TF Ongoing Miniseries #7 Review (SPOILERS)

[Jack Cade]

I don't have a review - I just wanted to ask Yaya, before he posts his, not to make any excuses for Costa this time! By all accounts that I've read so far, a sucky issue indeed (excepting EJ's art).

[Yaya]

I don't presume to review an issue based on other TF fans opinions, as we know how varied they can be.

For example, there's that one guy who does the whole "Buy Pile" schpeel who couldn't review his ass out of a paper bag and praised AHM like it was this incredible piece of art. What I have found myself doing is seeing what he says. If he likes it, I know it's bad. If he doesn't, there's chance it's good.

I'm more inclined to trust your opinion actually, Jack, as I think your tastes are akin to mine in what I want to see out of a TF comic.

I will say this. I saw some of the EJ art, and the colorist really detracts from his work this time.

[Best First]

I'm more inclined to trust your opinion actually, Jack, as I think your tastes are akin to mine in what I want to see out of a TF comic.

[bumblemusprime]

I don't presume to review an issue based on other TF fans opinions, as we know how varied they can be.

For example, there's that one guy who does the whole "Buy Pile" schpeel who couldn't review his ass out of a paper bag and praised AHM like it was this incredible piece of art. What I have found myself doing is seeing what he says. If he likes it, I know it's bad. If he doesn't, there's chance it's good.

I'm more inclined to trust your opinion actually, Jack, as I think your tastes are akin to mine in what I want to see out of a TF comic.

I will say this. I saw some of the EJ art, and the colorist really detracts from his work this time.

Except the Buy Pile guy spotlit Wreckers. Whatever.

[Yaya]

Except the Buy Pile guy spotlit Wreckers. Whatever.

Even he could not deny the Wreckers.

[Yaya]

Okay, so I read it.

I guess we can now understand how the bumbling, bickering Autobots stranded on Earth have survived this long. Apparently, their enemies are even bigger idiots.

Where the Autobots have proven themselves quite adept at hiding in the deep recesses of caves, the Decepticons have revealed themselves to be quite proficient at savagely eating each other alive whilst stranded on an asteroid.

Is it wrong to feel empowered as a human being while reading this? Suddenly, this issue has inspired me with confidence. I can, without reservation, say I am ready to face any intergalactic robotic threat knowing full well that, despite my weak organic frame, I am intellectually superior in every facet.

And the coloring? Sheesh, what the hell happened? Everyone looked like Generation 2 Megatron. It must really suck to draw something that could potentially shine like in the Prowl Spotlight and then have something like this happen to it. Sorry to see that happen E.J. Damn shame.

And what was up with that deranged Con busting through the wall screaming "death to tyrants!". Hypoenergonic reaction leading to madness? I literally laughed out loud at how ridiculous that was. I mean, Decepticons are tyrants. Just weird.

And what the heck is Shockers doing there? And how are cerebro-shells new when they were present in the Blaster spotlight? And why treat a beloved character like Darkwing like that? I'm all for character deaths, but come on! What a way to go.

The only positive I could find in this was Megatron's internal monologue. Thought that was well done. Again, I think Costa has consistently been strong in the dialogue department.

Sometimes, the art can save a poorly scripted comic or at least make it worth my time. Not so here, unfortunately, as both the art and story combine to give us one of the worst TF comic reads since some of those last few AHM issues.

Bitterly disappointed. Give it a "D". For "Disappointment".

Jack, I was hoping to have some points of contention here with you. But even I can't give Costa the benefit of the doubt on this one.

[bumblemusprime]

The art in this issue was great, save for those distracting camouflage-looking things on all the robots. An experiment in shading by EJ? I think his moody style looks super-awesome, but he went a little overboard on the shading when he added these things. Nonetheless, he is still better at conveying style and dynamism than any other TF artist.

If he cut the camo, he would once again be The Best Artist In Transformer Comics History. I'm serious. He is only about .011% better than Geoff Senior, but that is enough.

The writing was putrid. Another issue in which nothing at all happens. The Decepticons fight like Orcs. I half expected to see "Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!" All that buildup and absolutely nothing happened. No confrontation. Nothing but Megatron slowly coming back to life. His hand moved. HIS HAND MOVED! THAT'S IT! A random Autobot busts in and dies.

No more defense of this as buildup, please. For ****'s sake, this is issue #7! Within five issues of Last Stand, we got real drama, conflict, sacrifice and heartbreak. A small cast was well-developed and given passion and resolution.

How did IDW make this mistake twice? Twice now a writer with a tiny little credit has come along and IDW has handed them the golden goose. Costa and McCarthy weren't tested out on some miniseries. Holmes was, and he failed. Rocherts and Mowry were, and they got, by all accounts, a positive response. Furman had certainly proven himself. Costa and McCarthy both got a free pass to the top billing based on... what? A good pitch? A few previous credentials? Having worked in publishing, I can say that the best query letters can disguise a bland book.

[Yaya]

The Decepticons fight like Orcs. I half expected to see "Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!"

Awesome, bumblemus.

A random Autobot busts in and dies.

Hate to break this to you, but that was a Decepticon. Yeah. I know. What the [composite word including 'f*ck']?

[bumblemusprime]

Did I miss the symbol? That's even weirder.

God, I have to remember not to post my Transfans reaction straight into the IDW board. Every time I get called a meanie.

[Yaya]

God, I have to remember not to post my Transfans reaction straight into the IDW board. Every time I get called a meanie.

I read your post and didn't think it was objectionable. But then again, 'objectionable' on the IDW boards is defined as 'not liking their stuff'. Which is ridiculous. I'm surprised I didn't get called out myself for my harsh criticisms.

But it is a time for harshness, actually. I was very disappointed in this last issue for several reasons. For one, I'm tired of the whole "slow burn" argument. This is not slow. This is glacial. Any potential this story might have is lost in the pacing. Isn't it enough to have had to suffer an entire year with AHM?

What I've come to realize is that Costa's strong suit is Spotlights. When he's forced to get inside the head of a character and flesh them out, and confines himself to writing a single issue to do so, he's excels. I was impressed with his writing the Thundercracker and Prowl spotlights and I think if IDW want to use him effectively, this is how they should do it. His Ironhide series, based on a single issue, which is premature, is possibly shaping up to be exciting. Again, when the focus is on character development, he does well. It's really his calling.

But an ongoing doesn't allow one to 'stop and smell' the roses for as long a time as Costa would like. You have to find that balance. Simon knew how to be epic and get things moving, which is something the ongoing needs very badly right now. The problem with Simon is he can't do what Costa can. A good writer can do both well and writes a balanced story.

Who fits that bill? Nick Roche.

So I'm in agreement with you. I think I've seen enough of Costa to know what he's good at and what he isn't. The real question is is it time to hand the reigns over to Nick, if he'll take them? Nick has proven himself to be a competent writer of spotlights and now a miniseries. I don't think you can go wrong with Roche. Again, we haven't seen what he could do if pressed on a monthly, but LSOTW was enough evidence for me to believe he would not have a problem tackling the ongoing.

In the meantime, I'm hoping Mike reads these message boards and takes these criticism under advisement.

[bumblemusprime]

If Mike reads Transfans, he'll cry into a beer for an hour. Or he'll not take Snarl seriously, which is really for the best, seeing as how people who take Snarl seriously have a tendency to call other people they don't know and... yeah.

Not Nick Roche... Names Rocherts.

They are one. The Ring and the Dark Lord.

[Jack Cade]

I don't presume to review an issue based on other TF fans opinions, as we know how varied they can be.

We were having this discussion in the poetry community the other day - what's the use of knowing someone else's thumbs up or thumbs down? To my mind, you can usually tell from the way someone's written a review the extent to which you would agree or disagree with them. So for example, once I'd read the thing about cerebro shells in various reviews, I was 99.9% sure I wasn't going to get the issue and say, "Actually, I like this umpteenth continuity [composite word including 'f*ck']-up!"

I also knew that if other people were complaining about the lack of action or character development - something which has been a sore point for me in every issue but #4 so far - it's very likely that I'll find that a problem too.

Honestly, I just can't quite match up the fact that Andy Schmidt posts on the board, holds his hands up to mistakes, answers questions directly etc. with the fact that the mistakes on this book keep getting repeated and amplified, while what is good comes in flashes of potential.

[bumblemusprime]

I think Andy is trying to respect his creators and give Mike enough time for whatever awesome thing he supposedly has planned.

If Andy was a little more ruthless, I think he would have canned Costa, but he appears to really believe in Mike's ideas. This leads me to believe that Mike has good ideas waaay down the pipe.

[snarl]

Surely you'd have to lay out your plot way in advance?

And if you're an editor you then say "I don't like this bit, get rid of the superfluous stuff. It's bollocks. I like this bit. Keep this.

etc?

It sometimes feels like they're just writing for themselves, whether it's good or not. Bit self indulgent. Save that for a bloody novel if you must, but isn't that what an editor is supposed to do, cut the (even possibly well written) crap out?

[Yaya]

Surely you'd have to lay out your plot way in advance?

And if you're an editor you then say "I don't like this bit, get rid of the superfluous stuff. It's bollocks. I like this bit. Keep this.

etc?

It sometimes feels like they're just writing for themselves, whether it's good or not. Bit self indulgent. Save that for a bloody novel if you must, but isn't that what an editor is supposed to do, cut the (even possibly well written) crap out?

Excellent points, snarlz. Perhaps the editors need to be more assertive and not worry about the feelings of their co-workers. Andy needs to step up and say, "Yeah, there's no "I" in "team", but there is in "lets make a [composite word including 'f*ck']Ing good comic".

Even if Mike has good ideas, the delivery of said ideas is more critical to telling a good story than the ideas themselves (as evidenced by Lost, for example).

[Best First]

7 issues in.

Jeezus. If this book didn't have The TF logo on the front i would have have left it for another woman by now.

A woman who can utter more than 2 words a minute and, as an added bonus, spouts ones that make sense.

For me this whole series has become an act in self justification - this notion that the war being over is interesting - which as an idea it may be - but is avowedly not where AHM left things. So in issue 1 we get this war is over nonsense, and since then we get ill-concieved (maybe because there can't be any good explanations) reasoning for why no ones doing their job of being either a) evil or b) heroic anymore.

What concerns me most is the statement by Andy that TFs is all about Prime and Megs. Andy seems great and i am incredibly impressed by the way he engages but if that is what he thinks then i don't think he get's TFs. Prime and Megs are a huge part, but they are also something that needs to be got away from on a regular basis to give other characters a chance to breath and equally to give the idea of an millenia spanning conflict some credibility. So if that is his view, and he is approving Costa's long running ideas, then i think i may be done with this soon.

Oh, and i didn't dig EJs art this time round, his humans were good but his robots looked... rushed (i don't think this is the case, just how it looked) - nowhere near his flawless glory on that -ations.