IDW Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #45 Full Preview

Oh.......My.........Gosh.

"I would've waited an eternity for this. It's over Misfire" REALLY GUYS?!?!?! REALLY?!?!?!

Primus I cannot wait for this to come out. holy cow please let Wednesday be here

That is awesome, if only this was an actual TV show

So the scavengers have been playing Farscape for the past year and a half?

SW's SilverHammer wrote:So the scavengers have been playing Farscape for the past year and a half?

There are worse ways to pass your frelling time.

Shuttershock wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:So the scavengers have been playing Farscape for the past year and a half?

There are worse ways to pass your frelling time.

That's true, Ever watch LEXX?

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

Shuttershock wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:So the scavengers have been playing Farscape for the past year and a half?

There are worse ways to pass your frelling time.

That's true, Ever watch LEXX?

Nah, I missed that one. All I know about is pseudo-organic ships. Which, now that I think about it, isn't dissimilar to Farscape.

Shuttershock wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

Shuttershock wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:So the scavengers have been playing Farscape for the past year and a half?

There are worse ways to pass your frelling time.

That's true, Ever watch LEXX?

Nah, I missed that one. All I know about is pseudo-organic ships. Which, now that I think about it, isn't dissimilar to Farscape.

Much like how Kevin James is a poor man's hobo, LEXX was the poor mans farscape. Except schlocky-er. Like tromaville levels of schlock.

Wasn't lexx meant for a slightly older and edgier crowd than farscape?

ZeroWolf wrote:Wasn't lexx meant for a slightly older and edgier crowd than farscape?

In a way, but that didn't mean it was good. Or watchable. Or well written. Or had good production values. I mean I know allot of people who liked it but like, for me it was just, really unpleasant. Farscape's writing and quality got progressively better as the series went on, like by the last quarter of season one, it stopped being a hokey adventure of the week sorta show. Also something it had that put it above the it's contemporaries; Jim Henson puppets. They weren't always the best, but I always remember this thing I dunno what it is. It appeared in like one shot of the first episode, but i always remember it.

My point was that I didn't feel it was comparable to farscape which to me always felt for a wider audience within its niche.

ZeroWolf wrote:My point was that I didn't feel it was comparable to farscape which to me always felt for a wider audience within its niche.

well it's comparable in the same sense Gary Coleman is a taller version of Webster, they're technically on the same scale, but both are entirely different. Also farscape was a superior show in every single way.

Lol, well I'll just take your word on that though I did enjoy the farscape parody on S-G1 (though having two farscape actors as series regulars helped).

Looking at this issue again though, I'd say that Roberts is a red dwarf fan.

Synopsis
Make a list of every single DECEPTICON. Remove the warriors, the high-rankers, the loyal foot soldiers, the over-achievers, and anyone who’s ever made even a modest contribution to The Cause. You should now have five names left. Welcome back, guys.



Story

Let's leave aside the storylines being run so far in More Than Meets the Eye, and dip into the lives and troubles of the bunch of misfits introduced all the way back when the DJD was still just a name. In issue #45, MTMTE brings back the Scavengers, Grimlock, and their ship - the Weak Anthropic Principle. Has anything changed? Read on and find out.



James Roberts knows these characters, and the Scavengers are in fact one of the best example of how he operates as a writer, giving the spotlight to minor, lesser-known faces, in order to (sometimes) address a wider narrative. That has been the case for MTMTE, but Krok, Spinister and the crew show it even more.



There is a narrative, obviously, though it will feel really quite distanced from everything else currently happening in the IDWverse for the Transformers - at least until much later in the book. What I find both a positive and negative here, are the parallels with the group's first introduction to the readership, in terms of plotlines.



Nevertheless, the read is extremely enjoyable, the humour is plentiful, the characters all have their voices, and we do circle back in time for tea to the wider plots left dangling in season 1, while also exploring the single characters along the way. More thoughts overall included below.

Art

Alex Milne and Brian Shearer team up for some slick linework (layouts, pencils and inks), and the initial pages are an excellent nod to the regular ongoing issues with a Scavenger spin (check out this article, too). The flexibility and dynamism of the different styles condensed in the opening alone are enough to reinforce the rep of the visual team of the book - and it only continues strong from there.



The visual team, of course, also features the excellent work that Joana Lafuente brings to the colours, complementing and complimenting the lines and inks that the artists provide. Shading, mood, tone, and the same dynamism of layouts are accentuated and made even more lush to look at throughout.



There is a specific running gag relating to the Scavengers, too, and Tom B. Long's work is the only means of achieving it - which is a nice recognition of the importance of lettering in the medium, even to convey humour. As for covers, the main recurring group shot by Milne and Josh Perez stand triumphant, as Nick Roche and Josh Burcham take on cover B (thumbnailed) a little less seriously. We've seen Kei Zama and Yamaishi's take on MTMTE's big baddies of the past too, but still pretty, yes?


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

This issue is definitely filler material, until it's not. Not entirely, at least. But until that point, a lot of what you're reading is predominantly Roberts enjoying his own writing skills with a bunch of misfits, and their interactions, dragging in popular culture references and callbacks (though much less so than the Swerve issue from a couple of months ago). It's a fun romp, with exceptional visuals, and both good characterisation and well-placed twists.



However, and I realise this may just be me, so far it just sort of hangs there, at the periphery of the wider story, much like the first time we came across the WAP and its crew. The next issue will undoubtedly fill us in more, given that last sequence and last page, but I kept finding myself thinking about the overall relevance of the issue in terms of narrative. Think of it as a bottle-episode, with a twist, if you will. It may be more your thing.

*hasn't gotten the issue yet*
*reads "Thoughts", which makes it sound kinda the same as the last string of issues have been --not great*
Oh boy.

Noideaforaname wrote:*hasn't gotten the issue yet*
*reads "Thoughts", which makes it sound kinda the same as the last string of issues have been --not great*
Oh boy.

This is my opinion entirely. I am welcoming discussion because of how little I effectively cared about the story other than the funny (and really quite so) moments throughout. Someone please tell me I'm wrong, and show me why!

It's not a bad issue. It's just another "meh, it's fine" issues. Sadly that's pretty much how this whole year -post elegant chaos-has been. It's just a lot of filler and I guess tying up loose ends?

In the words of Immortan Joe, "mediocre!"

How I feel about the end of the issue

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/dra ... 0921164818

I just finished reading it and I say it's a good issue, it actually made me laugh, not just giggle, however, I feel it burns quickly, maybe like it was cut a little short.
I like the characters and how they interact, but unlike the misadventures of the Lost Light crew, we don't see them nearly as much, I wanna know the full stories!

well I liked it. Made me want to read more, just like it should I think.

Va'al wrote:This is my opinion entirely. I am welcoming discussion because of how little I effectively cared about the story other than the funny (and really quite so) moments throughout. Someone please tell me I'm wrong, and show me why!

Hmmm. I've noticed quite a few people --die-hard fans-- haven't been as fond of these last issues, this whole season even. Not like Prime where people rather quickly snapped from "love" to "hate", but still pretty disheartening.

Kinda feels like we're just coasting on "James Roberts is the best thing ever!" at times....