by Kranix-76 » Thu Jun 07, 2007 12:31 pm
It's good to see Bumblebee getting back in the action...
I admit, I was a bit confused when the trio of Hot Rod, Nightbeat, and Hardhead came into the main story arc (instead of the usual G1 cast), but it seems like Furman is wasting no time in demonstrating why those characters were chosen: Hot Rod's brash, youthful arrogance towards the end of Escalation, and now Nightbeat's sleuthing kicking-off the start of Devastation. Still unsure of Hardhead...either the "headmaster" thing draws him in, or he's there so an Autobot that can serve as fodder. Grim, but if it means Wheeljack or Jazz can get a bit more character development in...
As for criticisms comparing the IDW approach to the Dreamwave: I'm sorry if it offends you, but Pat Lee was an awful artist for the series, and it wasn't a shining moment for writing, either--admittedly, it was mostly service for G1 fans. I appreciate that with the new IDW books, they're trying to reboot the story while staying true to the original characters' personalities and the main premise of "robots in disguise." The designs of the robots--more technological detail, more "exposed" vehicle bits and pieces--reflect a solid attempt at remaining faithful to the original designs, but simultaneously treating them with a greater sense of realism. The presence of humans, in addition to giving new readers an "anchor" to the experience, also adds a unique element to the new story: it is as much an "alien" experience to the Autobots as it is to the humans, as seen in various little moments in the twelve issues so far. In an odd sort of way, the IDW series seems to reflect a sort-of "maturation" of the Transformers saga as a whole, despite some bumps in the road here-and-there.
That is, of course, unless the whole Unicron-Primus mythos comes back again. Oy...
