IDW Announce New Transformers: Escape Miniseries
Wednesday, September 16th, 2020 3:07PM CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Press ReleasesPosted by: ZeroWolf Views: 101,072
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Here is IDW’S press release along with a look at the first two covers.
IDW wrote:IDW’s New Transformers: Escape Comic Book Views “World War” Through the Eyes of Rescuers and Refugees
Cybertron’s Civil War Rages On in Five-Part Comic Book Miniseries
SAN DIEGO, CA (September 16, 2020) – IDW will expand the universe of the ongoing Transformers comic books with an all-new miniseries entitled Transformers: Escape, focusing on a handful of fan-favorite Autobots scrambling to save innocent bystanders from the war between Cybertronian factions. Written by Brian Ruckley, architect of IDW’s Transformers continuity since 2019, and illustrated by Bethany McGuire-Smith, Transformers: Escape is a five-issue monthly series slated for release beginning in December.
As Cybertron descends into a state of war, countless civilians — unaligned with the Autobots, Decepticons, or any faction — are caught in the crossfire. Fortunately, a solution may be coming, as Wheeljack, Hound, Nautica, and some of Cybertron’s greatest (and most infamous) scientists seek to reactivate the Ark program and evacuate the planet with huge spaceships. On the verge of war, will their efforts be enough to escape?
“Escape’s a cocktail of what I love most about Transformers, with some of my favorite characters and a few surprise guest stars caught up in a pretty epic escalation,” says Ruckley. “I’ve always thought it would be a pretty terrifying, bewildering experience for aliens – non-Cybertronians – to be caught between warring factions of big transforming robots. We’re exploring the question: Who are the most dangerous Cybertronians of all?”
“I'm excited to be working on this awesome chapter in the Transformers storyline,” says McGuire-Smith. “From the perspective of Hound and Wheeljack, we will see what matters most when so many lives are on the line… and whom they can really trust as multiple threats rise.”
“From the launch in 2019, the Transformers universe that's unfolded in the ongoing series and in Transformers: Galaxies has been about showing Cybertronians from exciting new perspectives,” says editor David Mariotte. “That's why we're thrilled to have Brian Ruckley and Beth McGuire-Smith reuniting to dig into the lives of faces both new and familiar as war breaks out and how they respond to the other inhabitants of Cybertron.”
Transformers: Escape #1 will be available with multiple cover variants for retailers and fans to enjoy, each by an established Transformers comic book artist. Cover A features illustration from series artist Bethany McGuire-Smith, Cover B from Winston Chan, and two Retailer Incentive editions feature art by Sara Pitre-Durocher and Alex Milne, respectively.
For information on how to acquire copies of the Transformers comic books, please contact your local comic shop or visit www.comicshoplocator.com to find a store near you.
About IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing (IDWP), a subsidiary of IDW Media Holdings Inc. (OTC PINK: IDWM), is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, trade paperbacks, and tabletop games. IDWP is one of the top four publishers of comic books and graphic novels in the U.S. with a library of world-renowned licensed content and original series. IDWP’s critically-acclaimed imprints include Top Shelf Productions, Artist’s Editions, EuroComics, The Library of American Comics, Sunday Press, and Yoe! Books.
About Hasbro
Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and entertainment company committed to Creating the World's Best Play and Entertainment Experiences. From toys, games and consumer products to television, movies, digital gaming, live action, music, and virtual reality experiences, Hasbro connects to global audiences by bringing to life great innovations, stories and brands across established and inventive platforms. Hasbro’s iconic brands include NERF, MAGIC: THE GATHERING, MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH, MONOPOLY, BABY ALIVE, POWER RANGERS, PEPPA PIG and PJ MASKS, as well as premier partner brands. Through its global entertainment studio, eOne, Hasbro is building its brands globally through great storytelling and content on all screens. Hasbro is committed to making the world a better place for all children and all families through corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Hasbro ranked among the 2020 100 Best Corporate Citizens by 3BL Media and has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past nine years. We routinely share important business and brand updates on our Investor Relations website, Newsroom and social channels (@Hasbro on Twitter and Instagram.)
Will you be trying this miniseries? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
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Posted by Rodimus Prime on September 16th, 2020 @ 11:01pm CDT
Posted by Hero Alpha on September 16th, 2020 @ 11:44pm CDT
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 17th, 2020 @ 7:53am CDT
But then I saw the same writer as the ongoing penning these and lost all interest.
It's a shame that in an era of fantastic toys the media has been so lackluster the past 2 years save for the Cyberverse cartoon, the series ironically with the weakest toys.
Posted by Big Grim on September 17th, 2020 @ 8:33am CDT
~ Grim
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on September 17th, 2020 @ 12:09pm CDT
Posted by partholon on September 17th, 2020 @ 12:14pm CDT
im starting to think theyre trying to give the costa run a run for its money.
Posted by Stormshot_Prime on September 17th, 2020 @ 1:16pm CDT
When the 2005 continuity brought together grab bags of characters, it felt right and written to make it feel so. In this series it’s just “let’s see who we can haphazardly put on a team together.” But these relationships now just lack substance.
I know it took the 2005 series a good number of years to truly get to the good stuff, but it seems this new series doesn’t want to grow, it just wants to already be good and full of long-standing lore.
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on September 17th, 2020 @ 2:26pm CDT
Stormshot_Prime wrote:I know it took the 2005 series a good number of years to truly get to the good stuff,
Personally I found it the reverse. The Furman Run and Wreckers books were the most interesting part of IDWverse. This new continuity simply tries to ape the work of Barber & Roberts without putting in the effort or building atop of strong foundation. The end result brings nothing new to the table aside from making Transformers boring. Which, to me at least, is a first. Even the worst books of the Marvel Run didn't bore you.
Posted by KorsO on November 21st, 2020 @ 9:00am CST
Long time haven't left a reply around here. Either way, hope all are doing ok amidst this lingering pandemic.
Checked in often but even that has lessen a lot, i guess its not hard to figure generally why that is (even for many it seems).
Having said that, would just would like to inquire how is this new reboot series sales doing so far? It has been around 2 years now.
Does it have traction in terms of business made since its still coming out?
I do believe that there is some form of a parallel between a TF series reception and the amount of people participating in the forums. Even reviews are no longer up.
Anyway? How can one find out about this yeah (sales)? Just a general inquiry.
Info is much appreciated in advance. Thanks.
Posted by ZeroWolf on December 30th, 2020 @ 5:38pm CST
Here is the official write up for this issue:
IDW wrote:Transformers: Escape #1 (of 5)—Cover A: Bethany McGuire-Smith—GEM
Brian Ruckley (w) • Bethany McGuire-Smith (a & c)
“World War” spills into this all-new limited series! As Cybertron descends into a state of war, countless civilians—unaligned with the Autobots, Decepticons, or any faction—are caught in the crossfire. Fortunately, a solution may be coming... Wheeljack, Hound, and some of Cybertron’s greatest (and most infamous) scientists seek to reactivate the Ark program and evacuate the planet with huge spaceships. On the verge of war, will their efforts be enough to escape?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Transformers: Escape #1 (of 5)—Cover B: Winston Chan—GEM
Brian Ruckley (w) • Bethany McGuire-Smith (a) • Winston Chan (c)
*Retailer incentives:
Order 10 copies and get one free variant cover by Sara Pitre-Durocher!
Order 25 copies and get one free variant cover by Alex Milne!
Order any number of copies and receive your order fully returnable!
We have mirrored them below for your convenience!
Transformers: Escape #1 is out next week!
What do you think of this preview? Are you going to give this series a go? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
Posted by Nexus Knight on December 30th, 2020 @ 10:43pm CST
Posted by ZeroWolf on April 23rd, 2021 @ 12:03pm CDT
PreviewsWorld wrote:(W) Brian Ruckley (A/CA) Bethany McGuire-Smith
As preparations for the escape ships continue, Wheeljack and Hound work to move what remains of the A'ovan population and habitat to a safe location for evacuation. Unfortunately, the Insecticons are insatiable and a caravan full of Cybertronian and organic life is too good a meal to pass up.
Don't forget you can get comics like this from the Seibertron Store! Either the latest releases or back issues if that's what you're after!
Have you been keeping up to date with this miniseries? What do you think of it so far?
Shout out in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
Posted by BumbleDouche on April 23rd, 2021 @ 2:05pm CDT
Posted by Rodimus Prime on April 23rd, 2021 @ 7:47pm CDT
Posted by BumbleDouche on April 23rd, 2021 @ 11:13pm CDT
Rodimus Prime wrote:I wouldn't call it sloppy, but it could be more lively.
I'm sorry, but while I agree it could be more lively, my main complaint is still the sloppiness!
The action shots are messy with lines everywhere - there's no consistency to the shapes or forms between panels & some of the details aren't even drawn in properly, with unfinished half-lines scrawled in all over the place! It looks like any bits that might have called for extra detail were deemed too hard & so purposely drawn small or just scribbled on in the vague hope that either the colorist might hide the laziness, or that they might go unnoticed alongside the large, boring blanks of bland, nothing backgrounds. There are small attempts at detail on some of the bots, but in these instances, areas of incomplete lineart result in poorly defined borders where it's obvious the colorist has been forced to fend for herself in trying to fill in & make sense out of whatever the artist was trying to convey! If half-assing your work so badly that you rely totally on the next person to pick up your slack isn't sloppiness, I don't know what is!
Look at Panel 3 on Page 2: what the heck is going on with Kickback's legs? You could argue that it's not an important detail - the main point of the panel is still clear - but is that really the level of quality we've come to expect from IDW, from professional comic book artists? Just look at Bombshell's head in... well, any of it really, but particularly Panel 1 of Page 4: it took me a while to even register that it was supposed to be Bombshell in the first place! Aside from it's questionable shading & shape, it looks like he's wearing a helmet within another helmet - which is bizarre - and his trademark "headdress" is no longer trademark or even a headdress - in that it's completely unfamiliar & now more like part of a backpack rather than attached to his head. On top of that, the shape of the protrusions seem to alternate between panels, sometimes appearing blade-like, at other times more like the familiar, cylindrical shapes of old.
Overall, it just seems like there's a lot of empty space on the page, and where there isn't empty space, we get what looks like something very hastily drawn with very little attention to detail. A similar argument could be made for the Beast Wars book, although I'd at least venture to say the lines in that book are more confidently drawn. Combine the two, add the lackluster dull-fest that is the current ongoing and we have a trifecta of disappointment from IDW! It may well be that Alex Milne, Casey Coller, Guido Guidi, etc. are difficult, high-class art acts to follow, but surely we can do better than this?
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think even Ramondeli would be an improvement - at least his ultra gritty detail does help hide the fact that he can't draw lol.
- END RANT -
Posted by Rodimus Prime on April 24th, 2021 @ 1:10am CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on April 24th, 2021 @ 2:45am CDT
Rodimus Prime wrote:Well I don't claim to be any kind of expert, I just know what I like. I'm a huge fan of the original Marvel G1 art, especially Guidi and Wildman. Alex Milne is pretty good as well. This style? While I don't find it repulsive like Geoff Senior' style, it does leave something to be desired. It's too simple and flat. But at least the colors are decent. If it was a good story, the art would be good enough to give a pass. But I haven't even read any of this get, on the chance that it's like the main ongoing and is boring.
While I've not read this one either, I'm more on the side that the fact this is a miniseries (4 or 5 issues) the pacing should be a lot faster to match so if they made it as boring as the ongoing...well that would be an achievement of sorts.
Posted by Rodimus Prime on April 24th, 2021 @ 7:49am CDT
Posted by BumbleDouche on April 25th, 2021 @ 10:53am CDT
Rodimus Prime wrote:Well I don't claim to be any kind of expert, I just know what I like. I'm a huge fan of the original Marvel G1 art, especially Guidi and Wildman. Alex Milne is pretty good as well. This style? While I don't find it repulsive like Geoff Senior' style, it does leave something to be desired. It's too simple and flat. But at least the colors are decent. If it was a good story, the art would be good enough to give a pass. But I haven't even read any of this get, on the chance that it's like the main ongoing and is boring.
Yeah, art is always subjective, which is usually why I don't say anything. I think you're probably right about the story - if that aspect were OK, we'd let the art slide. Probably how Ramondelli & Geoff Senior keep getting work lol. When both art and story are seriously lacking, it really draws attention to all the faults...
Posted by ScottyP on June 15th, 2021 @ 2:23pm CDT
Enjoy the preview and look out for this book digitally, at your local comic shop, or on the Seibertron.com eBay store tomorrow.
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on June 24th, 2021 @ 7:35pm CDT