Transformers: More than Meets the Eye Season One #1-22

Red Dave Prime · Post by **Red Dave Prime** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:08 am

Further thinkings...

Why are Shockwave & Lazerbeak on the third cover?

And yeah, who are those guys in the second cover?

Is Rung still alive? The intro states that swerve shot him in the head but doesn't say killed him and that picture of his body looks unusual.

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 6:16 pm

Ok, the TPB has now dropped to £10.49 on Amazon. That's worth a punt as I was checking out the cost of the individual issues on eBay and now the TPB is more competitive.

Hopefully the next TPB will contain 5 issues where this one supplements with the Death of Optimus Prime. I like all this because James Roberts writes the most entertaining Transformers comics I reckon, and my personal favourites are Rung and Whirl.

Post by **zigzagger** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:42 pm

Warcry wrote:I'm certainly not taking them seriously as bad guys yet.

At the moment, I can't say I'm taking them seriously either. They're interesting, I'll give 'em that, and the concept of the DJD is actually pretty cool -- but they're so over the top. It almost borders on campy.

I'm sure I'll enjoy the issue, but still....

Aside from Tarn - with his deadly whisper and (ugh) double-fusion cannon - I'm wondering if these guys are truly as scary/powerful as the myth surrounding them claims, or if it's simply the myth itself that terrifies wayward soldiers and that in reality they're about as powerful as your average 'Con.

Red Dave Prime · Post by **Red Dave Prime** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 1:11 am

zigzagger wrote:At the moment, I can't say I'm taking them seriously either. They're interesting, I'll give 'em that, and the concept of the DJD is actually pretty cool -- but they're so over the top. It almost borders on campy.

I'm sure I'll enjoy the issue, but still....

Aside from Tarn - with his deadly whisper and (ugh) double-fusion cannon - I'm wondering if these guys are truly as scary/powerful as the myth surrounding them claims, or if it's simply the myth itself that terrifies wayward soldiers and that in reality they're about as powerful as your average 'Con.

I actually would hope thats the case. Over-powerful robots have been done to death in the IDW run - Sixshot, Thunderwing, Devastator, Omega Supreme, Metroplex... I kinda hope that the reason they can take down their fellow cons is a trip switch a-la Overlord. I'd like it to be something other than brute force that makes them so dangerous.

Cyberstrike nTo · Post by **Cyberstrike nTo** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 10:24 pm

Warcry wrote:I think that's a bit overdramatic. I agree that the traditional comics industry is in a tough spot. And the industry doesn't seem to be capable of understanding why let alone reversing the trend. But "comics" is more than just ink on paper, and the proliferation of webcomics (both "newspaper funnies" style and more expansive dramatic ones) shows that the format still has a lot of life left to it. In fact, I'd venture to say the medium is healthier than it's been in a long time.

Short of a miracle, I do think that the traditional model of selling stories 22 pages at a time through comic shops is probably not viable over the long term. But that doesn't mean that comics are going to die. Over the next decade I think we're going to see a lot of comics transition to a digital-only format, probably starting with B-list stuff like Transformers. But if the comic industry can come together and figure out a good way to distribute comics to a wide audience over the internet (and I'm not talking about the half-assed apps that they use now that miss the point by being less convenient than piracy) the industry will survive just fine.

Personally, I would love to see a Netflix-style subscription model, where users could pay a fee every month to access as many titles as they'd like (maybe with an additional charge to access back-issues?). I'm not sure how feasable that would be, though.

No, Denyer hits the nail on the head. It's simple if you only buy the TPBs and HCs and don't buy the single issues the series will be cancelled. A lot of series have been cancelled because of "the wait for TPB/HC" mentality.

Red Dave Prime · Post by **Red Dave Prime** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 10:44 pm

Cyberstrike nTo wrote:No, Denyer hits the nail on the head. It's simple if you only buy the TPBs and HCs and don't buy the single issues the series will be cancelled. A lot of series have been cancelled because of "the wait for TPB/HC" mentality.

And yet for so long it feels like IDW have geared their singles runs around TPB - the furman stuff definitely suffered problems by having to be 6 issue arcs (or at least I felt so anyway)

relak · Post by **relak** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 2:21 am

The MTMTE's TPB does add in all the bloody variant covers, promotional art, meet the crew, 2 pages of references, and stuff from Miline's sketchbook.

Collected Comics are supposed to be less. That's the way it's always been, until now I suppose? Variant covers and all that rubbish... give me the damn episodes!

I choose to see it like watching a movie or buying the special edition blu ray.
The tpb is the blu ray stocked full of extras that you wont get with the singles.
Or use a TV series analogy.
Even Tv series are getting split mid season into 2 "part 1" and "part 2" boxsets instead of releasing it as a single season set like last time.

One thing they could try is sell everything digitally through a common source (Kindle does comics doesnt it?) but if you buy the physical copy you get a digital access code as well - kinda like how the movies studios do now with a blue ray purchase. You get the blue ray, sometimes a dvd and access to the movie file through the internet.

They already have that. Many comics come with a digital access code for you to get the digital copy for free.

Short of a miracle, I do think that the traditional model of selling stories 22 pages at a time through comic shops is probably not viable over the long term. But that doesn't mean that comics are going to die.

well both marvel and DC are experimenting with "straight to trade" style of release with Season One and Earth One respectively.
I do hope THAT is the future.

And yet for so long it feels like IDW have geared their singles runs around TPB - the furman stuff definitely suffered problems by having to be 6 issue arcs (or at least I felt so anyway)

It's official. They always have.
And its not just IDW.
Check out Bendis' run on the 2005 New Avengers or rick Remender on Uncanny X-force.

Post by **zigzagger** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:29 pm

Ah. This is what a book that's billed as part of the so-called "Decepticon Month" should look like. Very much a Con-centric issue. This was a nice little diversion and I welcome the shift in focus.

Notes 'n' Stuff...

Krok and his crew -- They sure are a chatty bunch of fellows (and, uh, yeah, that's one hell of an introdump there), but I thought they were great. Overly quirky maybe (I'm seeing a trend here), but still a whole lotta fun. It's nice to see some 'Cons with a bit more personality for a change who aren't - well, who aren't Starscream.

Most characterization we've ever got for some of these guys, too - especially Krok. Never quite pegged him as the leader type, but it works surprisingly well here. Misfire is the obligatory token wise-guy...because, uh, I guess, being the Lost Light crew's opposite, they needed their own Swerve? But, don't get me wrong, I liked Misfire. No, really, I did. Just pointing out a recurring theme here

Crankcase (who's the grumpy one) got Furmanated, I thought. Guess he got better? Flywheels is the twitchy one who likes to make City of Fear references.

And Spinister....Spinister's the oaf. Okay. As I said in the issue #6 thread; I am all for new spins on old concepts and characters - so long as it makes sense. But this...I'm not sure where this idea comes from.

**shrugs**

Oh well. Still think they're a colorful, motley bunch. I approve. I'd like to see more of these guys. More so than the DJD, really.

The Decepticon Justice Division -- Mm, yeah - since I had read the first five pages beforehand, I've already said all I wanted to. We don't see them again after that (aside from Tarn's ominous message to Krok's crew). Still pretty much feel the same about them.

Rung (and Red Alert by extension) -- He's alive. Sort of. Honestly, I feel more sorry for Red Alert. He's such lonely character. He just seems so lost without Rung. It's kind of heartbreaking.

Terome · Post by **Terome** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:43 pm

This issue is a pretty good showcase of Robert's flaws: an ungodly number of characters introduced, blabbermouths being king, small universe syndrome (pointed out by himself in this very nice TFW2005 interview: http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-new ... ts-175563/ and a Rob Grantian fixation on torture.

It's also, I think, a great showcase for how those flaws don't stand in the way of an enjoyable story that I'd like to see more of. Misfire may be Swerve with a jet mode but I'm glad that he and his wacky crew have hijacked the story for the time being.

Referring back to the interview, isn't it a shame that he isn't using Ravage? He really could have put that kitty back on the map.

Post by **Warcry** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:32 pm

zigzagger wrote:And Spinister....Spinister's the oaf. Okay. As I said in the issue #6 thread; I am all for new spins on old concepts and characters - so long as it makes sense. But this...I'm not sure where this idea comes from.

My guess is that he's playing possum because he's the one the DJD is after. It's what I'd do if I was writing a scenario like this, anyway. It's obvious that NewCharacter McNoToy is the one who we're not supposed to trust, but Roberts is usually more subtle than that so I'm guessing that the real culprit is the guy who's allegedly too stupid to be a suspect.

If not... *shakes fist at Roberts*

I love the 'Con crew that Roberts has put together, though. Crankcase, Misfire and Krok are getting characterization for the first time since...well, ever, and it's great to see Flywheels again even if, like you say, he's nothing more than a City of Fear joke so far. All in all these guys are way more interesting and likeable than those silly DJD caricatures, so I'm hoping that they'll stick around for a while and the DJD will get curbstomped by Grimlock and quietly disappear.

Terome wrote:It's also, I think, a great showcase for how those flaws don't stand in the way of an enjoyable story that I'd like to see more of. Misfire may be Swerve with a jet mode but I'm glad that he and his wacky crew have hijacked the story for the time being.

Agreed. The fact that he can write entertaining stories even though he's got such glaring, obvious weaknesses in his writing is a good thing, and it makes me hopeful that he'll improve on his weak spots as time goes along.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 7:15 pm

Felt very much like a filler issue really. Most of the ongoing plots and characters are shoved into a couple of guest appearance pages whilst we get Decepticon month forced down our throats. It was well written as ever, but still wound up feeling fairly irrelevant. Effectively the same cliffhanger as last month as well.

And BOO for Rung's recovery after me praising Roberts for killing his proxy character.

Not really bothered by the names of the DJD, there's pleanty of humans with surnames like York or London after all.

Post by **zigzagger** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 7:44 pm

Re: What Terome and Warcry said (edit: Oh, and Dalek, too)...

Mmm, yeah -- agree with Terome that's there's a touch too many introductions going on here. It kind of reminds of the 1st issue, only this time we're introduced to a cast of Decepticons.

Team Krok are a hugely likeable bunch despite, you know...all the teeny tiny quibbles I mentioned between the preview and the full issue. I thought they completely upstaged the DJD - the guys we were supposed to be paying attention to. Which isn't at all a complaint. Far from it.

I'll go out on a limb and say Roberts may be onto something with Team Krok. Then again, things really aren't looking too good for them right now (they have the DJD and a pissed off Grimlock to contend with). Things aren't looking good for them at all.

It'd be great if they stuck around for a bit. That's all I'm saying...

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 10:13 pm

I haven't read this issue apart from the on-line preview but I think Rung is an ace character and well worth keeping around for the extra elements he brings out of the crew.

Terome · Post by **Terome** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:05 pm

Dalek:[/B ]Effectively the same cliffhanger as last month as well.

Rats! Hadn't noticed that. That'll bug me now.

Zigzagger: Mmm, yeah -- agree with Terome that's there's a touch too many introductions going on here. It kind of reminds of the 1st issue, only this time we're introduced to a cast of Decepticons.

Thinking about it, and the fact that the DJD feel underwhelming in comparison to the more likeable crewmembers of the W.A.P., it's probably because we didn't really get introduced properly to the DJD. We were introduced to Tarn. The little chap speaking in old tongues had a bit of facetime, everybody else is a cipher so far. I get the feeling that the back half of the DJD is the cannon fodder and that Team Krok is going to prosper for the time being.

Warcry:[/B ]it's great to see Flywheels again even if, like you say, he's nothing more than a City of Fear joke so far.

It's been ages since I read City Of Fear - what's the joke I'm missing there? Is it when Krok says he won't find what he's looking for?

Dalek:[/B ]And BOO for Rung's recovery after me praising Roberts for killing his proxy character.

Yeah, totally. But comatose Rung might be just as interesting as Rung walking about. Red Alert, Swerve, Whirl, Rodimus and even sociopathic old Brainstorm are affected by his shooting. It's not as gutsy as it looked but it might let writer and audience have their cake and eat it too.

Dalek:[/B ]Not really bothered by the names of the DJD, there's pleanty of humans with surnames like York or London after all.

I watched Richard II a few weeks ago and the titles-as-names convention felt very familiar.

Zigzagger:[/B ]Agreed. The fact that he can write entertaining stories even though he's got such glaring, obvious weaknesses in his writing is a good thing, and it makes me hopeful that he'll improve on his weak spots as time goes along.

He'll get them ironed out before too long. I'd love to see this series run into the triple figures so we can see Roberts in Super Mode.

Red Dave Prime · Post by **Red Dave Prime** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:30 pm

Yet another crammed issue. There is a bit too much introduction work going on here - it would be nice to have the DJD in one issue and the other cons in another.

That said, the nicest thing about Roberts stuff is that ever panel can lead to something. There's so many little details that at times they can overwhelm the story (it could be argued that 7 issues in and the Lost Light has made no real effort on its main mission) My favorite bit was the resolution of the bar scene where skids uses his grappling gun to snare a waiter-bot. Its a seemingly nothing bit of background art but here we're shown that is Chromedomes plan all alone to get Skids gun. Its not the first time that little things get rewarded. For that alone I'm loving this series.

Back to all the new cast, I wouldnt mind if the DJD get to stay on for a bit as the background big bad - and Tarn could be a nice adversary to Magnus as both take the purity of their role so much to heart (or spark as it were). They dont need to be a squad of phase sixers to be a threat just be on the trail of the lost light as it heads to find the knights and crystal city.

All good stuff. Not the best issue and a bit of a let down after the excellent issue 6 but more than enough to have me looking forward to next months issue.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 12:13 am

It's been ages since I read City Of Fear - what's the joke I'm missing there? Is it when Krok says he won't find what he's looking for?

When he mistakes Fulcrum for a zombie.

Terome · Post by **Terome** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 12:14 am

inflatable dalek wrote:When he mistakes Fulcrum for a zombie.

Gah! Can't see the forest for the trees round here.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:34 pm

Terome wrote: Yeah, totally. But comatose Rung might be just as interesting as Rung walking about. Red Alert, Swerve, Whirl, Rodimus and even sociopathic old Brainstorm are affected by his shooting. It's not as gutsy as it looked but it might let writer and audience have their cake and eat it too.

I think I'd have less of a problem if he hadn't so firmly been presented as dead last issue. Indeed, considering his survival isn't treated as a great surprise or twist I suspect there was some sort of storytelling failure there and we weren't meant to think he'd croaked it (normally I'd allow for the possibility I'd missed something but IIRC we all thought he was dead). It's not as if there's any shortage of characters on-board who could have taken some of the focus Rung might get down the line.

My main worry is that there's so many subplots ongoing it may well be a mistake to introduce a whole load more along with a bunch of new characters before a few more have been resolved. It's in danger of falling prey to what undid Furman's -tions run, throwing loads of balls as high as possible into the air and hoping IDW won't chop your hands off and kick you in the balls before you can catch them.

And the DJD were just as fanwanky as Turmoil. Even moreso really as there was only one of him. And they somewhat undo the work to try and make Megatron seem a reasonable and sensible leader by having a really stupid concept behind them.

"Hey, you know those guys who are more super badass than even our most bad ass warriors? Who can even talk you to death? What we should do right, is use them to hunt down our own naughty boys. I mean, if Black Shadow can destroy a planet by himself these guys could probably win the war for us in a week but we shall never set them against an Autobot".

Honestly, what sort of army is more effective at killing its own troops than the enemy? And does Megatron strike you as the sort of guy who'd be that determined to have all traitors killed horribly when he not only keeps Starscream about but gave him a massive promotion after Infiltration (OK, mainly because subsequent writers forgot he wasn't second in command but rather very down the totem pole but that point still stands)?

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:52 pm

In Eugenesis (Robert's Transformers novel that he wrote about 12 years ago for anyone who doesn't know), I remember a section where Jazz gets shot in the head, and Ratchet had him on an operating table with nothing left of Jazz's head but a jawbone. He got better, of course (until someone turned him into a newt).

I'm guessing Rung's ability to survive will be adequately explained. Roberts isn't someone who would let that pass without a proper explanation, and I'd like to imagine that it's also going to affect the hell out of Rung too. It's not like his head will be put back together and he'll just carry on about his business. Otherwise Fort Max and every other robot on Garrus 9 who wasn't Overlord would be dusting themselves off like nothing had happened. That would also mean there'd be no need for someone like Rung and his skills, and it would render LSotW a bit hollow too.

Though there's an argument that perhaps Rung is so well adjusted that he is the kind of guy who could survive getting his head blown up with the least amount of mental jarring.

On another note, in 'Bullets'; Prowl chapter and versed a Decepticon to death, so that gives him a bit of a nod to Tarn (I'm not suggesting Prowl has Tarn's abilities in any way, just that he's a boring sod and there's as many way to kill a Transformer as there are perhaps to bring them back). But yeah, hopefully there's some proper reason why the DJD don't rip apart all the Autobots everywhere if they're that immense. But first I'd like to know what Black Shadow did to warrant their ire, considering his exemplary work wiping out billions of aliens and killing three Wreckers.

Post by **Warcry** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 4:56 pm

inflatable dalek wrote:I think I'd have less of a problem if he hadn't so firmly been presented as dead last issue. Indeed, considering his survival isn't treated as a great surprise or twist I suspect there was some sort of storytelling failure there and we weren't meant to think he'd croaked it (normally I'd allow for the possibility I'd missed something but IIRC we all thought he was dead). It's not as if there's any shortage of characters on-board who could have taken some of the focus Rung might get down the line.

While I agree with you, I wasn't too, too surprised to see that Rung had survived because Roberts pulled the exact same trick in #2 with the crew who'd fallen out of the hull breach. At the end of issue #1 Rodimus and Magnus were acting as if they were all going to die a horrible fiery death burning up in the atmosphere...and in the next issue we saw them getting collected from the planet's surface with nary a dent, scratch or burn mark.

Honestly, at this rate I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be able to take a Roberts-penned "death" at face value. There's always going to be a nagging suspicion that it's a fake-out. I'm not a fan of bringing back dead characters, or of overplaying the "trying to trick readers into thinking that a character died when he really didn't" card, so for me that's not a good thing.

It's a personal bias on my part, I guess, but I really prefer it when characters who die stay dead. When characters pull a Sunstreaker or an Ironhide (or a Rung, for that matter) it undermines the impact that future deaths might have.

inflatable dalek wrote:And the DJD were just as fanwanky as Turmoil. Even moreso really as there was only one of him. And they somewhat undo the work to try and make Megatron seem a reasonable and sensible leader by having a really stupid concept behind them.

Stuff like the DJD really underscore Roberts' roots. They, or at least their intro, didn't feel like something that should have been in an official Transformers book. A super-badass team of Decepticons who can kill world-destroyers without breaking a sweat, with silly names, a leader with a 'Con symbol for a face and a religious devotion to Megatron? That's pretty much every (non-sexual) bad-fanfic TF trope taken up to eleven. I seriously doubt he's going to play any of those tropes straight when we get to know the DJD better, because he's a better writer than that, but it's an idea that definitely came from the "huge fan" side of him rather than the "professional writer" side.

Auntie Slag wrote:I'm guessing Rung's ability to survive will be adequately explained. Roberts isn't someone who would let that pass without a proper explanation, and I'd like to imagine that it's also going to affect the hell out of Rung too. It's not like his head will be put back together and he'll just carry on about his business. Otherwise Fort Max and every other robot on Garrus 9 who wasn't Overlord would be dusting themselves off like nothing had happened. That would also mean there'd be no need for someone like Rung and his skills, and it would render LSotW a bit hollow too.

I don't know about that, myself. The Autobots on Garrus-9 went through years of physical and psychological torture at the hands of a sadistic monster. What happened to Rung was awful, certainly, but it all happened so quickly that when he wakes up, he probably won't even realize what happened until someone explains it to him. It's traumatic, sure, but nowhere close to being on the same level as what happened to people like Fort Max or Kick-Off.

Auntie Slag wrote:But first I'd like to know what Black Shadow did to warrant their ire, considering his exemplary work wiping out billions of aliens and killing three Wreckers.

He took half a billion shanix from the Autobots and wiped out a fleet of Warworlds, according to the comic. Although that does raise the question, how did the Decepticons have enough resources or troops on hand that losing an entire fleet of Warworlds didn't lose the war for them entirely?