IDW TF #125 "The Death of Optimus Prime"

[charlesrocketboy]

Are you saying Roberts is constrained by the laws of time? I find that hard to believe.

[The Doctor]

He is the Doctor.

-Ralph

[legios]

Constrained by? No. Sometimes cooperative with due to professional respect.... Perhaps.

Karl

[Jaymz]

Nick posted a teaser banner on his blog.

[primenova]

I'm interested in that all cover foil issue.

Variant wraparound cover featuring all 125 IDW TRANSFORMERS covers, with foil enhancements!

[The Doctor]

I will be unable to resist the shinyness.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

Likewise.

Andy

[primenova]

I want to know how they are doing the comic. is it going to be all A covers or print 9 covers per page or all the covers on one page each?

[grahamt77]

Transformers #125 "The Death of Optimus Prime" is out this week. Make sure you get it as, in my opinion, it's a good one. A dense read and an ideal starting point for IDW's 2012 storyline(s).

I've read and reviewed the issue, but can't post the review online until Tuesday.

[Deleted]

Already ordered a copy!

[legios]

I have it on preorder somewhere. It will turn up in due course and I am looking forward to giving it a go.

Karl

[verity]

I sincerely hope that this week, at least, comics won't be delayed at my LCS...

[Fortmax2020]

An excellent issue. Good set up for the two forthcoming comics. Looking forward to re-reading this properly later tonight.

[Deleted]

Postman didn't come today oh well maybe it'll come tomorrow

[The Doctor]

I am shocked. This comic had words. And characters. And a point to it. I am not used to this!!!

-Ralph

[Fortmax2020]

Stay calm, chum!

[charlesrocketboy]

That was brilliant. We get an ending, two new beginnings, a point, and interesting new directions for several characters all in one issue.

Also, Ratbat's back. Awww yeah.

[legios]

My copy has yet to arrive, but is sounds like it will be worth the wait.

Karl

[The Doctor]

A comic usually takes about a week to turn up with my post. Factor in Chrimbo postal delays and I thought: 'bugger it' and coughed up for a copy from an evil shop today.

-Ralph

[legios]

Ah. I shan't be near a comics shop for the next little while anyway, so I am happy to await my copies eventual emergence from the postal system. Know that I know it is good it gives me something to anticipate, and a bit of anticipation can be quite fun.

Karl

[primenova]

The logo cover - does that just feature small images of just 124 covers - all A covers or all the covers for all 125 comics, with the other covers for #125 too? Or are extra pages printed inside?

[Grand Moff Muffin]

I've only read a small part of the IDW Transformers series, but I've read the issues that people have said are the best, and I've read the on-line previews of many others, and on the basis of that judged that it was an inferior (and unoriginal) variation on the Transformers war already told by Marvel comics - Marvel having the advantage of doing everything first. In one word, 'freshness' about sums up what Marvel had but IDW didn't have.

Until now.

Issue #22 immediately became my favourite IDW Transformers issue when it came out. In part, that was unsurprising since it was written by the best writer of Transformers fan-fiction I have come across. But that didn't mean he would have something original to tell. It turned out that he did. Then issue #23 replaced issue #22 as my favourite issue.

Issue #125 is now my favourite issue. I could list all the little things that gave me a buzz, starting with all the non-humanoid Cybertronians suddenly at large, not to mention Metalhawk, and going on to Prowl's backstory and Prime's speech, plus the various mandatory requirements for high marks from me, such as high word count. But the main reason it is the best is because it is the first official Transformers story I have ever, ever read, that begins with the war being over, and has me believing at the end of the issue that it may actually be a permanent state of affairs.

I really hope it is. Transformers needs to be about transforming robots - it doesn't need to be about war without end. That just gets repetitive. I am delighted that at last a publisher of comics has commissioned a Transformers series that tells a _different_ story about Transformers. It is for that reason, and the standard of James' writing, that I will be buying 'More Than Meets the Eye'. I remain undecided about 'Robots in Disguise' - that depends on how serious the writers really are about _not_ doing the war all over again. If it also turns out to be committed to a non-war story, I may buy that too.

Either way, I'm just sorry it's the IDW re-telling of the Autobot-Decepticon war that gets what promises to be such a promising post-war sequel series. If it turns out to be really good (and doesn't lose sight of the alien robot nature of the species that generally risks getting lost when there are no humans around to provide the human personalities), and if Simon Furman fails to do something equally ground-breaking with issue #81+ (Generation 2 being just another war story in my eyes, attempting and succeeding in outdoing the first only in its level of violence), there's a risk I might just start viewing the IDW post-war series as the definitive sequel to the definitive account of the war told by Marvel.

Martin

[Andy Turnbull]

Thought it was thoroughly excellent. Great art and enjoyable story and feels like something fresh.

A bright new era for IDW comics it appears.

Andy

[Deleted]

And it arrived today!

Nice read, can't wait for the new series' to start next month

[KnightBeat]

Fantastic read. I had little doubt that Prime’s “death” would be metaphorical rather than literal. He has died too many times for it to have any meaning in a story. However, I half expected to disappointed by the resolution to Prime’s death. Although I have great confidence in James Roberts as a writer, it’s difficult to address the titular event without the resolution appearing to be a cop-out (I’m looking at you, ‘Doctor Who: Death in Blackpool) or arbitrary (I haven’t forgotten you, ‘Doctor Who: The Wedding of River Song’). However, I shouldn’t have worried – the story managed to defy expectations, providing a death that was satisfying to read and consistent with the character that we have seen develop in the IDW universe.

If I were to make one criticism it would be that the Autobots and Cybertronians were occasionally too human in their response. The repeated use of hell for emphasis in dialogue seemed out of place. Why would they use a human term when there are Cybertronian equivalent terms? The appearance of an Optimus Prime effigy with a noose around its neck also struck me as a little odd. How could a tradition of hanging be established on Cybertron when knowledge of the ‘brain module’ as the location of a Cybertronian’s mental core has been known for millions of years (see Soundwave removal Ratbat’s brain module in Megatron Origin) and Transformers have been shown to survive more destructive techniques (e.g. Megatron’s attack on Stascream)?

[KnightBeat]

I would also like to state for the record that I deliberately stayed awake until 1:25am to post the above comment in honour of this issue and it has nothing to do with just getting home from a night out.

[primenova]

What is not counted? I get it to 130 issues. I removed Infestation - but the avengers cross over is included?

#
1 MEGATRON ORIGIN #1
2 MEGATRON ORIGIN #2
3 MEGATRON ORIGIN #3
4 MEGATRON ORIGIN #4
5 BLURR
6 Cliffjumper
7 SHOCKWAVE
8 NIGHTBEAT
9 HOTROD
10 INFILTRATION #0
11 INFILTRATION #1
12 INFILTRATION #2
13 INFILTRATION #3
14 INFILTRATION #4
15 INFILTRATION #5
16 INFILTRATION #6
17 STORMBRINGER #1
18 STORMBRINGER #2
19 STORMBRINGER #3
20 STORMBRINGER #4
21 SIXSHOT
22 ULTRA MAGNUS
23 KUP
24 SOUNDWAVE
25 ESCALATION #1
26 ESCALATION #2
27 ESCALATION #3
28 ESCALATION #4
29 ESCALATION #5
30 ESCALATION #6
31 OPTIMUS PRIME
32 GALVATRON
33 Transformers / New Avengers #1
34 Transformers / New Avengers #2
35 Transformers / New Avengers #3
36 Transformers / New Avengers #4
37 RAMJET
38 DEVASTATION #1
39 DEVASTATION #2
40 DEVASTATION #3
41 DEVASTATION #4
42 DEVASTATION #5
43 DEVASTATION #6
44 WHEELIE
45 BLASTER
46 ARCEE
47 GRIMLOCK
48 MIRAGE
49 MAXIMUM DINOBOTS #1
50 MAXIMUM DINOBOTS #2
51 MAXIMUM DINOBOTS #3
52 MAXIMUM DINOBOTS #4
53 MAXIMUM DINOBOTS #5
54 drift#1
55 drift#2
56 drift#3
57 drift#4
58 CYCLONUS
59 HARD HEAD
60 DOUBLEDEALER
61 SIDESWIPE
62 Sausage Man
63 METROPLEX
64 JAZZ
65 All Hail Megatron #1
66 All Hail Megatron #2
67 All Hail Megatron #3
68 All Hail Megatron #4
69 All Hail Megatron #5
70 All Hail Megatron #6
71 All Hail Megatron #7
72 All Hail Megatron #8
73 All Hail Megatron #9
74 All Hail Megatron #10
75 All Hail Megatron #11
76 All Hail Megatron #12
77 All Hail Megatron #13
78 All Hail Megatron #14
79 All Hail Megatron #15
80 All Hail Megatron #16
81 Last Stand of the Wreckers #1
82 Last Stand of the Wreckers #2
83 Last Stand of the Wreckers #3
84 Last Stand of the Wreckers #4
85 Last Stand of the Wreckers #5
86 Transformers Ongoing #1
87 BUMBLEBEE #1
88 2
89 BUMBLEBEE #2
90 BUMBLEBEE #3
91 3
92 BUMBLEBEE #4
93 4
94 5
95 6
96 PROWL
97 7
98 HEART OF DARKNESS #1
99 HEART OF DARKNESS #2
100 8
101 9
102 10
103 11
104 12
105 13
106 14
107 15
108 16
109 17
110 18
111 HEART OF DARKNESS #3
112 HEART OF DARKNESS #4
113 IRON HIDE #1
114 IRON HIDE #2
115 IRON HIDE #3
116 IRON HIDE #4
117 19
118 20
119 21
120 22
121 23
122 24
123 25
124 26
125 27
126 28
127 29
128 30
129 31
130 125

[primenova]

Why is it when I copy Sausage Man #1 - it posts it has sauageman #1?

54 Sausage Man #1
55 Sausage Man #2
56 Sausage Man #3
57 Sausage Man #4

found out how to get it to display correct - don't leave a space after drift#

[blueshift]

Wait, Drift is Sausage Man?

[primenova]

I know we don't like drift# - but does mess up when you are doing up a list.