Opinion: Top 5 Moments of IDW's First Transformers Run

[TaZZerath]

In another one of TaZZerath's Throught-provoking Talks, I thought i'd share a bit of insight into the top 5 moments I had on IDW's Transformers Universe, now that this 'phase' of it has officially ended.

I've been with IDW's pre-existing run from the beginning; with the -ations series, Stormbringer and the Spotlights right through to Lost Light, Unicron and Optimus Prime. There have been many highlights (and some lowlights as well lets face it) and I thought I'd share my Top 5 moments.

Moments as I've defined them here can be a particular series, a character, just something which I really liked, gave me chills, made me cry or laugh, etc.

These are of course my opinion only; I'm sure everyone is different, and I'd love to hear yours!

Please be aware that this may contain spoilers if you haven't read certain IDW series so please tread with caution!

So, here we go!

5. Transformers: Spotlights
Way back in the early IDW days, something fresh and innovative kept me coming back. Transformers: Spotlights were great one-shots giving various characters the chance to show some of their backstory, or highlight an ongoing current conflict. Shockwave started it all (and ended it all too really didn't he!); Hot Rod showed off his brashness; Grimlock just wanted to find the dynobots he himself had buried so long ago; 31 issues all tying into the ongoing IDW continuity, filling in plot holes or providing some neat backstories or just some plain fun. When Spotlights started to thin out I was a bit disappointed, but fortunately one series in particular kept me hooked and continuing to want to read the ongoing Transformers saga that was unfolding...

4. More Than Meets The Eye/Lost Light
In some ways I agonised over putting this further down the list because it was the ONE comic I always looked forward to reading and was rarely disappointed, and if this 'Top 5' was about just series alone it would probably pip the number 2 spot (because number 1 is still very relevant to me as seen below!). But this is all about a combination of moments.

I don't know what it is about James Roberts, but BOY could he tell a story and give characters real weight on the pages. I think the the 'primer' of the 'Chaos Theory' two-parter (before the 'Chaos' event occurred) really helped. Not only did Roberts explore Cybertronian lore in a way it hadn't been explored before (showing pre-Great War corruption, contempt for lower classes, exploring functionism, etc) but also his ability to dare step beyond the standard 'transformers G1' tropes. Relationships and love between Transformers did happen, and between the same gender was common. Morally grey characters really did exist, and felt justified in their actions and belief. Even 'trans' characters (such as Anode and Lug) were introduced.

And boy, didn't I enjoy the ride. I might be a cisgender male, but I can appreciate what Roberts was trying to do, and he wasn't even being preachy about it. And considering the reaction he's had and the strong surge of female and LBTQ supporters that Transformers has received as a result, others must've felt the same way.

Combine that with some absolutely KILLER art from Alex Milne (and others afterwards) and I'd wait for every issue with bated breath.

Serious story arcs like Remain In Light, Dying of the Light (my personal favourite of the run) and wacky, inconceivably workable side-trips back in time, to alternative 'swearth', the Scavengers, and everything in between, this series made me laugh, and even cry (original Rewind anyone?) and feel every emotion in between. Out of all the ongoing series IDW was running, MTMTE/LL will be the one I miss the most.

3. Megatron's Attempt at Redemption (MTMTE/LL)
Note that I said 'attempt' here, because after Lost Light ended, we all know how THAT ended up...

At the end of the Dark Cybertron crossover, came one of the most poignant and unexpected moments in Transformers history. A disillusioned Megatron, seeing the death of Bumblebee, is finally spurned into action, disavowing the Decepticons and what they had become, and putting on an Autobot symbol.

Megatron? An AUTOBOT? WHAAAAAAAAAAA????

The impact sent shockwaves not just through the IDW Transformerverse, but through fans as well. This just wasn't RIGHT.

But James Roberts has displayed skill and mastery in character development, and Megatron as an Autobot is no exception here. It's not easy for a villain to admit he's wrong, and even less easy for those around him to accept it. After all, being deceived is ALL in the name of the faction he founded. Many MANY Autobots and Decepticons alike rejected this version of Megatron in disbelief. But rather than revert to previous form (although he did come MIGHTILY close many times), Megatron kept persisting. This not only earnt him some respect amongst some high-profile names, but also led to one of the pinnacles of MTMTE/LL story arcs, being the Dying of the Light (which is my personal favourite of the whole run). Even a universal side trip did nothing to deter him from his quest to change 'Peace Through Tyranny' to 'Peace Through Empathy' and try to re-establish his original goal of upsetting the establishments which kept the strong in corrupt power and the weak downtrodden. But ultimately, as the ending issues of Lost Light's final arc shows, he still couldn't forgive himself. And nor could the galaxy as a whole; the Great War had simply done too much damage and cost too many lives for many to forgive. But while his ultimate fate remains ambiguous, his strength of character had me (and many) no doubt wondering; was this how he could've been had the Great War not broken out and his ideals become so diluted by endless violence and hatred?

2. Til All Are One Annual: Windblade's Election
I genuinely loved the Windblade series and follow-on Til All Are One. Sarah Stone's art in particular was absolutely gorgeous and Mairghead Scott's writing was spot on. While Stone would be replaced by Sara Pitre-Durocher, the art nonetheless continued to be a high point.

When I heard that TAAO wasn't continuing after Revolution, I was gutted. But the way that the Annual wrapped up Windblade's ongoing story up to her election REALLY resonated with me. She showed she could do this on her own two feet without the Mistress of Flame's backing, without Starscream's scheming, and without the need for blackmail or bribery. She bravely forged ahead, told the existing bureaucracy to shove it, gave a fantastic pre-election speech, and in the end even managed to convince Starscream (the ever conniving, scheming, backstabbing STARSCREAM of ALL people!) to confess to EVERYthing he had done.

While it was sad that TAAO ended, it did so with grace, style, and without a shot fired; it did so with courage and bravery.

1. Last Stand of the Wreckers
This was an easy number one for me. Up until now, IDW's run had been pretty light on any major Transformer related violence or deaths. There had been battles and casualties, sure, but the whole premise behind Last Stand was as follows, in the words of Verity Carlo: "It's a story of sacrifice and betrayal, and of good people dying in stupid, pointless ways." And BOY did it deliver on this.

With Nick Roche on story and art, combined with the venerable James Roberts, they weaved a tale of the Wreckers, who through fanboy Ironfists eyes was a noble and heroic Autobot unit designed to clean up any Decepticon messes across the galaxy, and instead discovered the truth was a bunch of shady, morally grey gun-toting psychopaths. For the first time I truly felt the weight of the fact the Autobots weren't the clean cut 'good guys' that various media had made them out to be; they had flaws, they had weaknesses, they had done their own atrocities too. It levelled the playing field as it were. And the slow dismemberment of the Wreckers as a group over the course of the issues was like watching a car crash: painful, but you didn't want to look away.

Overlord carried some serious psychopathic weight (and lips), Springer was a leader struggling with the actions of his unit in the past; Impactor was stubbornly cemented that the ends always justify the means; and poor disillusioned Ironfist, the hero who paid the ultimate price.

This series had it all for me and cemented my love for several of the characters (Springer especially, who had always been a favourite of mine, and I snapped up his T30 toy as soon as humanly possible). Sins and Requiem of the Wreckers were also good and had their part to play, but Last Stand couldn't be beaten.

Honorable mentions for moments I remember go to Rom Vs Transformers: Shining Armor which again saw Alex Milne back in action and had a really gripping storyline; Ultra Magnus' own reveal as Minimus Ambus, one in a long line of 'Magnuses' being immortal lawmen (the Combiner Wars Leader figure of which I still cherish today); and Ratchet, may his gumpy metal butt rest in piece.

So there's my Top 5 Moments. Care to share what's yours? Discuss any of the above? I'd love to see how others thought of this!

Just keep it to top 5 moments and positives though please because i'm going to start a 'Top 5 moments I'd rather not remember' about IDW's run shortly

[GoktimusPrime]

Some of the best things that I've enjoyed about IDW's run include:

Treating the Transformers as people
In truth they sometimes take this a bit too far, but on the whole it's been one of the strengths of the IDW universe. The polar opposite of Bayformers. They've given us really well fleshed out characters who elicit the audience to emotionally invest in these characters. I actually got teary when Shockwave and Sideswipe died (well, when we were led to believe that Shockwave died anyway). So many times these stories just hit me right in the feels.

Seeing lesser known G1 characters having more canonical appearances
Like HUBCAP! List all the times you remember Hubcap appearing in any continuity prior to IDW. Exactly! And IDW was the first canonical appearance of Hasbro's Overlord, not Takara's! It all made sense to me later when I read that Overlord was one of James Roberts' favourite G1 toys as a kid, and of course it would've been a locally purchased Hasbro Overlord in 1991, not a Takara Overlord from 1988.

New and Old characterisations
I will forever love IDW for being the first Transformers continuity to accurately portray Thundercracker's persona, as originally penned by Bob Budiansky back in 1984. Because nobody else did justice for Thundercracker until IDW, despite the fact that he has arguably one of the most interesting personalities among the early G1 Decepticons as the one 'Con who was morally conflicted and unsure about the Decepticon cause. As the original G1 bio states, Thundercracker fights for the Decepticons not because he fully agrees with their stance, but because he disagrees with the Autobots more. It's like voting for one political party not because you like them but because you dislike the other parties more. Until IDW came along, it'd almost become a joke that a character with so much potential was never exploited by writers anywhere. I even threw a reference to it in this little photocomic that I made back in 2003:

IDW was also the first continuity since the Ladybird and Big Looker books from the 80s that accurately portrayed Galvatron as a separate character from Megatron (which is what the original toy bio made him out to be); although unlike the original G1 toy continuity, Galvatron was certainly not a City Commander. Neither was Ultra Magnus... of course, they just replaced having City Commanders with having City Speakers. On the flip side, IDW also gave us totally new interpretations of G1 characters that was completely different to their original G1 personas. Tailgate was no longer a delusional activist, but became a childlike character with serious self-image issues and a strong desire for belonging. Swerve changed from being a reckless punk to being someone who may have that smiling depression mood disorder (e.g. Robin Williams etc.). And I really like how the comic portrayed Ultra Magnus as an identity rather than any one individual. This of course gave us a whole new take on the original G1 toy being a small robot inside a suit of armour. DW comics also showed us Ultra Magnus as a white Optimus Prime, but IDW gave us a deeper meaning behind the armour.

A reflection on humanity
This is what good science fiction and fantasy is all about. Holding a mirror to ourselves. It also created what is a far more fascinating look at Cybertronian history and the reason why the war started and continued. And so much of it echoes our own history and current society. I was personally stoked that Hasbro Australia allowed me to reference IDW in my adaptation of Masterpiece Star Sabre's bio for the local release of that toy. Aside from being the version of Star Sabre that more Anglophone fans are likely to be more familiar with, it's also just a more interesting character. G1 Star Sabre was, personality-wise, a clone of Optimus Prime. Kaneda Masumi was clearly playing the safe and conservative card in just giving us more of the same thing with the lead Autobot commander character in Victory - and I don't blame him; when Toei gave fans something totally new in Dai Atlas, fans became enraged and TF Zone never made it past the direct-to-video pilot.

IDW blurred the lines of "good" and "evil" and was unafraid to make powerful and relevant social commentary. I also really like how the god of the Transformers was a collector!

Longevity
13 years. Wanna feel old? Babies born in the year that IDW first started making TF comics are now in Year 8!

And in an era where we have so many short-run disposable TF continuities that keep on getting rebooted, I really appreciate that IDW stuck with a singular continuity for so long. Much longer than the G1 US cartoon (3 years) or even the G1 Marvel comics (8 years). It also means that I personally don't feel sad or anything about the series wrapping up. It allows IDW to end on their own terms rather than being axed like the Marvel Comics, or abruptly aborted like DW. I must admit that I was initially disappointed that IDW chose to reboot instead of continuing the DW continuity, but looking back I can see that it was the right choice. Reboots obviously give you far greater creative liberty as you're not tied down to other people's work, but at the same time they've endured for a jolly long time without resorting to rebooting. As a long-time fan I personally don't like reboots, I prefer continuity. But the problem with this is that it can make the media less easily accessible for newbie fans; it's hard to just jump into the comics if you haven't been following it for a long time.