COMICS

[GoktimusPrime]

Do they still sell G1/G2 TFs at Comics R Us? (haven't been there in 7 years )

[TheDirtyDigger]

Do they still sell G1/G2 TFs at Comics R Us? (haven't been there in 7 years )

Haven't been to the city shop for ages as it's always been a rip off for figures and comics. After the hype of the movie though they were pretty well cleaned out of G1 and G2.

[STL]

STL will kick me if I don't recommend Classic Comics (also in the City). They have cheaper prices than Minotaur.

Darn tootin' straight!

Yeah, I have it on good authority from STL that Classic Comics is cheaper, and was even insulted when I mentioned that I go to Minotaur

You want a box of Kleenex, Sunflower?

In all seriousness the one advantage that Minotaur has is that it generally keeps its stock levels maintained better than Classic Comics. Classic Comics is cheaper but they generally only stock stuff that has been a proven mover so stuff that is not you'll generally have to order. That's in terms of trades. With single issue comics, they're even harder to get off the shelf. It's quite worth your while to use Classic Comics standing order system though b/c it means you get discounts on TPBs and single issues while your issues are always well looked after as instead of being on the shelf they go straight to your bag. If you have a standing order w/ them, you'll get even better discounts on top of their lower prices.

One of the things about ordering TF comics though is that IDW have a terrible habit of not providing sufficient images of covers so it does make it hard to signal your preference on your orders. IDW's covers generally don't get released till a week out which by then doesn't leave much wriggle room but Classic Comics are more than happy to find the specific cover you want at no extra charge. My discount rates at Classic Comics is 15% which is very generous given their already competitive prices.

As for general reading, my personal top 3 are:
1.) DW: War and Peace (G1, vol.2): a very nice G1 feel here.
2.) DW: The War Within I - mindblowing, inspirational
3.) DW: The War Within II -

I, like you, love the new art a lot, Don Figueroa especially. I doubt I'd be reading any of the comics in sequential form if it wasnt' for the more modern style.

For the IDW G1 stuff, it's very convoluted unless you read it in the right order and remember everything over the course of the past 3 years. So it pays to actually sit down and read it one go. It's written terribly for a sequential book and is all over the place.

I'd recommend this as a starting point at IDW. It'll keep you up to speed with the order of things. It's a bit pricey but IIRC, Classic Comics has a volume for $120 which I saw about a month ago which is excellent value for the 18 odd issues you get in it. It's oversized and all the art is blown up which makes it quite desirable to read. The dust jacket is simply awesome too. It's the best way to read IDW imo and the stories flow a lot better in this form than the sequential format. The 2nd volume of this is due next year sometime, I think.

Of IDW's stuff, the must read story is: Stormbringer. Love the story and the art especially. Megatron: Origins is a story that you'll want to read that has a lot of easter eggs but it suffers many flaws.

Of IDW's artists, my favourites are:
- Guido Guidi - he's not at his best imo on All Hail Megatron but he's still an awesome G1 artist.
- Rob Musso - his Ultra Magnus issue was amazing. His Ramjet was good but not a favourite character of mine.
- Alex Milne: his sequentials can be very hard to follow but he does awesome covers and pin up pages.

Also IDW's Kup Spotlight was very awesome imo. It's different and the art's not my cup of tea, but it works extremely well for the story it has to tell.

[blackie]

ok new question, having never read the spotlight comics at all, but looking at the art thinking i might get one or two of them, do they follow a continuous story line, or are the independent of one another. also when does spotlight on blurr come out in aus?

[STL]

ok new question, having never read the spotlight comics at all, but looking at the art thinking i might get one or two of them, do they follow a continuous story line, or are the independent of one another. also when does spotlight on blurr come out in aus?

I believe Spotlight Blurr came out a week ago. I could be wrong though since I pick up my comics once a month (mostly cos it takes me that long to read stuff).

The Spotlights were -supposed- to be independent but that's not really the case and a lot of them leave a lot to be desired if you haven't been reading the rest of the IDW G1 series. The best spotlights that are closest to stand alone are:

- Blaster
- Kup
- Ultra Magnus
- Shockwave

Most of the others are middling to okay. A large part of the problem is they leave you unsatisfied since its part of a story arc and the end of the Spotlight leaves you in no mans land. Many of those plots weren't followed up to for a long time and that was a large problem w/ IDWs G1 series. Too long between series and spotlights. That's why I really recommend the Premiere Hardcover so you can read it in one go.

[blackie]

i just finished reading dw war within vol 3..... wtf only 3 of them :'(
liked the story line and the art, but i want more :'(
looking into stormbringer tomorrow

[STL]

I'd lend you mine but that Jacksplatt11 pansy has it.

[jacksplatt11]

I'd lend you mine but that Jacksplatt11 pansy has it.

Well you're not getting it back now for that, so ner

[STL]

Well you're not getting it back now for that, so ner

Hah! I still owe you 2c! that makes us... waitaminute...

[GoktimusPrime]

I think most of the Spotlights can be read as stand alone stories except for Galvatron and the Revelations arc ones.