Review of IDW Transformers: Shattered Glass #1

Sounds good, but why 3.5/5 or 70% (a grade of C)?

soundwave765 wrote:So do all of the shattered glass figures come with a comic?

yes they do

Story kept this reviewer "engrossed from beginning to end." Was "fun and exciting" "art is phenomenal" "coloring is just superb" "Lore does an excellent job" "great start."

3.5/5

I'm hoping this is just a mistake because otherwise the reviewer is the kind that tanks products online with glowing words and mediocre or terrible ratings.

I understand that the review is only opinion, but if everything is so great, why only out of ?

I'm gonna get into this series, it looks great and the story is intriguing.

Rodimus Prime wrote:I understand that the review is only opinion, but if everything is so great, why only out of ?

I'm gonna get into this series, it looks great and the story is intriguing.

I'm happy to take the blame on the 3.5. He's using a scale I use and encouraged him to use when we brought him on staff. One of its primary objectives is to avoid the bloat caused by the MBAs of the world conditioning everyone for Net Promoter Score. This has roughly been telephone game'd and trickled down to internet reviews for everything from videogames to books to movies where everything below an 8 out of 10 or its equivalent is somehow not good. I find that doesn't reflect the reality of the world very well. There's plenty of enjoyable, recommendable stuff that gets beat up when converted into some quick-hit numerical score when viewed through that kind of lens.

Anyhow, this scale roughly breaks down as follows, but keep in mind these are guidelines and still highly subjective in the end:

Simple Version

• 0 - Total disaster, but a purely theoretical score. Hopefully.
• 0.5 - Everything is very bad - writing, art, all of it.
• 1 - Mostly bad
• 1.5 - Bad
• 2 - Not good
• 2.5 - Acceptable / 'Meh'
• 3 - Average
• 3.5 - Good
• 4 - Very good
• 4.5 - Great
• 5 - Perfection or near to it

Longer Version

• 0 - Reserved for the worst of the worst. Examples: Continuum were that to be released today, or Regeneration One #100's final page - ok so we don't review single pages, but if we did, I give that one a 0.
• 0.5 - A technical disaster, with poor writing, storytelling, art, and mistakes abound, but we can at least find one and probably only one nice thing to say and say it honestly.
• 1 - Not good at all, but has at least a redeeming quality or two.
• 1.5 - A poor effort overall, but serves its purpose and has at least some obvious production effort and only some truly egregious flaws.
• 2 - Not quite good enough. Maybe the art is very bad, maybe there are a lot of plot holes, maybe the characters are completely one dimensional. Something isn't right, but a little more work in one area could make it easily better.
• 2.5 - Border of acceptable from an overall quality standpoint. Has at least one large flaw in production (includes art), plot, or characterization that ticks it below average.
• 3 - Average. Not super bad, not super good, but you might sometimes even just say regular old "good", sometimes. Moves the plot along, has no significant flaws, but stirs indifference in the reader as the primary emotion. Just moving things along.
• 3.5 - Somewhat above average. Basically, an average book with 1-2 great moments. If we're really honest about it, most books we'd consider "good" are probably around here and 4.
• 4 - Very good. Serves its purpose, has several great moments, is of good-to-great production quality, but may have a minor quibble or two holding it back from greatness.
• 4.5 - Great. Only 1-2 points of note holding it back from perfection. Could be fantastic in every way but the reviewer has a hard time with InsertArtistYouDon'tLike's art, or something like that.
• 5 - Best of the best. Should be reserved for only the finest works. No notable, objective problems. Exceptions: sometimes a book may excel in an extreme direction while not necessarily being the "one of the finest works", an example being MTMTE's Revolution one-shot issue where as a work of comedy it became something exceptional, but if regarded as a serious dramatic work it'd get something much lower.

Was a 4 right for this one? That's what I'd have given it personally, but it ultimately comes down to what the reviewer wants to do and how they feel. I'd suggest our site's readers take everything with a +/- half a point leeway in either direction at the bare minimum just to account for personal tastes. It bears repeating that it's all very subjective and even then, what I've put down here are guidelines and not rules. A review from me will have a different feel to it and scoring than one from WilliamJames88 or Mr. Micromaster. That's probably good because all I do is ape Va'al anyhow years after his departure from the site and if everyone else did that, these would get too homogenous to be interesting. Tigertrack doesn't tend to even give scores, and that's fine. Maybe I should follow his wisdom.



Relevant any time I see posts unhappy with reviews (and there are more that most of you can't see because they're waiting mod approval for new user accounts, which is not in my wheelhouse): we're still recruiting new reviewers and comics staff, btw. If anyone's interested please shoot me a DM or use the contact form at the bottom of the site. If you don't like the reviews being posted, this ain't a scary walled garden or bullpen of pro writers or anything like that, it's a fansite, and volunteers are welcome to take a crack at it

My concern wasn't the score itself. It was how the words of the review itself are so glowing as to indicate a Best of the Best. There are no negatives mentioned. Nothing that holds it back or down in the reviewer's opinion. It is all praise with nothing even suggested as room for improvement. That is a five. If there are things that bring the score down thirty percent that should be indicated.

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't have a problem with the review itself, I just couldn't understand why something declared so great in the review would only rate a bit above average from the reviewer.

As I said, I'm looking forward to this, I've been a fan of Guidi's work since Marvel G1, and this writer seems to have started off on the right foot at least.

Mr. MicroMaster here. I’m Sorry I didn’t get around to addressing all those with questions regarding the scoring of this issue. I definitely thought about whether I should give this book a 3.5 or a 4 but when it came down to it I gave it a 3.5 for good rather than a 4 for very good. And I definitely did not mention any negatives this book may or may not have. Which is something I should have addressed in the review and that’s on me.

Edit: I got my Blurr in the mail today so hopefully everyone else has already got theirs or it’s on the way. Unfortunately I’m away at college and Blurr is at home.

I got my comic book Friday night, gave it a read, and I liked it.

Was it spectacular? not really.

did it suck? Not even remotely.

did I enjoy it? Yes.

I like the introduction to this universe. I also like how we see Starscream really is a high value target for a reason, and I like that we saw a nigh invincible nasty Blurr who has more than a few tricks up his sleeve, but also a glaring weakness

Will this be a 4-issue miniseries with the issues being released with the announced figures? Or will it be longer?

Rodimus Prime wrote:Will this be a 4-issue miniseries with the issues being released with the announced figures? Or will it be longer?

5 issue mini series, with each issue coming with one of the 5 exclusives

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:Will this be a 4-issue miniseries with the issues being released with the announced figures? Or will it be longer?

5 issue mini series, with each issue coming with one of the 5 exclusives

I see. Since I won't be getting the figures, hopefully eventually there will be a TPB released, or else ill have to hint down the individual issues. Maybe I should do that now so I don't fall behind...

Rodimus Prime wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:Will this be a 4-issue miniseries with the issues being released with the announced figures? Or will it be longer?

5 issue mini series, with each issue coming with one of the 5 exclusives

I see. Since I won't be getting the figures, hopefully eventually there will be a TPB released, or else ill have to hint down the individual issues. Maybe I should do that now so I don't fall behind...

Oh, they're releasing the comics in standard form too. It's not exclusive to the figures

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:Will this be a 4-issue miniseries with the issues being released with the announced figures? Or will it be longer?

5 issue mini series, with each issue coming with one of the 5 exclusives

I see. Since I won't be getting the figures, hopefully eventually there will be a TPB released, or else ill have to hint down the individual issues. Maybe I should do that now so I don't fall behind...

Oh, they're releasing the comics in standard form too. It's not exclusive to the figures

Ok, good to know. I really like the art and the story is interesting. I plan on getting the issues.

Good bad guys and bad good guys await in tomorrow's release of Transformers: Shattered Glass #2 from IDW Publishing. Sure, you could wait for Hasbro Pulse to deliver this issue when your SG Megatron figure gets dropped off, but did you see the way they packed Blurr's comic? You'll probably want to buy this from somewhere that knows what bags and boards are. IDW has, as usual, provided a five page preview to further tempt you to do just that for an issue they describe as:

(W) Danny Lore (A) Dan Khanna (CA) Alex Milne
Shattered Glass isn't your average Transformers tale... "Shards" is the story of the ongoing battle between the power-hungry Autobot autocrats and the freedom-fighting Decepticon laborers. Join author Danny Lore (James Bond, King in Black: Captain America, Champions) in exploring this fractured alternate universe just before it shatters.
In issue #2, Megatron is the only bot who can stop the three Autobot warlords from acquiring information that could reignite the war, but can he forgive his past mistakes and take up the mantle of Deception leader again

Check out the preview below and be sure to pick this issue up tomorrow at your local comic shop, through a licensed digital comics retailer, or via the Seibertron.com eBay store.

I think I like IDW SG Prowl's Colors more than Classics SG Prowl. The blue and white looks good.

Is there a reason why Megatron doesn't have the symbol on his chest?

Rodimus Prime wrote:Is there a reason why Megatron doesn't have the symbol on his chest?

It looks like a pre-war flashback, before the Decepticon faction had even been conceived in this universe.

The new Shattered Glass series from IDW continues to deliver. This delivers an incredibly enjoyable read with splendid art.

The writing for this series continues to be superb. Lore is especially adept at writing incredibly compelling characters. I found Starscream and Megatron to be both intriguing and compelling characters. The conversation between Starscream who sees Megatron as his noble leader and Megatron who sees himself as nothing less than abject failure and a pathetic excuse for a leader comes across as both a fresh and unique take. Said conversation also allows us to explore Megatron’s beings on cybertron and the war on earth. The dynamic between Megatron and Starscream allows Lore to weave a wonderfully captivating narrative.

You can find full credits for Transformers Shattered Glass #2 in our Vector Sigma Database entry for this issue


The art in this issue is done by Daniel Khanna with colors by John-Paul Bove and lettering done by Neil Uyetake. Khanna’s art in this issue is phenomenal for the most part. There are a couple issues that detract from it. The first panel we see of Megatron pre-war, something is off with it and I am not sure if it is drawn differently or if it is the colors or something else, but it just does not jive with the rest of the book. Besides that, the rest of this book features competent and strong art with incredibly emotive faces. You can see the fear and shock on Prowl’s face when Megs picks him up. The great thing about Bove’s coloring is that it seems to work with any artist no matter how varied or similar in style. Uyetake’s lettering is equally well done. Despite a few hiccups the art in this issue is fantastic.

Overall, this book is a home run of which IDW, and the creative team can be proud of. As long as this book keeps up the pace it just may go down as the best transformers book of 2021. This issue is a definite recommend.


This issue is out today, and you can pick it up at the Seibertron.com eBay store or at your local shop, check here to find the closest shop to you.

Stormshot_Prime wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:Is there a reason why Megatron doesn't have the symbol on his chest?

It looks like a pre-war flashback, before the Decepticon faction had even been conceived in this universe.

Yes, after a 2nd read I figured that as well. The 1st time I rushed through it too fast. And Prowl is green...