The Energon Pub

Not only are we getting the two regular comics this week from IDW Publishing, but following on from the BotCon announcement of a new mini-series centred on the Decepticon turned Autobot turned religious hippy, we get a re-release of Transformers Spotlight: Drift! The issue also includes an interview care of editor John Barber, with writers Shane McCarthy and James Roberts, original editor Denton J. Tipton, artists Casey Coller, Guido Guidi, Alex Milne and Nick Roche (plus sketches and concepts), colourist Joana Lafuente, the original McCarthy pitch, and the issue's script! Check out a preview that includes none of the above below.

Transformers: Spotlight Drift Director’s Cut
Shane McCarthy (w) • Casey W. Coller (a) • Livio Ramondelli (c)
ALL HAIL DRIFT! From his debut, the former DECEPTICON called DRIFT has been one of the most controversial—and popular—TRANSFORMERS characters! Now relive his first solo adventure with an outstanding array of behind-the-scenes material! Learn how DRIFT went from a supporting character in a comic book to a toy—and how he became a part of the TRANSFORMERS mythology!
FC • 48 pages • $4.99

Bullet points:
- The history of DRIFT revealed!
- Never-before-seen layouts, sketches, designs, and script pages!
- Exclusive commentary from Shane McCarthy, Guido Guidi, Casey W. Coller—and more!

Oh wow, I can barely contain my exitement.

Dead Metal wrote:Oh wow, I can barely contain my exitement.

The extra material at the back is actually really really interesting, but I am fairly confused as to why they're re-release this issue alone, and not just include it all in either the upcoming series or in previous collections.

I mean, they had the Unlimited Drift Edition not too long ago, with both Spotlight and Mini, it could've fit right in there.

I always tell people not to comment on things that irritate them, it makes them look like asses, but holy hell do I ever hate everything about Drift.

"Check out a preview that includes none of the above below. "

LOL!

Va'al wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Oh wow, I can barely contain my exitement.

The extra material at the back is actually really really interesting, but I am fairly confused as to why they're re-release this issue alone, and not just include it all in either the upcoming series or in previous collections.

I mean, they had the Unlimited Drift Edition not too long ago, with both Spotlight and Mini, it could've fit right in there.

Na, it's more along the lines of me hating Drift and his creator.

That's simply the way IDW works, in a couple of months time they will bring out another huge collection of Drift material, which will include this as well.
This is the company that shipped the Transformers the Movie TPB collection of the comic adaptation instead of issue #2.
They love collections.

Drift is actually an ok guy if you don't jump on the hate wagon.



I find him decent even before More Then Meets the Eye.


Then again i don't hate anything about Transformers except Kiss Players and even then its more being weirded out by it then hate.

Well, it's Hasbro's falut to bring this name back in the movie. Then we all all ........... these.

mirageandjazz1197 wrote:Drift is actually an ok guy if you don't jump on the hate wagon.



I find him decent even before More Then Meets the Eye.


Then again i don't hate anything about Transformers except Kiss Players and even then its more being weirded out by it then hate.

Sorry, I was right there in the front line defending Drift when he was first announced and people hated him. I thought he sounded cool, and everyone was making such a big fuss about him. Then he debuted and I saw that he and the hype was just full of sh*t.

Wanted him to die ever since.

And yet white knights will defend Windblade to the very end.

You see what I did there? DID YOU SEE? Bad joke.

Looks like they're trying to generate some buzz for the NEW Drift mini-series set to come out some time later.

I wonder though, is this going to be a thing like Movie Bumblebee, where we get Drift in a lot of media and he's a blue Bugatti now for no reason other than to follow the movie's lead?

Shuttershock wrote:Looks like they're trying to generate some buzz for the NEW Drift mini-series set to come out some time later.

I wonder though, is this going to be a thing like Movie Bumblebee, where we get Drift in a lot of media and he's a blue Bugatti now for no reason other than to follow the movie's lead?

Considering Shane McCarthy has openly said he doesn't really like the live action movies or Drift's design, I kinda doubt it.

Dead Metal wrote:Wanted him to die ever since.

Hype is hype, it's always wrong. To me Drift was always just what it says on the tin. I never made him out to be anything more than that, so I can't hate him. Shane, despite his many various mistakes in AHM, is not the worst writer I think we've had imo.

Either way, the fact Drift gets shat on in every thread and Windblade gets so much undeserved praise really gets on my wick. I don't care that people hate Drift, I do care that people are on the bullshit bandwagon behind Windblade.

Vicalliose wrote:And yet white knights will defend Windblade to the very end.

You see what I did there? DID YOU SEE? Bad joke.

I defend both, actually.

Vicalliose wrote:

Shuttershock wrote:Looks like they're trying to generate some buzz for the NEW Drift mini-series set to come out some time later.

I wonder though, is this going to be a thing like Movie Bumblebee, where we get Drift in a lot of media and he's a blue Bugatti now for no reason other than to follow the movie's lead?

Considering Shane McCarthy has openly said he doesn't really like the live action movies or Drift's design, I kinda doubt it.

He says a lot of things, like that he read everything Simon Furman ever wrote, respected him and his work, and made sure that AHM would fit perfectly into what was previously established in the IDW-Verse.

Dead Metal wrote:Wanted him to die ever since.

Hype is hype, it's always wrong. To me Drift was always just what it says on the tin. I never made him out to be anything more than that, so I can't hate him. Shane, despite his many various mistakes in AHM, is not the worst writer I think we've had imo.

Either way, the fact Drift gets shat on in every thread and Windblade gets so much undeserved praise really gets on my wick. I don't care that people hate Drift, I do care that people are on the bullshit bandwagon behind Windblade.

?
There are more who defended Drift than Windblade, Drift gets shat on because he was sold to us as being fantastic and ended up being an underwhelming Mary Sue who's still being treated like being the bee's knees.
Windblade, however, is the product of a fanpoll, the majority of the fandom wanted a female jet and we've got it. The only controversy surrounding her is the writer's bad wording of the announcement, which lead to the damn tumblar drama-queens latching on to her believing it was a cause against the patriarchy and the evil straight white male majority in the fandom, completely ignoring that it was the MAJORITY that wanted a new female character, and that we're one of the most diverse fandoms out there.

But Drift still sucks, he's only become tolerable due to Roberts treating him as a joke in MTMTE.

God I hate him, but he design is cool.

Dead Metal wrote:?
There are more who defended Drift than Windblade, Drift gets shat on because he was sold to us as being fantastic and ended up being an underwhelming Mary Sue who's still being treated like being the bee's knees.
Windblade, however, is the product of a fanpoll, the majority of the fandom wanted a female jet and we've got it.

I don't see how drift could honestly be seen as something other than what he is from the start. But then maybe I've been around the block on this issue enough times to know them when I see them. I wasn't around here back then though.

Also I'm not gonna buy into that "we asked for this" crap because firstly "I never asked for this" and even if we voted for the female jet character I don't seem to recall there being a vote for her to be badly hamfisted into the IDW series along with a bunch of other fembots, all written and drawn women.

Honestly the sheer extent of all woman in this comic's setup makes it feel like a sexist's attempt at pretending to not be sexist. "Hey look guys, we've got all these women working on this project about adding more women into our comic. Aren't we so progressive?"

Va'al wrote:I defend both, actually.

To me, they are effectively the same, aside Windblade having a terrible design and Drift actually looking cool.

Vicalliose wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:?
There are more who defended Drift than Windblade, Drift gets shat on because he was sold to us as being fantastic and ended up being an underwhelming Mary Sue who's still being treated like being the bee's knees.
Windblade, however, is the product of a fanpoll, the majority of the fandom wanted a female jet and we've got it.

I don't see how drift could honestly be seen as something other than what he is from the start. But then maybe I've been around the block on this issue enough times to know them when I see them. I wasn't around here back then though.

He was literally announced to us as being the greatest new thing to Transformers since the beginning of the franchise. They advertised him as being incredibly necessary and that the comic definitely needed him, because there was no character like him in Transformers and Shane McCarthy didn't want to change an iconic character to fit the story.
So he debuted alongside a super cold super sniper Perceptor, who then upstaged him. He added absolutely nothing at all, and the only unique thing about him was the mini series he got later after people were confused as to what was so special about him.
Then there was this post that claimed idw saw him as their Wolverine, which is exactly why he hasn't been killed off by now.

Also I'm not gonna buy into that "we asked for this" crap because firstly "I never asked for this" and even if we voted for the female jet character I don't seem to recall there being a vote for her to be badly hamfisted into the IDW series along with a bunch of other fembots, all written and drawn women.

Neither did I, I was taking a break from all things TF when the fan poll was going, and only learned of it when the results came out. But I didn't say "we asked for this", I said "the majority". You see that's the thing with elections and polls, they are concerned with what the majority wants. The same thing goes for Presidential elections, the guy with the most votes gets to be President, even of the people that didn't vote for him.
Pretty sure it was clear from the start that the new character would get fiction.

Honestly the sheer extent of all woman in this comic's setup makes it feel like a sexist's attempt at pretending to not be sexist. "Hey look guys, we've got all these women working on this project about adding more women into our comic. Aren't we so progressive?"

Va'al wrote:I defend both, actually.

To me, they are effectively the same, aside Windblade having a terrible design and Drift actually looking cool.

That's idw's problem, I kinda see it the same, but fact is, writers like to create characters that are similar to them, female creators like adding female characters to whatever they create, while male creators like adding male characters, it's a natural thing.

Dead Metal wrote:That's idw's problem, I kinda see it the same, but fact is, writers like to create characters that are similar to them, female creators like adding female characters to whatever they create, while male creators like adding male characters, it's a natural thing.

Except it was Barber and Roberts who introduced Chromia, Windblade and Nautica.

Scott is writing the mini-series, not her introduction into the continuity.

Va'al wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:That's idw's problem, I kinda see it the same, but fact is, writers like to create characters that are similar to them, female creators like adding female characters to whatever they create, while male creators like adding male characters, it's a natural thing.

Except it was Barber and Roberts who introduced Chromia, Windblade and Nautica.

Scott is writing the mini-series, not her introduction into the continuity.

Never claimed she did, only that she'll be adding more and that that's not wrong.