Five-Page Preview of IDW’S Transformers: Beast Wars #1

Randomhero wrote:Scotty Young? Seriously. How is anyone comparing this to Scotty Young and not Geoff Senior? That’s exactly what Josh is doing. His art is very Geoff Senior.

First issue was a solid read. You get a real feel for many of the characters, and how they're going to differ from their original BW counterparts. This is a new take on Primal, which works very well. He's itching for adventure, and he's about to get it. The relationship between Rhinox and Primal gets more development in a couple panels than all the episodes of the first season combined. Rattrap is his old self.

Megatron is written flawlessly, and exactly as you remember him in his scene-chewing glory. The other Preds at least have some characterization in the brief panels they appear, but it's clear: Megatron is pushing this narrative forward. The seeds for Dinobots eventual face turn are in the preview pages, so I don't feel I'm spoiling anything there. And Waspinator is a pilot!

The Comixology version features sketches of the characters in their Cybertronian forms, both robot and vehicle. This was a neat feature that I assume the paper version will also have?

Similarities to the show: The planet the crew lands on has two moons, and floating mountains are implied in the background. There's a golden disc. They need to stay in beast mode largely for plot device reasons. And when the Axalon got pulled into the transwarp field, the '90s metal guitar riff from the show went through my mind.

If you liked the show, give this book a chance. If you like a fun narrative with well-defined characters, give this book a chance. The first issue shows promise.

Sabrblade wrote:A brief fan review of the first issue:

It was okay. Basically a retelling of the Theft of the Golden Disk and the first 6 minutes of the first episode. I don't like Primal's characterization so far. Getting a cocksure or reckless vibe from him and it's not sitting well with me. Not much to comment on story wise because it's just setting up the premise. We'll see where it ends up.

Also I forgot how much I hate the release schedule of comics. Once a month you get the equivalent of 10 minutes of TV for $3-5. I prefer trade paperbacks, but I don't want to wait.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Except those changes to Primal make him someone else. Primal only became reckless in his Beast Machines characterisation. He isn't some gung-ho cadet, like Animated Prime. His calculated and level-headed competence, demonstrated from The Pilot Part 1 to Nemesis Part 2, is what sets him apart from his contemporaries.

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Except those changes to Primal make him someone else. Primal only became reckless in his Beast Machines characterisation. He isn't some gung-ho cadet, like Animated Prime. His calculated and level-headed competence, demonstrated from The Pilot Part 1 to Nemesis Part 2, is what sets him apart from his contemporaries.

That's Cartoon Universe Optimus Primal, this is Comic Universe Optimus Primal. This is the equivalent of G1 Cartoon Blaster (jammin' dude) vs. G1 Marvel Blaster (grim rebel), or G1 Cartoon Shockwave (Megatron's loyal yesman) vs. G1 Marvel Shockwave (logic-serving usurper), or Armada Cartoon Tidal Wave (big dumb juggernaut) vs. Armada Comic Tidal Wave (intelligent manipulator), or Energon Cartoon Ironhide (young doofus) vs. Energon Comic Ironhide (cautious scientist).

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Or in other words: an actual reboot

Is it still a reboot if it is a virtual play by play recreation

Sabrblade wrote:"Paying homage" and "replicating everything exactly the same down to the smallest detail" are not the same thing.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Yes. This could start in a similar territory, and then dive off into new stuff suddenly. Besides, new characters, new characteristics, some different back story stuff = not the same.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Reboot doesn't mean literal hard reset from the get go everytime.