The Energon Pub

[Rodimus Prime]

IDW, please PLEASE PLEASE keep James Roberts away from the reboot.

[Galactic Prime]

Yup, 100% EJ sucks, can't even stand looking at that ****. Don's Dreamwave stuff is amazing, his IDW stuff is amazing, until the Ongoing started and then he decided to go all Michael Bay **** style.

Lol.. Yup, then that's a 1000% solid Fact confirmation your visual judgement & preference Sucks balls buddy .
Damn lucky, Thank goodness these comic publishing houses doesn't have you or anyone similar deciding on the art direction..hehea .

Thank you for spending years of personal time & money on all of IDW comic runs btw

**Never imagined it was possible to come across someone worse & deluded than Bay.

I think the only ball sucking here, is done by you.


Look at this garbage

https://livioramondelli.deviantart.com/ ... -449056320

or this

https://guidoguidi.deviantart.com/art/T ... -416040063

or this

https://art.alphacoders.com/arts/view/71816

And that's just some of their worst offenders.

You're the one who clearly doesn't know what good art is

Lol, Unbelievable. Those are stellar variety of art styles. Livio's, very quirky stylized but has a cinematic charm to it. & Guido. Well GUido is Guido. Hit & misses. Good or bad, dude's a TF Hall of Famer. Plus he did mentioned hes championing the early TF Marvel comic styles. Heads up already given.
The only art that I am not a fan of is Wildman's. Even so, unlike you, Im not petty enough to call (or actually sincerely think) that its garbage. I just effortlessly avoid it.
No harm no foul. Done. Easy.
Still happy i bought the Mentzen, Flint & Livio Autocracy, Monstrocity & Primacy series.


Calling it garbage on a fan runned Tf board over and over and over and over sure is a Big boy Legit move there dreamwave boy.
If it bugs you so much to the point of whining & repeating your empty insults on these boards, why not go straight to the source?
Simon, James, Barber, Ej, Livio, Guido all have twitters buddy. And are constantly daily active as well.
The artists all have Intagram, Tumblr & Deviant art pages too. You can easily throw your 'Garbage' remarks there & have an immediate reply from the source authors.

Why not just do that Big boy? Too busy enjoying the self ball sucking too much?

I've actually told EJ Su what I think of his art thank you, and the unbelievable part here is that you think any of that is good. Welcome to the list of polished turds who like crappy art

Takes an Actual polished turd who likes crappy art to easily accuse another of being one buddy. Cheers.

This thing between you two ends now.

He started it, read the PM I sent you

[Galactic Prime]

I get the feeling from both this news and the War for Cybertron trilogy starting in 2019 that Hasbro was really shaken by The Last Knight flopping (I remember hearing that The Last Knight was supposed to be the start of a Hasbro Cinematic Universe), so they pulled the plug on everything that wasn't too far in production to cancel and ordered a complete blank-slate fresh start for the franchise in 2019, because the direction at the time wasn't working out.

I think so too. Although - talk about an overreaction. I don't think they really needed to reboot everything. Maybe just focus on what actually works and not try to shoehorn every single IP they own into a story that really didn't need it.

Oh make no mistake, the entire Franchise needed a hard reboot. The movies have been a disaster from the start. The first one was entertaining, but the robot designs were terrible, the writing was so bad it made the Evil Dead movies look like Oscar winners, and the acting was over the top bad from everyone except Peter Cullen. Let's also not forget the fact they made Optimus Prime into a murder crazed psychopath.

The cartoons and animated side have hit a creative wall to the point they can't even follow their own continuity properly.

The comics, well we all know what I think of that garbage....

What does that leave? A franchise in need of a serious reboot.

The one good thing about the Transformers was that they seemed to hard reboot everything every few years. Since the movies and Transformers Prime and the War for Cybertron Games, everything's been this complete mess because they weren't even following their own continuity. I mean if any single one of us can look at all this aligned continuity stuff and say this doesn't add up, then the people in charge at Hasbro should be more than capable of hiring someone who can keep track of it to make sure everything fits right.

[partholon]

im still not convinced they havent just lost the lisence at the end of the year.

this is a radical radical thing to do involving production timetables that'd put well seasoned pros to the test. so it just doesnt add up to me. i mean what the rush? (not to mention stuff like wreckers which looks like a publishing outlier now) .

whilst i havent been happy with IDWs direction the last while i dont think this continuity is beyond repair. hell weve seen it done post costa.

still should they retain the license i will check out the new universe theyre gonna set up. i really WANT to buy a TF book again.

though i am alarmed at barbers statement. roberts when he's not being a dick can do a decent story but barber is by FAR the better writer and i dont like the idea of losing him.

the creative team that gets this new push will play a big part in me buying it or not and if its made up of the "woke" brigade i'll be passing.

so a new begining -sans the intesectional crap , with a cast of characters most people would know (in or out of our community) with a decent alex milne level artist would be a good enough for me

[Dr. Caelus]

I feel like we need to start some sort of pool or bingo game or something where everyone predicts things that will happen, and we keep score of who gets closest.

Given the need to homage different things, while continuing to tie together all of the different plot lines and give a proper epic send off to main characters and ideas, things I could imagine happening include:

- Bumblebee's 'ghost' will merge with Centurion/Mike Power, effectively resurrecting Bumblebee.

- Unicron will show up with some sort of cannon-fodder foot soldiers. Those soldiers will either be Dire Wraiths, or a mashup of the Dire Wraiths and the The Undermind from Infestation. The Quintessons will be revealed to be the creators of the Dire Wraiths and/or The Undermind. Britt's Cybertronian form, Bayonette, will return as a Herald of Unicron. Unicron will target the Solstar Order because their study of Dire Wraith magic may have yielded a weakness.

- Rom will go on a vengeful rampage, and end up captured by the stronger Wraiths. The Visionaries, will rescue him and beat the tar out of the lead Dire Wraiths, who have no experience defending themselves against magic.

- Unicron will reformat Infinitus and his troops will recover Galvatron's decapitated corpse as he nears Earth. Infinitus will become Galvatron's new head, creating the extremely aggressive, barely stable version of Galvatron we remember from G1.

- GIJoe and EDC will attempt a Michael-Bay's-Armageddon-style attack on Unicron as he approaches Earth. Reborn Galvatron will lead Unicron's defense. Many of the Joes will die. Thundercracker and Skywarp will be captured and reformatted to serve as Galvatron's lieutenants. Marissa and Buster will have to free Thundercracker from Unicron's control, or mercy kill him.

- Starscream will sacrifice himself to inspire the others to fight/resist (homage to TF: Armada). He'll die in Windblade's arms telling her he made him a better person.

- Prowl will also sacrifice himself, but he'll do it for something 'trivial' in the context of the invasion, like saving a human being from getting squashed.

- When things look hopeless, the Lost Light will show up with the Knights of Cybertron in tow (who will provide vital last minute exposition and possibly a slew of artifacts), the Scavengers will show up with Dezaras and his army, which will be ready to fight either for the sake of fighting or to avenge some earlier sleight against them.

- Roller and Optimus will finally be reunited. Roller will somehow transform into a suit of Apex Armor for Optimus. Third party companies will freak out.

- Jem, Soundwave, and Jazz will team up to jam the communication between Unicron and his cannon-fodder soldiers with an 80s power ballad.

- Optimus and Rodimus will have a dream/astral battle with the memory/ghosts of Nova, Zeta, Tyrest, Shockwave, and/or Tarn.

- Somehow or another Thunderwing, Bludgeon, Overlord, and Sixshot will show up.

[Dr. Caelus]

And if the reboot eliminates the "woke brigade" or "intersectional crap" in IDW's storytelling, that's it for me. I'm out. I've got nearly every single issue of IDW's run with Transformers, but if the reboot is just a recreation of the 1980s cartoon pandering to Michael Bay fans and nostalgic man-children who freak out over the words "sex" and "gender", or who can't grapple with moral themes more developed than "good" and "evil", I'm done.

That's the **** I watched and read as a child; I expect something better as an adult.

[ZeroWolf]

What would you deem intersectional? Windblade won't be going anywhere and if anything she may get a bigger role.

Here's a thought, maybe one of the first storylines will involve impactor and mirage, as per the fan vote. Maybe a one shot or a two parter.

Partholon@ if that was the case why not just kill the universe the moth before they lose the license? Doing it early and having a new title come out seems like a waste of money. I still think idw have kept the licenses, can't have a hasbroverse without all the pieces after all.

@galactic prime the movies had indeed become a mess and it was obvious that things will end like that

[Etseterrestrial]

Pretty sure IDW was what kept some Transformers fans from going insane when the Bayverse movies were coming out.

[Dr. Caelus]

What would you deem intersectional? Windblade won't be going anywhere and if anything she may get a bigger role.

Short answer: There needs to be enough variety in characters that no one is a 'token' character for a category. Masculine, feminine, androgynous, loving, cold, friendly, smart, dumb, average, sane, crazy, 'off', brave, cowardly, cautious, aggressive, defensive, passive, arrogant, humble, privileged, disadvantaged, etc. There needs to be enough characters who share a given trait but are otherwise different, so that they are not defined by that one trait.

In other words, there needs to be enough female characters that Windblade's personality can't be summarized as "the girl", "the Autobot girl", or even "the Autobot jet girl".

[avarathriul]

I am absolutely devastated

[partholon]

What would you deem intersectional? Windblade won't be going anywhere and if anything she may get a bigger role.

Here's a thought, maybe one of the first storylines will involve impactor and mirage, as per the fan vote. Maybe a one shot or a two parter.

Partholon@ if that was the case why not just kill the universe the moth before they lose the license? Doing it early and having a new title come out seems like a waste of money. I still think idw have kept the licenses, can't have a hasbroverse without all the pieces after all.

@galactic prime the movies had indeed become a mess and it was obvious that things will end like that

well off the top of my head if there IS no new book and its just a winding up of the series then IDW will have a complete story they can pump out trade after trade after trade for a revenue stream for the company.(their contract should allow them to do this)

who wants to read 90% of a story? which is what you'd get if they just kept to the normal schedule and BANG lost the license - story unfinished . just look at how people still feel about dreamwaves getting shunt down mid tale.

and remember your still talking about the guts of a full year publishing here. for all i know the contract could be up in sept so they could be going right to the wall.

on the intersectional stuff i mainly mean the forced introduction of stuff like feminism/ transgender issues into a property where it really makes no sense. particularly when its done in the form of "new" characters who dont actually exist. lug anode aileron and the like.

this isnt xmen, its transformers. if i want to read about homosexual relationships i'll buy "strangers in paradise". i come here for the robot war steeped on intrigue and sci/fi concepts.

particualrly when its done in such a hamfisted heavy handed way as it seems to dominate the franchise.

i mean serioulsy LOOK at the cast of Optimus Prime right now.

Can anyone honsestly say thats their dream line up for a TF book?

and thats the one thats MEANT to have the "names" in it.

to address what another poster asked i DONT want g1. i'd be happy with the -ations level of story telling and cast back. even where barber was in RID at the end of season 1 would do.

whether people like it or not transformers is a comic, just like the JLA or the Avengers and sooner or later the books gets back to the "core cast" . it doesnt mean you cant mix it up, but if you dont have the heavy hitters you lose the audience.

take OP again as an example. barbers been seeding a conflict between pyra magna and prime- and its interesting - but that really should be grimlock shouldnt it?

cause just like hawkeye and cap, prime and the big grim have that relationship.

but were not getting that cause you know - gurls power or something. were in C list avengers territory here and most of its down to this intersectional nonsense demanding "representation".

[Galactic Prime]

Pretty sure IDW was what kept some Transformers fans from going insane when the Bayverse movies were coming out.

Nope, for me it Was TF Prime/Rescue Bots/RiD and the Devastation Playstation 3 game.

[Galactic Prime]

What would you deem intersectional? Windblade won't be going anywhere and if anything she may get a bigger role.

Here's a thought, maybe one of the first storylines will involve impactor and mirage, as per the fan vote. Maybe a one shot or a two parter.

Partholon@ if that was the case why not just kill the universe the moth before they lose the license? Doing it early and having a new title come out seems like a waste of money. I still think idw have kept the licenses, can't have a hasbroverse without all the pieces after all.

@galactic prime the movies had indeed become a mess and it was obvious that things will end like that

well off the top of my head if there IS no new book and its just a winding up of the series then IDW will have a complete story they can pump out trade after trade after trade for a revenue stream for the company.(their contract should allow them to do this)

who wants to read 90% of a story? which is what you'd get if they just kept to the normal schedule and BANG lost the license - story unfinished . just look at how people still feel about dreamwaves getting shunt down mid tale.

and remember your still talking about the guts of a full year publishing here. for all i know the contract could be up in sept so they could be going right to the wall.

on the intersectional stuff i mainly mean the forced introduction of stuff like feminism/ transgender issues into a property where it really makes no sense. particularly when its done in the form of "new" characters who dont actually exist. lug anode aileron and the like.

this isnt xmen, its transformers. if i want to read about homosexual relationships i'll buy "strangers in paradise". i come here for the robot war steeped on intrigue and sci/fi concepts.

particualrly when its done in such a hamfisted heavy handed way as it seems to dominate the franchise.

i mean serioulsy LOOK at the cast of Optimus Prime right now.

Can anyone honsestly say thats their dream line up for a TF book?

and thats the one thats MEANT to have the "names" in it.

to address what another poster asked i DONT want g1. i'd be happy with the -ations level of story telling and cast back. even where barber was in RID at the end of season 1 would do.

whether people like it or not transformers is a comic, just like the JLA or the Avengers and sooner or later the books gets back to the "core cast" . it doesnt mean you cant mix it up, but if you dont have the heavy hitters you lose the audience.

take OP again as an example. barbers been seeding a conflict between pyra magna and prime- and its interesting - but that really should be grimlock shouldnt it?

cause just like hawkeye and cap, prime and the big grim have that relationship.

but were not getting that cause you know - gurls power or something. were in C list avengers territory here and most of its down to this intersectional nonsense demanding "representation".

Disagree completely about Op and Grim. That's an old Marvel thing that should have died with that crappy book.

The Dinobots should be big, lumbering, powerhouses that stomp everything and are as dumb as rocks, that's what makes them fun and interesting.

Edit, I will say I agree with you about everything else mostly. Lots of good points on The Optimus Prime book.

[Dr. Caelus]

on the intersectional stuff i mainly mean the forced introduction of stuff like feminism/ transgender issues into a property where it really makes no sense.

Gender in Transformers doesn't make any less sense than any of their other distinctly human traits, and feminism/transgender issues have had minimal appearance in the comics. The comics have female characters, and characters who have changed their subjective identification from male to female, and sometimes there'll be an offhand conversation about that. Simply having feminine characters, or sort-of-transgender characters, and acknowledging their presence does not constitute a 'forced introduction of feminism' into the story's themes.

And while reading about "gurls" might make some boys uncomfortable, I believe most men in the 21st century have adjusted to their presence in society.

particularly when its done in the form of "new" characters who dont actually exist. lug anode aileron and the like.

...

It's fiction...

NONE OF THE CHARACTERS EXIST.

this isnt xmen, its transformers. if i want to read about homosexual relationships i'll buy "strangers in paradise". i come here for the robot war steeped on intrigue and sci/fi concepts.

There are no homosexual relationships among Transformers in the IDW comics, as Transformers in the IDW comics don't have sexes or sexual reproduction. They have gender, and their emotionally intimate relationships aren't restricted to male/female gender pairings. Nothing about that should be so off-putting, especially compared to the raunchy humor in previous series like Beast Wars.

And while they do occasionally make a throwaway joke or reference about gender dynamics, it's not 'dominated' any of the plot-lines. Moreover, good science fiction has always been employed to comment on real world social issues. That's practically the point of science fiction.

i mean serioulsy LOOK at the cast of Optimus Prime right now.

Can anyone honsestly say thats their dream line up for a TF book?

It's a story, not a fantasy football team. If you want stories that are just 'all the most awesomest characters together' then fanfic is a better bet than... well, anything professionally written.

to address what another poster asked i DONT want g1... barbers been seeding a conflict between pyra magna and prime- and its interesting - but that really should be grimlock shouldnt it? cause just like hawkeye and cap, prime and the big grim have that relationship.

They had that relationship, past tense, IN GENERATION 1. Outside of War Within it hasn't really come up anywhere else. The source of their conflict also tended to be uni-dimensional and generally under-explored, even in the Marvel comics. It only got interesting when Optimus finally died and made Grimlock leader, but then he came back and took over again like four issues later.

Pyra Magna at least has the interesting facet of dealing with a crisis of faith, and the anticlimax of meeting her robo-messiah. That's considerably more developed than G1 Grimlock's motivation to challenge Prime, which started as, 'I'm marginally stronger than Optimus Prime' and capped out at 'I'm generally a competent leader, but I sporadically decide to make stupid strategic decisions just to be different from Optimus Prime.'

but were not getting that cause you know - gurls power or something. were in C list avengers territory here and most of its down to this intersectional nonsense demanding "representation".

[ZeroWolf]

What would you deem intersectional? Windblade won't be going anywhere and if anything she may get a bigger role.

Here's a thought, maybe one of the first storylines will involve impactor and mirage, as per the fan vote. Maybe a one shot or a two parter.

Partholon@ if that was the case why not just kill the universe the moth before they lose the license? Doing it early and having a new title come out seems like a waste of money. I still think idw have kept the licenses, can't have a hasbroverse without all the pieces after all.

@galactic prime the movies had indeed become a mess and it was obvious that things will end like that

well off the top of my head if there IS no new book and its just a winding up of the series then IDW will have a complete story they can pump out trade after trade after trade for a revenue stream for the company.(their contract should allow them to do this)

who wants to read 90% of a story? which is what you'd get if they just kept to the normal schedule and BANG lost the license - story unfinished . just look at how people still feel about dreamwaves getting shunt down mid tale.

and remember your still talking about the guts of a full year publishing here. for all i know the contract could be up in sept so they could be going right to the wall.

on the intersectional stuff i mainly mean the forced introduction of stuff like feminism/ transgender issues into a property where it really makes no sense. particularly when its done in the form of "new" characters who dont actually exist. lug anode aileron and the like.

this isnt xmen, its transformers. if i want to read about homosexual relationships i'll buy "strangers in paradise". i come here for the robot war steeped on intrigue and sci/fi concepts.

particualrly when its done in such a hamfisted heavy handed way as it seems to dominate the franchise.

i mean serioulsy LOOK at the cast of Optimus Prime right now.

Can anyone honsestly say thats their dream line up for a TF book?

and thats the one thats MEANT to have the "names" in it.

to address what another poster asked i DONT want g1. i'd be happy with the -ations level of story telling and cast back. even where barber was in RID at the end of season 1 would do.

whether people like it or not transformers is a comic, just like the JLA or the Avengers and sooner or later the books gets back to the "core cast" . it doesnt mean you cant mix it up, but if you dont have the heavy hitters you lose the audience.

take OP again as an example. barbers been seeding a conflict between pyra magna and prime- and its interesting - but that really should be grimlock shouldnt it?

cause just like hawkeye and cap, prime and the big grim have that relationship.

but were not getting that cause you know - gurls power or something. were in C list avengers territory here and most of its down to this intersectional nonsense demanding "representation".

So for you to see that the licence is firmly in hand, idw need to have plans that extend into 2019 and beyond (side note: as if we are already that close to a new decade...)

Now you say about going back to the core cast, which is fine but also disappointing at the same time as it means transformers will forever be held ransom to the 1984/1985 toy releases. It feels like a step back when we need to keep going forward. Yes, the 'core cast' have their place but I applaud the creators whenever they take a risk and create new characters.

Also gender has always existed in transformers, regardless if it made sense or not. You can thank sunbrow for that (or marvel, I forget which company was in charge regarding toon stories) and then in idw fiction, it was furman who brought it back when he had the chance to sort it out. In the reboot all they have to do from the get go is establish there is boy bots and girl bots because that's just how it is. Bots can choose a lifelong partner if they want. Now those could be put there as part of the background which the writers can choose to add in as an element or they could just forget it and carry on, leaving it in the background. I don't understand why this has to be such a divisive topic.

[Bounti76]

Hope they keep scott off the books. They could bring Shane back because the Mars attack one shot was amazing. If they set it in that time line

I'm the opposite, keep Scott and ban Shane from ever working on tfs ever again. Or at least keep him to more self contained mini series.

As I've often said, I think the shared universe is sticking around especially with idw holding all the licenses.

Also who ever mentioned the exiles like tf series for Roberts to have fun with, I'm all in on that idea.

I'm with you- Scott writes Transformers with some actual depth, whereas I actually ended up canceling my subscription to Lost Light once it got too wacky and self-referential and unrealistic. It was like the Seinfeld of TF comics. Though, now that this IDW TF universe is ending, I don't feel too bad about TAAO being canceled. It wouldn't have lasted maybe a full year after issue 12 came out.

I do hope that in any new continuity, that female Transformers are in it from the beginning. And then there's the issue of what to call it: IDW G1 2.0? G3? Who knows? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[ZeroWolf]

I would love to see a g3 tag but I do wonder how they'll refer to it internally

[Dr. Caelus]

Also gender has always existed in transformers

It never ceases to amaze me how many people either don't comprehend that or are in ardent denial of it. Female Autobots were right in there in the original series, but they still imagine this time 'before the wokeness' when Transformers 'had no gender'. Even in the absence of female characters, Transformers are obviously written to be read as characters with gender. Their proportions fit masculine ideals, their voice actors are usually male, and they refer to each other as 'he', but it's like a large number of fans think female is a gender, and male is the absence of gender.

...regardless if it made sense or not.

Honestly, from a psychological perspective, nothing about Transformers makes sense. Saying gender doesn't make sense in the context of all the other behaviors and personality traits Cybertronians exhibit doesn't make sense is like watching a furry in costume trying to roller skate in the bathtub, and then saying that pineapple on pizza doesn't make sense.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I'm sad the current universe is ending, but much like RG1, this is supposed to be an end. It's not a cliffhanger, it's not a thing where more stories can be told if someone wants to come back to it later and tie up a lot of loose ends on a rushed finale, this is a grand finale. and I take comfort in the finale and that everything will wrap up as the creative teams intend for them to do.

I am also looking forward to what happens next. Nothing has said that IDW is losing the license, so maybe they will just do a whole new reboot with a new creative team.

Also wondering about War for Cybertron, the new toyline, seeing as how that line and the fan vote kept bringing up the WFC stories. Maybe that is where this new take will start.

And hopefully if they intend to try the shared universe again, it happens a lot better.

[WreckerJack]

IDW, please PLEASE PLEASE keep James Roberts away from the reboot.

Or at least give him editors that will tell him no. Honestly a lot of his work is really great but some of his ideas are a little too out there or repetitive. There are things that James Roberts does really well but he lacks balance - which is a big reason I don't enjoy Lost Light the way I did MTMTE. Honestly some of the first issues of LL were pretty good but then it just took a nosedive.

[Galactic Prime]

There are no homosexual relationships among Transformers in the IDW comics, as Transformers in the IDW comics don't have sexes

Cyclonus and Tailgate.

Chromedome and Rewind.

Both of those are Homosexual relationships as all 4 characters are MALE GENDER.

[Hydrargyrus]

The good thing about Transformers is that they don’t have to do some sort of in-fiction universe reset. The whole franchise is based around different continuities.

Also, I feel like we’re arguing against assumed extreme views when we all just kind of want something in the middle. A comic series that’s fun to read (what comics are for) while being deep enough to be interesting. Or I guess any amount of depth so long as it doesn’t take away from anything else.

Transformers in the IDW comics don't have sexes

All 4 characters are MALE GENDER.

This seems to boil down to definitions and interpretations. I think it will go on forever if continued.

[Dr. Caelus]

There are no homosexual relationships among Transformers in the IDW comics, as Transformers in the IDW comics don't have sexes

Cyclonus and Tailgate.

Chromedome and Rewind.

Both of those are Homosexual relationships as all 4 characters are MALE GENDER.

But (1) they are not the same SEX because they are asexual and (2) their relationships aren't sexual in nature. No matter how badly you or scads of fan artists might want to imagine it, they don't **** each other.

[Galactic Prime]

There are no homosexual relationships among Transformers in the IDW comics, as Transformers in the IDW comics don't have sexes

Cyclonus and Tailgate.

Chromedome and Rewind.

Both of those are Homosexual relationships as all 4 characters are MALE GENDER.

But (1) they are not the same SEX because they are asexual and (2) their relationships aren't sexual in nature. No matter how badly you or scads of fan artists might want to imagine it, they don't **** each other.

You do realize that sex does not have to be had for them to be homosexual right? Both pairs of characters are male, that's a fact dude. I read the whole thing, it was as gay as any other homosexual couple I know in real life. Hell Chromedome and Rewind went so far as to be "paired" in a very marriage style relationship.

[Burn]

Gay ... straight ... whatever else ... does it really matter though?