I'd agree with that... using an 'obscure' cast was a risky choice sales-wise... I for one was rather put off by the massive amount of characters I knew nothing about, and didn't really care to find out about.
Originally posted by Denyer
It hasn't. Ditto for the Megatron appearance. It's about what those characters represent in the new continuity -- Earth's a backwater outpost amongst others, crashing towards being an important territory. If anywhere can be usefully mined, there's no incentive to hang around places where there'll be be disadvantages and possibly even native resistance.
The thing is, the whole series hasn't really been about that. That's a charitable summation of the series, ignoring that half of it's been turned over to long-winded action sequences and banter between the kids. The points you keep mentioning have been relegated to the status of a broad background canvas, drip-fed to the reader for no readily apparent reason. This would be forgivable if there was something happening in the foreground, but too often there hasn't been. It's needlessly enigmatic and obscure. The inconsistencies in the storytelling have been what bugs me - we get a few pages that suggest this is going to be lo-fi storytelling, then a pointless car chase sequence; we get to see a huge amount from the point of view of the Adventure Kids (which looks more wasteful by the page), and then when it suits the writer, we get to see things neither they nor the Autobots know about; we get pages and pages with plot details smuggled in, and then a page of sledgehammer exposition. The pace, on the whole, has been jolting and unsure, like Furman doesn't actually have a clue how he wants to play this thing. He wants to be Mark Millar, but the Chris Claremont in him keeps fighting its' way to the surface.
I think I must have had different expectations, because I was expecting something along the lines of the preview and got it.
Well, I was expecting something more than a preview after
six months and about £12 of hard-earned. Not total closure, but something beyond "Ooooh, the situation on Earth's got a bit more interesting". I still maintain Infiltration could have been compacted without everyone going "That was a bit short and rushed, wasn't it?". It's self-indulgent.
In many ways it's been novel because I didn't follow the Marvel comic from the very beginning, originally -- the fact of TFs being giant alien robots doesn't come across anywhere near as much later on, and certainly rarely did in the animated series.
I'd agree with that... the sense of scale and the alien has been brought across for probably the first time since the original mini (which, for all its' faults, has a wonderfully awkward feel to it). However, this wouldn't have had to have been sacrificed for a more direct storyline. It's not an either/or situation, as I've said before. It's not a case of "So you'd prefer Mad Brick then?" either. I'm judging Infiltration on its' own terms, just like I judge most other things - I haven't said "It's worse than Marvel because _______", and I'm certainly not going to judge it on the possible merit of comics which won't appear for six months (if we're lucky). On its' own terms, I personally found it to be wanting. Readable, interesting, with its' moments, but wanting.
So a couple of issues others might regard as superfluous were enjoyed with the rest (and I've found plenty to spark the imagination, in any case.) Plus, no wanting to hook the humans up to a VVH for being 70s stereotypes I couldn't identify or identify with.
Hell, I think we should all have had our imagaintions sparked by the lovely broad canvas of this nice, shiny new universe - the first real "G1" reboot we've had (it's admirable that this has managed to distance itself from what's gone before - a lot is the same, as I've mentioned before, but some isn't, and this gives me the faith to not assume future developments will follow the same old paths).
I'd disagree about the humans, though. They're just as stereotypical in their own way. They just haven't had chance to date yet
If the Machination capture Bumblebee, I am going to be a little pissy, as it's predictable -- much better that they're repelled at the Ark base and get the remains of Skywarp or Blitzwing, for example. It'd take strong writing for me to accept another "BB should've told somebody where he was going / should've looked both ways before crossing the road" type premise.
I'm still waiting to see the need for an old DW plot at all, myself.
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