IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016 3:39am CDT

Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: Va'al Views: 21,888

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We have seen the solicitations from IDW Publishing for November 2016 here, with the first full reveal of the new ongoing series Optimus Prime, at the hands of John Barber and newcoming artist Kei Zama - a series that takes over from the current The Transformers ongoing, and that sees a 'corkscrew from space', that ring any bells? Below, find three full covers via Comics Alliance for this new start in the IDWverse for Transformers, from Zama, Sonny Liew and Andrew Griffith, plus a reminder of the solicit!

Optimus Prime #1— GEM OF THE MONTH
John Barber (w) • Kei Zama (a & c)
REVOLUTION is over—but the danger to Earth is just beginning. As OPTIMUS PRIME pulls Earth into the larger universe, he’s painted a target on Earth… and a new alien incursion begins when a corkscrew shaped craft drills into our world!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 11/16/16

Transformers News: IDW Optimus Prime Ongoing Discussion Thread

Credit(s): ComicsAlliance

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Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1823666)
Posted by Kurona on September 11th, 2016 @ 12:13pm CDT

Quintessons are gonna be bizarre in IDW. I'm wondering if and somewhat hoping they'll get a redesign, because the original one is a little hard to take seriously.

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1823669)
Posted by Tyrannacon on September 11th, 2016 @ 12:40pm CDT

I doubt they will get re-design. Remember Pentius? I think he kept the look (haven't read the comic, just have read about). I have not noticed any major departure from the previous design with him. I do agree though, they are hard to take seriously with their original design.

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1823675)
Posted by Kurona on September 11th, 2016 @ 1:06pm CDT

Tyrannacon wrote:I doubt they will get re-design. Remember Pentius? I think he kept the look (haven't read the comic, just have read about). I have not noticed any major departure from the previous design with him. I do agree though, they are hard to take seriously with their original design.

Oh woah, I didn't know they'd already appeared in IDW. I really need to read the pre-DoOP stuff...

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1823759)
Posted by Tyrannacon on September 11th, 2016 @ 6:32pm CDT

Hey, don't feel bad. I haven't read all of the comics my self entirely. I was getting a few of them here and there, but have just been reading the summaries and such as they come out to stay up on it. I was doing this before in between pays with reading up on the characters in the comics on TFWiki to get up to speed for when I was able to have money to get the comics.

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1825304)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 15th, 2016 @ 8:58pm CDT

Preview World has provided us with an interview today for the upcoming Transformers: Optimus Prime ongoing series. The interview features John Barber, who will be writing the series and is the current author the Transformers ongoing, set to have its concluding issue later this month prior to the Revolution crossover. You can check out the full interview by clicking the link above, and we have mirrored some of the interview below for you to read. The series will be beginning in November.

Optimus Prime As Both Statesman & Soldier

PREVIEWSworld: What reverberations from Revolution will carry over into the events of Optimus Prime #1 (SEP160404)?

John Barber: Not to give anything away, but as Revolution starts, Optimus is in a fairly antagonistic relationship with ... well, almost everybody. He’s come to Earth and said the whole planet is going to be part of Cybertron’s Council of World, without asking if the people of Earth wanted to be in it — or if the people of Cybertron wanted them. He’s doing this because he thinks he’s out of options to protect the Earth — he’s tried fighting evil Cybertronians, tried leaving the place alone. But bringing Earth into Cybertron’s fold is the only thing he hasn’t tried.

.....

PREVIEWSworld: Describe your working relationship with artist Kei Zama. How have you two got along during production? How does the chemistry work, and why is Kei the best person for this book?

John Barber: I’ve known of Kei for a while — she’s friends with Andrew Griffith, who drew the Transformers series. I’d been working with him for years, and he — understandably — wanted to take a break from Transformers and work on some other characters for a little while. So I knew there was going to be a change.

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1825341)
Posted by Mkall on September 15th, 2016 @ 11:56pm CDT

So is this gong to be the 4th ongoing TF series?

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1825345)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 16th, 2016 @ 12:06am CDT

Mkall wrote:So is this gong to be the 4th ongoing TF series?

This is replacing ex-RiD, so essentially they are the same thing, different name

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1825358)
Posted by Insurgent on September 16th, 2016 @ 3:45am CDT

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:
Mkall wrote:So is this gong to be the 4th ongoing TF series?

This is replacing ex-RiD, so essentially they are the same thing, different name

Phew. That's a relief. Because a fourth ongoing would have been too much. Even three is pushing it.

Also, I really like Kei's artwork. Got a print she did at TFN of the season 1 Maximals. Looks awesome.

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1825363)
Posted by Kurona on September 16th, 2016 @ 4:04am CDT

Hope we get to see more of Cosmos. I know it sounds a bit odd and specific, but he is one of the better characters in the current roster imo.

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1825543)
Posted by 1984forever on September 16th, 2016 @ 5:13pm CDT

New title, same crappy line up.

It's got the weakest version of Optimus Prime ever known to man or machine.

A Soundwave who can't decide if he wants to be 'bot, 'con, or Nail. He also has a speech pattern every single writer at idw gets wrong except Shane McCarthy.

A Arcee whose gender has been changed from no gender to female by simply adding robot breasts, child bearing hips and lipstick.

And a Back to the future homage that transforms into one of the new Ghostbusters.

It's just so ironic how people say I'm closed minded, but they're willing to read a Transformers title that has had the same roster for years.

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1829826)
Posted by Va'al on October 1st, 2016 @ 2:19am CDT

NEW CYBERTRON! A massive corkscrew-shaped space ship has drilled into Earth, bringing with it a surprising disruption to OPTIMUS PRIME’s plans. Meanwhile—ARCEE fields a dangerous offer that may be too good to resist!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Guest starring G.I. JOE!
The new world order continues as OPTIMUS PRIME struggles to bring Earth into the cosmic community!
Plus—how ORION PAX first met BUMBLEBEE!
Variant cover by Zoner!

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1829845)
Posted by Kurona on October 1st, 2016 @ 6:29am CDT

Welp, gotta get Bumble-big-bucks-bee in there somehow.

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1833242)
Posted by Va'al on October 13th, 2016 @ 1:58pm CDT

IDW Publishing's Chris Ryall has updated his Tumblr with an extract from the new Transformers series starting next month, post Revolution: Optimus Prime! Newcomer Kei Zama takes on the art duties, and we are treated to a full clean first page of the new book, with colours by Josh Burcham too. Check it out below, and join the discussion in the Energon Pub.

Welcome to the Transformers officially, Kei Zama (@Golby_mkII )! Page 1 from next month’s Optimus Prime #1. Colors by Josh Burcham.

the first page of Optimus Prime #1! Say hello and goodbye to new character...

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1833246)
Posted by Kurona on October 13th, 2016 @ 2:27pm CDT

Is that Armada Smokescreen?

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1833248)
Posted by SG Roadbuster on October 13th, 2016 @ 2:35pm CDT

I'm pretty sure it's his Minicon, Liftor

and might I say, Kei Zama's art is AMAZING! sooooo much better than the garbage that Livio Ramondelli vomits onto books Condemned to be punished by him.

Hopefully IDW makes the right choice for artist to use in future "big event books"

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1833272)
Posted by Deadput on October 13th, 2016 @ 3:25pm CDT

Holy crap we get another good Transformer artist who's art actually looks not crap and is someone besides Alex Milne not saying his art sucks I love his style but it's good for Alex to get a break every once in awhile.

But seriously Livio was appalling in his work for Transformers when he isn't doing a cover I mean good god I stopped bothering with Ex-Rid when he started becoming the artist for it.

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1833287)
Posted by ricemazter on October 13th, 2016 @ 3:39pm CDT

SG Roadbuster wrote:I'm pretty sure it's his Minicon, Liftor

and might I say, Kei Zama's art is AMAZING! sooooo much better than the garbage that Livio Ramondelli vomits onto books Condemned to be punished by him.

Hopefully IDW makes the right choice for artist to use in future "big event books"

Hmmmm, let's not be too hasty. I agree with the sentiment Livio isn't my favorite transformers artist, but the man's art is by no means bad. The first problem as I see it is that Livio has a really painterly style that doesn't mesh well with the transformers aesthetic of clean lines and bri colours.

The other is that of time. Comic books are produced really quickly and require a ton of different images with a lot of different compositions in a short period. That's why you normally have a line artist and a colorist on the same book. Livio, probably because his style doesn't lend itself to a separate colorist to match the kind of linework he does, pulls double duty. That's also why his covers are excellent, as is the material on his deviant art page.

Sorry about the rant, but as an aspiring artist it reaaly grinds my gears when someone says an artist is "bad".

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1833297)
Posted by Rainmaker on October 13th, 2016 @ 3:55pm CDT

Am I the only one who doesn't understand what this page means

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1833344)
Posted by rockman_fan on October 13th, 2016 @ 6:01pm CDT

color scheme reminds me of optimal optimus.

Re: IDW Optimus Prime #1 - Variant Covers by Sonny Liew, Andrew Griffith (1833366)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 13th, 2016 @ 7:41pm CDT

Wonder who the guy will be and why he ends up dead.

And I think some of us can agree Livio's art really improved. Look at Titans Return. It was a really well-drawn comic

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