Drift #2 Review (SPOILERS)

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 10:06 pm

Eh. Wasn't bad, but not what I'd call good either.

I'm finding some of the story rather cliche. The bad guy who is trained by the good guy to become the inevitable good guy himself. Yawwwn. Seen it before, in so many movies and comics. Shane is too liberally transposing cliche "hero vs. villian" ideas and themes to the Transformers, ala his Cliffjumper spotlight.

That kind of approach appeals to younger, less experienced readers who haven't read every kind of sci-fi/fantasy story under the sun, and thusly, things might seem really cool to them. Maybe that's the target audience, I don't know.

But I'm finding this all mediocre.

One thing for sure though is he's got the pacing right this time. A lot has happened in these two issues. Whether what's happening is good or bad is a different story, but Costa could take a page out of McCarthy's book this time in the pacing department. Shane doesn't seem destined to create the same pacing debacle AHM surely was.

And is it just me, or did Milne's work just take a huge dive this issue? Starting to look a lot like Megatron:Origin in some scenes. And that ain't good.

Give it a "C+". Despite liking the idea of a pacifist third faction, not liking the banality of how Drift's turning is being presented. Here's to hoping there's some unpredictability with events in the next two issues.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:58 pm

Walky of Shortpacked! has some great comments about this issue (and series in general).

http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/blog/dr ... spitening/

Editor Denton Tipton: I have no control over what Milne says (outside of this forum). Just like he doesn’t have any control over what characters live or die. For the record: All those characters are generics. This wouldn’t even be an issue if it weren’t for the fascination with “canon.”

Walky: “Fascination with canon”? Really? You’re going to condescend to us for caring about the stories you sell to us for $3.99? If we see characters dying and we get upset, it’s our fault for caring? Great.

And if Milne really doesn’t have any control over who lives and who dies, maybe you should tell him not to draw characters dying. Because from where I’m looking, he sure does seem to be determining who lives and who dies. Or are we to disregard what we see in the comics we’re reading?

Comic books are still a partially visual medium, right? Or did I miss a memo?

I'm generally confused about what that editor actually does. I mean, if the artist on a Batman book had The Joker casually killing off background characters that were obviously Poison Ivy, Bane, Mr. Freeze, and Catwoman, surely the editor would step in and say, "Uh, yeah.... No. Change that." I mean, what's his editorial input? "Shane? I don't think we should have Spider-Man, the cast of LOST, and a bunch of Gundams here on this splash page?"

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 11:14 pm

We seem to be getting the message through loud and clear that we shouldn't really bother reading these books, or pay any attention to what happens in them.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:10 am

Jack Cade wrote:We seem to be getting the message through loud and clear that we shouldn't really bother reading these books, or pay any attention to what happens in them.

You know what? You're right.

I've cancelled my subscription to all the IDW TF books.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 1:19 pm

Professor Smooth wrote: I've cancelled my subscription to all the IDW TF books.

Wow. Thought Smooth would be the last to go.

I stopped buying the ongoing. Smooth dropped all.

I hope Andy is serious when he says they have taken a serious look at where things went wrong and are correcting it, and that we simply haven't seen the impact of said change in direction yet.

I grant them that, because they plan months ahead of time, we won't see positive changes likely until next year.

But I hope they are taking TF more serious than they have.

In hindsight, DW was better. Say what you will about Brad Mick, but they knew how to fill a comic book up with something at least and, save for a few continuity niggles (like Blitzwing having three different origins), they gave us an ongoing that was a coherent, well, ongoing.

And Furman fans still had the War Within. IDW instead gives Simon the movie-verse crap. Why? Why not give Simon something G1-related, like DW did, even if he wasn't intended to be the main writer?

Post by **Best First** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 1:41 pm

i just commented on the same post. It's just a bit... baffling.

I was tempted to comment on the fact that he seems quite comfortable rewriting history but somehow upset that others are allgedly doing it but decided to leave it.

Post by **snarl** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 1:44 pm

Come off it mate -IDW's current output is ****, but DW was WELL ****.

DW is White dog **** - still ****, you just think you miss it because you don't see it any more.

*edit*

That was to Yes Yes.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 2:32 pm

I guarantee you Sn*rlz that if you read the DW ongoing, and read this ongoing, you will prefer the DW one to what we have now.

You might not like it. But DW **** doesn't quite smell as bad as IDW right now.

Post by **Best First** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 2:38 pm

Jaja is teH mentalz

Post by **snarl** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 3:02 pm

Yes Yes, you know all you're saying Re: DW is "it's the lesser of two evils".

Pretty sure that's a textbook Grimlock Furmanism.

Oh, go ahead, try and claim you don't love him...

But KNOW THIS: secretly, you crave him. It's obvious.

But we ALL do.

It's ok buddy.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 9:38 pm

My spidey sense is telling me that at NY Comic Con, Schmidt is going to announce Furman on the continuation of either Marvel G1 or G2.

And even in my book, that would be the awesomest thing. Furmanisms and all.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 2:41 am

Yaya wrote:
Professor Smooth wrote: I've cancelled my subscription to all the IDW TF books.
Wow. Thought Smooth would be the last to go.

I stopped buying the ongoing. Smooth dropped all.

My system was screwed up anyway. I used to have individual issues shipped to my parents place, then shipped to me. After that got to be a pain in the ass, I just had the books shipped to my parents, read scans online (which, I defend because I'm still buying the issues), then ordered the trades that I actually wanted to have over here.

But lately, even though I'm having the books shipped to my parents, I'm not even bothering to read new stuff. I haven't read any of the movieverse books since...I don't even know when. I missed a bunch of spotlights.

Since I've been buying books I'm not even reading, actively disliking quite a bit of what I have been reading, dropping the titles makes sense.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:22 am

snarl wrote:Yes Yes, you know all you're saying Re: DW is "it's the lesser of two evils".

Pretty sure that's a textbook Grimlock Furmanism.

Better to live an IDW than to die a Dreamwave?

The smell of **** hovers in the air like a giant predatory piece of ****?

Good to know Tipton has such contempt for the reader that he seriously expects us to pay no attention to what's happening in the art now. These are not the background characters you were looking at, move along.

He's like a ******* Jedi. Unreal.

I just hope for all your sakes that Hasbro don't give IDW a big pat on the back for all the Drift toys you people bought off the back of this promotional mini.

[EDIT] Betsy gonna get banninated from IDW. For using sense and rationale.

Well, that's my bet anyhow.

Sunyavadin · Post by **Sunyavadin** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 11:41 pm

Yaya wrote:My spidey sense is telling me that at NY Comic Con, Schmidt is going to announce Furman on the continuation of either Marvel G1 or G2.

And even in my book, that would be the awesomest thing. Furmanisms and all.

My pants may not think it so awesome, as they may need replacing...

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 7:25 am

That Shortpacked blog is brilliant, it makes Walky look like a cock (you can almost hear him wanking off at the thought of having fan enemies), it makes Milne look like a cock (all that coy "Well I just asked some friends what to draw and had no real idea what it's about" stuff smells of bull) and it makes Tipton look like the biggest super cock who ever lived. Once again.

Still, I suppose it's cunning in a way, if you randomly decide nothing has to be consistent with anything else that basically means you don't have to do much in the way of editing. Indeed, I give it a month before he decides each issue can do what it likes from page to page so he doesn't have to do any editing at all (though wasn't he going to leave the TF books to go edits their POGS comic? Or was that Schmidt?).