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Post by grahamthomson on Feb 3, 2011 9:15:47 GMT
Oh, boy! I haven't enjoyed a Transformers comic this much since Last Stand of the Wreckers!
Energetic plot, a page-turning pace, gorgeous artwork and colours, some lovely nods to Dead [Universe] continuity and some brilliant dialogue [Prow: "Anything you'd care to share, Galvatron? Preferably NOT through the medium of ranting."]. Okay, so the premise is ridiculous (in a fun way) but it's handled very well in the script. It's just... fun! And a much needed boost for IDW's Transformers brand. Well done to all concerned!
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Post by Kingoji on Feb 3, 2011 9:35:28 GMT
Grrr! Processors!
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 4, 2011 23:17:21 GMT
Some mess up meant that most copies of TF Infestation #1 didn't ship and won't arrive until next week. We got 1 copy in my shop. I found Infestation #1 itself quite boring. TF Infestation #1 was better, more good artwork from Nick, but the story is still a bit pointless. Infestation #1 was utterly, utterly dreadful. I cannot quite put into words just how shite that was. A rare misfire from DnA. They usually can write dialogue but almost every line was painful. I do hope TF Infestation proves to be a better read. -Ralph |
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Post by skillex on Feb 5, 2011 16:26:55 GMT
No sign of TF Infestation #1 in FP Edinburgh today, sadly.
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Post by grahamthomson on Feb 10, 2011 13:00:47 GMT
Infestation #1 was utterly, utterly dreadful. I cannot quite put into words just how shite that was. A rare misfire from DnA. They usually can write dialogue but almost every line was painful. I didn't bother with Infestation #1... and the handy recap in the Transformers Infestation #1 meant I didn't need to! |
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 10, 2011 18:59:20 GMT
If you are desperate, I can send you my copy!
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 12, 2011 23:02:27 GMT
I now have TF Infestation #1. Excellent colours and art (and I'm not just saying that because the artist posts here). I have to be honest though: I found the writing to be a bit flat. Everyone sounded the same and the dialogue was not my cup of tea. Very pretty comic though! Alas, I shall skip #2. I think current TF comics just aren't for me.
I really wanted to like this. Good artist, colourist and writers but didn't do it for me. Sorry!
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 12, 2011 23:49:17 GMT
Awaiting my comics arriving from ebay but looking forward to them.
Andy
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Post by Fortmax2020 on Feb 14, 2011 14:07:35 GMT
I got this as well and have to agree that it fell very flat to the point of me not wanting to read it all the way through but I managed it.
No offence to Nick, but I felt that the art was very confusing and unclear in places but this may well have been down to the colouring. The script was very poor and full of pointless character posturing with most of the zombie 'threat' being talked about rather than shown.
I also bought Ongoing #16 at the same time. TF Infestation #1 was definitely the poorer experience I'm unhappy to say.
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Post by legios on Feb 14, 2011 21:58:03 GMT
I read TF:Infiltration ish 1 at the weekend, but haven't had a chance to comment yet. I didn't think it was much cop to be honest. The script was poor and the dialogue surprisingly bad considering it was by Abnett and Lanning, they are usually much better at this. I'm not sure whether it is that they haven't been able to quite get engaged with this or whether the problem of making a zombie story not devolve into watching someone else play Doom has claimed them. I'm kind of 50/50 on the art - it is good, no doubt, but I feel like it is not quite up to Nick Roche's high watermark. And having seen him take a run at the new IDWverse versions of some of these characters I can now say that I suspect that no-one can actually make me like those designs. Colouring is top-notch though. In the end, although it looks pretty it was rather an empty vessel making a kind of clanging braaaaiiiiinnns noise. Doubt I will bother with issue 2, but I'm glad I gave it a fair swing at bat. I will say one thing for it though, it dodges the usual cliche of the heores trying to persuade the villain to abandon their evil schemes and side with them to save the world. Instead we get Galvatron shouting at the Autobots to stop behaving like obsessive-compulsive and notice the massive zombie army that the few Decepticons are trying very hard to contain. His frustration with the Autobot's apparent inability to actually get their act together and save the innocents around them rather mirrored my own and was a decent touch. At least someone was concerned about saving the American Civilians from the Zombie horde, even if it wasn't the designated representative of the American military or his heroic robot allies..... Karl |
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Post by Kingoji on Feb 19, 2011 10:19:29 GMT
Issues one and two of the TF portion somehow managed to arrive on my doormat one day after the other. I've read them, and I'm processing them... I'll start with the undeniable positive. Nick's artwork is stellar. I was rather unsold on his further stylised new look when it debuted for the Hot Rod issue of the ongoing, but there is no question now that I very much enjoy it. Perhaps it was down to the poor colouring on ongoing compared to the glorious hues of Joana Lafuente here? I dunno. I have the feeling the rest of my post will be a bit of a ramble, so I think it would be best if I just spoiler-tag the whole thing. I'll cut the story some slack in a couple of cases. The very premise of a Zombie-invasion is so daft that you'd have to, or you wouldn't get anywhere with it. And that they only had two issues to do so much is another reason.
To start with, I enjoyed Infestation far more than the ongoing, but to be fair, that's not hard to do. I think my initial excitement over new writers, and a proven artist and colourist my have clouded over the negatives until I had time to sit and take it in.
There are glaring plot holes and old favourites (or even the recently established) act out of character. Optimus Prime and the Autobots ignore the obvious and blatantly life-threatening danger of the Zombie horde to focus on Galvatron and his crew. That's dumb. All of the Autobots seem to know Galvatron and his crew, despite most of them having never met them. I can overlook this one based on the idea that after revelation information would have been shared... but, most unforgivably, Spike not only knows who Galvatron is, but knows enough to comment on his new power-set. How the hell would he know? Even if the Autobots had told Skywatch all about the DU affair, he would still surely have been asking if this power was new to everyone else, not flat out stating that it is.
Galvatron's crew are repeatedly referred to as Decepticons, despite having left Cybertron LONG before any factions were established, or there even *was* a civil war.
When Kup loses his Cygar and begins to freak, trying to warn everyone of the real source of the danger, Optimus simply folds his arms and looks down his nose at his oldest advisor and trusted friend and states "I do not have the patience for this!" When Bayonette is accused of being a fake, she goes from one panel saying Kup was out of his head, to putting her fist through him and revealing herself in the next couple. Why deny it if you're coming out already?
Characters appear as required with no prior hint they were there (Wheeljack, primarily).
People on other boards have been praising this story for it's use of old continuity and plot points. I disagree. In fact, I think the way it abuses and ignores continuity to suit itself is the most insulting point of all. These two books basically suufer from all the major problems people have with the ongoing, the only difference is the pace is rushed rather than plodding.
So here's the thing which bugs me the most; After all these years of set up and development and expansion, the whold Kup thing finds a resolution. But it finds it as a basic deus ex machina used to neatly tie up the current crisis. There is no emotional payoff, no hint of lasting repercussions for everyone else. Sure, Kup remembers what he did to all those Autobots in his Spotlight and it almost breaks him. But what about what Prowl did to him? Do we actually see Kup unknowingly manipulate the Autobot cause on Prowl's behalf? Does anyone learn of the underhanded methods Prowl was using, how he violated one of their own to use as a tool? No. Prowl just uses the "Pretender" process as a back door into the Zombie-infected Kup to get him to sacrifice himself ending the threat. Prowl will be coming out of this scott-free. If he had played a series of stratagems which enabled him to beat the ever increasing odds so that no-one would know what he's done it would have felt more satisfying. But instead it's like he's just thinking "oh, well... bang goes that idea".
And what of the further plot threads this affects? How will Springer react after all he'd done to get Kup back? Dunno, because it's already been established in ongoing that Springer's team was given a ship by Skywatch and left Earth. And what of Guzzle? We never even learned exactly what his intentions toward Kup were.
We're talking years and years of Nick (and James) weaving these interesting, intelligent threads that we devoured whole because they were so good being cut short all for the sake of wrapping up a two issue mini which IDW had been telling us all along we would NOT have to read because it would have no direct lasting effect on the Transformers comics as a whole. And they even got Nick to draw it.
Seriously, what does IDW have against people and work we like? This exact thing happened to Furman, and now it's happened to Roche. Only they seem to make it more personal with Roche, as they keep getting him to draw it happening. Oh, Hot Rod is your favourite character, Nick? Well, it just so happens we've got you scheduled in to draw the issue of ongoing where he's murdered. We have a mini for you then... you'll take it? Great! By the way, you know that sub-plot you've been developing so long? You know, the only thing we've put out that the readers have really been getting their teeth into? Yeah, the mini will nix that in like five pages.
There are ways around this, sure, and I would love it if Nick and/or James could make it happen. Kup was, after all, sent back in time to the Dead Universe. It's possible he survived in there to the present day. Galvatron has been shown to be able to free people from the curse of the DU.
Me and my bro were chatting about this, and we thought; how awesome would it be for a new story in which (maybe Springer, Perceptor) Guzzle and Impactor invade the DU to try and find Kup, cursing themselves in the process. Galvatron finds them and releases them from the curse in exchange for their alliegance, revealing at the same time that Kup, Nightbeat, Hardhead and Arcee have all already joined him (Jhiaxus is back, so Arcee *needs* to be explained anyway).
It would be awesome, but sadly I can't see it happening.
Now, to sandwich the negatives between positives, I really really liked the way Galvatron was portrayed. His dialogue was spot on, he carried an OTT granduer befitting a character with utter belief in his own destiny, and yet he also seemed have the clearest head out of anyone. For all of this stories failings, I also have to say that it is no deal-breaker for me. I get the impression that Abnett and Lanning struggled with the two-issue constraints, and the upcoming Heart Of Darkness mini should provide them with enough breathing room to prove whether or not their take on Transformers is for me. Right now, I'm just not feeling it. |
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Post by skillex on Feb 19, 2011 14:52:45 GMT
Eventually found both issues. While it was miles away from Furman's brilliant run or Last Stand of the Wreckers, it was pulpy fun which compared well to the Ongoing and remembered there is more to the IDWverse than anti-robot human groups. I am looking forward to Heart of Darkness, and it looks to me from the solicits that Galvatron may end up as Decepticon leader (it annoyed me that they referred to the original Ark crew here as Decepticons and that Spike knew who they were). Given that it all leads into an event called "Chaos" and that Galvatron refers to a war being fought I half-wonder if this signals the return of Unicron? In fairness to all elements of the TF brand, he has at least been rested for a couple of years. |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 19, 2011 20:28:47 GMT
It was a step up from Mike Costa's work.
That being said the first issue of it felt like Dreamwave Armada issue 1. 11 pages of story, spread over 22. It looked great though. Nick's art was as good as ever and Joanna Lafuente's colours were very impressive.
Andy
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Post by legios on Feb 20, 2011 19:37:19 GMT
I didn't enjoy the first issue enough to pick up the second, and it sounds like I am probably not really missing out. I will almost certainly give Abnett and Lanning's up-coming miniseries a fair crack of the whip. They are usually a good writing partnership, who tend to hit far more than they miss so they will get the benefit of the doubt (i.e. one issue) on their next TF job. Given that Galvatron was the one character in TF:I issue 1 that I actually thought was reasonably engaging then I am ok with seeing them take another run at him Karl |
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 20, 2011 19:58:47 GMT
I'll be passing on the mini. If it gets good notices I may give it a go in trade. Burned too many times by TF comics now, alas!
-Ralph
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Post by mellowshade on Mar 1, 2011 23:08:44 GMT
Well issue two ended in a very confusing manner.
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Post by chrismcfeely on Mar 2, 2011 14:24:25 GMT
Y'know, chaps, I should probably warn yer, to not read issue two is not to see the proof that Abnett and Lanning are about the only IDW writers who have actually read and given honours to the writers who came before them, and that the issue hinges on the events of both Spotlight Kup and the Kup-and-Prowl centric AHM story...
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 2, 2011 18:45:21 GMT
Possibly, but my comics budget is that tight these days that I can only afford to give a new series 1 issue to hook me! The $4 price-point across comics in general has killed off most of my single issue comic reading, alas.  -Ralph |
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Post by mellowshade on Mar 2, 2011 19:58:34 GMT
Y'know, chaps, I should probably warn yer, to not read issue two is not to see the proof that Abnett and Lanning are about the only IDW writers who have actually read and given honours to the writers who came before them, and that the issue hinges on the events of both Spotlight Kup and the Kup-and-Prowl centric AHM story... But where does it fit in? Kup and Guzzle disappeared to do whatever at the end of Wreckers and if what happened in issue two is final then that thread is likely to be left trailing. |
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Post by legios on Mar 2, 2011 20:44:29 GMT
It doesn't surprise me at all to hear that they made use of things that were left over from previous IDW series. Abnett especially has an almost Bourne-like ability to improvise with whatever is at hand when building a story.
The problem is that for me to want to buy issue 2 of a series I have to have first enjoyed issue one.....
Karl
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Post by Fortmax2020 on Mar 2, 2011 22:13:22 GMT
And I thought this Infestation stuff wasn't supposed to have any direct impact on the IDW TF universe. Silly me.
Like others though I gave it a shot with #1, but it didn't grab me at all. Quite off putting actually.
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 3, 2011 8:08:41 GMT
And I thought this Infestation stuff wasn't supposed to have any direct impact on the IDW TF universe. That is how it was advertised... -Ralph |
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Post by blueshift on Mar 3, 2011 8:12:05 GMT
Why what happened, do I need to pick it up?
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Post by grahamthomson on Mar 3, 2011 9:12:03 GMT
Perhaps when the "Infestation" crossed into the Transformers universe, it caused a split or something. That way Mike Costa won't need to acknowledge it at all in his Ongoing series.
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Post by Kingoji on Mar 3, 2011 9:32:57 GMT
Why what happened, do I need to pick it up? Read the spoilered bit in my post earlier in the thread to find out.  |
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Post by blueshift on Mar 3, 2011 10:50:12 GMT
Why what happened, do I need to pick it up? Read the spoilered bit in my post earlier in the thread to find out. Somehow I missed that post. Oh. Ouch |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2011 8:32:33 GMT
I was surfing Amazon yesterday, and saw that the Infestation TPB Volume 1 is due out in July, so I'll wait until then before I get the comic (I'm guessing there will be 2 volumes since there's like 10 individual issues or something altogether)
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Post by grahamthomson on Mar 16, 2011 10:42:05 GMT
Ah, so there "making" you read the other Infestation tie-ins as well!
Maybe the two Transformers parts will be in a future premium collection or similar?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2011 11:24:49 GMT
Ah, so there "making" you read the other Infestation tie-ins as well! Maybe the two Transformers parts will be in a future premium collection or similar? I was planning on reading all the parts anyway at some point |
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Post by Shockprowl on Mar 17, 2011 19:38:25 GMT
I'm intrigued to learn of more of the BRILLIANT Prowl/Kup story thread, but disappointed to hear that it doesn't really amount to much in actuality. If the art's good, and Prowl's in it a bit, I'll prob get the trade in due course.
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