AutobotTrainer wrote:I'll put this in, feel at peace, and then be on my way. ...
Simon Furman's take on the TF comic universe has most recently been (and most likely still is) without a consistent focus. I find it interesting that the attacks on AHM all seem to come from some strange, adverse reaction to allowing variance in the "Transformers canon". However, if we heard the same story told over and over gain, there would be complaints about a lack of complexity to the TF Universe.
Perhaps ... but I'm also not the biggest Simon Furman fan. My favorite stuff that he's written is from 20 years ago. I loved how he intricately wove in and out of the American storylines. I loved his debut in the American comics after the parting of Bob Budiansky. I love how epic his stories were and his use of characters long forgotten. However, that's where it ends for me. It seemed the more freedom he had, the less I liked his writing. G2 was a stretch for me. I originally hated the use of Jhiaxus and the "new" Decepticons (though I'm rather fond of ol' Jhiaxus now). To me, it seemed that Furman's best writings were/are when he's confined within certain limits. He seemed to be a master at working in new characters and breathing life into them. However, without this restriction, his stories seem to be all over the place to me now with little focus.
AutobotTrainer wrote:The personal issue I have with Furman's direction in the "-ation" series was that the storytelling seemed at many times childish and low-end. I appreciated some of the new concepts on how the Decepticons operated as a military unit, and the dynamics between the Autobots, but the human characters and the motivations behind why the characters took action was , in a word, shallow. Furman's stories seemed to speak to a strange demographic. Were these stories best for preteens? The 18 - 25 males? Old washed up 30 year old Transformers fanatics? I had a hard time finding the "voice" in the Furman/IDW arc. It always bothers me when writers would put more time into creating new and poorly developed plot devices (Ore-13, whiny Carly, for example) instead of using some real talent by leveraging underused and under examined character motivations and relationships (tell us more about the relationship between the Seekers. What does being a leader of the Autobots truly mean, etc.). That's what I appreciated about IDW's ballsy move to create AHM. It was a STRECH. It was a RISK. That's what even a mediocre publishing company does: it pushes the envelope once in a while. They dare to hit the reset button.
I fully agree with this statement. Things that came to mind while reading your paragraph above: Powermaster Optimus Prime dealing with his doubts of being the leader of the Autobots in the original Marvel series, Scorponok/Lord Zarak's struggles and desires to be a good warrior and even going so far as to seek Optimus Prime's approval, Pretender Starscream's self doubt, Ratchet/Megatron's mind/body meld, the ongoing conflict between Megatrons and Galvatrons, etc.
AutobotTrainer wrote:I appreciate McCarthy's attempt to tell a story using plot lines that still exist from 20+ years ago. The seekers still as F-15's? Awesome. Why do they have to be F-22's? They are advanced, sentient warrior-robots for frick's sake. They could transform to monkeys on stilts and still destroy humanity. I appreciate AHM for it's boldness, successes and short comings. The artwork was spectacular. The destruction and bloodshed refreshing. The slow pace was regrettable, but not deserving of this damnation. The stupid robot bugs on Cybertron were deserving of an eye-roll. But overall, AHM was new while being familiar, dark yet direct. I am appreciative of the fact that it was an independent story arc. I also hope that IDW makes an attempt at something similar again: new, risky and using different writers and artists.
My biggest problem with it was that it is that this story could've been told in six issues or less. I was bored with the series by issue 7 or 8 and I haven't read past issue 10 because I have little desire to go to the comic story to keep reading comics that I'm bored with.
AutobotTrainer wrote:I'll end by saying I'm thankful that IDW makes Transformer comic books exist, thankful for McCarthy & Guidi's work, and thankful for Furman's dedication to continuing the Transformers story.
Not impressed with McCarthy at this time. The first issue of AHM had a lot of promise and I was excited about a new writer coming about but that's where it really ended for me much to my dismay. As for Furman ... again, he's a great writer when he has the boundaries defined for him. Otherwise, I feel like I'm reading Transformers comics written by someone with A.D.D.
I, too, am thankful that we have Transformers comics. I think my general opinion applies to most mainstream comics that I've read of recent years (Marvel, DC, IDW). They all seem to have lost focus. It's very obvious when I read the individual issues that they're all designed to be put in a trade paperback. Not every story fits into a 4 or 6 issue story arc. I guess I'd just like to see some stand alone episodes.
Three of my favorite TV series are House MD, Bones and Smallville. All three of those series are great at having stand alone episodes which may or may not have some themes that move the season's overall storyline forward. I don't have to watch every single episode to know what's going on. I wish comics were like that still.
