Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs

Tuesday, March 5th, 2019 12:44pm CST

Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: william-james88 Views: 23,683

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IGN.com scored a nice exclusive review with John Barber and Michael Kelly, Hasbro's VP of Global Publishing which is all about the TDW Transformers reboot. For those not in the know, this is a brand new series simply titled Transformers. The comic will be very G1 based, as you can see by the designs which are the same as the ones you find in the Siege toyline. There is also a preview of the first comic where we see the first 3 pages, along with covers.

The following is a segment of the interview where Barber and Kelly discuss why a reboot was done. You can read the full interview here.

As you'd expect, this is part of an attempt to broaden the appeal of the franchise and make the Transformers comics more accessible for new readers who might be intimidated by the sheer number of books available. Kelly told us, "When you are working with a continuity that spans 13 years, it can be pretty daunting to jump on board. The creative teams we’ve worked with in the former continuity excelled at appealing to new readers, and I think it is safe to say that over the past 5 years we’ve had the broadest and most diverse audience in the history of our Transformers comics program. But this new series provides an opportunity for new readers to join us who may have been on the sidelines wanting to get in but overwhelmed by the sheer volume of storytelling, while at the same time renewing our commitment to our long-time fans and giving them both a satisfying ending and an exciting new beginning."

"We already had the best fans in the world, so we had that going for us." said Barber. "That said—absolutely, we all want to reach out and introduce new readers to these characters and worlds and mythology. The previous Hasbro comics universe was one that meant a whole lot to me. I love that series and those versions of the characters. But we hit a really natural point to put a genuine, and I hope satisfying, ending on that story.

As for whether fans can expect the Hasbro Comic Book Universe continuity to continue in some form, it doesn't sound likely. Barber said, "I really love that story and that universe. I still talk to everybody that worked on those comics. I love reading them, and we’ll continue to keep the comics in print and in our deluxe IDW Collection hardcovers. But there’s no plans for ever going back to that universe. Much as I love it, personally I feel like we told the story we set out to tell."

Credit(s): IGN

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Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013521)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on March 5th, 2019 @ 1:10pm CST

So much to discuss, from the quoted dialogue alone. Yet, for the time being, I am reminded of a joke:

What would Transformers be without G1?

>Looks to Beast Wars and Transformers: Prime<

Award winning... :lol:

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013523)
Posted by Omegatron. on March 5th, 2019 @ 1:32pm CST

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:So much to discuss, from the quoted dialogue alone. Yet, for the time being, I am reminded of a joke:

What would Transformers be without G1?

>Looks to Beast Wars and Transformers: Prime<

Award winning...

That's funny, given how G1 both of those were.

I like the look of this and the focus on pre-war Cybertronian society, I might pick this up after all.

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013527)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on March 5th, 2019 @ 1:41pm CST

Omegatron. wrote:
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:So much to discuss, from the quoted dialogue alone. Yet, for the time being, I am reminded of a joke:

What would Transformers be without G1?

>Looks to Beast Wars and Transformers: Prime<

Award winning...

That's funny, given how G1 both of those were.

Not really. They have their roots, yet the awards came when they broke away from them and did their own thing.

Given the evergreen nature of SIEGE, being the backbone of this new continuity, I am apprehensive we won't see any of the character reinventions/subversions IDWverse had when it first started, this time around.

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013532)
Posted by ZeroWolf on March 5th, 2019 @ 1:58pm CST

So they are keeping Megatrons political routes then as was added into IDW and reinforced in Cyberverse, can already see the Decepticon movement in its roots.

Also Prime wasn't really G1, it was an attempt to do something akin to G1 for a new era, or was Arcee blue and a bike in G1? Was Unicron planet earth in G1?

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013533)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on March 5th, 2019 @ 2:02pm CST

ZeroWolf wrote:So they are keeping Megatrons political routes then as was added into IDW and reinforced in Cyberverse, can already see the Decepticon movement in its roots.

Exactly. IDWverse made Megatron the "good" guy initially, in Origin. That was something new and refreshing. This, I doubt I will be surprised about how his arc unfolds.

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013542)
Posted by Sarahthecutevixen on March 5th, 2019 @ 2:21pm CST

How...is Chromia sitting on the table with only half a thigh on it?

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013543)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on March 5th, 2019 @ 2:22pm CST

It... doesn't actually look like her leg is connected to her body :-?

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013545)
Posted by Sarahthecutevixen on March 5th, 2019 @ 2:28pm CST

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:It... doesn't actually look like her leg is connected to her body

I'd say that was just shading, it is...but by the light source and how prowl is lit up, we should be seeing that leg connect and the gal's rear plating. must be censorship

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013547)
Posted by ScottyP on March 5th, 2019 @ 2:28pm CST

Looks like Siege, reads like Cyberverse. Liking most of what's here, but not enough here to make real judgments on yet of course.

I like OP pointing out that Megatron has not been summoned. Nobody summons Megatron!

Ruckley definitely seems to have the "ultra wooden Optimus that speaks in platitudes" that Hasbro seems to love nailed down.

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013549)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on March 5th, 2019 @ 2:31pm CST

That's always been how I have seen Prime. Adding " and dull" in that description too.

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013556)
Posted by steve2275 on March 5th, 2019 @ 3:40pm CST

pretty pages

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013559)
Posted by Omegatron. on March 5th, 2019 @ 3:44pm CST

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:
Omegatron. wrote:
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:So much to discuss, from the quoted dialogue alone. Yet, for the time being, I am reminded of a joke:

What would Transformers be without G1?

>Looks to Beast Wars and Transformers: Prime<

Award winning...

That's funny, given how G1 both of those were.

Not really. They have their roots, yet the awards came when they broke away from them and did their own thing.

Given the evergreen nature of SIEGE, being the backbone of this new continuity, I am apprehensive we won't see any of the character reinventions/subversions IDWverse had when it first started, this time around.

I mean, Prime and the G1 cartoon are both focused on a small group of Autobots fighting a small group of Decepticons, localised on modern-day Earth. Most of Prime's characters are also very similar to their G1 counterparts.

Beast Wars is like G1 in a different way, the main characters and setting are very different but it actually has the G1 transformers in it and the Ark and Nemesis play very important roles.

I'm not saying they're identical to G1, obviously, but if you compare them to the Unicron Trilogy or RID01 there's a lot more G1 in them than there could be.

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013560)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on March 5th, 2019 @ 3:46pm CST

But that is not what they are remembered for. Nor are they slavish to G1, like HasTak's current "Evergreen" stance.

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013567)
Posted by Randomhero on March 5th, 2019 @ 4:55pm CST

Omegatron. wrote:
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:
Omegatron. wrote:
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:So much to discuss, from the quoted dialogue alone. Yet, for the time being, I am reminded of a joke:

What would Transformers be without G1?

>Looks to Beast Wars and Transformers: Prime<

Award winning...

That's funny, given how G1 both of those were.

Not really. They have their roots, yet the awards came when they broke away from them and did their own thing.

Given the evergreen nature of SIEGE, being the backbone of this new continuity, I am apprehensive we won't see any of the character reinventions/subversions IDWverse had when it first started, this time around.

I mean, Prime and the G1 cartoon are both focused on a small group of Autobots fighting a small group of Decepticons, localised on modern-day Earth. Most of Prime's characters are also very similar to their G1 counterparts.

Beast Wars is like G1 in a different way, the main characters and setting are very different but it actually has the G1 transformers in it and the Ark and Nemesis play very important roles.

I'm not saying they're identical to G1, obviously, but if you compare them to the Unicron Trilogy or RID01 there's a lot more G1 in them than there could be.

Small group in G1? There were like 30 autobots and like 20 deceptions all over earth and progressively got worse as seasons went on where characters were forgotten to the background got lucky to get one line sometimes.

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013575)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on March 5th, 2019 @ 6:11pm CST

Hmm, not bad looking. I'm intrigued and ready to see issue 1

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013663)
Posted by Big Grim on March 6th, 2019 @ 4:30am CST

Well, this has me looking forward to the new series. Will give it a shot and see how it goes.

~ Grim

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013664)
Posted by SpikeyTigertron on March 6th, 2019 @ 4:37am CST

Randomhero wrote:
Omegatron. wrote:
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:
Omegatron. wrote:
AllNewSuperRobot wrote:So much to discuss, from the quoted dialogue alone. Yet, for the time being, I am reminded of a joke:

What would Transformers be without G1?

>Looks to Beast Wars and Transformers: Prime<

Award winning...

That's funny, given how G1 both of those were.

Not really. They have their roots, yet the awards came when they broke away from them and did their own thing.

Given the evergreen nature of SIEGE, being the backbone of this new continuity, I am apprehensive we won't see any of the character reinventions/subversions IDWverse had when it first started, this time around.

I mean, Prime and the G1 cartoon are both focused on a small group of Autobots fighting a small group of Decepticons, localised on modern-day Earth. Most of Prime's characters are also very similar to their G1 counterparts.

Beast Wars is like G1 in a different way, the main characters and setting are very different but it actually has the G1 transformers in it and the Ark and Nemesis play very important roles.

I'm not saying they're identical to G1, obviously, but if you compare them to the Unicron Trilogy or RID01 there's a lot more G1 in them than there could be.

Small group in G1? There were like 30 autobots and like 20 deceptions all over earth and progressively got worse as seasons went on where characters were forgotten to the background got lucky to get one line sometimes.

Who were all the Decepticons? Megatron, Soundwave, Laserbeak/Ravage, Rumble/Frenzy, Starscream/Thundercracker/Skywarp, Shockwave, Reflector and his ba-jillion clones... Constructicons/Combaticons (11 more).

I'd argue there were alot of autobots... but other than one-off episodes what did Huffer, Brawn, Windcharger, Bluestreak do on the regular? I mostly recall Prime, Sideswipe, Hound and Mirage, Skyfire when he showed up, Iron Hide/Wheeljack/Ratchet. The dinobots

Okay... well crap... the math checks out... but I'd really argue if Laserbeak or Ravage really had personalities... lol

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2013846)
Posted by william-james88 on March 7th, 2019 @ 12:04pm CST

ScottyP wrote:Ruckley definitely seems to have the "ultra wooden Optimus that speaks in platitudes" that Hasbro seems to love nailed down.

I really hate that Optimus. He's just such a (uncrasimatic) bore. It's why I found reading the latest Optimus prime series such a chore. its also why I really can never recomend enough the Chaos Theory two parter, where we see optimus as a full fledged character with flaws, doubts, and all, and see that he is still as awesome as ever.

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2014043)
Posted by Avensis-Mahiya on March 9th, 2019 @ 1:51am CST

I think the only thing I'm disappointed in is the G1-esque frame types. It's weird because I adore G1, but I also love new designs for the characters--I like to see variety now and again. Call me unpleasable, but constantly sticking to the G1 character style feels stagnant.

Re: Preview and Interview for New IDW Transformers Comic Featuring Siege Designs (2014049)
Posted by Deadput on March 9th, 2019 @ 6:30am CST

Avensis-Mahiya wrote:I think the only thing I'm disappointed in is the G1-esque frame types. It's weird because I adore G1, but I also love new designs for the characters--I like to see variety now and again. Call me unpleasable, but constantly sticking to the G1 character style feels stagnant.

It's just part of Hasbro's whole thing of going forward with a unified vision type of thing.

Honestly I prefer if the toys have some form of Media representation, I feel less infested to buy figures if the designs are never going to be in something unless I have an attachment to the character in general like say POTP Jazz even though I didn't really care for the line in general besides him, Elita 1, Nemesis Prime and the Prime masters.

Anyways we have seen two new "non G1" characters in Rubble and the Geologist guy so there is that, I wouldn't get worried that it's going to be like that the whole time, it's the start of a reboot and IDW needs to use familiar faces to draw in a crowd first before diverging.

Plus it doesn't matter what characters they use if the writing ends up being mediocre or something.

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