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Shine
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IDW comics

Post by Shine »

I was thinking of buying some of IDW's stuff, but didn't know what to get. I had Strombringer, Devastation, Escalation, and Infiltration in mind, but what about certain Spotlights, or The Last Stand Of The Wreckers, or even that Drift miniseries?

Oh, and there's one more thing. Where would the best place on the 'net be to buy them? Amazon? IDW's site? I wouldn't have a clue, to tell you the truth.

Thanks a lot--I really appreciate your help.
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Big Daddy
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Post by Big Daddy »

Buy Last Stand of the Wreckers, see if you can get Spotlight Kup, Spotlight Metroplex, Spotlight Blaster and Spotlight Ramjet as singles, don't bother with any of the rest, IMHO.
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

I'd recommend LSotW and Infiltration/Escalation (maybe with Stormbringer in the middle) but not getting too drawn into the rather abortive stuff that goes in-between. A few of the Spotlights are worth picking up.

Amazon's as good as anywhere at the moment.
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Big Daddy
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Post by Big Daddy »

Yes, the main reason I didn't recommend the others is that they're ultimately a dead end, and somewhat frustrating regardless of their quality. Escalation was at the time the best TF comic I've read since the good old days, but it's just a middle bit of a bigger story which was never properly finished, and as such I'd never recommend it to someone as a purchase, much in the same way I'd never recommend a mid-season batch of episodes from a season of 24.

Still, LSotW was adequate compensation for the rest of IDW's TF comics being such a disappointment - it's just that with hindsight I wouldn't have invested in most of them.
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Neuronutter
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Post by Neuronutter »

Big Daddy wrote:Buy Last Stand of the Wreckers, see if you can get Spotlight Kup, Spotlight Metroplex, Spotlight Blaster and Spotlight Ramjet as singles, don't bother with any of the rest, IMHO.
Not Shockwave? IMO that's the best one!

As for Shine's question, the IDW collections are a good, cheap way of picking up IDW's run. The only issue would be that you can't pick and choose what you want. Collection 2 contains most of the best of the run: Stormbringer, Escalation, and the Ultra Magnus, Kup and Soundwave spotlights are all very good. Though you should read Infiltration before Escalation, even if you don't buy it.

If you did pick up the second collection volume you may be tempted to buy the others. The first is, unfortunately, not as good as the second. Megs Origin is terrible, Infiltration is ok and the spotlights range from great to bad. The third collection finished off Furman's run with Devastation, contains some more spotlights and the truly abysmal crossover with the Avengers. If the collections don't interest you and choose the trades you want.

I'd also second, or third, or fourth, the recommendation for Last Stand of the Wreckers. Hands down the best IDW TF series comic to date. It's still available in trade and I'd suggest you grab that even if you don't pick up anything else.
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Big Daddy
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Post by Big Daddy »

Neuronutter wrote:Not Shockwave? IMO that's the best one!
I enjoyed it on first reading, don't get me wrong, but I was more frustrated when the Dinobots and Shockwave were used very poorly later on - it's a prelude to a great story we never got (as is Nightbeat, which also read very well at the time). Whereas Blaster, Ramjet, Kup and Metroplex are all stories that are fairly neatly tied off and aren't undermined by later material - their comics I can pick up and read in isolation without remembering how muddy things got later. But then that's a personal reading, others may have better luck.
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Neuronutter
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Post by Neuronutter »

Big Daddy wrote:I enjoyed it on first reading, don't get me wrong, but I was more frustrated when the Dinobots and Shockwave were used very poorly later on - it's a prelude to a great story we never got (as is Nightbeat, which also read very well at the time). Whereas Blaster, Ramjet, Kup and Metroplex are all stories that are fairly neatly tied off and aren't undermined by later material - their comics I can pick up and read in isolation without remembering how muddy things got later. But then that's a personal reading, others may have better luck.
Every time I read Shockwave I'm impressed by it. I think I've blocked out most of SL: Grimlock and Max Dinos as they were so bad, but they don't impact on my memory of Shockwave, which I still find very satisfying. Sure it lead to worse things but it's still a damn good read.

Blaster and Ramjet are decent, Kup is awesome and only gets better with subsequent reads. Don't really remember Metroplex. It's the contained stories that stick in the memory and Metroplex was part of a larger whole, IIRC.
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Shine
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Post by Shine »

Cool. Now I know what to get.

Thanks a bunch, everyone! :)
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