The Energon Pub

i'm fairly new to tf's comics and want to start collecting them but have no clue what to look for. i'm looking for g1 stuff so what would u guys reccomend? i heard about idw and dreamwave but have no clue what to look for. also are those spotlight issues worth looking into? thx guys.

I'd recommend picking up IDW's G1 ongoing series - not only is it easily the best G1 material since Marvel UK, it's all part of a single continuity and is currently readily available (apart from the bits that IDW have reprinted, you'll probably find it difficult to find any Dreamwave material now).

Infiltration and Escalation (in order) are the two six-issue arcs of the main ongoing series so far, set on Earth and featuring mostly classic characters. I believe both are collected in trade now. The next arc is called Devastation and will start later in the year.

Stormbringer is a four-issue mini-series set alongside and tying into the main series, but set on and around Cybertron. It's available in trade.

The Spotlights are one-shots, each focussing on a specific character and telling a standalone story, but also tying in to the main series. There were five in the first set (Shockwave, Nightbeat, Hot Rod, Sixshot and Ultra Magnus) and these have been collected in trade; the next set (Soundwave, Kup, Galvatron, Optimus Prime... not sure if the announced Ramjet issue or the current Megatron: Origins miniseries are counted as part of the second Spotlights series) are mid-run at the moment.



Outside of the main continuity, IDW have started an irregular ongoing Beast Wars series within and around the show continuity (a four-issue miniseries, BW: The Gathering, is now in trade; a follow-up titled BW: The Ascending is on the way) and a set of Beast Wars profile books in the style of the Dreamwave 'More Than Meets The Eye' series are in the works.

IDW's also published a prequel to and adaptation of the 2007 movie, both four issues; an adaptation of the 1986 animated movie, by Bob Budiansky and Don Figueroa; reprints of a lot of Marvel material under the Generations title; an out-of-continuity, 'elseworlds'-style steampunk mini-series called Evolutions: Hearts of Steel; and are reprinting the Collector's Club Cybertron: Balancing Act, Timelines and Classics comics. (phew!)


Hope that helped!


(Addendum: I consider just about anything by IDW to be worth getting! But check out TFArchive's IDW comics section for an introduction and some well-written reviews of the issues.)

Totally with Glyph on IDW's continuity being the best place to start. It's well written, sufficiently different to anything that's come before to keep you guessing and engrossingly multilayered. Start with the core books and read the Spotlights and other ancilary titles to add depth and nuance to the overall stories.

If you check out my rather long winded post in this thread

http://seibertron.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10200&sid=

you will find an overview of the various comic continuities from down the years including notes on what has been collected into book form. The comics tab at the top of your screen will also help you find info on specific issues.

I too just started getting into the comics aspect of Transformers and I agree 100% with Glyph.

I'd suggest getting(in order) the TPBs of Infiltration, Stormbringer, and Escalation. Then after you've read them a few times, I'd suggest getting the Spotlights. The Spotlights aren't essencial, but if you love the main storyline, these bonus behind-the-scenes episodes are very welcomed. But IMO, they're not quite as well written as the main story, except Shockwaves spotlight. That one was awesome. But Sixshots, on the other hand, made me like him a little less. Hopefully Devastation refuels my love for the character.

okay, forgive the retarded questions but i don't have to go searching for each issue if i get the paperbacks of each series right? tpb's are just all the comics in one book right? also is the order infiltration, escalation, then stormbringer? i also saw 2 tpb's called tf's generation 1 volumes 1 and 2 from idw. any info on these?

kimmer wrote:okay, forgive the retarded questions but i don't have to go searching for each issue if i get the paperbacks of each series right? tpb's are just all the comics in one book right? also is the order infiltration, escalation, then stormbringer? i also saw 2 tpb's called tf's generation 1 volumes 1 and 2 from idw. any info on these?

Yep. You can go down to Barnes and Noble, even, to pick up the TPBs. I got Escalation at Borders, and ordered most of my others online.

Order is Infiltration, Stormbringer, then Escalation, except that Stormbringer takes place on Cybertron.

I haven't read the generations but I might get them.

kimmer wrote:okay, forgive the retarded questions but i don't have to go searching for each issue if i get the paperbacks of each series right? tpb's are just all the comics in one book right? also is the order infiltration, escalation, then stormbringer? i also saw 2 tpb's called tf's generation 1 volumes 1 and 2 from idw. any info on these?

The Generations titles are reprints of old Marvel comics.

There have been alot of people asking similar questions about starting in to the comics, and If my memory serves me correctly; waaaaghlord, you wrote a fairly well detailed post with plenty of info.

Maybe if you and Glyph PM'ed an administrator and got all your info stickied in this forum, containing info on where to start new comic collections, it would give people a good place to start.

Just a thought.

thx alot guys. really helpful info.

Hotrod wrote:

kimmer wrote:okay, forgive the retarded questions but i don't have to go searching for each issue if i get the paperbacks of each series right? tpb's are just all the comics in one book right? also is the order infiltration, escalation, then stormbringer? i also saw 2 tpb's called tf's generation 1 volumes 1 and 2 from idw. any info on these?

The Generations titles are reprints of old Marvel comics.

And they're out of order to boot. If you want reprints of the Marvel stuff, I say go for the Titan Books reprints. They are in order with very nice presentation and, I do believe, complete. I think there were somewhere between 15 and 20 books and they also did some of the UK comics in their original size, unlike IDW's UK reprints.

God Magnus wrote:

Hotrod wrote:

kimmer wrote:okay, forgive the retarded questions but i don't have to go searching for each issue if i get the paperbacks of each series right? tpb's are just all the comics in one book right? also is the order infiltration, escalation, then stormbringer? i also saw 2 tpb's called tf's generation 1 volumes 1 and 2 from idw. any info on these?

The Generations titles are reprints of old Marvel comics.

And they're out of order to boot. If you want reprints of the Marvel stuff, I say go for the Titan Books reprints. They are in order with very nice presentation and, I do believe, complete. I think there were somewhere between 15 and 20 books and they also did some of the UK comics in their original size, unlike IDW's UK reprints.

For reference: http://www.tfarchive.com/comics/marvel/reprints/
The Titan reprints in their original size would be the final five G1 comics in the right hand column:
1. Aspects of Evil
2. Way of the Warrior
3. Fallen Star
4. Earthforce
5. Perchance to Dream

All five are very much worth hunting down.

Just to pick up a question that wasn't fully answered: yes, the trades (=trade paperback, =TPB, ='book') collect a number of individual comics together and often include a couple of pages of bonus stuff such as a cover gallery or sketch art. The downside is that they're usually released a couple of months after the individual issues have all been published.

The IDW main continuity series is Infiltration -> Escalation -> Devastation. Stormbringer was published between I & E but runs roughly parallel to Infiltration in the continuity, ending just before the latter half of Infiltration #6.

The Spotlights are set at various points in the recent or distant past of the main continuity, and all of them take references from and give input into the main line to a greater or lesser extent. While they're well worth reading, they're mostly ancillary material and can cheerfully wait until you've read the main line, when you'll be at least familiar with the events that the Spotlights are meant to be shedding light on.

As far as the relative importance of the Spotlights go, some are more closely connected to the main line than others. I'll list a couple of things they link to so you can see which you're more interested in, if you want to...



WARNING:
MILD SPOILERS









Shockwave: Explains the Ore-13 / 'super Energon' on Earth, sets up Bludgeon's role in Stormbringer and the archeological dig in Escalation #5.
Nightbeat: Details some events prior to Nightbeat's arrival on Earth in Escalation, which may prove to be very important in Devastation. Linked to the Galvatron / Dead Universe plotline, suspected to be linked to events at the end of Escalation #6.
Hot Rod: Mostly standalone story, will probably have future ramifications (especially for Hot Rod) but not yet connected to the main line.
Sixshot: Introduces an extinction-level alien threat (besides Sixshot himself!) which will almost certainly reappear in Devastation after getting a panel in Escalation #6.
Ultra Magnus: Sets up the history and architect of The Machination in the main line (near-universally believed to identify the 'talking head' in Escalation #5), sets up Hunter's situation in Escalation #6 and hints towards events which will unfold in Devastation.

Soundwave: Links to Sp: Shockwave and Stormbringer, references the archeological dig in Escalation #5 and sets up Skywatch's possession of certain TFs in Escalation #6.
Kup: Mostly standalone, referenced (inconsequentially) in Devastation #1.
Galvatron: Sets up the Galvatron / Dead Universe plotline which will almost certainly become a major point in Devastation and onwards, apparently ties to Prime's 'vision' in Escalation #6.
Optimus Prime: No firm info yet.

i_amtrunks wrote:There have been alot of people asking similar questions about starting in to the comics, and If my memory serves me correctly; waaaaghlord, you wrote a fairly well detailed post with plenty of info.

Maybe if you and Glyph PM'ed an administrator and got all your info stickied in this forum, containing info on where to start new comic collections, it would give people a good place to start.

Just a thought.

This is apretty good idea and I'm willing to take it on as a bit of a project. I'm at work right now and tied up tonight but I'll get on to this tomorrow. Something along the lines of copying that original post (which I linked back to for about the fourth or fifth time above) editing that to be more general intro than worded to answer a question that was in that thread, adding info on the non G1 comics and starting a FAQ. I could add links to the comics section of the site for the various titles or links to relevant wikis or archived comics online. I'm thinking if I was to do this as the first post in a thread then any extra info or answers added in over time I could just edit into that first post so that all the info was in one place and people wouldn't have to scroll through pages and pages of posts for the relevant info. Questions, comments or corrections could then be posted in the thread and I should be able to look in and deal with these at least two or three times a week.

Right, expect the thread to start up tomorrow and if it goes down well and helps to reduce new number of similar comic newbie threads that have been cropping up recently I'll get on to the mods about getting it stickied. In the early days it should stay on the first page for a while anyway and I can always bump the thread when I add an update.

Yep, good idea. It's the kind of stuff we should probably have in the VSD.

I going to go against the grain here, and recommend the original US Marvel run with Furman at the helm. Issues #56-80. There was an epic, and one I can still enjoy to this day. Megatron's return, the Matrix Quest and Thunderwing, the Unicron War and the aftermath, are all gold, imo.

You can probably still find these, they were recently released via Graphic Novel form through Titan publishing. The books are called "Primal Scream" - which kicks everything off with the Return of Megatron and the accidental awakening of Primus, "Matrix Quest" - The Autobots scramble across the galaxy to find the lost Matrix with the new Decepticon leader, Thunderwing hot on their heels. "All Fall Down" - Optimus joins forces with Scorponok and the Decepticon Civil War. And finally, "End of the Road" - which deals with the Unicron War and the Autobot/Decepticon alliance after the war is over, and you can't beat the issue where Galvatron finally meets up with Megatron.

Oh yeah, no question parts of the Marvel run are gold - I'm mostly recommending IDW as they're easily available just about anywhere, and they're in a rebooted continuity that doesn't require any knowledge of the previous ~5 years' worth of comics.

But definitely, once you've gotten a taste for TF comics, check out the Marvel reprints. Especially early and late Marvel US (ignore the chaff in the middle), and practically any Marvel UK you can get your hands on. Then read Marvel G2 (US) as well.

Glyph wrote:The IDW main continuity series is Infiltration -> Escalation -> Devastation. Stormbringer was published between I & E but runs roughly parallel to Infiltration in the continuity, ending just before the latter half of Infiltration #6.

Not to pick on you (because I've heard this many times before), but how come when some people talk about the IDWverse main ongoing, they often don't include Stormbringer. They refer to it as a non-essential side-story. But it's numbered as part of the ongoing. Also, if people only bought the TPBs of Infiltration and Escalation, they would have Trade Volumes 1 & 3 and be wondering what the heck happened to Volume 2. But yeah, I was just wondering why people refer to it that way.

Personally, I would "try" to read the issues in the order in which they were published because (for me), it really added when one week a spotlight introduced an idea or character and then the next week its significance was expanded upon in the main book. But if you can't do that, I'd read Infiltration (TPB vol.1), Stormbringer (TPB vol.2), Spotlights TPB vol. 1, and then Escalation (TPB vol. 3). FYI, the Spotlight TPBs will have their own numbering system. I'd do this because the Spotlights introduce things that come into play during Escalation so I'd read those first.

clrobe wrote:

Glyph wrote:The IDW main continuity series is Infiltration -> Escalation -> Devastation. Stormbringer was published between I & E but runs roughly parallel to Infiltration in the continuity, ending just before the latter half of Infiltration #6.

Not to pick on you (because I've heard this many times before), but how come when some people talk about the IDWverse main ongoing, they often don't include Stormbringer. They refer to it as a non-essential side-story. But it's numbered as part of the ongoing. Also, if people only bought the TPBs of Infiltration and Escalation, they would have Trade Volumes 1 & 3 and be wondering what the heck happened to Volume 2. But yeah, I was just wondering why people refer to it that way.

Personally, I would "try" to read the issues in the order in which they were published because (for me), it really added when one week a spotlight introduced an idea or character and then the next week its significance was expanded upon in the main book. But if you can't do that, I'd read Infiltration (TPB vol.1), Stormbringer (TPB vol.2), Spotlights TPB vol. 1, and then Escalation (TPB vol. 3). FYI, the Spotlight TPBs will have their own numbering system. I'd do this because the Spotlights introduce things that come into play during Escalation so I'd read those first.

While Stormbringer is definitely part of the IDWverse, it's much more of a subplot than actually part of the main ongoing. I think the best indication of this is the creative teams and the titles. "Sormbringer" just doesn't follow the pattern of the "-ation" books. When I first read Stormbringer, I didn't even see any indication that it was during the same time as the other books, or even in the same continuity, until the very end. That was very jarring and is probably the biggest reason that some people might not see it as a direct part of the ongoing. It just doesn't keep the feel or flow when read straight through.