The Energon Pub

Having read it this afternoon, I have to say there is a headache inducing amount of stuff going on in this issue. 22 pages of plot starters for future issues. Everything from psychopaths and spies to drug addicts and messages from the future. And a character so out of it, he thought he was boarding Nova Prime's Arc.

Spoilers for those who want to know:
Whirl has gone off the deep end and has been finding the pseudo-resurrected Decepticons from Galvatrons army, nailing them to a wall, ripping them apart (one had his head stuffed in his own chest), and then talking to them. Cyclonus find him accidentally so Whirl decides to kill him so he won't spread rumors that Whirl might be crazy.

Brainstorm, referenced as the Autobots most infamous weapons designer, boards Rodimus' ship with a mysterious briefcase that he won't let anyone inspect.

Bouncing the story back 6 million years, Tailgate fell down a hole, heavily damaging himself while on his way to Nova Prime's arc. Supposedly Nova's mission is doomed to fail if he doesn't make it in time. He keeps blacking out but finally manages to blast his way out just in time to catch Whirl in the explosion. Ratchet and Chromedome bring Whirl, Tailgate, and Cyclonus onboard Rodimus' ship.

Rewind buys some sort of golden disk from Swindle to which Swindle says, "I didn't think wholesome little Autobots like you were in to this sort of thing. You're sicker than I gave you credit for."

Prowl and Bumblebee watch the ship take off. Bumblebee says, "I thought you had a plan". Prowl just turns to him, then the ship explodes. The explosion teleports it to some random part of space where they crash on an unknown planet.

Finally, with no one to hear it, a message comes in to Prowl's quarters. Someone from the future warning Rodimus not to take off. Continuing, it says if they've already left, give Rodimus this list of things not to do:

Don't open the coffin
Don't let them take Skids
Don't go to Delphi
And do not -I repeat- Do not look in the basement.
And for the sake of the Cybertronian race itself, please don't -kzzzzzzt!-

Torgon02 wrote:Having read it this afternoon, I have to say there is a headache inducing amount of stuff going on in this issue. 22 pages of plot starters for future issues. Everything from psychopaths and spies to drug addicts and messages from the future. And a character so out of it, he thought he was boarding Nova Prime's Arc.

Spoilers for those who want to know:
Whirl has gone off the deep end and has been finding the pseudo-resurrected Decepticons from Galvatrons army, nailing them to a wall, ripping them apart (one had his head stuffed in his own chest), and then talking to them. Cyclonus find him accidentally so Whirl decides to kill him so he won't spread rumors that Whirl might be crazy.

Brainstorm, referenced as the Autobots most infamous weapons designer, boards Rodimus' ship with a mysterious briefcase that he won't let anyone inspect.

Bouncing the story back 6 million years, Tailgate fell down a hole, heavily damaging himself while on his way to Nova Prime's arc. Supposedly Nova's mission is doomed to fail if he doesn't make it in time. He keeps blacking out but finally manages to blast his way out just in time to catch Whirl in the explosion. Ratchet and Chromedome bring Whirl, Tailgate, and Cyclonus onboard Rodimus' ship.

Rewind buys some sort of golden disk from Swindle to which Swindle says, "I didn't think wholesome little Autobots like you were in to this sort of thing. You're sicker than I gave you credit for."

Prowl and Bumblebee watch the ship take off. Bumblebee says, "I thought you had a plan". Prowl just turns to him, then the ship explodes. The explosion teleports it to some random part of space where they crash on an unknown planet.

Finally, with no one to hear it, a message comes in to Prowl's quarters. Someone from the future warning Rodimus not to take off. Continuing, it says if they've already left, give Rodimus this list of things not to do:

Don't open the coffin
Don't let them take Skids
Don't go to Delphi
And do not -I repeat- Do not look in the basement.
And for the sake of the Cybertronian race itself, please don't -kzzzzzzt!-

I haven't read it yet, but just your summary of spoilers makes it seem interesting, and yet, yes, jam-packed.

Interesting, I suppose.

I great first issue and hopefully a gauge of things to come from Roberts. (I'm not surprised) I've read around the interwebs that this is the best yadda yadda yadday. I'm not gonna toss that around because that's not what this is to me. I'd like for an arc to finish before I can lay judgement on that. But so far, this is a comic that I've wanted in a Transformers comic.

This isn't an exposition heavy read like Chaos Theory parts 1&2, but this is something different. This is the beginning of an adventure, or if you're Swerve, Quest(!). You're getting to meet the supporting cast of MTMTE, their personalities and quirks. No one is perfect and that's just fine with me. If anything, this will be a very dysfunctional group that may have to rely on each other...like NOW! I think what I really love about this is that you get your familiar characters in Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Ratchet, and yes, Drift. But the supporting cast is composed of a lot of unused characters that should be refreshing and probably fun. Throw in there a sociopath autobot (Whirl), Cyclonus (not a Decepticon), Rung with his collection of Arc ships, Tailgate (who's this guy) , and a slew of others into the mix and you have so much potential for incredible dynamics and storytelling.

And you have a purpose. I don't want to spoil for those that haven't read it yet, but let's just say it doesn't look like it's going to be easy finding the Knights of Cybertron. I was just getting tired of the same old war of Autobots vs Decepticons, lets look for energon again. At least for the main line. (I'm still an avid fan of Shattered Glass) We all know the stories, let's move on to something we don't know and this book looks to be taking us there.

The creative team on the book is perfect IMO. I know there are some out there that aren't a fan of Nick Roche's style, but I love it. The only time I wasn't a fan was during Maximum Dinobots, and I think that was because of the colorist. But this is Nick making his signature in art. There is no doubt who is drawing this issue. James Roberts, what can I say that I haven't said many times before. This guy knows transformers, and knows what we want from them. Josh does a stellar job with colors as well. He's probably my favorite colorist over at IDW. And to everyone else, they should be congratulated as well because this could bring A LOT of people back to reading TF comics again. I know I will definitely be going back now. I've only come back to read the James Roberts stuff in the past. So I'm actually happy to have some really quality science fiction again. It's been over a year since I've regularly collected TF comics and something I missed.

So what are you all waiting for? Get off your arses and hit up your LCS or you can even download a digital copy to your smartphone. Look for the comixology app for your iPhone or Android.

Prime Evil wrote:I great first issue and hopefully a gauge of things to come from Roberts. (I'm not surprised) I've read around the interwebs that this is the best yadda yadda yadday. I'm not gonna toss that around because that's not what this is to me. I'd like for an arc to finish before I can lay judgement on that. But so far, this is a comic that I've wanted in a Transformers comic.

This isn't an exposition heavy read like Chaos Theory parts 1&2, but this is something different. This is the beginning of an adventure, or if you're Swerve, Quest(!). You're getting to meet the supporting cast of MTMTE, their personalities and quirks. No one is perfect and that's just fine with me. If anything, this will be a very dysfunctional group that may have to rely on each other...like NOW! I think what I really love about this is that you get your familiar characters in Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Ratchet, and yes, Drift. But the supporting cast is composed of a lot of unused characters that should be refreshing and probably fun. Throw in there a sociopath autobot (Whirl), Cyclonus (not a Decepticon), Rung with his collection of Arc ships, Tailgate (who's this guy) , and a slew of others into the mix and you have so much potential for incredible dynamics and storytelling.

And you have a purpose. I don't want to spoil for those that haven't read it yet, but let's just say it doesn't look like it's going to be easy finding the Knights of Cybertron. I was just getting tired of the same old war of Autobots vs Decepticons, lets look for energon again. At least for the main line. (I'm still an avid fan of Shattered Glass) We all know the stories, let's move on to something we don't know and this book looks to be taking us there.

The creative team on the book is perfect IMO. I know there are some out there that aren't a fan of Nick Roche's style, but I love it. The only time I wasn't a fan was during Maximum Dinobots, and I think that was because of the colorist. But this is Nick making his signature in art. There is no doubt who is drawing this issue. James Roberts, what can I say that I haven't said many times before. This guy knows transformers, and knows what we want from them. Josh does a stellar job with colors as well. He's probably my favorite colorist over at IDW. And to everyone else, they should be congratulated as well because this could bring A LOT of people back to reading TF comics again. I know I will definitely be going back now. I've only come back to read the James Roberts stuff in the past. So I'm actually happy to have some really quality science fiction again. It's been over a year since I've regularly collected TF comics and something I missed.

So what are you all waiting for? Get off your arses and hit up your LCS or you can even download a digital copy to your smartphone. Look for the comixology app for your iPhone or Android.

Without reading this book, I agree with everything you said. I mean, I know I will... I'm going to go pick it up today after work.

Can't wait for the tpb.

Funny nobody mentioned Ultra Magnus. "And those are just the A's" He and his "Magnus-vision" are epic.

I'm ... not sure what to say about this.

Animated style skinny almost stick-figure like legs? ugh ... and ... it felt more like a comedy than an actual Transformers story.

Bad comedy ... bad comedy that would make Starscream look good.

The art is ugly, the story is boring. Typical IDW. And I was actually looking to get back into reading the comics. But I am only reminded why I stopped reading IDW in the first place.

Rodimus Prime wrote:The art is ugly, the story is boring. Typical IDW. And I was actually looking to get back into reading the comics. But I am only reminded why I stopped reading IDW in the first place.

I didn't find it as bad as all that. If you don't like the art, Alex Milne is coming on to take over. I actually, looking at his covers for this issue, did not like it though. Very pointy (look at Rodimus' face). I am usually okay with his stuff, just his Rodimus on the cover was hard for me to take.

I grabbed the cover that was a JLA or JL International reference, not sure which, done by Roche.

Yes, there does seem to be some humor written in, and there are about a bazillion different things beginning now, but I think it has potential, and I guess, to me, the writing feels like it did in LSOTW, some comedy, some G1 references (my rub sign checks out), but nothing as bad, or as bland as what happened in nearly 15 issues of Ongoing.

I'm more interested in this than I was in Ongoing.

tigertracks 24 wrote:Very pointy (look at Rodimus' face). I am usually okay with his stuff, just his Rodimus on the cover was hard for me to take.

QFT.

And I may have been a bit harsh in my comments, but I was actually enthusiastic about getting back into comics, as LSotW was quite good, but for some reason this preview just screamed "look at my crappy art!!!" to me.

I was ready to stop buying Transformers comics after Costa's fantastic run and to save money but I want to try out the new #1's. Very much enjoyed #1. Looks like I might be in it for the long haul!

Yeah, the art's not bad, but two more new titles?! I really really have to save a lot to purchase these lot.

Dead Metal wrote:Can't wait for the tpb.

This. I'm doing the same thing.
These two series are going to be the first time in years that a TF ongoing(s) was being offered that I waited for the trade.

Did anyone buy all FOUR of the covers to create the gatefold affect? That was a pretty penny right there. I would buy that as a poster though in case IDW is monitoring this thread.

They are still in the original IDW continuity, that started with the -ations, AHM, Ongoing - the Ongoing is supposed to split in these two ongoing series.

captain craig wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Can't wait for the tpb.

This. I'm doing the same thing.
These two series are going to be the first time in years that a TF ongoing(s) was being offered that I waited for the trade.

Did anyone buy all FOUR of the covers to create the gatefold affect? That was a pretty penny right there. I would buy that as a poster though in case IDW is monitoring this thread.

There is a retailer incentive gatefold. I am long past buying multiple copies of things. That left me after X-Men #1 way back when...

captain craig wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Can't wait for the tpb.

This. I'm doing the same thing.
These two series are going to be the first time in years that a TF ongoing(s) was being offered that I waited for the trade.

Oh no, that has nothing to do with me thinking this will be worse than the previous ongoing. Quite the contrary. It's just that it's far too late for me to order the single editions through my comic store and, well the tpb will be cheaper and easier to keep.

Read it this weekend. I enjoyed it. I feel like, if you're digging X-Men: Regenesis, this is the type of thing you should give a shot.

I like that they went with kind of a quirky cast, for this one. Obviously, Rodimus and Ultra Magnus are bigger name guys (and Drift, to an extent), but they went obscure for characters like Outback and Rewind. I'm also intrigued to see what's happening with Cyclonus and Whirl (who, apparently, is totally crazy). Oh, and Rewind and Swindle, too. Ultra Magnus' "evaluations" of Rodimus and Drift made me laugh out loud. Nice touch.

So, Prowl is pretty much a murderer? Wow. I know he's a jerk, but that was messed up.

This was a really meaty book. Lots of stuff going on, lots of setup... Really interested to try Robots in Disguise #1, now.

Wait, Outback is in this?
But how? He's just a corpse on that crystal planet Kup was stranded on.

Dead Metal wrote:Wait, Outback is in this?
But how? He's just a corpse on that crystal planet Kup was stranded on.

I don't remember Outback. Swerve and Tailgate were the two featured minibots.

tigertracks 24 wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Wait, Outback is in this?
But how? He's just a corpse on that crystal planet Kup was stranded on.

I don't remember Outback. Swerve and Tailgate were the two featured minibots.

Yeah, Outback is not in this. I think he meant Swerve.

Prime Evil wrote:

tigertracks 24 wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Wait, Outback is in this?
But how? He's just a corpse on that crystal planet Kup was stranded on.

I don't remember Outback. Swerve and Tailgate were the two featured minibots.

Yeah, Outback is not in this. I think he meant Swerve.

Ah, OK. Was kinda worried about Nick Roche forgetting the stuff he wrote for a moment there.

I was thinking about buying the e-comic edition, but realised I would have to sign up for a new account again. And frankly, I've gotten to the point where I just can't be bothered with going through all that again.
this is so cruel, the more I read about this, the more I desperately want to read it. But I have to remind myself, just six more months...

I was quite surprised with how much I enjoyed this. I an on the fence regarding the art. Not my stye, but interesting enough and did not distract too badly from the story. Not sure about Prowl's actions being "in-character", but I will hold judgement until I know more.

Prime Evil wrote:

tigertracks 24 wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Wait, Outback is in this?
But how? He's just a corpse on that crystal planet Kup was stranded on.

I don't remember Outback. Swerve and Tailgate were the two featured minibots.

Yeah, Outback is not in this. I think he meant Swerve.

ACK! Sorry fellas. Totally meant Swerve.