The Energon Pub

ive no problem with the art.

i like to see experimentation on that front from the publisher as sometimes it can pay off. it also reminds me of somthing but for the life of me i cant place it (the closest thing i can think of is "digitek" waaaay back in the day)

but i wont be getting this.

just dont like the whole idea of the book and the character doesnt enthuse me at all.these days it cost too much money to splash out on something im not completely behind.

kinda irked that this gets made in what looks like a cynical marketing move while theres literally hunderds of pre existing characters out there being ignored too. its not a MAJOR element , but i have to admit its there. theres just something very "90s marvel" feeling wise about the whole endevour IMO.

if this was DJD book for instance, i'd be all over it, but windblade ?

nah.

ill prob get it in trade when its going cheap in a years time or so.

I read it and I liked it. The art has it's moments. I thought a few panels looked really bad but overall the color work was nice.

Well, I got it and I just finished reading it. I have to be honest here, other than the Beast Wars IDW books and the Dreamwave Transformers: Universe Wreckers/Beast Wars stories, I haven't read any comics (Transformers or otherwise) in years.

I'm extremely picky when it comes to my fiction, be it books, movies or TV shows (and they always seem to cancel the shows I like and replace them with crap [goodbye Young Justice, farewell Spectacular Spiderman, I miss you both ]) and in general, particularly with regards to Transformers, I LOATHE comics. The main reason being the sprawling story lines that change direction at the drop of a hat because a new (or old) writer gets a wild hair up his/her butt to redefine the universe, make everything a 'dream' (or alternate universe/alternate reality/alternate timeline/alternate dimension/alternate [insert any other pitiful excuse for one artist failing to recognize and respect the existing worldbuilding and creativity by past authors and their longtime fans here, including and ESPECIALLY reboots, though those aren't always necessarily bad]).

All that said, I picked this book up because the art on the cover has intrigued me since it was first shown/previewed (on this very site no less) and because I'm excited to see what this new red female Autobot jet that was chosen by the fans really looks like (and yes, I'm totally buying the Windblade toy, so hurry the hell up and get her out already Hasbro so that I can buy both your version as well as Takara's ) and I'm not sorry at all that I did. It's a really neat story and Windblade is a fascinating, sweet and playful character who views Cybertron through fresh, and somewhat innocent (naïve, at least at first maybe?) eyes. I love the artwork too. It's abstract without being obscure/indiscernible and the pastel colors are vibrant and really work with the style and bring a lighter tone to a sometimes dark/bleak story and strike a very nice balance. It also creates a very 'Windblade' vibe to me if that makes any sense at all (this being based on my impressions of her character so far after having read the first book in this series).

I don't know if I'll be digging into any of the other TF comics. Most likely not. But I am going to read this series for sure. Oh, and did I mention that there are cameos by Rattrap (hanging out with frickin' Starscream of all people ), Waspinator and Tankor (the Beast Machines Tankor, not the renamed Octane, though he's in there too )? For a Beast Wars fanatic like me, that's just icing on the chrome plated cake .

Anyway, for those of you who've not scoped this book yet, I highly recommend it (obviously). Especially if you're looking for something a bit different from your run of the mill transdimensional shoot-em'-up/blow-em'-up/punch-em'-up "oh noez teh wurld iz ending cuz' teh bad guyz haz teh mighty McGuffin o'DOOOOOM!/something catastrophic and universe shattering is happening! because we need an excuse to scrap all past continuities and re-create/modernize all of our old characters for the 'new' generation right now!!!" kinda book(s). It's an actual story with character and kinda reminds me of good old school anime which tells a character driven story in a slightly unique way with a different perspective than what you're used to. At least that's what I'm getting out of it so far. We'll see if the next 3 in this 4 part series hold up as well, but I'm hopeful they will. Needless to say, I liked the book and I'm now a fan of Windblade. She's not a super ninja badass/samurai warrior that I was afraid she was going to be (although her having some great fighting skills are alluded to, though never really illustrated, but that's not a bad thing in my opinion for the context of the story being told). She's essentially a nice person in a bad situation who is just smart enough to ask the most important question any good character should ask in these situations: "Where are we going and why are we all in this hand basket?"

So TL;DR: I like Windblade. Good book. Read it.

So far, I'm not impressed. It was okay, and honestly a whole lot better than BH Dinobots but it has a long way to go. The art for me is hit or miss. It almost seems a little too Disney Princess for my tastes. Almost a whiff of Pixar concept art in there. I half expected Chromia to ask Windblade is she "wants to build a snowman"

I kinda wish someone would just show up and RANT INCOHERENTLY about how bad this book was for a change of pace... but apparently no one has the courage to go against the masses anymore.

The Windblade book had Transformers in it, but lacks the magic of the '84-'85 Marvel run and the Dreamwave ongoing. It's not even good compared to IDWs low standards! It was a BORING read, and the illustrations were ripped straight out of a Chinese food menu.

I do not like what IDW is doing and Hasbro does not know what the hell they are doing when they CO-SIGN IDWs foolishness! I wish I could speak to the Transformer characters themselves. I would say "If you're an Autobot whose name isn't Skyfire and you turn into a jet, maybe you need to ask yourself if you are ruining this franchise". I would say "if you are a Decepticon rolling on 4 wheels, you are ruining the whole point of even having factions and ruining THE ENTIRE WAR!" Truthfully, if you did not appear on the '84-'85 checklist you are destroying this franchise!

So, the franchise has been ruined for the past twenty eight, out of thirty years?

1984forever wrote:I do not like what IDW is doing and Hasbro does not know what the hell they are doing when they CO-SIGN IDWs foolishness! I wish I could speak to the Transformer characters themselves. I would say "If you're an Autobot whose name isn't Skyfire and you turn into a jet, maybe you need to ask yourself if you are ruining this franchise". I would say "if you are a Decepticon rolling on 4 wheels, you are ruining the whole point of even having factions and ruining THE ENTIRE WAR!" Truthfully, if you did not appear on the '84-'85 checklist you are destroying this franchise!

No, No buddy; keep going, tell us how you really feel . In fact lets add windblade to the TFwiki ruined forever page, looks good near oooh lets everything else in TF history .


Also, you're username's 1984forever, don't mention 85 or at least change your screen name to "1984forever with minor exception"

1984forever wrote:(...)the illustrations were ripped straight out of a Chinese food menu.

Well, I for one have never been to a Chinese joint where they had Transformers images on the menu pages.

Besides, with all the pretty colors, one would have thought the book would appeal to your juvenile existence.

Aaaaanywho, did anyone else feel as though this book should have come out after RID or MTMTE? It seemed to me like that would jive, as there was no mention of the Lost Light or whatever Optimus is doing. (I'm trying to find the words...) essentially O wish the other books had come out before we got this one.

Bought this digitally, heartily enjoyed it. Made sure to subscribe on Comixology, and sent in a letter that will hopefully be published. Good work, both art and writing wise.

1984forever wrote:I wish I could speak to the Transformer characters themselves. I would say "If you're an Autobot whose name isn't Skyfire and you turn into a jet, maybe you need to ask yourself if you are ruining this franchise". I would say "if you are a Decepticon rolling on 4 wheels, you are ruining the whole point of even having factions and ruining THE ENTIRE WAR!" Truthfully, if you did not appear on the '84-'85 checklist you are destroying this franchise!

Because the Aerialbots and the Stunticons clearly ruined the war. Gotcha.

guarayakha wrote:

1984forever wrote:I wish I could speak to the Transformer characters themselves. I would say "If you're an Autobot whose name isn't Skyfire and you turn into a jet, maybe you need to ask yourself if you are ruining this franchise". I would say "if you are a Decepticon rolling on 4 wheels, you are ruining the whole point of even having factions and ruining THE ENTIRE WAR!" Truthfully, if you did not appear on the '84-'85 checklist you are destroying this franchise!

Because the Aerialbots and the Stunticons clearly ruined the war. Gotcha.

Yup. The Aerialbots made Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker seem weak, and the Stunticons made Autobots like Ironhide seem useless. The Aerialbots and Stunticons made the war about them in much the same way Windblade is making post war life about her! People are asking about a Windblade ongoing... what about a Sunstreaker ongoing? Or better yet, Jazz? Both are better characters.

Down_Shift wrote:I half expected Chromia to ask Windblade is she "wants to build a snowman"

Someone needs to draw this!

1984forever wrote:

guarayakha wrote:

1984forever wrote:I wish I could speak to the Transformer characters themselves. I would say "If you're an Autobot whose name isn't Skyfire and you turn into a jet, maybe you need to ask yourself if you are ruining this franchise". I would say "if you are a Decepticon rolling on 4 wheels, you are ruining the whole point of even having factions and ruining THE ENTIRE WAR!" Truthfully, if you did not appear on the '84-'85 checklist you are destroying this franchise!

Because the Aerialbots and the Stunticons clearly ruined the war. Gotcha.

Yup. The Aerialbots made Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker seem weak, and the Stunticons made Autobots like Ironhide seem useless. The Aerialbots and Stunticons made the war about them in much the same way Windblade is making post war life about her! People are asking about a Windblade ongoing... what about a Sunstreaker ongoing? Or better yet, Jazz? Both are better characters.

Oh, get over yourself, man. The Arialbots and Stunticons were introduced in CHILDRENS'S CARTOON. One that was not exactly known for it's stellar writing. What did Sunstreaker EVER do that makes him cooler than the Stunticons? The only thing I remember him doing in the cartoon was complaining about his paint job. God in Heaven!

1984forever wrote:I kinda wish someone would just show up and RANT INCOHERENTLY about how bad this book was for a change of pace... but apparently no one has the courage to go against the masses anymore.

The Windblade book had Transformers in it, but lacks the magic of the '84-'85 Marvel run and the Dreamwave ongoing. It's not even good compared to IDWs low standards! It was a BORING read, and the illustrations were ripped straight out of a Chinese food menu.

I do not like what IDW is doing and Hasbro does not know what the hell they are doing when they CO-SIGN IDWs foolishness! I wish I could speak to the Transformer characters themselves. I would say "If you're an Autobot whose name isn't Skyfire and you turn into a jet, maybe you need to ask yourself if you are ruining this franchise". I would say "if you are a Decepticon rolling on 4 wheels, you are ruining the whole point of even having factions and ruining THE ENTIRE WAR!" Truthfully, if you did not appear on the '84-'85 checklist you are destroying this franchise!

I refuse to believe you're being serious. I've seen you post on a few boards, and your posts are always like this. The franchise isn't for you anymore. No shame in that. Time to bow-out and try something else. Do something that makes you happy. Obviously transformers isn't it.

So I read it, and I have to say ... meh.

For months we've basically had news of this mini-series shoved in our faces. It's going to be awesome, Windblade is going to be a great character etc etc.

I failed to see it.

What I saw was High School Drama.

You have the young teenage girl lead, unsure of her place in the big bad world. Then you have the older sister who has clearly been burned and has become cynical.

And then you have the jock, the one that clearly has a "crush" on the lead but being the jock he can't show it so he bullies her.

That was my interpretation. Don't bother telling me how wrong I am. You won't be changing MY opinion.

Burn wrote:So I read it, and I have to say ... meh.

For months we've basically had news of this mini-series shoved in our faces. It's going to be awesome, Windblade is going to be a great character etc etc.

I failed to see it.

What I saw was High School Drama.

You have the young teenage girl lead, unsure of her place in the big bad world. Then you have the older sister who has clearly been burned and has become cynical.

And then you have the jock, the one that clearly has a "crush" on the lead but being the jock he can't show it so he bullies her.

That was my interpretation. Don't bother telling me how wrong I am. You won't be changing MY opinion.

Whoa. I'm a little surprised that you know so much about high school dramas.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:

Burn wrote:So I read it, and I have to say ... meh.

For months we've basically had news of this mini-series shoved in our faces. It's going to be awesome, Windblade is going to be a great character etc etc.

I failed to see it.

What I saw was High School Drama.

You have the young teenage girl lead, unsure of her place in the big bad world. Then you have the older sister who has clearly been burned and has become cynical.

And then you have the jock, the one that clearly has a "crush" on the lead but being the jock he can't show it so he bullies her.

That was my interpretation. Don't bother telling me how wrong I am. You won't be changing MY opinion.

Whoa. I'm a little surprised that you know so much about high school dramas.

He watches a lot of them.

That actually sounds incredibly terrible Burn.
Then again, I might get some enjoyment out of reading it and the insane responses from the tumblar "feminist" community as they tear it to shreds and decry it as super misogynist, anti-feminist, racist, homophobic and transphobic for being both too cliche and stereotypical female, while not being traditionally female enough.

Yea, I've been reading too many of their blogs as of late.

Eh, waiting on the trade just like with all the other series. The art has me a little torn at the moment, the more I look at it. It's just too "nice and pretty".
The more I see of Starscream, the less I want to see him, he looks like the artist has a crush on him. He's drawn so disgustingly bishi, I keep expecting him to drop his codpiece and make out with everybody in the room. Thank you DeviantArt....

Dead Metal wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Whoa. I'm a little surprised that you know so much about high school dramas. :lol:

He watches a lot of them.

I blame Buffy.

And yes, the art ... it's nice, but a little too "cute".

From all the hype (and there was a lot!) I was expecting this tough female lead, that definitely wasn't the case with this issue. Hopefully that comes out in future issues, otherwise I'll be proven right and that all the hype was just that, hype to sell a book that was destined to be terrible.

And you don't like me when I'm right. >:oP

Dead Metal wrote:Then again, I might get some enjoyment out of reading it and the insane responses from the tumblar "feminist" community as they tear it to shreds and decry it as super misogynist, anti-feminist, racist, homophobic and transphobic for being both too cliche and stereotypical female, while not being traditionally female enough.

It isn't. It treats Windblade and Chromia just as any other character. They just happen to identify (by the author and more or less themselves, in fiction) as cisgender/AFAB women - as Scott said a while back on her own blog.

Well I read it, and I thought it was okay, I liked it alright, it wasn't the ruination of all that is holy with transfomres, that some people thought it would be. I agree with burn on the highschool drama aspect at least with Windblade being overtly naive, and making starscream seem like he has a hate-crush (as urban dictionary called it) for her. The part I honestly liked was the bar scene, not because they were talking about how much of a dick starscream is; but just because of the environment there. XD Honestly I want like a couple of Vignettes based around Blurr's bar.

I'll admit that it was definitely not up to the hype, but then again I thought Dark Cybertron was the same way. But I enjoy it for what it is, so I'm okay with that.

In any event, I feel the stroy will be better as a whole; they usually do, IMO.

Burn wrote:And you don't like me when I'm right. >:oP

I hardly like you if you're wrong, so yeah.

Wonder that Why the cover of SarahStone's doesn't available in Amazon ? ONLY THE OTHER TWO..

Va'al wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Then again, I might get some enjoyment out of reading it and the insane responses from the tumblar "feminist" community as they tear it to shreds and decry it as super misogynist, anti-feminist, racist, homophobic and transphobic for being both too cliche and stereotypical female, while not being traditionally female enough.

It isn't. It treats Windblade and Chromia just as any other character. They just happen to identify (by the author and more or less themselves, in fiction) as cisgender/AFAB women - as Scott said a while back on her own blog.

Doesn't matter what the characters, the story, the writers, the editor, the company or common sense says, tubmlar "feminists" will criticize it as that and if they feel like it will create a hashtag on twitter to have it banned and the author fired.
It's just how those loonies work, all the while dragging feminism's name down.

TaylorAda wrote:Wonder that Why the cover of SarahStone's doesn't available in Amazon ? ONLY THE OTHER TWO..

Ah, that'll be because it's a retailer incentive/subscription cover - you need to buy it from a shop, after having asked for a subscription!