The Energon Pub

IDW has just updated their "New releases" section with a preview of the second issue of the new Beast Wars Sourcebook.

Check out Torca gracing the cover as well as profiles for Elephorca, Fractyl, BWII Galvatron and Gigastorm <a href="http://www.idwpublishing.com/newreleases.shtml" target="_blank">by clicking here</a>.

The issue is scheduled for release tomorrow, October 31st!

YIKES!!! They actually used SAND in the layout of this book!

I hope they do a better job of coloring with this book than they did the first issue.

So Gigastorm is just a (~partial~) repaint of Trypticon?

What's with Fractyl's bio being in complete opposition to his story from Botcon? He's supposed to be a maximal protoform who was turned into a Predacon by Megatron, but then he was so useless in combat he was never seen in the TV series. Now he's a Predacon from Cybertron?

Scaleface wrote:What's with Fractyl's bio being in complete opposition to his story from Botcon? He's supposed to be a maximal protoform who was turned into a Predacon by Megatron, but then he was so useless in combat he was never seen in the TV series. Now he's a Predacon from Cybertron?

They never said they would use the BotCon stories, just the characters.

I am loving the cover with Torca. Galvatron doesn't llok that bad but the art, for the most part, is still a little disappointing. Haven't read any of the preview bios yet. I'll just wait til tomorrow and save the eye strain.

Galvatron Primal wrote:

Scaleface wrote:What's with Fractyl's bio being in complete opposition to his story from Botcon? He's supposed to be a maximal protoform who was turned into a Predacon by Megatron, but then he was so useless in combat he was never seen in the TV series. Now he's a Predacon from Cybertron?

They never said they would use the BotCon stories, just the characters.

I am loving the cover with Torca. Galvatron doesn't llok that bad but the art, for the most part, is still a little disappointing. Haven't read any of the preview bios yet. I'll just wait til tomorrow and save the eye strain.

my eyes... i should have waited...

The strain was too much by the time i got through Fractyls weakness and abilities section, (i don't know why i read them from bottom to top) so i'll squint at his Bio tommorrow.

I'm wondering if fuzors will be labeled as there dominant animal doner or as a hybrid. Elephorca, the blendtron repaint of Torca, is labels and elephant but obviously lacks a trunk and looks just like the killer whale/ elephant fuzor featured in the picture above.

I'm not that excited after seeing Galvatron either...

They also label Elephorca as a hulking idiot, while his Japaness bio makes him out to be the smartest of the Blendtrons.

For all the supposed time and effort Yee and Furman put into this book, they sure made alot of "mistakes" and created even more character inconsistencies.

Art looks to be better this time around, hopefully there will be very little Ruffalo art.

Caelus wrote:They also label Elephorca as a hulking idiot, while his Japaness bio makes him out to be the smartest of the Blendtrons.

He's idiot with a 9 out of 10 Intelligence. Sadly I think the writers were only at 4 out of 10 when they wrote his entry.

I might be missing something but how can BW Galvatron be named after the herald of Unicron when the IDW Galvatron is a separate entity not related to ol' horn head and Furman has said that the dead universe is something else entirely ?

Tripredacus agent wrote:I might be missing something but how can BW Galvatron be named after the herald of Unicron when the IDW Galvatron is a separate entity not related to ol' horn head and Furman has said that the dead universe is something else entirely ?

Well, seeing as the Ark from the G1 Cartoon/Comic appears in the IDW Beast Wars comics, I would assume that it is in continuity with that universe rather than in continuity with IDW's ongoing series.

Archanubis wrote:I hope they do a better job of coloring with this book than they did the first issue.

Nope. Ryall pretty much admitted himself that this issue, along with #1, fell through the cracks (though how that's possible given the year long grace period they had continues to amaze me).

i_amtrunks wrote:For all the supposed time and effort Yee and Furman put into this book, they sure made alot of "mistakes" and created even more character inconsistencies.

Indeed. And if there was any real doubt about it, Fractyl's bio pretty much killed it to the point where not even immediate CPR can bring it back.

At least they didn't resort to making BWII Galvatron G1 Galvatron, just doing what they did with Megs. But, in doing so, it's really noting more than derivative and thus a small, small postive against the dark sea of negative.

Tripredacus agent wrote:I might be missing something but how can BW Galvatron be named after the herald of Unicron when the IDW Galvatron is a separate entity not related to ol' horn head and Furman has said that the dead universe is something else entirely ?

Beast Wars doesn't take place in the IDW G1 - as the Ark wasn't stranded on earth 4 million years ago. It's the Marvel/Animated/Dreamwave or Devil's Due G1 - all had a crashed Ark with Optimus and Megatron on it.

Scaleface wrote:

Tripredacus agent wrote:I might be missing something but how can BW Galvatron be named after the herald of Unicron when the IDW Galvatron is a separate entity not related to ol' horn head and Furman has said that the dead universe is something else entirely ?

Beast Wars doesn't take place in the IDW G1 - as the Ark wasn't stranded on earth 4 million years ago. It's the Marvel/Animated/Dreamwave or Devil's Due G1 - all had a crashed Ark with Optimus and Megatron on it.

I think that the Beast Wars Comics tie into the Beast Wars show, and thus the G1 Cartoon continuation. IDW G1-verse is no relation.

i_amtrunks wrote:I think that the Beast Wars Comics tie into the Beast Wars show, and thus the G1 Cartoon continuation. IDW G1-verse is no relation.

Yeah, that's the way it's supposed to be. Then again, does it really matter anymore?

Yeah, these sourcebooks are kinda stupid though, since Furman can't seem to make his mind up whether he's talking about a character in the past or present tense.

At least they made the attempt at this sourcebook. Which is more than we can say for Dreamwave as Pat Lee jipped everyone with his "use the money on me and screw the artists and comic fans" mentality

Hitokiri Recca wrote:At least they made the attempt at this sourcebook. Which is more than we can say for Dreamwave as Pat Lee jipped everyone with his "use the money on me and screw the artists and comic fans" mentality

Except that it appears that IDW is using the money for them and screwing the artists and comic fans, albiet in a different way.

Darth Bombshell wrote:

Hitokiri Recca wrote:At least they made the attempt at this sourcebook. Which is more than we can say for Dreamwave as Pat Lee jipped everyone with his "use the money on me and screw the artists and comic fans" mentality

Except that it appears that IDW is using the money for them and screwing the artists and comic fans, albiet in a different way.

Harsh!

As for continuity, I'm not sure it matters. Everything in Transformers can be explained by parallel universes and The Ultimate Guide. Fact. Not scientific fact, mind you, or even actual fact but fact none-the-less.

Leonardo wrote:Harsh!

Yes, it's harsh. But it's also true.

Darth Bombshell wrote:

Leonardo wrote:Harsh!

Yes, it's harsh. But it's also true.

From a certain point of view...

I for one feel, that on the whole, we've been getting a spectacular product.

If there is a problem, it's that the sideline TF comics (Beast Wars, Evolutions) aren't getting the TLC that the Spotlights and Ongoing series are getting, which, realistically, makes sense.

Edit: Given that part of the problem is that IDW spends time and money on other nonTF comic series, I'm now glad Marvel didn't grab the liscence.

Caelus wrote:From a certain point of view...

I for one feel, that on the whole, we've been getting a spectacular product.

If there is a problem, it's that the sideline TF comics (Beast Wars, Evolutions) aren't getting the TLC that the Spotlights and Ongoing series are getting, which, realistically, makes sense.

So basically, what you're saying is that, from a certain point of view, you feel that you're getting a spectacular product, yet in the same breath, claiming that they're not getting enough attention compared to the G1 title and that it could be better than it is.

You can't really have it both ways, dude. In that context, either BW is good or it isn't.

I am a bit disappointed by a lack of consistancy in the writing. Tense, use of common terms (is it Triple Changer? Mode 3? Third Form?) and the ignoring of established TF Tech Specs (Elephadora is dumb? He has a 9 Intelligence! New Mottos for EVERYONE!) Sorta offputting. I could have proofread the book and inproved it, and i have had one college level English class.

Yes, I find that a little bizarre. I thought one of the points of the sourcebook was to make the pre-existing obscure characters a bit more familiar, not rewrite or revamp those obscure characters.