Transformers Ongoing #1 Preview *Spoilers*

Dear GOD that art is HIDEOUS.

Ooooooh, nice! I can't wait. I'm a comic and TF collector, but I don't have any TF comics!

Until now! Well, November 18th, that is!

Yeah, not loving the new faces. Hope the story is good. I smell a Rodimus Prime a-coming.

Ironhide...NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't believe it! He...he died! In the first issue! After his role in AHM?! He's gooooonnnnneeee!!!

Anyway, yeah, the art ain't great, but I personally like it. Bumblebee looks like a crossover between his Movie and G1 forms, like the Bumblebee here: http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Fight_for_Energon.

And since when was Hot Rod Rodimus? I hope this is explained, maybe in the Bumblebee series or Last Stand of the Wreckers. Or even in a flashback in this series. But man, is this epic! I don't have a store where I can buy individual issues, but when the TPB (or TPBs) come out, I'll get 'em at Hastings.

Oh, and I'll get Bumblebee and Last Stand of Wreckers TPBs, too.

This year will be a great year for comics. Can't wait!

The artwork is horrible. The faces...just Blech!!! If anything these previews are supposed to make you want to buy and support the comic, this made me def not want to waste money on it.

Grow up guys. The Transformers brand itself is about change, about alteration. The franchise has been evolving since its inception. Everyone hated G2, everyone hated the Beast Wars, everyone really hated Beast Machines -- "Ruined Forever" supposedly. But the reason we are even fans of this stuff isn't because we are JUST re-living our childhood memories or for the sake of nostlgia... it's because this is one of the best science fiction franchises since Star Trek. We love the absurd science, the unique storys, and the amazing cast of differeing characters. It's why we are all here in our 20s and 30s still picking up comics and buy these toys.

True fandom comes with appreciation of change; REAL Star Wars fans love the prequels because they properly expand on the themes and leimotifs of the original trilogy, REAL Star Trek fans followed everything... even 'Voyager' and 'Enterprise' because they understood that, no matter the wanning talent behind it... it was all connected and thus had to be respected.

I have had my share of complaints about Shane McCarthy, but ultimately, after Dreamwave, we all know what it means to live within the fandom without great comic stories... at least in the US.

As an artist, I for one really enjoy Don's new style; it's refreshing because of the advanced understanding of mechanics -- E.J. Su's work would have evolved in such a way too, because there are only so many things you can do with the original G1 designs before the limitations really show. Look at the Masterpiece line -- the engineering is in line with the art we see here because of the need to evolve; look at the turn toy engineering took between the very first Japanese toys and the new Universe/Henkei line(s).

While we all are prone to fear change, it's better that we accept it and... TRANSFORM. Grow, Evolve. It's the adult thing to do.

I'm not buying the "STOP BEING ALL GEEWUN GUYS" argument. Ugly artwork is ugly artwork. I loved Reign of Starscream and Alliance so (for me anyways) this isn't about "OMG IT'S DIFFERENT". It's about looking fugly and looking poorly written.

I'll give Mike Costa the benefit of the doubt as far as the story will go because this is only three pages from the first issue and his AHM stories weren't all that bad. Don Fig's new "style" though...man, it just doesn't work for me. It just plain looks butt-ugly to me. I don't even care that it's a weird Bayformer/G1 combo. It's just ugly to me.

I'll gladly wait for the trades for this one. Bring on more Nick Roche's Wreckers!

Jeysie wrote:

PlasmaPrime wrote:True fandom comes with appreciation of change; REAL Star Wars fans love the prequels because they properly expand on the themes and leimotifs of the original trilogy, REAL Star Trek fans followed everything... even 'Voyager' and 'Enterprise' because they understood that, no matter the wanning talent behind it... it was all connected and thus had to be respected.

Uh, no. I'm sorry, but being a fan does not mean enjoying everything thrown at you just because it has your franchise's name on it, without caring about quality, even if it's poorly done. That's completely ridiculous.

I appreciate change just fine. My thinking this new art style is ugly and unexpressive has nothing to do with hating change, and everything to do with not liking the way it takes all of the bad parts of the Movie aesthetic and none of the good, and the unexpressive and creepy-looking faces.

That's exactly what being a fan is all about though, before adulthood or other outside factors had us scoff at what were once simple pleasures. And really, I'm not talking about accepting things JUST because they are presented to you, but at some point, we all must admit, we all start out loving alot about something we are fans of... and eventually become so intrenched in it that we end up ripping it to shreds because we think we know it best. How does Hasbro or Don Figuroa know Transformers any less than we? Don is as much a fan as any of us are. Instead of devoting whole amounts of time hating a particular story, concept or idea, we within the fandom could instead pick and choose which is best for us; I, for example, completely ignore the Car Robots/RiD Animation because I find it ridiculous, BUT I have all the toys because they are engineering marvels of their time -- Love/Hate. I also absolutely hate what All Hail Megatron has done to Simon Furmn's excellent story while enjoying the story as self-contained Transformer fun -- Love/Hate.

When it comes down to it, Don's page art is worlds better than ANYTHING Alex Milne has given us; his poor framing and art style made 'Megatron: Origins' a really difficult read, and that was a story whose lacking script could have been saved by what the artist chose to express on the page. Don is really one of the few who actually CAN rework his style into something that will make these reads even more interesting. I'll say it again: this visual style allows for the robots to be capable of much more in terms of expressed movement, combat capabilites and eventual toy engineering (and "gimmickness").

Also, let's not beat around the bush: is it an real coincidence that his art style matches the asthetic of the most recent Universe figures AND the new film franchise refresh line of figures? Introducing this art style allows for an eventual visual streamlining of the brand; after years of this becoming tiresome and a bit boring, Hasbro/Takara and the comic company with the liscense will return thing to a mor diverse and homaging state that will keep Transformers continuosly relevant, going back to what I said about the brand needing to EVOLVE to survive. I mean come on,... we all want our kids playing with Transformers. These changes are NEEDED.

The "Pointy Chin" Era is here.

Not the way IH should have gone out.

PlasmaPrime wrote:True fandom comes with appreciation of change; REAL Star Wars fans love the prequels because they properly expand on the themes and leimotifs of the original trilogy,

Let me not love Episode 1 and be a true Star Wars fan. Episode 2 and after that is good, and the Expanded Universe makes SW awesome; but parts of ep. 1 I really hate. If you want to know why, just read DarthsandDroids.

Also, the art of the Tartakovskij-Clone Wars I don't like, just like the art of this preview. Ironhide, whose ability is in his name, done from one human cannons shot? Where was this cannon during AHM? I still wait for IDW to get itself together.