TRANSFORMERS: WAR JOURNAL

[Richter]

Transformers: War Journal.
Story: John-Paul Bove
Script: John-Paul Bove, Josh van Reyk & Jon Stone.
Art: Tom Parish, Casey Coller, Matt C. Adams, Shane Anderson, Richard Cookson, Stanley Chou, John Flores, Jon Stone, Stavros Kundromichalis, Jeremy Tiongson & Evan Gauntt.
Colors: John-Paul Bove.
Letters: Bernie Lee.
Covers: Josh Burcham, Tom Parrish, Kent Lin.
Sketch Cover: Andrew Wildman.






Well, here we are. HUGE thanks to all the talented artists who have contributed to this project; all of your hard work has made this comic so much more that I ever imagined. Special thanks to both John-Paul Bove and Bernie Lee for their amazing work and dedication, without them this project would not nearly be as “professional.” Extra special thanks to both Andrew Wildman and Josh Burcham for their contributions. I have been very blessed to have been involved in this project and am extremely amazed with how this has turned out.

I hope you all enjoy reading this piece, as much as I have helping to create it.

- Josh van Reyk

[snarl]

Interesting read, although the story and characterisation were not really my cup of tea.

Still, massive congrats on actually putting something like this together, well done.

[Richter]

Interesting read, although the story and characterisation were not really my cup of tea.

Still, massive congrats on actually putting something like this together, well done.

Sorry it wasn't you cup of tea, but thanks for the congrats.

[Metal Vendetta]

Great work, but I'm still miffed that Pyro got offed in flashback

Some bits were a tad confusing - like the bit with Ransack and Twincast - but overall it was well put together and an entertaining read. Interesting twist on combiners, too. In the end I think a focus on too many characters meant that it was a little disjointed though...but don't let that detract from the sheer achievement of putting this together. Well done all involved.

[Richter]

Great work, but I'm still miffed that Pyro got offed in flashback

Some bits were a tad confusing - like the bit with Ransack and Twincast - but overall it was well put together and an entertaining read. Interesting twist on combiners, too. In the end I think a focus on too many characters meant that it was a little disjointed though...but don't let that detract from the sheer achievement of putting this together. Well done all involved.

Thanks. Twincast assumed Stepper / Ricochet had done his job and killed him, which he hadn't.

[Metal Vendetta]

Thanks. Twincast assumed Stepper / Ricochet had done his job and killed him, which he hadn't.

Yeah, I got that bit...but what happened next? The next time we see Twincast, he's having a lie down while Raindance flies off and Ransack is nowhere to be seen...I assumed that Ransack had killed him, but then Twincast is back at the end with everyone else...sorry if it seems like I'm being pedantic, but I just don't get what happens there.

[Richter]

Yeah, I got that bit...but what happened next? The next time we see Twincast, he's having a lie down while Raindance flies off and Ransack is nowhere to be seen...I assumed that Ransack had killed him, but then Twincast is back at the end with everyone else...sorry if it seems like I'm being pedantic, but I just don't get what happens there.

Ah, well kind of the same thing. Twincast went down, but not for good. eject took him with him.

[Metal Vendetta]

Ah, well kind of the same thing. Twincast went down, but not for good. eject took him with him.

Oh okay then, that makes sense. It's just not very explicit from reading it.

[Richter]

Ah, well kind of the same thing. Twincast went down, but not for good. eject took him with him.

Oh okay then, that makes sense. It's just not very explicit from reading it.

Yeah, we had to skim over a fair amount to keep it all in theme / 22 pages.

[Hound]

I enjoyed it. Well done for putting together such an ambitious project

[Richter]

It seems I just can't get enough of the spotlight;

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=141580

[Best First]

Interesting read, although the story and characterisation were not really my cup of tea.

Still, massive congrats on actually putting something like this together, well done.

same.

Art was very impressive at points but there were several things that undermined the story for me.

[Kaylee]

Some of the art is lovely, although it tends to look a little inconsistent in places- some of the lines are crisp whereas others have an almost charcoal feel to them (I don't think the colouring helps in a couple of spots on that count).

The story covers a lot of ground, which is good, but also means that it seems to chop and clunk around rather, without a nice transition from one scene/character to the next.

I felt the characters and their struggle were a little empty (and in places, felt forced), but with so much happening in a short space that's to be expected. The explanation of 'female' transformers and transformer 'love' was a bit... well, odd, but again it's always going to be I think

Sounds a bit critical, but I fear you're in something of an 'uncanny valley' [to coin the phrase]. It's halfway between being a fan-comic (by which standards I would judge it very favourably, nine thumbs up etc.) and a published comic, judged against which it's rough around the edges (unless you compare it to Megatron Origin, in which case it is genius in a bottle).

Any more in the pipeline?

[snarl]

Agree with you Karlos. Thought the stuff involving Fixit was contrived. Felt a lot of the bots came across as whiney, overangsty clunges.

Fembots remain a gash idea.

[Kaylee]

Spot on- whiney and overangsty is exactly my reaction to some of the characters.

[wordmongerer]

Agree with you Karlos. Thought the stuff involving Fixit was contrived. Felt a lot of the bots came across as whiney, overangsty clunges.

Fembots remain a gash idea.

Although I hate fembots I'll try and explain why one was used here. The IDW verse has tried to apply a certain amount of logic to a lot of the old concepts - in this instance we're talking about robots who can change their form to whatever they wanted yet they've got anthropomorphic human-proportioned alt modes. They needn't look like a man or a woman at all. Why have legs when wheels are more efficient? The decision I made was that if their alt modes could be adapted to suit the local environment that their robot modes could too. I don't consider Minerva a "she" but "she" has chosen a more feminine form. She lacks any reproductive potential just as any of the more masculine bots. She is not a female but she has chosen a more feminine appearance. As a race they're not concerned with, nor do they have, gender which is why it is something unusual that First Aid (NOT fixit) finds intriguing. He doesn't love her in the traditional sense but his bond with her is one of incredible admiration and a certain amount of dependance. He is literally lost without her when she goes.

[wordmongerer]

Spot on- whiney and overangsty is exactly my reaction to some of the characters.

I consider whiney as being more to do with needless complaining or overwraught emotions over often inconsequential matters. In this instance it's mostly about people out of their depth in a situation where that could get them killed. It's about sending people to die and preparing yourself to die for a cause, the emotional consequences of which I wouldn't personally see as whiney. As a lot of soldiers do come back with psychological distress I didn't feel that any of the emotional reactions were inappropriate, in fact the story on page 11 of a sniper feeling like a murderer is based on someone I knew. The reality of actually taking a life is something which is overlooked in stories about war.

The story is angsy and is designed to be really, it's supposed to affect the characters the way a war does affect real people. Obviously the condensed nature of 22 page one page strips that combine does justify your observation of it being potentially over angsty, as taken in totality it is one hard road after another. But the story is designed to be read as one pagers and 22 pages and that means that the story is far removed from decompressed story telling as it can be. Every page has to count. Every page needs to tell a story on it's own, develop a character on its own AND progress the overall plot too. There's certainly pages that work better in that regard than others.

[Best First]

As a race they're not concerned with, nor do they have, gender which is why it is something unusual that First Aid (NOT fixit) finds intriguing. He doesn't love her in the traditional sense but his bond with her is one of incredible admiration and a certain amount of dependance. He is literally lost without her when she goes.

hmm, i'm afraid that's not how it reads IMO - if anything it comes across that Minerva's new form 'stirs' some kind of gender/romantic recogniction in First Aid.

That then i think undermines his loss as it comes acrossas tied to the gender idea.

Eugenesis is a great read partially as it manages to create that senses of affaction and reliance between two beings without ever alluding in any way to gender.

In terms of the 'whiney' thing i don't think anyone is disputing the impact of war, but perhaps some of the dialougue used makes the characters seems self important to the point that they lose a bit of sympathy.

i guess the other thing is would war actually effect TFs the same way it effects people? They have an entirely different conception of time and arguably death as well given they can have their limbs blown off and be ok a week later. Its concepts like that that i am generally more interested in seeing explored in fan fiction.

[Kaylee]

Spot on- whiney and overangsty is exactly my reaction to some of the characters.

I consider whiney as being more to do with needless complaining or overwraught emotions over often inconsequential matters. In this instance it's mostly about people out of their depth in a situation where that could get them killed. It's about sending people to die and preparing yourself to die for a cause, the emotional consequences of which I wouldn't personally see as whiney. As a lot of soldiers do come back with psychological distress I didn't feel that any of the emotional reactions were inappropriate, in fact the story on page 11 of a sniper feeling like a murderer is based on someone I knew. The reality of actually taking a life is something which is overlooked in stories about war.

The story is angsy and is designed to be really, it's supposed to affect the characters the way a war does affect real people. Obviously the condensed nature of 22 page one page strips that combine does justify your observation of it being potentially over angsty, as taken in totality it is one hard road after another. But the story is designed to be read as one pagers and 22 pages and that means that the story is far removed from decompressed story telling as it can be. Every page has to count. Every page needs to tell a story on it's own, develop a character on its own AND progress the overall plot too. There's certainly pages that work better in that regard than others.

I think that's what trips me up reading it straight through, the pages, as you say, are self contained and so read rather strangley when stitched together.

[wordmongerer]

Some of the art is lovely, although it tends to look a little inconsistent in places- some of the lines are crisp whereas others have an almost charcoal feel to them (I don't think the colouring helps in a couple of spots on that count).

One of the founding notions behind this project was the strength of many voices approach that Mosaics have used, while combining it with the strength of an editorial process that proper comics use. Although there were certain restraints in the character designs, artists were not encouraged to produce similar artwork but to bring a certain amount of their own sensibility to the pages they tackled which was in keeping with the one page, one story aspect of this discussed below. Having a single editor, a small number of writers, a single colourist and letterer was designed as being a unifying factor in drawing all the many stories together, but never to homogenise them. A consequence of that is that individual response may differ. Some may enjoy clean lines, some rough, some may prefer a more Marvel G1 look, others a more real, kibbled look. Everyone can have their favourites and the ones they hate, although if you hate the colouring then it's a no win!

The story covers a lot of ground, which is good, but also means that it seems to chop and clunk around rather, without a nice transition from one scene/character to the next.

That's a fair observation, War Journal is designed as (almost) 22 one page stories which builds into a larger story too. That means no wasted pages and no decompressed story telling. If this were a comic written in a traditional way maybe only a third at most of the events would have taken place in a single issue. Each page needed to be as complete as possible when read in isolation which makes transitions unworkable in this context. There are a number of differences in traditional story telling techniques used in this which we used because we weren't entirely confined by the traditional comic format, a double spage plash at the end being one which I would NEVER have used in a traditional comic. Your comment about straddling the 2 worlds is spot on.

EDIT: Sorry Karl, took me so long to write this I hadn't realised you'd already responded to some of the other points from other posts!