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OH WOW I HOPE SWERVE DOES SOMETHING CRAZY LIKE A JOKE

I'll be shipping everyone, when my feels have dried out.

It's set up, but I like what I'm seeing so far. So ready to getting back to reading (and hopefully discussing) the title again.

If the variant cover is anything to go by, that's quite a shift in the core cast. Err... not that there really ever was one, but still...

Milne and Burcham are in top form, though. Everything looks crisp.

Yes, this is a good set-up. Good idea to shuffle the cast around too - guys like Ratchet and Cyclonus had kind of finished their arcs.

Cool visual on Metroplex. Am not terribly sold on Megatron's new design but I'm sure Milne will get the feel of him before too long.

Glad that the idea of a trial came up immediately. Am looking forward to seeing how Megatron slips the noose.

April the 20th, yes? Ages!

Further musings on the cast shuffle - if Chromedome was kinda-sorta the main character in the last set, who do we reckon will take his place?

My bet is on Skids or Nightbeat.

Intriguing.

Did Getaway survive Dark Cybertron? Hope so!

Death's Head wrote:Did Getaway survive Dark Cybertron? Hope so!

Well, he is on that one cover behind Nautica and in front of Skids. Tis not proof, but I'd say it's a good sign.

Looks like Mirage and Groove are some of the new Lost Light crewmembers. Really curious who all else ends up on board.

Groove! Mr. laid back!

That's his entire tech spec, can't wait to see what will be made of him and Bluestreak. Have re-initiated my subscription at the local comic shop happily.

No more crossovers you bloody tarts at IDW. Did it boost sales? Did it do anything positive?

Will Transformers never be the same again... again?

Muppets.

Remember two years ago, more or less, when they divided characters, and Roberts wanted guys like Mirage and Bluestreak, but Barber had them because he had plans?

LOL what came of that? Mirage barely had a line and all Streak did was get a headshot over the span of 22 issues. Even Atomizer, who is brand new and the utter definition of background character, had more lines and things to do than these two.

Regardless, this looks very promising and it looks as if Roberts is having a lot of fun writing it and messing with us. Seeing as it's a psychotherapy session, -maybe- we're starting straight away with the promised sequel to Shadowplay? What better way to set it up via Megatron telling the story in flashbacks while being in session?

Remember two years ago, more or less, when they divided characters, and Roberts wanted guys like Mirage and Bluestreak, but Barber had them because he had plans?

LOL what came of that? Mirage barely had a line and all Streak did was get a headshot over the span of 22 issues. Even Atomizer, who is brand new and the utter definition of background character, had more lines and things to do than these two.

Seeing as Barber took on the lion's share of the new toy introductions and Big Plot Stuff, I imagine quite a lot of the original plans for RID went out of the window as the months rolled by.

I imagine we'll be teased long before we're entirely satisfied but I'd be well up for a Shadowplay sequel.

Cliffjumper wrote:OH WOW I HOPE SWERVE DOES SOMETHING CRAZY LIKE A JOKE

oh you

So when will this be available to the adoring public, coz like... an adoring publican wants to know.

I've read somewhere 20th of April, but don't quote me on that. Is that even a Wednesday?

Kind of an odd thought---USA has an "obsession" with naming parts of their stories "seasons", for instance, Lost Season 1, House season 2 etc.

On the opposite end, weirdly enough, the UK seems to use "series". Which is confusing because it almost sounds like a completely different show. Being Human 2nd series, Sherlock 3rd series and so on.

So how come the fruit of an English writer, in comic book format no less, is labelled as "season" from the get go?

And is this the very first time we've had that "distinction" in a transformers written story?

That's a Thursday, so it must be the 19th. I've grown up with TV programmes being referred to as series, and even then series has (as far as I'm aware) only been majorly referred to when buying videos or DVD's. So for example when the new series of Red Dwarf was starting up again on TV we'd say "Oh, Red Dwarf starts again this Thursday". I don't recall ever saying "The third Series starts this Thursday" or whatnot.

One thing I hate is the term 'Season finale'. Talk about pompous. I would have been appalled if the final episode of Blackadder IV had been referred to at the time as a 'Season finale'. Its a very modern term and it seems to be accepted.

I think the American's call them seasons because the airing of a new series tends to coincide with the seasons of the weather. Like; "Coming this fall season, Lost Housewives of the Dead".

Their TV makes a big distinction between Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter I think, as a way to focus the viewer to key TV events in time. I'm sure the UK will follow suit.

I think Roberts has done this because its a term of popular culture. The demographic reading MTMTE are probably well versed in seasons and DVD/video boxets since Star Trek: The Next Generation and Buffy. And its a good signpost for a fresh start.

Although there may be a problem with calling something a season, it suggests something has a set course of so many issues. That's why I didn't like Remain in Lights numbering convention (issue 3 of 5), because the reader knows it's a five-part story and must be resolved in X number of issues. It affects tension and expectations.

I'd much rather that kind of info remain hidden. All we should be concerned about is the story and the characters... not told up front how long the story will be.

Target: 2006 never said Part 6 of 8 did it. It just hurtled on and freaked my little brain out with torture, death and fantastic Geoff Senior artwork, with NO indication that the whole thing was gonna be ring-fenced in three issues time. Was Galvatron just going to kill everyone? Who could tell?

Hardcore.

Auntie Slag wrote:One thing I hate is the term 'Season finale'. Talk about pompous. I would have been appalled if the final episode of Blackadder IV had been referred to at the time as a 'Season finale'. Its a very modern term and it seems to be accepted.

That terminology's been pretty common for a long time on this side of the pond -- I remember talking about "season finales" back when I was watching TNG in the 80s.

Has it only just infilitrated the UK market recently?

Auntie Slag wrote:Although there may be a problem with calling something a season, it suggests something has a set course of so many issues. That's why I didn't like Remain in Lights numbering convention (issue 3 of 5), because the reader knows it's a five-part story and must be resolved in X number of issues. It affects tension and expectations.

I completely agree with this. Though the solicits and advertising usually ruins this anyway, it would be nice to go into a new story without any expectations for how long it's going to run. You're definitely right about it impacting expectations. When you know a story is five issues long from the get-go you go in expecting something pretty wide in scope, and that's a shame. It'd be really nice if a comic would surprise me by jumping into a "big story" without telling me about it head of time.

The good thing is you can ignore the solicits, pick up the issue when it arrives, and then talk about it afterwards, that's what I (try my best to) do.

The only time it worked was with Dinobot Hunt, and you knew exactly what you were getting there because Prowl does his full disclosure bit at the beginning and you feel as knowledgeable as the characters in the story. It worked great actually, and the big ruck at the end was a bonus!

As for the 'Season finale' term, I dunno... maybe it did come in around the time of Buffy. I wasn't aware of it anytime prior to that. I had no idea that Quantum Leap consisted of seasons, or Knight Rider or The A-Team.

Sometimes solicits can be deceptive and throw you off entirely...

Issue 6's solicits and the blue arm with a gun on Rung cover made me think that Skids would lose it and turn on the crew momentarily.

Shadowplay solicits actually made me not give a damn, which was funny because it's one of my favourite stories ever.

On the other end, the solicits, covers and preview for issue 12 made it seem as if the crew would go head to head with the DJD and the Scavengers.

Roberts went on to say last AA that he writes the first 3-5 pages with the mindset that they'll be revealed as previews; he puts just enough story in them in order not to ruin/spoil/reveal too much further down.