5 Page Preview from IDW Transformers #3 featuring Froid

Hope we'll find out why Elita One is a proto-Decepticon....

Wow, in the midst of all the blocks and right angles that make up the siege designs, Froid's Idw curves stand out like a sore thumb.

Sigh, I miss Alex Milne's designs.

Wireless_Phantom wrote:Here's hoping we get a toy of that Elita 1 design because it looks great

Pfft! Here's hoping we get a Froid toy!

Wireless_Phantom wrote:Here's hoping we get a toy of that Elita 1 design because it looks great

looking at her gauntlets and colour scheme, pretty sure this is based on the toy we already have.

Man, this right here makes it even harder to believe that this isn’t somehow tied up with the past IDW stories.

Am I the only who is having trouble adapting do the new Siege inspired designs? I'm used to Comic characters having a rather unique look, and seeing them based 9n the current hotline is jarring to me. It actually takes me out of the story.

I actually quite like the art and it's nice to see Reflector

But this looks like its more of the same from IDW so i won't be investing in it. I would've like another company take the reigns on Tranformers.

Happy for others to enjoy it though.

Ironhidensh wrote:Am I the only who is having trouble adapting do the new Siege inspired designs? I'm used to Comic characters having a rather unique look, and seeing them based 9n the current hotline is jarring to me. It actually takes me out of the story.

It really is weird and distracting. Using the toy designs this way creates this uncanny effect that makes each character look the same and indistinct. The problem, I think, is the shoulders and torso mostly. A lot of transformers toys have to have square shoulders and torsos because they're, well, toys. For the art, it makes a lot of the characters have really similar silhouettes. When the art further needs to be less developed in general to compensate for the abridged schedule (lots of shots where characters are colored silhouettes with lines through them), the effect is compounded.

The flashback shots with Quake were the worst offenders because there wasn't any color, removing another way to tell characters apart.

I want to add a caveat to my criticism that this isn't the artist's fault. There are a lot of vistas in this series I quite like. This was a boneheaded decision that happened in the planning process for the book that no one though about enough.

ricemazter wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:Am I the only who is having trouble adapting do the new Siege inspired designs? I'm used to Comic characters having a rather unique look, and seeing them based 9n the current hotline is jarring to me. It actually takes me out of the story.

It really is weird and distracting. Using the toy designs this way creates this uncanny effect that makes each character look the same and indistinct. The problem, I think, is the shoulders and torso mostly. A lot of transformers toys have to have square shoulders and torsos because they're, well, toys. For the art, it makes a lot of the characters have really similar silhouettes. When the art further needs to be less developed in general to compensate for the abridged schedule (lots of shots where characters are colored silhouettes with lines through them), the effect is compounded.

The flashback shots with Quake were the worst offenders because there wasn't any color, removing another way to tell characters apart.

I want to add a caveat to my criticism that this isn't the artist's fault. There are a lot of vistas in this series I quite like. This was a boneheaded decision that happened in the planning process for the book that no one though about enough.

It’s a style and nothing new. A lot of colorists do it. Josh Burcham did it through his entire run of MTMTE and Optimus Prime with big group shots and crowds. It dates back to the 60s and before.

Also what backing do you have to your claim that it was a “bonehead decision that happening in the planning process for the book that no one thought through” as you say? It’s the colorist’s style

Yeah, I've dropped the book. As others have said, there is nothing new here and throwing in IDW characters like Froid just adds to that issue. Worse than that, it is simply boring in it's predictability.

Moving on...

I will admit, I am very close to dropping the book. It's just not doing it for me. It's very dull and just as with Barber's Optimus Prime the pacing is super slow and drains all the fun. Plus, not a fan of the art and ultra heavy outlines against the background.

Did not have time for a full review yet (later today/tonight, probably) but I'm of two minds on it. The first handful of pages were engaging and the last few with Optimus were the right level of atmospheric/mysterious. Everything in between those wasn't objectively bad, sure, but it was just kinda boring. Boredom ain't good.

ScottyP wrote:Boredom ain't good.

Indeed. When you are trying to sell a new series, that isn't a feeling you should be giving your audience. Three issues in, G1 had Spider-Man, Infiltration was ramping up to an imminent confrontation, RiD had explosions and intrigue, and even MTMTE had a protracted chase issue with a Sparkeater. This book has an unremarkable off-panel death with zero stakes, largely off-panel protests/riots and far too much exposition dumping.

Is it me or is OP in this continuity really abrasive and short-tempered? I’m sure that can be chalked up to his pre-prime status but let’s hope they don’t make him too much of an unlikeable hardass.

Stormshot_Prime wrote:Is it me or is OP in this continuity really abrasive and short-tempered? I’m sure that can be chalked up to his pre-prime status but let’s hope they don’t make him too much of an unlikeable hardass.

I thought there were only three characterisations for Prime: Maudlin, God-Bot and hypocritical prick/jerk

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Stormshot_Prime wrote:Is it me or is OP in this continuity really abrasive and short-tempered? I’m sure that can be chalked up to his pre-prime status but let’s hope they don’t make him too much of an unlikeable hardass.

I thought there were only three characterisations for Prime: Maudlin, God-Bot and hypocritical prick/jerk

Ha. Let’s all pour one out for the one-time they actually did something new with OP’s personality in Animated.

Too true.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Stormshot_Prime wrote:Is it me or is OP in this continuity really abrasive and short-tempered? I’m sure that can be chalked up to his pre-prime status but let’s hope they don’t make him too much of an unlikeable hardass.

I thought there were only three characterisations for Prime: Maudlin, God-Bot and hypocritical prick/jerk

I'm a big fan of Cybertron's hybrid God-Bot + loveable youth soccer coach personality. This only applies to the dub, he's just plain stern/boring God-Bot in Galaxy Force.

I keep hoping this Prime will take things seriously while still keeping a lighter side. Maybe the upgrade armor will help if he even gets it.

Randomhero wrote:

ricemazter wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:Am I the only who is having trouble adapting do the new Siege inspired designs? I'm used to Comic characters having a rather unique look, and seeing them based 9n the current hotline is jarring to me. It actually takes me out of the story.

It really is weird and distracting. Using the toy designs this way creates this uncanny effect that makes each character look the same and indistinct. The problem, I think, is the shoulders and torso mostly. A lot of transformers toys have to have square shoulders and torsos because they're, well, toys. For the art, it makes a lot of the characters have really similar silhouettes. When the art further needs to be less developed in general to compensate for the abridged schedule (lots of shots where characters are colored silhouettes with lines through them), the effect is compounded.

The flashback shots with Quake were the worst offenders because there wasn't any color, removing another way to tell characters apart.

I want to add a caveat to my criticism that this isn't the artist's fault. There are a lot of vistas in this series I quite like. This was a boneheaded decision that happened in the planning process for the book that no one though about enough.

It’s a style and nothing new. A lot of colorists do it. Josh Burcham did it through his entire run of MTMTE and Optimus Prime with big group shots and crowds. It dates back to the 60s and before.

Also what backing do you have to your claim that it was a “bonehead decision that happening in the planning process for the book that no one thought through” as you say? It’s the colorist’s style

I apologize, but I think you misunderstood my post. I'm not criticizing the line artist or the colorist, and I agree that taking color away to dramatize flashback scenes is pretty standard.

What I'm calling a "boneheaded decision" is the choice to use toy designs for the character models.

My point in talking about the flashback scene was that, because almost all the characters are designed with square shoulders and box shaped torsos to match the toys, it means that none of the characters in the flashback shot look distinct because they're all the same color. My overall point is that this wouldn't be a problem if the characters had different silhouettes.

My only point here is that using the toy designs for every character was a bad one and it makes the book feel off.