Variant Incentive Cover for IDW First Strike Optimus Prime One Shot
Tuesday, September 19th, 2017 10:15pm CDT
Category: Comic Book NewsPosted by: ScottyP Views: 9,530
Topic Options: View Discussion · Sign in or Join to reply
(W) John Barber (A) Guido Guidi (CA) Nick Bradshaw
With Cybertron under siege by Baron Ironblood's forces, Optimus Prime and Arcee defend their homeland! Caught in the middle is the human/Transformer team known as the Revolutionaries-and one of them has a secret that puts everyone at risk!

Just for fun, and with its tenth anniversary upon us, why not check out the completely unrelated Seibertron.com gallery for the toy that shares the same name as this upcoming comic!
Credit(s): PreviewsWorld
Got Transformers News? Let us know here!
Most Popular Transformers News
Most Recent Transformers News
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 20th, 2017 @ 10:58am CDT







Posted by Rodimus Knight on September 20th, 2017 @ 12:28pm CDT
Posted by Burn on September 24th, 2017 @ 11:51pm CDT
It was atrocious, why IDW continue to call G.I. Joe "The Crown Jewel" is beyond me. "A Real American Hero" is a vastly superior book compared to the Hasbroverse G.I. Joe book.
Posted by Va'al on September 26th, 2017 @ 2:58am CDT
First Strike #4—Cover A: Freddie E. Williams II
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Freddie E. Williams II (c)
Captured by Transformers! Even with the Autobots on their side, G.I. Joe is in trouble! Starscream doesn’t trust anyone, much less armed humans who show up during Cybertron’s darkest hour and he’ll do anything he can to keep G.I. Joe under control—including let COBRA get even closer to their goal! FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
The Hasbro comic book crossover event of 2017 is here!
Time is running out! It’s G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K. vs. the Transformers vs. the other Transformers vs. COBRA!
We’re in the home-stretch! It wouldn’t be hard to envision what is coming down the line! No tricks, no illusions, no holograms! So pony up because it is about to get wild! Okay, maybe not everything is part of the shared line, but some exciting stuff is! It’ll be a whole new status quo with all-new books!
Variant covers by Jay Fosgitt, Davide Fabbri, and Leonardo Manco!
Posted by bluecatcinema on September 26th, 2017 @ 7:33am CDT
Good one, 'Screamer.
Posted by Stormshot_Prime on September 26th, 2017 @ 9:03am CDT
Posted by Va'al on September 26th, 2017 @ 12:50pm CDT
Micronauts: First Strike #1—Cover A: Nelson Daniel
Christos Gage (w) • Chris Panda (a) • Nelson Daniel (c)
Rom, remaining on Earth as the events of First Strike take place, finds himself in a most unusual team-up… with Earth’s smallest heroes, The Micronauts! Together, these two forces must prevent a catastrophe on Earth even while Cybertron descends into chaos!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
Tying into the events of First Strike—A Hasbro Comic Book Event!
The first part of the Micronauts and Rom’s story—continued in next month’s ROM: First Strike #1!
Variant cover by Nick Bradshaw!
Posted by ebonyleopard on September 26th, 2017 @ 9:38pm CDT
Gotta say this First Strike crossover may be the best IDW had done so far. (Just don't do a Marvel and make this a yearly thing).
Posted by Kurona on September 26th, 2017 @ 9:49pm CDT
Ebonyleopard wrote:The writing is good when Starscream becomes the rational sounding one. Why to flesh out his character with humongous growth.
Gotta say this First Strike crossover may be the best IDW had done so far. (Just don't do a Marvel and make this a yearly thing).
There's another crossover planned for next year. Adding in Revolution, this means IDW are in the midst of doing at least three big multi-franchise crossover events per year in a row.
Posted by Va'al on September 27th, 2017 @ 4:37pm CDT
(Spoiler free-ish)
Synopsis
Captured by Transformers! Even with the Autobots on their side, G.I. Joe is in trouble! Starscream doesn’t trust anyone, much less armed humans who show up during Cybertron’s darkest hour and he’ll do anything he can to keep G.I. Joe under control—including let COBRA get even closer to their goal!
Story
We continue our exploration of the wider Hasbro Universe as the First Strike event reaches the second act in its first issue over at IDW Publishing, as writers Mairghread Scott and David A. Rodriguez attempt to bring together and make no one kiss from the various feeble alliances at hand - and Starscream is tired.
The momentum we had seen in the previous three issues seems to have waned a bit by this fourth issue, as the charge of the story is shifted to the two major factions colliding on Cybertron, now that politics and policy take over the immediate response to Ironblood's threat. Which was to be expected narratively, but I think also drags the pacing a little too much - which may be rectified in the next two issues.
Look, I like a good dissection of Optimus Prime's character and saviour complex, and I have always enjoyed how Scott included that in her look at religious issues in Cybertronian and its colonies' culture, but one sequence in this issue that once more to that felt a little redundant after the parallels drawn with Scarlett and Soundwave last issue. Either that, or more could've been seeded earlier in the event, if this is going where I think it might.
As for characters in general, there are some good moments and snippets for individuals - but Scarlett, like Optimus, unfortunately takes a little too much too far too heavy of a burden for the story and the personal/political side of the event. The back-up story (at the hands of John Barber), on the other hand, was particularly enjoyable, and once more Mayhem steals the scene now that Shazraella is fully introduced (who finally clicks with her WoK drive, too).
Art
Max Dunbar (pencils) and John Wycough (inks) take the lead story's art duties, with Ander Zarate on the colouring side, and I am not entirely conviced, I'll admit. Dunbar's style still feels as though he's trying to adapt to the different moments in the story, but rather than finding a lead motive, it just falls into looking like other art depending on the sequence - not helped by the jarring contrast of heavy inks on an otherwise much lighter touch everywhere else in the issue (Wycough is only pages 3-9), meaning that the Cybertronians in trial are a bit too static for a full appreciation of the exchanges.
As for the small chapter of backstory at the end, on the other hand, the collaboration between Netho Diaz (pencils), Walden Wong (inks), and David Garcia Cruz (colours) meshes really nicely - and not unnecessarily darkly - with Barber's short script, bringing some good spotlights onto Shazraella and Mayhem, still my favourites by far, and the compositions that the difference in scales allow for such a short frame of story space.
Gilberto Lazcano takes on the lettering duties in the issue, and I find no faults in his approach to the captions and dialogues, but it takes a long while to see full creativity with the soundscape of the more action-based scenes later on. The cover chosen for the thumbnail is a good summary of the main thread running for the most part of the issue, by talented Alex Ronald and Thomas Teyowisonte Deer -- and all other covers, of which there are many, can be found in our updated entry database right here.
Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead
There have been comments about this event that I strongly disagree with, but I have to admit that this particular issue did not do well what the previous three had handled really quite nicely, by adding some forced parallels, stilted dialogue moments, and pairing them with some not particularly strong visual results to carry the story forward - meaning that a particularly important moment for TF readers may be lost in tonal overbearing.
I'm not saying it's a bad issue, but it does have its severely dipping moments that it most definitely could not afford at this stage of the event, and by the nature of the event itself, too. Enjoy the Mayhem, enjoy the Starscream, enjoy the jabs at Optimus - and appreciate the difficulty of balancing all of the characters involved. But if this were to be entirely Scarlett's story and her relation to Colton, the issue sunk a bit too far into itself to make any other emotional connection work for me.








Posted by ScottyP on September 27th, 2017 @ 10:43pm CDT
And don't get me started on Joe "Roman Reigns" Colton again. There are no stakes left. Will they overcome the odds? Yes. Someone will. Yay?
At least this is coming out on schedule so far and will be over in a month. Misery on paper.
Posted by Va'al on September 28th, 2017 @ 3:09am CDT
ScottyP wrote:The few good parts put a glaring spotlight on the problem spots, at least for me. And the thing with the pushups, holy crap, way to make Scarlett look like a whiny Langley brat while Gloria, Matt, Roadblock, and Jaye keep things steady.
I think that's what got to me the most. Scarlett was a potentially very good character with some good motivations and general 'good' things about her - then that story came up, and it dragged down her, Optimus, Colton, and just a whole lot of set-up that had been avoided in a book predominantly about GI Joe (come on, it's true).
There are some very good parts, as you say - but no, between visual stumbles, forced dialogue and over-drama, it just doesn't work well as a set-up for the second act (of two).
Let's see next month.
Posted by Va'al on September 28th, 2017 @ 3:18am CDT
(W) Mairghread Scott, David Rodriguez (A) Max Dunbar (CA) Rob Duenas
Prison Break! After a daring escape, Optimus Prime, the Autobots, Scarlett, G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K. must venture into the heart of Cybertron to stop Cobra's devastating weapon that will kill every Transformer on the planet!
Bullet points:
* The Hasbro comic book event of 2017 continues!
* It's a race against time as Cobra reaches their goal! Can our heroes catch up? Or is Cybertron doomed?
* Filled with the action, drama and humor you've come to expect!
(W) Mairghread Scott, David Rodriguez (A) Max Dunbar (CA) Davide Fabbri
(W) Mairghread Scott, David Rodriguez (A) Max Dunbar (CA) Leonardo Manco
Posted by Big Grim on September 28th, 2017 @ 6:56am CDT
Posted by Daniel Adkins on September 28th, 2017 @ 7:43am CDT
Big Grim wrote:Ugh, they really cannot draw the masks, can they. The original worked. That does not look like any version of Viper I've known.
All the Masks got redesigned in the IDW continuity.
Posted by Big Grim on September 28th, 2017 @ 8:03am CDT
Daniel Adkins wrote:Big Grim wrote:Ugh, they really cannot draw the masks, can they. The original worked. That does not look like any version of Viper I've known.
All the Masks got redesigned in the IDW continuity.
Redesigned to look fairly generic and samey? GG IDW. Well done indeed.
Posted by ScottyP on September 28th, 2017 @ 8:31am CDT
Posted by Daniel Adkins on September 28th, 2017 @ 8:35am CDT
Big Grim wrote:Daniel Adkins wrote:Big Grim wrote:Ugh, they really cannot draw the masks, can they. The original worked. That does not look like any version of Viper I've known.
All the Masks got redesigned in the IDW continuity.
Redesigned to look fairly generic and samey? GG IDW. Well done indeed.
*shrug* I wouldn't really say they're "samey," but to each his own. I find Mayhem's new Mask much better than the original, especially in how it recreates a peaked cap and his mustache.
Posted by Va'al on September 28th, 2017 @ 9:48am CDT
ScottyP wrote:I feel like a massive douche about putting down the pushups thing now. Apparently it's a real thing that happens. https://twitter.com/MairghreadScott/sta ... 5095305216
That is fascinating (and horrifying) - but it doesn't change my opinion of the reading, unfortunately.
The way in which Scarlett and Optimus are tied in the issue still falls a little short of what it could be, especially with his presence constantly being played down by the actual characters around him such as Elita, Windblade, Starscream - even Ironhide's defense recognises he's an old dude out of his element.
Personally, I'm not a fan of the very US-based military narrative that runs in a lot of the comics we see coming out of Hasbro universe (and I realise that's a lot, and I realise it happens in such wider comics circles too - we commented upon it with John Barber way back in our first interview with him on the Twincast). It may have kicked those sensors in my brain, and made it feel ..meh.
That said, I am hopeful for a pick up in the next issue, leading to the finale.
Posted by ScottyP on September 28th, 2017 @ 12:30pm CDT
I was pretty into how OP (the series) was handling GI Joe. Talon gave it some credibility. But this series very much has the 'Murica feeling and maybe that's why it's lacking some deeper punch.Va'al wrote:Personally, I'm not a fan of the very US-based military narrative that runs in a lot of the comics we see coming out of Hasbro universe
Also, and I can't believe I'm saying this because I hate him but I thought it would've just happened by now since it's a hyper logical plot point that's been built up over 8 years - where is Spike and why is he not helping Colton?