Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #01 (SPOILERS)

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:37 pm

Wow.

This is possibly one of the best first issues of any comic I have ever read. I've re-read it 5 times already.

It's exciting, it's dramatic, it's funny. There are easter eggs yet it doesn't feel fan-wanky. Several characters are introduced without it feeling rushed and there are already several plots threads started.

I love the art. This is Roche's finest work yet. I'm gutted he wont be doing any more issues. The new designs are perfect, a combination between G1 and TF:Prime. I already doubt whether Milner can pull of any of the humour when he can only draw angry faces.

I defy anyone who believes Costa wrote good characterisation to back-up that statement after reading this. I learned more about what was going on in the heads of Prowl, Cyclonus, Ultra Magnus and Ratchet in a few panels than I did any other character in the entire Costa run.

If the fandom do not lap this up then they do not deserve an ongoing Transformers comic.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 12:28 am

My two local comic stores didn't order it. Hope that doesn't mean anything. Besides me having to freakin wait.

Post by **Best First** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:18 pm

I was so impatient i downloaded this to my phone and read it on the loo, even though i expect it will be there when i get home tonight.

This is phenominal stuff. Or at least i'd think so if i didn't hate all writers who were not Simon Furman.

Sometimes i really regret people adopting this stance on my behalf.

Seriously though - absolutely brilliant. I think my favourite bit was Magnusvision (TM) but the whole thing is an absolute joy.

Grimlock next issue?

Gutted Roche is going - the art in this issue is perfection. I hope he is leaving to draw X-Men or something. Anything else would be a waste.

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:24 pm

Magnus-vision was a brilliant touch.

I loved Swerve and his 'Death' line. I love that everyone hates him.

Tailgate is kinda adorable. His self diagnostic scene made me LOL.

Whirl is a bit of a nutcase. I hope they do not dilute him.

It will be interesting to see how Decepticons are integrated into this ongoing as the concept feels very Autobot-centric.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:26 pm

This was great. Brilliant.

I can only make a couple of small complaints that had more to do with suspension of disbelief than anything--the bad pun of "rigor morphis" and the idea that anything explosive would hold its stored energy for six million years.

With only those tiny niggles (it is a comic about giant robot religion, after all, so suspension of disbelief is not exactly paramount) this was an absolute masterpiece. Magnus is a freaking sociopath--or the reverse--in IDW! I laughed so hard at "It's all scripted. Drift writes it for him." It reminded me of the mystical bad anime-Drift the user Thunderwing posted on IDW a while ago. Prowl is shaping up into a genuinely scary character, and we got a great motivation why in Death of Optimus Prime.

I have a hard time thinking that RiD can measure up to this magnificence. But I'm hopeful.

Hot Shot · Post by **Hot Shot** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:54 pm

I can't think of anything to say, because there's no way I can describe how amazing this was. The next month is gonna feel sooooooo long.

Post by **Best First** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:38 pm

Yes, our lives are now a series of 30 day chunks dictated to us by the whims of James Roberts.

Hooray!

Hot Shot · Post by **Hot Shot** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:16 am

Should we have it any other way?

Post by **Best First** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 1:51 pm

Yes... that was kinda the... ugh, never mind.

EVERYONE BUY THIS!

DJ_Convoy · Post by **DJ_Convoy** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:41 pm

I don't get to read this 'til next month but obviously I can hardly wait.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 6:24 pm

Yay, just got this, and it's ace. Bloody hell, Whirl's gone proper mental, hasn't he?

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:54 pm

So is this the new ongoing written by Roberts? A good jumping on point then?

Hot Shot · Post by **Hot Shot** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 11:00 pm

The Death of Optimus Prime is the jumping-on point, actually.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:29 am

Metal Vendetta wrote:Yay, just got this, and it's ace. Bloody hell, Whirl's gone proper mental, hasn't he?

i get the impression While's been proper mental for a while.

Whirl be cray-ze.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:38 pm

Well, you can see why - he was the one who first pissed Megs off and indirectly started the war, then he served alongside Megs's drinking buddy in the most hard-burned unit in the Autobot army, saw him commit war crimes and get sent to G9 and then got kicked out of that same unit (do we know why? a nod to his disappearance from the UK comics?)...no wonder he's gone a bit off the scale. He looks so weird, too. I love this Whirl.

Post by **Kaylee** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:56 am

That was awesome. I love the artwork, the ending was a wonderful harbinger of more to come and the characters are so sharp they could slice bread.

That's up there with some of Marvel/Furman's work, I think

Reflex · Post by **Reflex** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:08 pm

I'm a TPB-er.
Just glad to be reading the feedback! It'll be worth the wait this time.

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:44 am

Guys, I just want to say, I have actually been following Transfans discussions these past many months - I just keep losing my password so never seem to be able to log in.

I love this comic, but how do we feel about losing Roche? At first I wasn't too bothered, as Milne has done some good work recently, but the more I read this, the more I feel it's going to be a real bummer. Some of the most expressive stuff Nick does (check out Ratchet's face shrouded in darkness on page 4, Prowl's temper tantrum on 7) is stuff that I find generally doesn't occur to most TF artists, who are often obsessive about the detail but merely competent when it comes to composition and angles.

When I think back to issues 22 and 23, it was good, dark stuff, but I seem to recall the faces were still fairly generic. What other artist would ever think of something as simple-but-effective as putting a kink in Red Alert's nose while Ratchet gets more of a hawkish beak, or be able to make Magnus, Rodimus and Drift look like such a posse on the first panel? I think I'm really going to miss Roche.

Also, what are everyone's picks for favourite characters so far? Ratchet and Red Alert have always been a favourite of mine, but I'm really taken with Chromedome, Rewind and Tailgate.

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:29 pm

Swerve

Brainstorm could be fun too

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:03 pm

Jack Cade wrote:
I love this comic, but how do we feel about losing Roche? At first I wasn't too bothered, as Milne has done some good work recently, but the more I read this, the more I feel it's going to be a real bummer. Some of the most expressive stuff Nick does (check out Ratchet's face shrouded in darkness on page 4, Prowl's temper tantrum on 7) is stuff that I find generally doesn't occur to most TF artists, who are often obsessive about the detail but merely competent when it comes to composition and angles.

When I think back to issues 22 and 23, it was good, dark stuff, but I seem to recall the faces were still fairly generic. What other artist would ever think of something as simple-but-effective as putting a kink in Red Alert's nose while Ratchet gets more of a hawkish beak, or be able to make Magnus, Rodimus and Drift look like such a posse on the first panel? I think I'm really going to miss Roche.

Roche's stuff has never looked better, and that's saying a lot. It's breaking my hear to think he'll be gone. In the past, even in Spotlight: Shockwave, he was unique and powerful, but not quite fulfilled. Both he and Su, to a lesser extent, didn't have capital STYLE in the way Senior and Yaniger did. Su changed that when he went funky and dark and Mignola esque, and then we never saw him again, damn it. Now Roche has riffed on TF: Animated and made his work cleaner and more dynamic than it's ever been, and he's vanishing too?

I like Milne; I liked him in his first days at Dreamwave and I like him now. But he seems to be shooting just for Don's territory, minus the horrible Bay faces (thank you).

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:06 pm

I would love to have Su back

Post by **Best First** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:21 pm

bumblemusprime wrote: It's breaking my hear to think he'll be gone.

it's so sad it's made Sprunkle deaf

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:31 pm

At least it's not breaking his rear to think he'll be gone. One more typo away from a compromising admission!

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:56 pm

Best First wrote:
it's so sad it's made Sprunkle deaf

What?

Jack Cade wrote: At least it's not breaking his rear to think he'll be gone. One more typo away from a compromising admission!

What's that sonny? An ache in your rear?

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:59 pm

Finally got this. First time late to the party.

I enjoyed this. It sets up so much in a single issue. I had begun to believe that wasn't possible in Transformers comics. James develops characters in the span of but a few pages, something other writers of the past two years couldn't achieve with 12 issues.

Granted, things here are a bit unconventional. But it works. It captures the magic of the old Marvel UK days when Simon was at his best. Furman's influence on Roche/Roberts is so very obvious, I think they have mastered taking the best of Simon and infusing it into their work. Sweet.

I'm probably in the minority, but I'm ready to see Roche (as an artist) move on. His style is fun but a bit cartoony for my tastes. Not to say it's bad, I think it's great stuff, but I still prefer Don's harder and more robotic tone. Roche's work, though, does suit the tone of this first issue better than Don's would have, so I think it worked well here.

The only niggle I had with this issue was the character of Prowl at the end. Sure, he's conniving and Shockwave-esque. In the mini-spotlight he was featured in, he towed the line about as much as I would like to see. But he ain't Shockwave himself. Still, it was fun and if this is the new Prowl, I can accept him stooping that low, as it makes things a bit more intriguing.

Give it an "A". What a turn of events! Two promising ongoing AND continuation of Marvel G1! Our dreams have become reality!

Mr_Tigg · Post by **Mr_Tigg** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 1:01 pm

Jack Cade wrote:Guys, I just want to say, I have actually been following Transfans discussions these past many months - I just keep losing my password so never seem to be able to log in.

I love this comic, but how do we feel about losing Roche? At first I wasn't too bothered, as Milne has done some good work recently, but the more I read this, the more I feel it's going to be a real bummer. Some of the most expressive stuff Nick does (check out Ratchet's face shrouded in darkness on page 4, Prowl's temper tantrum on 7) is stuff that I find generally doesn't occur to most TF artists, who are often obsessive about the detail but merely competent when it comes to composition and angles.

When I think back to issues 22 and 23, it was good, dark stuff, but I seem to recall the faces were still fairly generic. What other artist would ever think of something as simple-but-effective as putting a kink in Red Alert's nose while Ratchet gets more of a hawkish beak, or be able to make Magnus, Rodimus and Drift look like such a posse on the first panel? I think I'm really going to miss Roche.

Also, what are everyone's picks for favourite characters so far? Ratchet and Red Alert have always been a favourite of mine, but I'm really taken with Chromedome, Rewind and Tailgate.

Roche and Su are (still) my two favourite artists for TFs. To my mind Su is the most balanced of the two - bringing together the 'crazy detail' of Figeura with the 'expressionistic flair' of Roche. His action sequences were also stunningly crafted (the fight between Prime & Megatron in Escalation is perfect).

Roche, on the other hand, has this incredible instinct for simply knowing how to exaggerate and tweak a TF's physical appearance and features to make them truly unique in their own right without making them look silly or too cartoony. His style is somewhere in between Su & animated - but that really is a fine line and so many other artists would botch it up.

Milne - meh - he has always been one of the weakest mainstream TF artists to my mind. Sometimes the angles he picks and the way he frames pictures simply don't work that well - he just isn't as natural at it as - say - Su, Roche, Guido or Don. I'm also not a fan of the way he draws faces - I would call it 'generic manga frown'. He has improved since M:O, but it's still too lacking in certain areas to match the genius of Roche & Su.

Incidentally, I follow Su on Twitter - from what I gather he's got a full-time design job now to support his young family. Fair enough really, but I'd love to see him back some time.

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 1:48 pm

Yaya wrote:Still, it was fun and if this is the new Prowl, I can accept him stooping that low, as it makes things a bit more intriguing.

I might be wrong, but I got the idea things sort of backfired. I don't think he intended to shoot them half way across the galaxy; just force them to land by crippling their engines.

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 3:19 pm

Also, am I the only one who thought Whirl was in the middle of committing suicide?

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 3:56 pm

It worked out pretty well for him.

Hey, we're all excitedly debating the twists and turns of an IDW comic--is the forum broken?

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 7:42 pm

Blimey that kind out of no-where for me. I was sitting here laughing at all the jokes, which i havent done for along time with a TF comic. Ok im not asking for a comic er comic but what made me laugh was how tight the characters felt.
The bit from Magnus's view point was great.

Good stuff.

So, to be sure there will be two comics a month, two arcs, ie:

Robots in disguise and more than meets the eyes? - or have I totally miss-understood this?