Transformers and More @ The Seibertron Store
![Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "Transformers Prime Glassware Set of 4 8oz Glasses Optimus Prime + Bumblebee New"](https://www.seibertron.com/images/ebay/transformers-prime/misc/set-of-glasses/t-DSC02540.jpg)
Optimus Prime #1
John Barber (w) • Kei Zama (a & c)
REVOLUTION is over—but the danger to Earth is just beginning. As OPTIMUS PRIME pulls Earth into the larger universe, he’s painted a target on Earth… and a new alien incursion begins when a corkscrew shaped craft drills into our world!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
The next evolution of TRANSFORMERS is here!
OPTIMUS PRIME’s past on CYBERTRON haunts his present on Earth!
Amazing artist Kei Zama (Scarlett Witch) makes her debut with veteran writer John Barber (Transformers)!
Variant cover by Sara Pitre-Durocher, Sonny Lieu, and Paul Pope!
Darth Zax wrote:So... Who are they?
Any theories?
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?![]()
Darth Zax wrote: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?![]()
Guess you do, would have never recognized Oiler.
So are these Cimeracons?
Shot Put wrote:Darth Zax wrote: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?![]()
Guess you do, would have never recognized Oiler.
So are these Cimeracons?
They're all colonists, if anything.
Kurona wrote:And the two beastformers? Likely from Eukaris.
Shot Put wrote:That cover was for Transformers #56, though, not Optimus Prime.
AL: Based on the cover I can assume Optimus won’t be alone in this series. Can you discuss who will be working with and/or against him in the series?
JB: There’s a big supporting cast. He’s still got a team on Earth—Soundwave is at his side, and we really see what’s going on psychologically betweem them in issue 3. Optimus blackmailed Soundwave to join him back before Revolution, but Soundwave has essentially come over to Optimus’ side pretty completely. How strong the bond is, how deep the trust between Autobot and Decepticon can be, is a big question. There’s a flashback story going on through the first six issues that goes back to Pre-War Cybertron, and we see how Soundwave and Optimus (then called Orion Pax) first met… and how deep the trust and mistrust goes.
Arcee is on Optimus’ side, but she’s a little wary of what he’s doing. She’s been around a long time, and she’s seen a lot of stuff happen, and is worried about Optimus overstepping the boundaries of right and wrong; but she’s really struggling to see if there is a real boundary between those things.
Pyra Magna, who leads the team that combines into Victorion, is becoming more hostile toward Optimus—and really, with good reason. She’s a strong believer in the Primes, and in the meaning of the Matrix of Leadership, which Optimus holds but doesn’t believe is a holy object. Pyra thinks she should have the Matrix, and is disturbed by Optimus’ attitude toward it.
Plus we’ve got some other favorites, Aileron (who’s a new character we introduced in the Transformers series and who had a key role in Revolution), Jetfire, Sky Lynx, Jazz. And a new G.I. Joe team featuring some surprising characters will be on-scene in the first story. Plus, Thundercracker and his dog Buster are still out there somewhere.
One of the big new additions, though, are the Colonist Soldiers—these are Transformers from Cybertron’s colony worlds who are fiercely loyal to Optimus Prime, who see him as a True Prime, a sort of space messiah figure. They’ll follow him anywhere… and Pyra Magna, in particular, is disturbed by that.
[..]
AL: Kei, you’re working with one of the most recognizable characters in pop culture with Optimus Prime. From a design perspective, can you discuss what elements of Prime’s look you are tweaking to make the design your own?
Kei Zama: I’m so honored to be able to draw him. At the same time, I’m feeling pressure to draw a character that’s everyone’s hero.
I’m always trying to draw him to look “heavy.”
In actuality he has big heavy metal body but on top of that he has struggled from pre-war to the current era and is now carrying the future of the Earth and universe—I don’t express him emotionally so much, but try to give just a glimpse of his hidden emotions and aggression.
And I try to draw him as a warrior. Not just with Optimus Prime, though—I usually add many scratches, bullet wounds, and rust on everyone’s body.
AL: Can you discuss the process of giving each Transformer a visual personality? Is it a challenge at times to infuse them with emotion considering facial limitations or vehicle modes, etc.?
KZ: I always think it’s difficult to express their emotions on their face, because head-parts or helmets often cover their features. Then I’m trying to express by gesture and lights/shadows/shadings, not only facial expressions.
I don’t think about alt-modes deeply. Instead of alt-mode, I try to add various personality on the robot mode. In Japan, a lot of robot characters are often drawn handsome or cool. I feel that’s boring, so I try to draw their appearance in various ways. For example, the colonists that entered in Optimus Prime #1 each have an individualistic design. There’s a cute boy, bad looking guy, tough girl, etc. Especially Gimlet, who’s my favorite!
In Prime, you have this unique lead with literally millions of years of history. Will you be digging into that?
We’ll definitely be digging into Optimus Prime’s past. The first arc has a parallel story set before the war — back when Optimus was Orion Pax, a police officer on Cybertron. It’s another view, on another world, in another time, of a lot of the same issues at play in the present day: the relationship of a protector to the protected, and how Optimus/Orion looks at his enemies. Back then, Cybertron was on a downward curve, historically speaking. Orion’s on the precipice of a four-million-year-long war that he winds up being an essential part of.
.....
Optimus tends to have a crew around him. Will that be the case in here? Who can fans expect to see at his side?
Optimus still has a big crew with him. The real difference here is that Optimus’ actions are so big, the people around him can’t help but be pulled into the orbit of what he’s doing. Soundwave is still at his side, and Pyra Magna and the Torchbearers (who form Victorion) are there, but she’s not exactly standing at his side. Arcee is cautious toward him, but in a different way. And Aileron, who was a Colonist who sees Optimus as a space-messiah, has had her worldview shattered a bit. She sees Optimus is just a guy – a big, metal guy – dealing with things as best he can.
But then Optimus brings in a half-dozen new Colonists, all very eager to follow his every word. This decision doesn’t sit well with all of his crew, but it introduces some very obscure faces into the fold – characters like Oiler, Slide, Gimlet, Bump, Midnight Express, and Roulette. Don’t be worried if you don’t know them — nobody else on Optimus’ team knows them, either. But Aileron and Pyra are both colonists themselves, and seeing these hopeful ‘bots willing to lay down their lives for Optimus, right or wrong…well, they get a little uneasy with the situation.
.....
How does bringing in a new artist like Kei change your approach to Optimus and these other characters?
When I thought about what a comic drawn by her would look like, it was like a whole new approach to the Transformers opened up. I mean, I’ve been writing these characters for a while, and I’m always super-excited to get to do this stuff, but the idea of Kei’s vision of the characters, of the way she’d draw G.I. Joe characters, and how she’d approach all this…it seemed like such an exciting idea.
Carlos Guzman, our editor, didn’t take too much convincing, and he brought in Josh Burcham to color and Josh has brought a very unique, very cool color palette. The book has an amazingly distinct look to it. It doesn’t feel like anything else out there, which is amazing.
NEW CYBERTRON! A massive corkscrew-shaped space ship has drilled into Earth, bringing with it a surprising disruption to OPTIMUS PRIME's plans. Meanwhile—ARCEE fields a dangerous offer that may be too good to resist!
#Sideways# wrote:Whew, the art is not the best. I can't tell what's happening half the time. Also, did Wreck-Gar just rip his own head off to prove a point?
But truly, I'm hoping that Wreck-Gar eventually could be the Deadpool of this universe: Breaking the fourth wall whenever possible and being rather insane comic relief.
#Sideways# wrote:I'm hoping that Wreck-Gar eventually could be the Deadpool of this universe: Breaking the fourth wall whenever possible and being rather insane comic relief.
Return to Transformers Cartoons and Comics Forum
Registered users: ashe5k, Bing [Bot], Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], MSN [Bot], Overcracker, Yahoo [Bot]