IDW? Yea or Nay

[Deleted]

Usually, I stand on the sidelines when readers articulate enthusiasm or disgust for a comic book property. So far, I only read the first two IDW Premiere hardcovers and hopefully will pre-order a third. However, I am little worried about the overall negative reaction from readership. I guess it doesn't kick in until after the first two Premieres because I thought they were rather good. So, where do you stand on IDW? Has IDW's Transformers been a hit, a miss, or s..ome where in between?

[Deleted]

The only real issue I had with IDW was All Haipl Megatron, it ruined the continuity (but remember...it was another universe/bad dream)

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Because I'm not interested in seeing characters that have already been well-written in comics having their biographies re-booted, I've only read the Nick Roche IDW comics, judging them as artistic/writing exercises inspired by the concepts of the TF saga rather than parts of a larger story... and judged them to be pretty darn spiffing pieces, all told! If they are at all representative of the IDW universe as a whole, readers who have the time, money and interest to invest in a new comic variation on the original TF saga should be well rewarded by following it. Whether the Nick issues _are_ at all representative of the quality of IDW as a whole is, of course, for others to say...

Martin

[grahamthomson]

I'd recommend Infiltration through to Revelation/Maximum Dinobots (and associated Spotlights).

After that, there was a jarring change of direction called All Hail Megatron in which most characters had lobotomies and arbitrarily stopped thinking/behaving as they had done previously in the previous IDW stories. I would not recommend All Hail Megatron.

[chrisl]

With the exception of All Hail Megatron I think IDW have been really really good. I love the Ark series. Nick Roche's stuff has been some of the best TF work I've seen. Really looking forward to the Robert / Roche collaboration on Last Stand Of The Wreckers. If it's half as good as their last collaboration I'll be a very happy reader.

[The Doctor]

The material veers wildly from pretty good to abominably shitty comics.

-Ralph

[charlesrocketboy]

Quality varies wildly, but the Infiltration thru Maximum Dinobots run is mostly okay-to-good (and sometimes great). All Hail Megatron... is not good at all.

With the exception of Roche's story in AHM #15, which is brilliant!

[Dave]

Yeah the first two premieres worth are largely decent. As is Maximum Dinobots (which should kick off Premiere 3) but AHM really killed my interest in IDW Transformers. The ongoing doesn't look like it'll be of interest but I'll give it a one issue trial and I suspect there will be the occasional mini now and then that appeals (Wreckers).

[Deleted]

I enjoyed the first few series of IDW's Transformers comics. After about two or so years though it started to get a little tiring. AHM was the worst series I had ever read and that killed my interest in some of the better series that also ran at the same time as AHM.

[Nigel]

I actually wasn't all that keen on Infiltration early on (though I probably need to go back and take another look at it) but as the story and universe unfurled, I enjoyed it much more. I think Spotlight is the best concept that IDW have come up with, allowing standalone stories that wouldn't be told in the main comic, or stories that expand on the central storyline. It's a shame that the the Spotlight concept was corrupted by using it for an ongoing story with Revelation.

I've said before that I enjoyed All Hail Megatron; however, I recognise and agree with many of the criticisms and in particular, it does go against much of what had been established. The Coda segment, though, is a big improvement on the main series.

If I may expand the debate beyond the IDWverse to look at their other Transformers output, Animated was fun and their various Movie titles have expanded nicely upon the films themselves. I'm particularly enjoying Tales of the Fallen, as it has the same qualities as Spotlight. I actually thought the ROTF adaptation was a better telling of the story than the film itself.

I think the reprint programme could do with some attention. Most of the output is stories that have been reprinted several times in the last seven or so years. It would be nice to see less common stories back on the shelves.

On balance, IDW get a big thumbs up from me.

[primenova]

I'd just read the ones numbered near the barcode #0-26, Max Dino #1-5, Spotlight #1-5,9-20,22-25. AHM #13, 14 For the Galvatron art, 15 Nick !!! great story,

& ANimted #1-5 because they are fun.

[Andy Turnbull]

The quality varies - I'd recommend the Furmanverse material, with all the "ation" material and Maximum Dinobots. After that abandon their ongoing material. All Hail Megatron was a very shitty comic. Nothing to do with the artists Guido, Josh and co. did a bang up job, but the script by Shane McCarthy was woefully inept and terribly, terribly done. Poor show from editorial for not throwing it back at him and getting him to do a better job.

Oh and the Transformers/Avengers crossover was good enjoyable tosh!

Andy

[primenova]

TF/Avengers was good - mainly this time it was a team up where i liked the other characters - even if it was rubbish better than spending half issues reading from character you dont like.

[The Doctor]

I can't hate a comic which has Transformers and Doctor Doom in it. I waited almost 25 years for that.

-Ralph

[primenova]

Doom should have showed up in the Gijoe comics - but i wouldn't buy a Gijoe Avengers comic. I can't remember anything the gijoe characters do in any of the TF crossovers.

[blueshift]

Combat Colin fought Dr Doom!

[primenova]

But Combat Colin is great !!!!! while i hate Gijoe. I loved reading the Dr Doom - i got 3 copies of the Brickman book from Lew which does feature some clips of Colin around this era.

[Nigel]

I forgot about the Avengers crossover. Something different, that. Wasn't it published by Marvel rather than IDW, though?

[charlesrocketboy]

They collaborated, didn't they?

[legios]

Nov 5, 2009 3:49:51 GMT @diaclone1982 said:

So, where do you stand on IDW?

I don't really have a stand on IDW as a company. Having not read most of their output (only the majority of their Transformers stuff and a smattering of their Doctor Who material) it is difficult to evaluate them as a company. What I have read of their output has been relatively well-produced so I would like to think that their production values are even across all their properties, but I couldn't say for certain.

Has IDW's Transformers been a hit, a miss, or s..ome where in between?

As to IDW's Transformers series in specific then it depends on which series really. Some of them are good and some of them are not so good. I didn't initially warm to "Infiltration", mostly because the preview issue and the first issue mainly centred around a group of human characters who didn't really click with me (not because I oppose human characters in Transformers stories, I'm just not interested in _those_ human characters). I did enjoy "Stormbringer" a lot more and most of the rest of the "-ation" series were quite enjoyable (if prone to feeling a bit padded in places, and having somewhat inconclusive endings at times).

The Spotlight series I found to be a bit variable - some of them are very good, others less so. The Shockwave spotlights and the four that make up Revelation are stand-outs in terms of quality.

"Megatron:Origins" I actually skipped when it was originally published, and only read the later issues when Titan reprinted the series over here. I think there is a good idea in it, that the writer isn''t quite up to telling - he could have done with a co-writer I think - and it is hampered by art that varies from inept to downright horrible which doesn't really help.

The Live-Action Movie tie-in stuff I don't have much of a feel for. I have read some of it but ROTF has killed my interest in that version of Transformers stone-dead anyway.

As to All Hail Megatron. I can only comment that the first issue and a bit was a contributory factor behind my dropping Vol 2 of the Titan comic like a hot rock, which probably says all I need to about my feelings as regards that series.

Karl

[charlesrocketboy]

Nov 8, 2009 0:26:22 GMT legios said:

I think there is a good idea in it, that the writer isn''t quite up to telling - he could have done with a co-writer I think

That or an editor willing to firmly-but-gently get him to focus on the key aspects and not little sidebits. (Why does the comic spend several panels of key scenes having Megatron unfurl a crest or Sentinel turn black?)

[dinogrrl]

I also have the first two Premier Editions and as they cover almost all of Simon Furman's work, they are quite a good read. The third Premier Edition, if they continue on with that format, will be almost entirely All Hail Megatron plus the last run of Spotlights, several of which tie into AHM, and maybe Maximum Dinobots, the last of Furman's G1 storyline.

I would strongly recommend finding a comic store or whatnot and see if they have a trade of AHM that you can take a peek through. You may end up liking it, plenty of people did. But you don't want to toss out a crapton of money on the Premier book and find you dislike most of it. Myself, I won't be getting a third volume as I disliked AHM, and will pick up Maximum Dinobots as a separate trade.

[KoshNaranek]

I'm going to do this by writer:

Simon Furman - I really enjoyed all f the --ation series. I initially didn't take to the human characters, but did eventually warm to them after a while. The only problem for me near the end of his main title run is that he was forced to condense Revelation to make way for what was coming after him. His movieverse stuff is OK.

Shane McCarthy - It's no secret that I hated AHM, and it would be easy to slag off the writer, but it's not entirely his fault. The fact is that editorial could have reined him in but didn't. There were so many mistakes and plot holes through the story that they really should have done something about them but chose not to. Mr McCarthy has come across in interviews and on the IDW boards as a nice enough guy who is very polite and will answer most questions to clear up plot points not fully explained in the story. Therein, however, lies the problem, he shouldn't have had to as the story itself should have done all that by itself. As for the human "characters" in the story, I felt nothing for them at all.

Chris Mowry - I really enjoyed his movieverse stuff, especially the Reign of Starscream. Chris has a good handle on the characters and ties in well with the films.

Nick Roche - Nick has a refreshingly new approach to Transformers that also feels very familiar. His dialogue is crisp and he did more charactisation in 11 pages of AHM #15 than anyone else did in the entire series. I can't wait for the Wreckers and would love to see him get a crack at writing the ongoing at some point.

No one else has mad much impact with me. Megatron Origin wasn't that great, but it wasn't all bad either. It really should have been called Decepticon Origin.

As for what's to come with the ongoing, I'm willing to give Mike Costa a chance. I read his GI Joe: Cobra miniseries and thought it was one of the best stories I'd read in any comic in a very long time. I'm looking forward to seeing what he has in store.

- Tony

[chrisl]

I'm looking forward to the debut of TMUK alumni James Roberts on co-writing duties for Wreckers #2