IDW Transformers #4 John Gallagher Cover Now Available

That looks AWESOME

I love his Shockwave pistol I want that thing. If ever they did Shockwave in a Voyager scale this would make way cool box art. Always love Shockwave news - thank you sir!

00Stargrave00 wrote:That looks AWESOME

I love his Shockwave pistol I want that thing. If ever they did Shockwave in a Voyager scale this would make way cool box art. Always love Shockwave news - thank you sir!

That IS Shockwave in Voyager scale. Yeah, he was sold as a leader due to all the extra crap that came with him, but the figure itself that this rendering is based on is a Voyager sized figure.

00Stargrave00 wrote:Oh for sure I meant if they stripped down all the leader armor and just released him with like a mini Shockwave blaster. I think that would make so many fans happy. I’m fine with the leader class I’m probably of the minority who dig the Doctor Shocktapus look

I see what you mean. Yeah, I wouldn't have minded that either. I wouldn't get it now, since I already bought the 'leader' version, but I guess you can try having the small Shockwave that came with the MP figure and see if that works, or maybe the CW legends one.

Damn, [redacted] hits that hard?

So can we start taking bets this is getting cancelled for being boring and uninteresting? Honestly, I think we're done with TF comics for a while. They had their run. Put 'em to rest for now.

Dude I don’t think that was a rant at all that was a thoughtful take on it. Well put and not unreasonable at all.

Well, I liked 7 a great deal more than 6. Hernandez needs to improve fast or sit on the bench for a bit, their art is distracting when it has to sit next to the work of a legend like Griffith.

Full review later, or maybe tomorrow. Staff is stretched pretty thin so shoot me a PM if you're an active board member in good standing interested in coming on to do comics reviews.

I'm really digging the story so far. I agree that I would like to see more character moments for the main cast, but that can be challenging when advancing the plot. Bumblebee has been tied up in most of the major story beats, and we're seeing him react to those, not develop an independent emotional arc. By contrast, we're seeing a lot of Orion's personality, and he has been more of an observer than participant.

There are two elements in the new series that I really like: the increased presence of female Transformers and a much deeper context for the coming war. In addition to Siege toys Chromia and Greenlight, there's also mainstays Arcee and Elita-1. Add in Nautica and deep cuts like Road Rage and Flamewar, and it's clear that gender diversity is here to stay. Hopefully we'll continue to see more neuro-atypical characters like Geomotus. There is no reason that robot bodies can't be every bit as diverse as organic ones.

I was a little underwhelmed at the worldbuilding at first. I loved the moon energy elevator thing and the Cybertronian wastes, as well as the organic enclaves in the cities, but the planet still basically seems like the same one that's appeared in other media. I now feel like I was taking "worldbuilding" too literally - it's not primarily the physical structure of Cybertron that's changing, but the social and cultural structure, which in turn informs the nature of the core conflict. Issue 6 was not just a great character study of two leaders destined to lead a horrible conflict, it also rooted that coming conflict in practical systemic concerns. IDW and even other continuities have played at that with the Senate and social strata, but issues like Energon rationing and population control provide additional justifications for character choices and conflict.

I mean, at the end of the day, do you really need something more complex and less binary than good versus evil to sell kids' toys? Maybe not, but I get more sucked into the drama and personalities when there's more complexity, which deepens my relationship to the characters.