Headmasters, Micromasters, Combiners, etc. They all end up ******-up in the head, don't they?

Post by **Best First** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 4:19 pm

i don't think Prime's compassion is the problem, its that the PMs don't seem in need of such compassion in their individual form - i agree that's an issue with the writing - there isn't any explanation as to their plight - why do they have to combine, how has it affected them as individuals - werethey experimented on against their will etc?

i think that's the piece of the puzzle that's missing - all that really needed to be added was a suggestion that it was done against their will or something.

LOVE the mention of Jhiaxus. Got proper tingles at that bit.

Also very fond of the idea of a corrupt Prime.

Although if you look at Nova, who seems in charge of a whole race, and Op, who leads the entire bot army, Sentinel seems very out of place as some kind of local police chief. Just another flaw with the Megs series.

Would also have been nice to get more of an idea of what Omega's role in previous Cyber society was.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 4:34 pm

just to jog my memory, who topped Nova Prime?

and, why is Jhaxius so damm hard?

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 6:12 pm

Yaya wrote:
I got then meaning of the overall story, which I thought was great. Basically, Prime comes to realize that he really is, as a leader, on his own.

But that has nothing to do with the lameness of his over-concern for the Monster Pretenders. From what we gather, they talk and think and act like the Predacons or the Combaticons.

It seems so, yeah... but Prime never saw them acting as individuals, did he? All he saw was a big bad Monster out for revenge on Omega for locking him up and throwing away the key.

Lame. That's what that part was. I can see Prime showing more concern for Thunderwing and Bludgeon than I can these bots.

He did show concern... Remember him kneeling down to the dying Iguanus? And even with Thunderwing - he didn't have his body destroyed, he kept it guarded on Cybertron. Also note that Sideswipe says "babysitting deactivated Decepticons" in plural in Galvy Spotlight, ergo there is a high chance that Bludgeon and co are also kept there in stasis. Prime's compassion, his unwillingness to extinguish a spark is a weakness but also what makes him 'the' Prime. And it also makes you wonder what could Megatron have done in this IDW verse that Prime orders him to be shot in cold blood at the end of Escalation...

That's true, but that has nothing to do Prime overdoing it in the compassion department.

It doesn't matter what faction they would belong to, if any. Prime as always has some self-guilt over the actions taken in the past - just like he felt himself responsible for the humans in Marvel because he choose Earth as the Ark's crash point, he now feels responsibility for the bots his predecessor turned into monsters. I think when he says "You... you are no better then they are! All of you... playing God!" to Omega, that's pretty harsh - showing just how emotionally upset Prime got when learning this.

It's interesting how every extended technology in the IDW verse has come with a price-Pretenders, Headmasters, Micromasters, Combiners, etc. They all end up ******-up in the head, don't they?

I'm still curious if the Pretender tech can be salvaged... there has to be a reason Galvy took Thunderwing. Also, are the micromasters (the Sports Car Patrol) undead like Galvatron?

One more thing to note - check Nova Prime's design, he is clearly based on Energon Rodimus, while his trailer has the long exhaust pipes of G1 Rodimus. And his head looks like Big Convoy's - no coincidence, I think, that that toy was recolored into Nemesis Prime...

Post by **Best First** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 6:17 pm

actually i'd say a cross bwteen Energon Rodimus and Energon Optimus.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 6:24 pm

Best First wrote:actually i'd say a cross bwteen Energon Rodimus and Energon Optimus.

Yeah, the chest-shield really resembles Fatimus's. Those big exhausts look like TWW Grimlock's too.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 7:22 pm

Best First wrote:step up Dave.

Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there.

Bit late?

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 7:24 pm

Also just realised - I think it's the first time that the word "Gestalt" is used in an official TF comic... at least I think so. They have alway been called combiners before. Interesting.

Post by **Best First** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:58 am

spiderfrommars wrote:
Best First wrote:step up Dave.
Don Figueroa is not the best TF artist out there.

Bit late?

Being bit late is now totally well banned innit.

sprunkner · Post by **sprunkner** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:55 am

Just got this. Few thoughts:

Pretty! I forgot how much I loved proper Don Fig.

Um... how many "vision quest Prime" stories can we get? Does this remind anyone of G2 #5? Or the quest for the Last Autobot? Or... aw, f*ck it, it's cliche but it's pretty.

Monsterbots as the first Gestalts? Didn't see that one coming. I think the only appearance of theirs in the Marvels was Rhythms of Darkness. I'm feeling the Marvel love, boys. Feeling it. "We are Primus. We are Prima. We are Prime Nova. (We are dyslexic) We are..."

This feels like a bit of a big story for the 22 pages. Prime getting disillusioned with his predecessors--that's a big issue for the whole thing.

I like the idea that Galvatron is actually Nova Prime. Did that occur to anyone? Like the flashbacks of him in the spotlight were a red herring? The kind of red herring that has no obvious explanation?

Sound effects: Kalunnng! Ba-ttankk! I don't think we appreciate these enough.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:21 am

sprunkner wrote: I like the idea that Galvatron is actually Nova Prime. Did that occur to anyone? Like the flashbacks of him in the spotlight were a red herring? The kind of red herring that has no obvious explanation?

Unlikely, knowing how Simon works...

His surprises are not so out-of-the-blue... And besides, Galvy was shown BEFORE he entered the dead universe, and didn't look like Nova Prime at all. Plus he kept talking about a cerain 'him' who keeps controlling him, and I don't think he was talking about 'Him':

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:02 pm

BB Shockwave wrote:-I dunno if it's Simon's idea or Don's, but the whole hangar bay battle really reminded me of 'Alien', no?

Parts of it are *very* similar to the battle between John Connor, Uncle Bob and the T-Infinity...also out this week, also written by...

I liked it, the only bit that stuck in my craw really was the whole "hit him in the weak point, which just happens to be right in the middle of his frickin' chest, and he'll explode" schtick. Any reason Omega couldn't, I don't know, just reach out and do that himself? He wouldn't even need to convince Monsty to pick him up first, and I'm sure that claw of his packs a wallop...Besides, it's a carbon copy of the end of the Japanese headmasters series, no? Where Scorponok has a big old weak spot directly underneath the Decepticon symbol on his chest?

I dunno, it just struck me as a bit of a lazy ending to the fight. I mean, who builds a giant killer robot with a weak spot on the most vulnerable part of its body in the first place?

Don's sketches were lovely. As is the art and colouring generally.

8/10 - let down by a weak point.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:34 pm

Metal Vendetta wrote:
BB Shockwave wrote:-I dunno if it's Simon's idea or Don's, but the whole hangar bay battle really reminded me of 'Alien', no?
Parts of it are *very* similar to the battle between John Connor, Uncle Bob and the T-Infinity...also out this week, also written by...

I liked it, the only bit that stuck in my craw really was the whole "hit him in the weak point, which just happens to be right in the middle of his frickin' chest, and he'll explode" schtick. Any reason Omega couldn't, I don't know, just reach out and do that himself? He wouldn't even need to convince Monsty to pick him up first, and I'm sure that claw of his packs a wallop...Besides, it's a carbon copy of the end of the Japanese headmasters series, no? Where Scorponok has a big old weak spot directly underneath the Decepticon symbol on his chest?

I dunno, it just struck me as a bit of a lazy ending to the fight. I mean, who builds a giant killer robot with a weak spot on the most vulnerable part of its body in the first place?

Hehe, yeah that's a very similar weak point... but then Monsty is just a prototype. It's his weak point, as in Marvel Devastator was pretty useless because he was so slow and dumb he had trouble telling friend from foe and by the time he struck down, everyone moved out of the way...

Still Omega could have hit him there, I guess getting one of his arms ripped off kinda made him forget to do that.