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IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More

Transformers News: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More

Wednesday, January 21st, 2015 10:07AM CST

Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: Va'al   Views: 42,410

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Our friends over at IDW Publishing have sent us the comics solicitations for their April 2015 releases, featuring not only the continuation of the two current ongoings The Transformers and More Than Meets the Eye, but also of Windblade as it takes its own component of Combiner Wars! We also get to look at some more Transformers vs G.I. Joe, and the possible cover of the seventh volume of what used to be called Robots in Disguise, collecting the pre-CW arc. Check them all out below, including our first look at CW Defensor, Devastator, and the various team members.

Transformers vs G.I. JOE #8
Tom Scioli & John Barber (w) • Scioli (a & c)
In the interplanetary war between the TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE, anything can happen… and does.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99


Transformers News: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More


Transformers vs G.I. Joe #8—Subscription Variant
Tom Scioli & John Barber (w) • Scioli (a) • Andy Suriano (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
• Action and excitement as only Tom Scioli can deliver!
• You won’t believe your eyes!
• Variant Cover by Artyon Trakhanov!


Transformers News: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More


Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #40
James Roberts (w) • Brendan Cahill (a) • Alex Milne (c)
Having saved the universe—kind of—the Lost Light crew deal with the fallout in a manner befitting the gravity of the situation. Kind of.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99


Transformers News: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More


Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #40—Subscription Variant
James Roberts (w) • Brendan Cahill (a) • Nick Roche (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
• The march to issue 50 begins here!
• The critically acclaimed MTMTE continues its mind-blowing run!
• Variant Cover by Brendan Cahill


Transformers News: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More


Transformers #40—Combiner Wars
John Barber (w) • Livio Ramondelli (a) • Casey W. Coller (c)
The COMBINERS have arrived! STARSCREAM wrestles for dominance with OPTIMUS PRIME as surprising reinforcements approach—from the Lost Light!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99


Transformers News: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More


Transformers #40—Combiner Wars—Subscription Variant
John Barber (w) • Livio Ramondelli (a & c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
• Tying in with Hasbro’s 2015 Transformers: Generations toy line, this epic will be supported across multiple media platforms!
• Combiner Wars Part 2!
• Variant Hasbro Combiner Wars poster cover


Transformers News: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More


Transformers: Windblade—Combiner Wars #2
Mairghread Scott (w) • Livio Ramondelli (a) • Casey W. Coller (c)
PROWL makes his move… and the galaxy will never be the same. Can WINDBLADE stand against the threat of the COMBINERS?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99


Transformers News: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More


Transformers: Windblade—Combiner Wars #2—Subscription Variant
Mairghread Scott (w) • Livio Ramondelli (a & c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
• Combiner Wars Part 3!
• The biggest battle on CYBERTRON is about to get bigger!
• Variant Hasbro Combiner Wars poster cover


Transformers News: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More


Transformers, Vol. 7
John Barber (w) • Sarah Stone, Livio Ramondelli, Andrew Griffith (a) • Casey W. Coller (c)
The secret origins of CYBERTRON’s golden age are revealed to OPTIMUS PRIME—and what he learns changes everything about the AUTOBOTS’ mission on Earth. Collects issues #33–38.
TPB • FC • $19.99 • 152 pages • ISBN: 978-1-63140-285-2

Bullet points:
• Robots in Disguise becomes The Transformers


Transformers News: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More
Credit(s): IDW

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Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641534)
Posted by steve2275 on January 21st, 2015 @ 10:15am CST
sweet
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641544)
Posted by mblase75 on January 21st, 2015 @ 10:43am CST
Defensor:

- has two road vehicles and an Alpha Bravo repaint for limbs
- has a torso that looks a lot like Superion's
- has to go toe-to-toe with Prowlstator?

It's starting to look like we won't get a new Bruticus after all....
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641545)
Posted by Madeus Prime on January 21st, 2015 @ 10:43am CST
Defensor appears to the composed of 2/5 original molds. :-? I spy Breakdown as an arm (maybe Streetwise?), Alpha Bravo as Blades as an arm and Offroad as a leg (Rook or First Aid?)

Either way, these limb-bots look good enough to get the repaints of them, I'm excited. :D
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641550)
Posted by steve2275 on January 21st, 2015 @ 10:59am CST
prowlvastator vs defensor? :D
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641556)
Posted by ax255 on January 21st, 2015 @ 11:13am CST
The combiner on the bottom, with Devastator is not Defensor...There is clearly a picture of him alone.
The one on the bottom, that looks like its about to get dominated, looks like Bruticus...Same head style...same wing chest plate piece. Vortex is an arm, Swindle is an arm...and you don't see the rest. :BANG_HEAD:
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641559)
Posted by OptimalOptimus2 on January 21st, 2015 @ 11:28am CST
Defensor and Devastator. Great, more fuel to the fire (Combiner Wars).

What makes everyone so sure that Hasbro would use the parts of Superion and Menasor for other combiners? :???:
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641560)
Posted by ZeroWolf on January 21st, 2015 @ 11:36am CST
That's not swindle, looks like one of the Stunticons, in fact the helicopter looks to me to be alpha Bravo straight up. Looks just to be advertising the scramble city aspect of Combiner Wars then actually being a full combaticons (which I would prefer to come later on...which according to rumours may be the case since we're supposed to be getting the Autobots cars.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641563)
Posted by Starsaber468 on January 21st, 2015 @ 11:47am CST
The one th has prowstator in yhe back has a bruticus like chestplate
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641573)
Posted by Noideaforaname on January 21st, 2015 @ 12:40pm CST
Hoverboardin' Tailgate! :lol:


steve2275 wrote:prowlvastator vs defensor? :D

Took me waaaaaaaay too long to figure out who was on that cover. One limb looks blue, another brown, a third green, no distinct vehicle parts and I'm just befuddled.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641574)
Posted by SW's SilverHammer on January 21st, 2015 @ 12:52pm CST
Is it wrong I want at least one cover of combiner wars that's essentially the queen News of the World cover but with prowlastator?
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641577)
Posted by CrankyOldTruck on January 21st, 2015 @ 12:58pm CST
Devastator versus Menasor. SWEET!
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641657)
Posted by MaverickPrime on January 21st, 2015 @ 5:58pm CST
So, Alpha Bravo will indeed become Blades...I hope they at least give him a different head sculpt, because AB's head is totally First Aid's head, I don't care if he is a repaint or not, but please, PLEASE give him Alpha Bravo's(or a new) head!!!
If First Aid's body won't look like it has looked in MTMTE at least make it right with the proper noggin'
Also, I want all the combiners, but it's gonna cause me a personal conflict, because I don't want to feel like I'm replacing my GDO Hot Spot, I really like it :(
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641663)
Posted by Optimizzy on January 21st, 2015 @ 6:40pm CST
Man. I am so pissed off that Defensor seems like a real possibility. I mean...come on Hasbro, leave me SOME of my money!!!
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641680)
Posted by Emerje on January 21st, 2015 @ 7:54pm CST
ZeroWolf wrote:That's not swindle, looks like one of the Stunticons, in fact the helicopter looks to me to be alpha Bravo straight up. Looks just to be advertising the scramble city aspect of Combiner Wars then actually being a full combaticons (which I would prefer to come later on...which according to rumours may be the case since we're supposed to be getting the Autobots cars.


Well, it's a variant cover so it doesn't necessarily have to represent the comic 100%. I agree, it's not Bruticus, it's Dead End, Alpha Bravo, and Hot Spot with Defensor's "ears" overly exaggerated by the artist. If you look at the legs you can see they're Hot Spot's color blue. The chest shield may also be an exaggerated take on Menasor's (Black Jack's) from the CW figure.

Emerje
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641688)
Posted by Zeek99g on January 21st, 2015 @ 8:43pm CST
Please help me out here as I have not been reading the comics, what is Prowlestator? :-(
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641696)
Posted by GreenLantern of Cybertron on January 21st, 2015 @ 9:12pm CST
Thundercracker has a dog?!

Now I need a dog.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641776)
Posted by Twitchythe3rd on January 22nd, 2015 @ 1:20am CST
Zeek99g wrote:Please help me out here as I have not been reading the comics, what is Prowlestator? :-(


Scrapper is dead. Part of the Decepticon plot in the first story arc of RiD's run was Prowl being mind controlled and modified to become Devastator's new head. After Dark Cybertron the Constructicons threw their lot in with him since they melded minds and liked what they saw.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641780)
Posted by synapse on January 22nd, 2015 @ 1:39am CST
Va'al wrote:
Image


So, according to this pic, HotSpot would be like a hundred times as big as Windblade, right?
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641782)
Posted by Va'al on January 22nd, 2015 @ 1:51am CST
synapse wrote:
Va'al wrote:
Image


So, according to this pic, HotSpot would be like a hundred times as big as Windblade, right?


I was under the impression of that being Defensor, what with the helicopter arm and truck leg, plus the Combiner Wars new hands with guns. :-?
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641783)
Posted by synapse on January 22nd, 2015 @ 2:04am CST
Va'al wrote:
synapse wrote:
Va'al wrote:
Image


So, according to this pic, HotSpot would be like a hundred times as big as Windblade, right?


I was under the impression of that being Defensor, what with the helicopter arm and truck leg, plus the Combiner Wars new hands with guns. :-?


:BANG_HEAD:

OF COURSE that's Defensor, man. I mean the whole main torso is HotSpot. That means all the blue parts we see in that pic. All right, if you prefer: Defensor's torso would be like a hundred times as big as Windblade, right?

And then, when not combined, HotSpot is Optimus size at best.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641784)
Posted by Va'al on January 22nd, 2015 @ 2:07am CST
synapse wrote:
Va'al wrote:
synapse wrote:
Va'al wrote:
Image


So, according to this pic, HotSpot would be like a hundred times as big as Windblade, right?


I was under the impression of that being Defensor, what with the helicopter arm and truck leg, plus the Combiner Wars new hands with guns. :-?


:BANG_HEAD:

OF COURSE that's Defensor, man. I mean the whole main torso is HotSpot. That means all the blue parts we see in that pic. All right, if you prefer: Defensor's torso would be like a hundred times as big as Windblade, right?

And then, when not combined, HotSpot is Optimus size at best.


Ah, I see what you mean, sorry, just got up! :D

I do believe there is a lot of mass shifting involved in the comics, at least that's what we've seen so far. Otherwise Prowlestator would't really work, even with Prowl's new body.

Image
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641786)
Posted by synapse on January 22nd, 2015 @ 2:14am CST
I know, that's what bothers me. Megatron's spark was modified for mass displacement, Prowl's wasn't (not that we know of, anyway). As it took Shockwave centuries to perfect the combiner tech, he could have modified the Constructicons' sparks before the AHM series, ok fine... but why do all TF artists seem to LOVE making the combiners ridiculously huge when there's no need? Only Figueroa seemed to deliberately draw Monstructor right (or at least, right size) in Spotlight: Optimus Prime.

Oh well...
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641791)
Posted by Twitchythe3rd on January 22nd, 2015 @ 3:14am CST
synapse wrote:I know, that's what bothers me. Megatron's spark was modified for mass displacement, Prowl's wasn't (not that we know of, anyway). As it took Shockwave centuries to perfect the combiner tech, he could have modified the Constructicons' sparks before the AHM series, ok fine... but why do all TF artists seem to LOVE making the combiners ridiculously huge when there's no need? Only Figueroa seemed to deliberately draw Monstructor right (or at least, right size) in Spotlight: Optimus Prime.

Oh well...


Dramatic effect.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641792)
Posted by ZeroWolf on January 22nd, 2015 @ 3:16am CST
I think they do it on purpose for the point of giant robots fighting...which means from a human perspective they will be godzilla sized (will that be tge next IDW crossover? Godzilla vs Combiner Wars? )
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641793)
Posted by synapse on January 22nd, 2015 @ 3:30am CST
Twitchythe3rd wrote:
synapse wrote:I know, that's what bothers me. Megatron's spark was modified for mass displacement, Prowl's wasn't (not that we know of, anyway). As it took Shockwave centuries to perfect the combiner tech, he could have modified the Constructicons' sparks before the AHM series, ok fine... but why do all TF artists seem to LOVE making the combiners ridiculously huge when there's no need? Only Figueroa seemed to deliberately draw Monstructor right (or at least, right size) in Spotlight: Optimus Prime.

Oh well...


Dramatic effect.


There's using perspective for making specific things or character look bigger or more imposing... and there's putting 2 characters standing next to each other and being the same size one pannel, and one of them looking 10 times as big as the other the next pannel.

Whatever. I seem to be one of the few people who dislike this "artistic habit".
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641795)
Posted by ZeroWolf on January 22nd, 2015 @ 3:33am CST
It's all in good fun really I mean how do we know that windblade wasn't shrunk? :P
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641799)
Posted by BERSEKAEL on January 22nd, 2015 @ 4:33am CST
so thats devastator? weird head sculpt >:oP
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641806)
Posted by Dr. Caelus on January 22nd, 2015 @ 5:53am CST
synapse wrote:I know, that's what bothers me. Megatron's spark was modified for mass displacement, Prowl's wasn't (not that we know of, anyway). As it took Shockwave centuries to perfect the combiner tech, he could have modified the Constructicons' sparks before the AHM series, ok fine... but why do all TF artists seem to LOVE making the combiners ridiculously huge when there's no need? Only Figueroa seemed to deliberately draw Monstructor right (or at least, right size) in Spotlight: Optimus Prime.

Oh well...


Here's an explanation that doesn't require the 'artistic license' cop out:

Megatron's spark was modified for Mass Displacement, true. As were Soundwave, the cassettes, etc. The key here is "Displacement". The IDW authors have been fairly thorough, as far as I recall, in saying "Mass Displacement" and not "Mass Shifting", which to me means they want to clarify that shunting part of a robot's mass somewhere else ('subspace' I guess) is established Transformers tech, but that it's fairly rare and consumes a lot of energy.

Examples of IDW transformers mass shifting upward (growing larger than their default form) are few and far between, and often wind up being ambiguous. Early in the comics, Broadside and Astrotrain were depicted as enormous in robot mode. Likewise, in robot mode, the seekers were depicted as larger than the Autobot cars are in robot mode. In all these cases, the characters that turn into big vehicles are big in robot mode, but not as much larger as they should be (e.g., Starscream should be about three times taller than Bumblebee), which would require them mass-shifting upward to Transform.

I would say that the fact that the size distinction was made at all is significant (the cartoon, after all, always had the seekers and the cars the same height), and the fact that the distinction is not as drastic as it realistically should be, that is attributable to artistic license pragmatism. In other words, I think IDW has wanted to emphasize 'mass displacement' as an exotic technology, and attribute any sort of apparent growth when transforming to alternate mode to an expanding or contracting structure that changes volume while maintaining a constant mass. Megatron actually displaces most of his mass when transforming into a gun, but Starscream only reduces his density by sliding around some plates when he turns into a jet fighter - like unfolding a box.

But then you have Devastator, who in his first appearance in All Hail Megatron is described as this super-special uber weapon. So, what makes him special?

It might be difficult to re-engineer a Transformer to turn into a body-part forcibly, but that was the case with Ambulon - he turns into a foot, but apparently the process failed on some other level.

So maybe it's difficult to engineer someone to link up with someone else? It'd be strange for humans, but Sonic and Boom did it in MTMTE, and while Ratchet was surprised, it wasn't like he regarded it as fringe crazy mad science.

So maybe it's the mental aspect, connecting all of those minds? Swindle tried his hand with Menasor, who was fairly intimidating one on one, but who didn't mesh mentally, with all of his constituent parts actively bickering over what to do - but that could have been resolved by using the process on five individuals who don't have diagnosable mental disorders. Given, that could be a stumbling block for the Decepticons, but if the secret of combination were just group therapy, I think they'd have had more success (or started lobotomizing their troops).

So what made Devastator (and we find out later his predecessor Monstructor, special?)

They both mass shift upward.

Really, five guys grabbing onto each other to make a bigger guy doesn't really mean much in a war. Like I said in another thread, if five large men combined into one guy, you'd maybe get a person the size of a small cow, and cows while formidable one on one against unarmed, intoxicated opponents, are not war machines. Five people merging their minds, that could be really useful, but by and large, that ends up being the combiner's weaknesses, not their strength.

Five normal guys combining and grow into something the size of Godzilla, though, now that's a strategic asset.

When the Constructicons attacked New York, they plowed through the streets in vehicle mode, maneuvering between the buildings easily, and when they combined, the mass increase itself would have been like a bomb going off - except it'd be like a bomb that just kept going after it detonated.

So, I think the point is that it's not the physical act of combination that is special, or coveted, or difficult to master - the point is that when combination is done 'right' it somehow allows the combined whole access to something more, something that allows it to grow to literally mythic proportions. Maybe it requires five or six sparks to power the transformation, or maybe there's some sort of primal safeguard where the ability to grow is only unlocked when multiple Cybertronians work together.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641812)
Posted by synapse on January 22nd, 2015 @ 6:38am CST
Uh... ok man, look, I'm happy with ANY explanatiion. As long as writers bother giving us any. Just as simple as "gestalt tech requires tons of enery and increasing mass/size, well done Shockwave, my friend!". But I guess artists just assume combiners must be humongous, no matter what the individual members were like just a second before combining. I mean, Prowlstator's HEAD was much bigger than the whole Ironhide. Just the head!! Which means Prowl had become like 10 times bigger than Ironhide. No explanation at all.

Yeah yeah I know, gigantic alien robots and I make a fuss about their size. Whatever. I may like Batman but I like GOOD Batman stories, not just anything the writers decide to do with the character, that's all.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641830)
Posted by Optimizzy on January 22nd, 2015 @ 8:13am CST
synapse wrote:Uh... ok man, look, I'm happy with ANY explanatiion. As long as writers bother giving us any. Just as simple as "gestalt tech requires tons of enery and increasing mass/size, well done Shockwave, my friend!". But I guess artists just assume combiners must be humongous, no matter what the individual members were like just a second before combining. I mean, Prowlstator's HEAD was much bigger than the whole Ironhide. Just the head!! Which means Prowl had become like 10 times bigger than Ironhide. No explanation at all.

Yeah yeah I know, gigantic alien robots and I make a fuss about their size. Whatever. I may like Batman but I like GOOD Batman stories, not just anything the writers decide to do with the character, that's all.



Well in that vein, good stories don't have to have everything spelled out. A good story is one that grabs you and you find interesting. Honestly, I think the artists are trying to get across "gestalt equals power". Think about how much bigger Godzilla is in the new movie. He's like several magnitudes bigger. That's because if he was the original size he'd be dwarfed by the city he was placed in and the audience would not see him as the cataclysmic threat. Same is with the gestalts. In reality, they would be maybe three or four times the height of a regular transformer, but that's not as threatening as making them truly humongous.

Complaining about the size at this point is nitpicking about a detail, not about the story. It's ok to do, but it's still a nitpick.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641863)
Posted by jogunwarrior on January 22nd, 2015 @ 9:04am CST
A couple of quick thoughts and a question:

- That is some of the best Ramondelli art I've ever seen on those covers. I am not usually a fan of his style but those covers are dynamic and gorgeous.

- I really want an IDW inspired Getaway toy...it'll stop me from constantly and unsuccessfully trying to obtain the 07/08 Wal-Mart Exclusive Breakaway.

- Who are the two bots with Ironhide underneath Devastators foot. Are they anyone I should recognize?
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641869)
Posted by Optimizzy on January 22nd, 2015 @ 9:10am CST
I think one is longtooth and the other is circuit?
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641886)
Posted by padfoo on January 22nd, 2015 @ 9:40am CST
ZeroWolf wrote:I think they do it on purpose for the point of giant robots fighting...which means from a human perspective they will be godzilla sized (will that be tge next IDW crossover? Godzilla vs Combiner Wars? )


Getting close to Metroplex size at least!
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641914)
Posted by padfoo on January 22nd, 2015 @ 10:13am CST
Optimizzy wrote:
synapse wrote:Uh... ok man, look, I'm happy with ANY explanatiion. As long as writers bother giving us any. Just as simple as "gestalt tech requires tons of enery and increasing mass/size, well done Shockwave, my friend!". But I guess artists just assume combiners must be humongous, no matter what the individual members were like just a second before combining. I mean, Prowlstator's HEAD was much bigger than the whole Ironhide. Just the head!! Which means Prowl had become like 10 times bigger than Ironhide. No explanation at all.

Yeah yeah I know, gigantic alien robots and I make a fuss about their size. Whatever. I may like Batman but I like GOOD Batman stories, not just anything the writers decide to do with the character, that's all.



Well in that vein, good stories don't have to have everything spelled out. A good story is one that grabs you and you find interesting. Honestly, I think the artists are trying to get across "gestalt equals power". Think about how much bigger Godzilla is in the new movie. He's like several magnitudes bigger. That's because if he was the original size he'd be dwarfed by the city he was placed in and the audience would not see him as the cataclysmic threat. Same is with the gestalts. In reality, they would be maybe three or four times the height of a regular transformer, but that's not as threatening as making them truly humongous.

Complaining about the size at this point is nitpicking about a detail, not about the story. It's ok to do, but it's still a nitpick.

For me its not a matter of complaining. I get that gestalts are as big and powerful, as other large Cybertronians such as Omega Supreme. It definitely makes them a threat and a game changer on the battle field. I hope they explore some aspects of the side effects of gestalts as a plot point, otherwise we'll be stuck with these over powered beings who can shift the tide of a battle or power struggle. Without side effects it would seem its the perfect weapon.

On a side note weren't the little green mini-cons from the dark Cybertron story combiners without mass shifting.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1641942)
Posted by ZeroWolf on January 22nd, 2015 @ 10:53am CST
BERSEKAEL wrote:so thats devastator? weird head sculpt >:oP

That's because it's prowl as the head since scrapper got killed off.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1642001)
Posted by Dr. Caelus on January 22nd, 2015 @ 1:37pm CST
padfoo wrote:I hope they explore some aspects of the side effects of gestalts as a plot point, otherwise we'll be stuck with these over powered beings who can shift the tide of a battle or power struggle. Without side effects it would seem its the perfect weapon.


Not sure where you're at in the comics, so I'll black it all out:

Menasor wound up crippled by his components literally arguing with each other, in what was frankly a hilarious scene.

Superion was merged unwilling by some force in the wilds of reformatted Cybertron, and as yet they've still been unable to separate the aerialbots, forcing them to make repairs on him as a whole, which is not only a massive undertaking (because as mentioned before he's much bigger than his constituent parts), I get the impression they really don't know how to handle his physiology.

Most recently, Prowl's started having trouble with the Constructicon's names, calling Longhaul "Scrapper", even though Scrapper was dead long before Prowl was merged with them. He may also have started talking to himself, but he spends enough time on comms with spies and stuff it's hard to tell. Honestly, I think Scrapper was an integral part of Devastator's gestalt identity, so even after he died individually, some element of him remained in Devastator himself. When Prowl merged with the Constructicons, he became part of that identity (Devastator's personality has notably shifted, becoming more intelligent and more disciplined), but I don't think he replaced Scrapper mentally - I think Scrapper's still there, in Devastator, and the ghost in the machine is getting into Prowl's head, talking to him and such.


It'll be interesting if this is a side-effect unique to Devastator's combination, or if the scramble-city combiners also exhibit this - if they're swapping limbs willy-nilly, they could develop some seriously weird... issues.

EDIT: As far as the perfect weapon thing, the Transformers do have large starships with orbital artillery, and except for Superion, the gestalts don't fly, so while powerful, I don't think they're completely game-breaking.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1642176)
Posted by padfoo on January 22nd, 2015 @ 8:45pm CST
Caelus wrote:
padfoo wrote:I hope they explore some aspects of the side effects of gestalts as a plot point, otherwise we'll be stuck with these over powered beings who can shift the tide of a battle or power struggle. Without side effects it would seem its the perfect weapon.


Not sure where you're at in the comics, so I'll black it all out:

Menasor wound up crippled by his components literally arguing with each other, in what was frankly a hilarious scene.

Superion was merged unwilling by some force in the wilds of reformatted Cybertron, and as yet they've still been unable to separate the aerialbots, forcing them to make repairs on him as a whole, which is not only a massive undertaking (because as mentioned before he's much bigger than his constituent parts), I get the impression they really don't know how to handle his physiology.

Most recently, Prowl's started having trouble with the Constructicon's names, calling Longhaul "Scrapper", even though Scrapper was dead long before Prowl was merged with them. He may also have started talking to himself, but he spends enough time on comms with spies and stuff it's hard to tell. Honestly, I think Scrapper was an integral part of Devastator's gestalt identity, so even after he died individually, some element of him remained in Devastator himself. When Prowl merged with the Constructicons, he became part of that identity (Devastator's personality has notably shifted, becoming more intelligent and more disciplined), but I don't think he replaced Scrapper mentally - I think Scrapper's still there, in Devastator, and the ghost in the machine is getting into Prowl's head, talking to him and such.


It'll be interesting if this is a side-effect unique to Devastator's combination, or if the scramble-city combiners also exhibit this - if they're swapping limbs willy-nilly, they could develop some seriously weird... issues.

EDIT: As far as the perfect weapon thing, the Transformers do have large starships with orbital artillery, and except for Superion, the gestalts don't fly, so while powerful, I don't think they're completely game-breaking.

Wow thanks for the update, I was not aware of any of this. Like many fans I enjoy the what ifs, and whys of the Transformers world.... I am glad to see the writers are actually taking the time to develop competent storylines and concepts for these characters. I like that there is a Hulk like mythos surrounding the Gestalts. You can attain great power but you may not be able to control it or live through the side effects.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1642197)
Posted by Dr. Caelus on January 22nd, 2015 @ 9:46pm CST
You might like the old Transformers: Stormbringer comic, then if you haven't read it already. It was one of the first IDW series. Introduces the Pretenders, and the problems with that little bit of mad science.
Re: IDW Publishing Transformers Comics April 2015 Solicitations: Defensor, Devastator, Windblade & More (1642502)
Posted by ThunderThruster on January 23rd, 2015 @ 5:28pm CST
An exert from RID #30, combiner/gestalt tech can employ mass shifting/displacement tech
combiner_massD.jpg

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