The Energon Pub

CaptainMagic wrote:Does it seem to anyone else that this story, which exists solely to support the CW toyline, totally fails to sell the combiners effectively? No media that I'm aware of has ever done a very good job of selling the mix and match aspect of combiners, but this story is actively discouraging it by having Superion state that Optimus Maximus doesn't exist without Prowl.

I really want to see the fiction latch on to the ability to use anyone as a limb and basically give all of the torsos Galvatronus's ability to force any bot to combine with them. I think the combiner side of the story would have been stronger with an angle like that, because it would encourage separating the combiners back into individual bots from time to time and they could play around with the idea of having bots suddenly be forced to fight against their own side, kind of like Fixit being that combiner's arm in the new RiD cartoon.

I agree. Scramble City has been woefully undersold since.... pretty much always. Make a story about combiners switching limbs and how it impacts their combined personality. We got a little of that with Scoopastator but, ironically, Devastator is the only toy of the five combiners featured that DOESN'T have the ability to mix and match. Imagine if Prowl had bonded with Superion, or even Menasor. What if Defensor got both Alpha Bravo and Blades. There's a world of possibilities that deserve exploring.

ScottyP wrote:I don't like the art. No, seriously, that style could be ok, but not given how the rest of Combiner Wars has looked. In the context of this story, I passionately dislike how this looks.

I have to overall agree. It's not that Howell's art isn't good (it is good), it's just her style didn't seem to be a good fit. I see the similarities between her and Stone but where as Stone's was very animated when it comes to facial expressions and whatnot, Howell's is just overall cartoony. In fact her work reminds me a lot of the early Archie TMNT comics. So having said that, I would love to see her work on some less serious MTMTE oneshots in the future. But as what I assumed was an emergency/unplanned replacement for Stone, I think we could of ended up with a lot worse.

Super Megatron wrote:

The self-pity/emo quality of Optimus is obviously dominating the gestalt in this scene. I'm really hoping IDW will eventually writing out this annoying aspecting of Optimus in the future stories.

I didn't take that scene as an "Emo Optimus" but more as a powered downed Optimus Maximus as he struggles to communicate internally with Prowl after just becoming an combiner for the first time.

Gearslide wrote:

Genericon #378 wrote:Seriously IDW? What the hell were you thinking?! Killing Swindle? Ian's replacing him with some generic? And don't think about asking why I'm not complaining about Slingshot and Wildrider being replaced, because I'll tell you why right now: those two were nobodies. Swindle is freakin' SWINDLE! He's the guy that sells you parts and other stuff for a really "great" price.

Did you read the comic? Because that rant makes it seem like you didn't read the comic. Unless you don't understand that Rattrap is known to lie and Swindle is known to act.

EXACTLY. I was worried Swindle was actually going to be killed off for good until Rattrap of all bots was the one and ONLY one to "confirm" his death. If anything that right there tells me that Swindle WILL be back.

CaptainMagic wrote:Does it seem to anyone else that this story, which exists solely to support the CW toyline, totally fails to sell the combiners effectively? No media that I'm aware of has ever done a very good job of selling the mix and match aspect of combiners, but this story is actively discouraging it by having Superion state that Optimus Maximus doesn't exist without Prowl.

All I can say is that for me personally as an non-serious collector I never really found myself thinking to myself, "Man maybe I should throw some $$ down on these things." Actually I take that back, I am really interested in Generations Magnus... but that's solely thanks to the entirety of MTMTE. Then of course there's Devastator, which I totally realize is targeted to the hardcore collector. As an outsider looking in at the end of it all it just felt like Hasbro tried way too hard to sell the concept.

CaptainMagic wrote:Does it seem to anyone else that this story, which exists solely to support the CW toyline, totally fails to sell the combiners effectively? No media that I'm aware of has ever done a very good job of selling the mix and match aspect of combiners, but this story is actively discouraging it by having Superion state that Optimus Maximus doesn't exist without Prowl.

All I can say is that for me personally as an non-serious collector I never really found myself thinking to myself, "Man maybe I should throw some $$ down on these things." Actually I take that back, I am really interested in Generations Magnus... but that's solely thanks to the entirety of MTMTE. Then of course there's Devastator, which I totally realize is targeted to the hardcore collector. As an outsider looking in at the end of it all it just felt like Hasbro tried way too hard to sell the concept.[/quote]

Good point. The combiners, and by extension the whole event, seem like they were rushed into the story before the writers were really ready for them, and then they don't even inspire people to go buy the toys. I think that you're right in that it feels like they're trying to push the concept too much, but even worse than that I think they're pushing the wrong angle on the concept, hence my lament that they don't mention the mix and match idea at all.

Your point about Magnus is also a good indicator of what's wrong with this event. We've had a few years now to get to know Magnus and we've seen him in so many different situations that almost everyone should have been able to find a reason to like him by now. CW expects us to grow that same sort of attachment with five issues of the combiners doing nothing other than beating the crap out of each other. The only characters that I really found myself connecting with were ones that are already out of stores or don't have toys yet (Rattrap, Swindle, and that's actually it). It's a shame too because the comic formerly known as RiD has been doing such great things with characterization post-Dark Cybertron. Hopefully we get back to that now that CW is over.

Am I the only one who is completely creeped out by Elita One in this issue? That weird smile, broken helmet, sitting on a chair/throne made out of Transformer corpses? I'm creeped out, but curious how this version of Elita will turn out.

I didn't like this comic that much. It wasn't the art. I prefer this Animated cartoon feel. It felt like went by too fast and dragged on forever like you mentioned in the review. Kind of like Dragon ball Z. This whole series was lots of teasing and pretty much "drifting" in pacific rim is their inspiration for combining. Not a fan of Optimus combining. Bigger doesn't always mean better in this case.

Nice to see all the new colonies though

CaptainMagic wrote:Good point. The combiners, and by extension the whole event, seem like they were rushed into the story before the writers were really ready for them, and then they don't even inspire people to go buy the toys. I think that you're right in that it feels like they're trying to push the concept too much, but even worse than that I think they're pushing the wrong angle on the concept, hence my lament that they don't mention the mix and match idea at all.

Your point about Magnus is also a good indicator of what's wrong with this event. We've had a few years now to get to know Magnus and we've seen him in so many different situations that almost everyone should have been able to find a reason to like him by now. CW expects us to grow that same sort of attachment with five issues of the combiners doing nothing other than beating the crap out of each other. The only characters that I really found myself connecting with were ones that are already out of stores or don't have toys yet (Rattrap, Swindle, and that's actually it). It's a shame too because the comic formerly known as RiD has been doing such great things with characterization post-Dark Cybertron. Hopefully we get back to that now that CW is over.

Exactly, I wish they had focus on making sure the writers where able to write a great story as a way of selling the products rather than have the focus be mainly on product placement. But then again I'm sure new collectors wasn't their key target, kids and hard cores were.

Bounti76 wrote:Am I the only one who is completely creeped out by Elita One in this issue? That weird smile, broken helmet, sitting on a chair/throne made out of Transformer corpses? I'm creeped out, but curious how this version of Elita will turn out.

That was quite the nice surprise. But it's even creepier than that, because if you take a second look even the floor is made out of transformers, or at the very least their faces. Overall that whole scene with Elita gave off a cultist/obsessive girlfriend vibe to it. I get the feeling that they're setting up Elita-One to be the polar opposite of the Mistress of the Flame in regards to Optimus Prime.

budmaloney wrote:Not a fan of Optimus combining. Bigger doesn't always mean better in this case.

Which is why I'm thankful that they set it up to be a one time deal.

That Bot wrote:As long as the actual Combiner Wars storyline is over, they don't care about tieing the toys in so closely. We'll probably get a full Bruticus, just like we're getting a full Devastator.

There were rumors going around that the full and proper Bruticus was coming out. A walmart listing I believe showed that all 4 regular limbs are being used, and it has even been theorized here that Swindle is a retool of Offroad. He'll still be there when Bruticus comes out, pretty sure if the listing is to be believed.

Super Megatron wrote:

The self-pity/emo quality of Optimus is obviously dominating the gestalt in this scene. I'm really hoping IDW will eventually writing out this annoying aspecting of Optimus in the future stories.

I took this as an internal fight between Optimus Maximus's components, not Optimus Primes personality. He had pretty well abandoned it since Dark Cybertron chapter 8, so I do think that is "Self-pity/emo"

Didn't know this was Transformers Animated!




Wait its not?





Who approved this art seriously? (It's not bad art just really out of place in a Transformers story especially after switching from a very different one)

Va'al wrote:

Think of the press!

I just read this and...had this thought. The head behind Elitakinda reminded me of someone. The fallen/ Megatronus? maybe??

as for the complaints of the story being muddled. I totally agree, it seems rushed really but you know what? All its supposed to do is to lead us up to the next issue. Nothing is going to get too resolved really. But I do think it needed another issue.

Optimizzy wrote:as for the complaints of the story being muddled. I totally agree, it seems rushed really but you know what? All its supposed to do is to lead us up to the next issue. Nothing is going to get too resolved really. But I do think it needed another issue.

Agreed. Hopefully the "Aftermath" comics fix this up a bit better and the "Combiner Hunters" comic does good too.

Optimizzy wrote:I just read this and...had this thought. The head behind Elitakinda reminded me of someone. The fallen/ Megatronus? maybe??

I thought it was suppose to be a reference to Optimus Prime, considering the history the two traditionally have had.

But on second thought I guess it wouldn't make must sense to have a bunch of real transformers parts making a throne just to put a fake head on it...

Also I just realized the following... That throne is more than likely a reference to Game of Thrones, in which case I have to wonder (not a GoT spoiler)are we going to end up seeing a brutal Cersei-One or a benevolent Elita-Daenerys? Hmmmm...

Super Megatron wrote:

The self-pity/emo quality of Optimus is obviously dominating the gestalt in this scene. I'm really hoping IDW will eventually writing out this annoying aspecting of Optimus in the future stories.

Except that the next panel shows that it is PROWL attempting to get Optimus to buy into his own personal philosophy.

Optimus has been anything but mopey since Dark Cybertron.

Is Sarah Stone ill?

I've been following her tumblr and she's not updated it at all since she posted up the designs for the camiens in CW Part 1. With her suddenly being replaced with Corin, I'm starting to get a bit worried.

Anybody know anything?

EDIT: Her twitter has been dead since november too,

but there are a few tweets about her being really behind and struggling with artist block.

Was she maybe "let go"?

MemphisR56 wrote:Is Sarah Stone ill?

I've been following her tumblr and she's not updated it at all since she posted up the designs for the camiens in CW Part 1. With her suddenly being replaced with Corin, I'm starting to get a bit worried.

Anybody know anything?

EDIT: Her twitter has been dead since november too,

but there are a few tweets about her being really behind and struggling with artist block.

Was she maybe "let go"?

That would be unfortunate. She is very talented. However, I don't think she had a great deal of comic experience? Maybe it was too much for her? She's a talented artist and maybe the deadlines hampered her creativity? I hope not but if so, I wish her well and maybe they can get her to do some awesome covers.

I have to say, I'm feeling a bit deflated with the ending for this event. As others have said it seemed pushed this direction by their strong collaboration with hasbro. Unless future issues can make up for these turn of events then a lot of character potential has been lost (okay, mainly talking prowl here).

Do not lose hope. The Transformers #42 is all that CW's ending was not, in my opinion. So wait for that one this week!

Do you have early access or something?

That Bot wrote:Do you have early access or something?

I have access to review material, usually on the Friday/Saturday prior to release date (Wednesday).

Va'al wrote:

That Bot wrote:Do you have early access or something?

I have access to review material, usually on the Friday/Saturday prior to release date (Wednesday).

Okay, so just so I have the schedule, Wednesday the 17th is The combiner wars epilogue, then the 24th is this issue of windblade; where dose "It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times" MTMTE #42 fit in? was that delayed? If son, are we gonna get a double dose of MTMTE with swerve's novel and Cyclonus's pretty holomatter avatar?

No idea. I only have releases on the Friday for the Wednesday, not the full schedule!

Va'al wrote:Do not lose hope. The Transformers #42 is all that CW's ending was not, in my opinion. So wait for that one this week!

Man you weren't kidding. Had to be one of the best issues I've read in a while.

While IDW Publishing's The Transformers and Windblade series have started exploring the aftermath of Combiner Wars, the upcoming one-shot Combiner Hunters goes a little bit further - and you can check out the iTunes three-page preview below too, featuring Arcee, Chromia and Windblade in their SDCC colours drawn by Sara Pitre-Durocher!

COMBINER WARS FALLOUT! Because you demanded it—WINDBLADE and CHROMIA team up with ARCEE to put an end to the menace of the COMBINER WARS—but will they end each other first?!