Sneak Peek - IDW Optimus Prime #1 Preview

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Art looks good, though are those some new bots showing up in the end? I don't recognize them

One of them looks like one of the Rail Racer guys from RiD 2001

Kurona wrote:Quite a lot of surprising cameos here. Don't know what the lot in the last few panels are about - though I know we'll find out for sure in the full issue - but Rosanna in the crowd protesting? That's... certainly surprising. Is she being retconned into being male in IDW, because I'm pretty sure the colonies left waaaaaaay before Orion Pax's time. At the very least ages before the war which takes place just after Zeta's rule ends.

Talking of Zeta, nice to see he's got a slight redesign which... well, it still kind of screams "I'M THE BAD GUY" but not quite as loudly as before.

Also, the monsterbots protesting? The most violent Autobots in existence? Huh. Who woulda thunk it.

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Art looks good, though are those some new bots showing up in the end? I don't recognize them

One of them looks like one of the Rail Racer guys from RiD 2001

Also... is Optimus blue and carrying a tanker trailer?

Pretty sure that's a new guy. I'm kind of getting a G2 Laser Optimus repaint vibe though.

John Barber: Not to give anything away, but as Revolution starts, Optimus is in a fairly antagonistic relationship with ... well, almost everybody. He’s come to Earth and said the whole planet is going to be part of Cybertron’s Council of World, without asking if the people of Earth wanted to be in it — or if the people of Cybertron wanted them. He’s doing this because he thinks he’s out of options to protect the Earth — he’s tried fighting evil Cybertronians, tried leaving the place alone. But bringing Earth into Cybertron’s fold is the only thing he hasn’t tried.

In Revolution this comes to a head: there’s a big, dangerous thing happening with Ore-13, which is a form of Energon that’s on Earth, and it looks to G.I. Joe like Optimus is behind it, so the threat becomes immediate. This isn’t a spoiler — Optimus is not behind the problem, and in the process of resolving the complex web of Revolution, alliances are formed and new relationships are established.

So...Optimus still has the goal of bringing Earth into the cosmic community of Cybertron. But who’s with him and who’s against him have shifted a bit.

Vince Brusio: How will Optimus’ origin be relayed in this new series? Is there room for the past? Or is the present too busy to spare time for reflection?

John Barber: The first arc goes full-steam-ahead into the present, but there’s a parallel story in pre-war Cybertron, when he was still Orion Pax, before he became Optimus Prime. It’s important for this series to see why Optimus is doing what he’s doing, what’s motivating his actions. He’s not just taking over, and he’s not just being decisive out of nowhere.

There’s a particular point in his life that we haven’t seen that’s really important to how he became Optimus Prime. He has some regrets — there was a war fought between him and Megatron, and that war lasted four million years and destroyed planets — including Cybertron, and very nearly Earth. And the ultimate goal of both sides was sort of the same — both sides were against an evil and corrupt system that had taken over Cybertron.

The first arc is called “New Cybertron,” so the war — and the events that led to it — weigh on Optimus’ every action.

[...]

Because Optimus made such a bold move in annexing Earth, the story was necessarily going to focus on him — or, at the very least, he becomes the axis on which the story pivots. There’s still a big supporting cast — Soundwave, Arcee, Jazz, Victorion, many others; plus the human contingent — but the shadow of Optimus’ actions is so big they can’t help but be pulled into his gravity. We’ll be seeing Optimus through their eyes.

Ebonyleopard wrote:

Darth Zax wrote:So... Who are they?
Any theories?

I want to say, Railspike, Bump,Roulette, Gimlet, Oiler, and Slide. Do I win?