Drift #1 Review (SPOILERS)

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 4:01 am

Check any pre-concieved notions at the door. This issue wasn't bad.

Actually, I can say I enjoyed it, more than the ongoing anyway.

McCarthy sets up the premise fairly competently. Sometimes, the most effective way to develop the titular character is to flesh out the peripheral characters first. That's what Shane does here, and I think it works well. Well enough that it doesn't seem Drift is being shoved down our throats. Rather, I think he's believably and subtlely worked into the story.

Not a big fan of Milne's artwork in the past, but I think he also does a pretty good job here. He has improved his panel layout to what we've seen from him in the past, and though things are still a bit cluttered, they are only slightly so.

Give it a "B+". Sometimes it's hard to give something a chance when past efforts have fallen short, but I do think that, like the Ironhide mini, there might be something here worth investing in.

Of course, Megatron:Origin seemed to start in a similar fashion, but let's think positive.

Post by **Best First** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 6:38 am

i have only seen the preview so far (have left it to fate whether my comic shop send me this or not), but i thought those first five pages were hilarioulsy bad and troubled by Shane's usual foibles (can't write a decent comic seeming to be the main one).

So i guess i am wondering what you thought of those pages, as an indicator as to whether to be encouraged by your review or not.

Agree from what i have seen that this is Milne's best art so far tho - lot crisper, lot less vampire looking.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 1:45 pm

Felt the story got better as the issue progressed, but I wouldn't say it was remarkably better.

It sets the premise.

Of course, I went in with as low expectations as you could possibly go in with, so take it for what it's worth.

I think if you had a huge problem with that preview, I would say don't buy it.

Post by **snarl** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:34 pm

Thought the preview was balls.

That take off of it was fried gold though.

Mr_Tigg · Post by **Mr_Tigg** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 4:20 pm

I nipped into forbidden planet on my lunch break and had a brisk read of the first issue.

I agree with Yaya’s assessment. It wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be in all honesty – heavy on the cheese, but light hearted fun none the less.

As a result of AHM and the recent issues of the Ongoing my expectations from TF comics are quite low nowadays, and although this isn’t a patch on wreckers it’s on a par with Ironhide.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:27 pm

I picked this up after work today and read it on the bus home. Artwise, it's leaps and bounds ahead of the murky and horrible world of Megatron: Origin. Plotwise, it's not bad, it's early days yet I suppose but it's a lot better than, say, AHM.

Let's see how it goes. Going in with rock bottom expectations, I think I was pleasantly surprised. I'm certainly liking it better than Ironhide, but then I really don't like the character of Ironhide at all.

Stormwolf · Post by **Stormwolf** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 8:32 pm

Also read it, it's most definately better then AHM.
It's far from perfect, but it's good enough to read IMO.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 2:41 pm

I'm quite interested in the way late G1/G2 and Japan-only characters are cropping up all over the place lately. What with Wings of Honor, LSOTW, The Coming Storm, G2 Redux and now this, it's amazing the number of previously-barely-featured characters that have earned pagetime. Also how FunPub and IDW have been featuring the same characters in different situations, like Ironfist being Australian

Wings of Honor features:
Skyquake, Thunderclash, Hooligan, Leozack, Gaihawk, Hellbat and Banzaitron (plus Flak, though he's not a Micromaster, and is the wrong colour, so isn't really much like Flak at all. Boo.)

LSOTW - there are fewer Japanese characters here (unless you count Overlord) but masses of late G1/G2 goodness, though to be fair some of these had already appeared in Furman's IDWverse:
Kick-Off, Turbofire, Pyro, Ironfist, Rotorstorm, Spin-Out, Skyquake, Overlord, Snare, Stalker, Fearswoop, Black Shadow, Treadshot, Rad and Jackpot (plus all the generics and of course all the fangasmic Marvel cameos. Yay.)

The Coming Storm - follows on from WoH and similarly plunders the Japanese/late G1/G2 character archives:
Deluge, Jetstorm, Over-Run, Ironfist, Metalhawk and Thunderclash so far (plus Blue Bacchus is mentioned and like WoH there's a fair few cartoon cameos)

Flames of Yesterday - text story set alongside TCS:
Metalhawk, Ironfist, Over-Run, Drench, Hydradread, Rage, Metrotitan, Roadgrabber, Aquablast, Terror-Tread, Cement-Head, Deathsaurus and Lyzack (plus unreleased toys like Big Bang and Buffalo Dump, the usual host of cartoon cameos, Flip Sides and Glyph)

G2 Redux - the motherlode of late G1/G2 cameos:
Pyro, Scorch, Rapido, Road Rocket, Motormouth, Windbreaker, Skram, Turbofire, Aquafend, Meanstreak (Meanstreak, for heaven's sake!), Leadfoot, Gobots, Electro, High Beam, Firecracker, Gearhead, Double Clutch, Blowout, Manta Ray, Volt, Skyjack, Powerdive, Double Punch, Clench, Staxx (Staxx? STAXX?!?), Slicer, Dirtbag (possibly teenage?), Eagle Eye, Windrazor, Afterburner, Terradive, Space Case, Roadblock, Calcar, Road Pig, Ransack, Deluge, Jetstorm and Jolt (of those Pyro, Clench, Slicer, Double Punch, Rapido and Scorch even got new toys)

Drift - so far:
Boss, Metalhawk, Electro, Road Rocket, Gobots, Roadgrabber, Road Pig, Ransack, Staxx (Staxx! Again!), Jetstorm, Fearswoop, Dreadwing and Smokescreen, Drench, Hydradread, Snare, Windrazor, Skydive, Talon, Take-Off, Terradive, Falcon and Charger (not to mention Manta Ray, Skram and Turbofire, who were drawn but recoloured as generics because their deaths here would clash with existing IDW continuity)

What do you think? Certainly indicative of a trend towards the obscure over the past year and a bit, no?

[edit] One thing I did really like was how FunPub's Pyro is based on David Tennant's Doctor. Totally different from his LSOTW incarnation but great fun nonetheless

Sunyavadin · Post by **Sunyavadin** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:12 pm

snarl wrote:Thought the preview was balls.

That take off of it was fried gold though.

Whilst the actual comic is Fried Gold Plastic?

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 9:29 am

Metal Vendetta wrote:I picked this up

... but why?

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 9:50 am

Brendocon wrote:
Metal Vendetta wrote:I picked this up
... but why?

Open mind and all that...plus I do have a bit of a soft spot for Turmoil

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 9:57 am

I'm going to be as honest as I possibly can. Even if this series turns out to be as good as LSotW, the fact that it stars Drift is going to lessen my enjoyment of it.

Everything I've ever disliked about Transformers, I project onto Drift. To me, Drift's holographic driver looks like Pat Lee.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 10:19 am

Just noticed that when they rebuild him at the end, they turn his eyes blue, which annoys me. The whole cartoon thing of "Blue eyes good! Red eyes bad!" has always been a minor niggle, I don't like seeing it carried over to every other continuity.

Sunyavadin · Post by **Sunyavadin** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 11:34 am

Metal Vendetta wrote:Just noticed that when they rebuild him at the end, they turn his eyes blue, which annoys me. The whole cartoon thing of "Blue eyes good! Red eyes bad!"

Suddenly that debate about Autobots being racist is seen in a chilling new light....

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:05 pm

Maybe blue's the default color and Decepticons mod themselves?

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:45 pm

Professor Smooth wrote:Maybe blue's the default color and Decepticons mod themselves?

I'd be happy with it, except if you look at the original toys, most of them had yellow, black or silver eyes. These days, it seems that only Swindle and Shockwave get different colours, everyone else has to conform to the cartoon's idea of body-fascism. In Drift, ALL the Autobots have blue eyes, all the Decepticons have red eyes and - just to show they're different - all the "Third faction" have YELLOW eyes. Feh, I don't know why Deadlock mistook Wing for an Autobot at all, all he had to do was look at his eyes and check.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:58 pm

Maybe it's like mood sensitive or something? Benevolance turns your eyes blue, but being angry makes them red (evil people are always angry, this is a fact).

Whilst being a pretentious **** makes your eyes yellow.

?

Post by **Best First** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:06 pm

Metal Vendetta wrote:
Professor Smooth wrote:Maybe blue's the default color and Decepticons mod themselves?
I'd be happy with it, except if you look at the original toys, most of them had yellow, black or silver eyes. These days, it seems that only Swindle and Shockwave get different colours, everyone else has to conform to the cartoon's idea of body-fascism. In Drift, ALL the Autobots have blue eyes, all the Decepticons have red eyes and - just to show they're different - all the "Third faction" have YELLOW eyes. Feh, I don't know why Deadlock mistook Wing for an Autobot at all, all he had to do was look at his eyes and check.

Yeah i hate this.

"Why did you join the Autobots anyway?"

"Well i have a deep seated urge to crush lesser races below my heel but sadly, look, baby blue, so here i am"

"Ok Prime, nice chatting"

Anyway, got this. Thought it was Not As Bad As AHM but equally think that that Doesnt Count For Much.

I think my biggest irritance was the opening bit though where a bunch of Decpticons apparently had orders to try and clear a base of Autobots without shooting. As far as i can tell the writer wanted to have his character disobay orders, couldn't think of a decent scenario to make this happen, so just included a stupid one in the hope that you'll ignore it. I can't help but think this shows a bit of contempt for the audience.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:58 pm

Best First wrote:I think my biggest irritance was the opening bit though where a bunch of Decpticons apparently had orders to try and clear a base of Autobots without shooting.

Yeah it makes no sense whatsoever - what were they supposed to use, harsh language?

Also picked up on this from the IDW boards:

Denton J. Tipton wrote:Sunstreaker's appearance served a very specific purpose. Some fans thought it came out of the blue that he was a unit leader for the Autobots. This scene helps establish that. But if that wasn't a bone of contention for you, it still didn't clutter the story trying to plug every unknown in continuity.

Since when was Sunny a unit leader? There was me thinking he was just a member of Prowl's counter-infiltration unit on Earth.

Post by **Best First** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:05 pm

Metal Vendetta wrote: Since when was Sunny a unit leader? There was me thinking he was just a member of Prowl's counter-infiltration unit on Earth.

i was just reading the same bit and wondered the same thing.

Was it a (poorly concieved) excuse for Sunny having access to every Autobot command code ever?

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:45 pm

Best First wrote:Was it a (poorly concieved) excuse for Sunny having access to every Autobot command code ever?

Oh yeah, I'd totally forgotten about all that. Of course, this cameo completely explains everything. *lobotomises self*

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 5:39 pm

Looking back at this issue, I think I gave more credit to it than I should have, as I think I misinterpreted something.

My original thought was that Deadlock was a Decepticon who met the real Drift, the Autobot in the robe, on that slave planet. He then gets restored by Drift's people at Crystal City.

My thinking was that the real Drift would eventually die a hero having earned the respect of Deadlock who would then in the later issues change his name to Drift out of respect, becoming an Autobot himself.

Which I thought was a cool origin for Drift.

Then, I looked at the issue again, and it appears that it's Deadlock who is saying his name is Drift when he was asked what his name was by the "hooded guy". Why would he call himself Drift and not Deadlock? Clearly, the speech bubble for "What's your name?" comes from the hooded guy while the "Drift" speech bubble comes from Deadlock.

That makes no sense. Why would he change his name mid-issue?

Somebody, help me out here, cause I'm starting to think I gave credit to Shane for a clever idea that wasn't even real. And that would suck. Am I right or wrong?

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 6:11 pm

Yaya wrote:Somebody, help me out here, cause I'm starting to think I gave credit to Shane for a clever idea that wasn't even real. And that would suck. Am I right or wrong?

I think you're half-right. Time will tell, but I suspect that the original "Drift" was the one to help Deadlock drag himself out of Cybertron's gutters and remembering this, Deadlock tells Wing his name is Drift. We'll probably see what happened to the original "Drift" in a later flashback.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 6:26 pm

Me thinks I have to go back and read this issue again.

Didn't realize that guy had a name (Wing). Did they say his name is Wing or is he some obscure toy? Cause I thought he was the original Drift.

I think I got the timeframe messed up. So first, he's Deadlock, then he gets kicked out of the Decepticon army, then he ends up in Cybertron's gutters, then he meets Wing on that planet? Is that it?

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 7:20 pm

The way I read it, he's Deadlock who escapes Turmoil and gets stranded on the planet, then he has a flashback to his past in the gutters on Cybertron and says that there's no-one to save him this time - the way the flashback ends with a shadow falling across his face implies someone saved him from the gutters and I'm guessing that was the original Drift. Then the dude in the robes shows up, they have a bit of a barney and the robed dude says "I am your ally, my name is Wing". A bit later, when Wing's robes have burned off, he asks Deadlock his name, and the narration says "Old memories, old names" right before he identifies himself as "Drift".

Oddly, Deadlock has yellow eyes in his flashback - presumably set before he decided to join the Decepticons...

Post by **Best First** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 7:41 pm

i read it the same way as MV

Post by **snarl** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 7:55 pm

I read it the same as well.

This eye colour thing is daft.

If I was a bot, are you just saying I just turn my eyes red and then invade the Decepticon base in the dark, yeah?

And they see my red eyes and assume I'm their mate.

Right?

Daft.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 10:16 pm

Metal Vendetta wrote:The way I read it, he's Deadlock who escapes Turmoil and gets stranded on the planet, then he has a flashback to his past in the gutters on Cybertron and says that there's no-one to save him this time - the way the flashback ends with a shadow falling across his face implies someone saved him from the gutters and I'm guessing that was the original Drift. Then the dude in the robes shows up, they have a bit of a barney and the robed dude says "I am your ally, my name is Wing". A bit later, when Wing's robes have burned off, he asks Deadlock his name, and the narration says "Old memories, old names" right before he identifies himself as "Drift".

Oddly, Deadlock has yellow eyes in his flashback - presumably set before he decided to join the Decepticons...

I see. Didn't realize the guy called himself Wing.

Going to go back and read it right this time.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 10:22 pm

There is an obscure Wing, but I don't think the two are related (leastways the wiki disambiguates them):
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Wing_(Victory)
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Wing_(G1)

Optimus Prime Rib · Post by **Optimus Prime Rib** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 5:36 am

snarl wrote:Daft.

no no

DRIFT