IDW Transformers ongoing [spoilers]

[Paulbot]

Okay, I lie. I just read #7 and while not the strongest of issues, it involved some very good work. For once, some of the diallogue worked quite well. The Decepticons being reeduced to what they are was very fascinating. I do feel that Starscream went backwards a bit. In the early Furman books and across AHM, he was portrayed as offering something more. A real alternative. I still fondly recall, Blitzwing and Astrotrain (?) reviving him b/c of Megatron seeming to be too obsessive.

The humans were okay. Tolerable at best. Personally I think the human element has been a fail at IDW. Verity and co = suckage. Spike = suckage. The last time I cared for beings and TFs was Budinsky's run with Galen/Spike as Fort Max. That said, 1 average win from 7 is hardly a great strike rate. The book's still been dropped. I just had to pick up #7-9 last week as courtesy to my retailer who I have a standing order with.

It will be interesting to see what you say once you've read #8... Will anyone stick up for #8?

[SharkyMcShark]

I did. Sort of.

[Oilspill]

I actually quite like Verity and Hunter, they're some of the better human characters in comic and cartoon continuities in my opinion. But all humans from AHM onwards I could care less for.

In fact, the Ongoing has done a damn good job of making every TF unlikeable too. Magnus is now a dick, Hot Rod is a dick, Prime is pathetic, the only character who is actually likeable is probably Bumblebee, but it's not like he had a great storyline or anything, he's just not acting like a jerk.

The Ironhide mini seems OK, though I haven't read #3 yet.

[STL]

In fact, the Ongoing has done a damn good job of making every TF unlikeable too. Magnus is now a dick, Hot Rod is a dick, Prime is pathetic,

Quoted for truth.

And arguably most of the same could be said for all the other pussies characters; Bumblebee included. I have never read a more forced ascension to leadership than that.

[SharkyMcShark]

I liked Ongoing's Swindle!

And Cliffjumper to a lesser extent

[STL]

Read #8. Not as bad but not great. I personally found very little likeable in the issue. I think the concept is fine and I'm not as angry as others are about Spike taking out a TF with so much as a bit of liquid and blasters. This seems to be where all the fanboys are up to their panties in it. A TF getting taken out by a miserable little human? While on initially reading this thread and elsewhere online I was grossly sceptical, in the context of the story I find it believable. Spike has planned this. He knows what it is, he knows it needs to be taken down and so if he is going solo, you would expect him to be prepared and have done his research. Hence, the liquid/blaster etc.

My problem however is motivation and organic growth with the plot to get it to that point. There's a mixture of motivations underpinning his attack on the combiner. Is it revenge? Is it to protect the Autobot alliance? Is it to stop the devastation that a combiner might cause? Is it to let his hair down? Is it to prove humans are tough enough to deal with the TFs themselves? All of this is messed together in a mixing bowl of the fight without any clarity whatsoever. It is set against the backdrop of a military conversation that was tense. How does this fight fit into the context of that with it's mixed messages? Honestly, there's no character work and nuance to make it work.

Human stories can be good with TFs. However, this is a superficial attempt. It's lame and is ill-directed. It is passable as a whole b/c if you really wanted to, you could construe all the motivations together such that it means Spike did some significant on multiple fronts. That said, why solo? He trusts his men seems to be the message at the start. Again your problem however you may argue to him this is very personal. BUT again, where have you developed the character to the point where any of his actions matter or can be positively construed? Nowhere. This could've worked but what it requried was more careful character work rather than a mere few pages all in the one spot where the reader has to just accept this coming out of nowhere. Did you really expect fanboys to react otherwise? While IDW/the writer may rationalise it but there's one simple fact : Execution is piss poor.

And I say this ignoring the fact that I would much prefer reading something like the Ironhide mini where it's human free. I like reading about robots. Any story can work but you have to give it the right notes and treat it like a piece of art and work on construction. This fails on all accounts.

Add to that, there's a jarring disconnect between the cover art (style wise, very G1) and interior art. Very weird. Next issue has an awesome Combaticon cover but crikey I hope interiors reflect this. Despite how harsh I've been, this issue was actually to me more tolerable than a few of the first 6 issues.

That said, despite the balance that i've provided here I'm not hanging onto the book. Well, unless 9 blows me out my socks but I'm pretty committed to the trade path now. I have three versions of various trades plus single issues. I support them more than I should for their mediocrity and it comes to an end now.

[Oilspill]

I think the concept is fine and I'm not as angry as others are about Spike taking out a TF with so much as a bit of liquid and blasters. This seems to be where all the fanboys are up to their panties in it. A TF getting taken out by a miserable little human? While on initially reading this thread and elsewhere online I was grossly sceptical, in the context of the story I find it believable. Spike has planned this. He knows what it is, he knows it needs to be taken down and so if he is going solo, you would expect him to be prepared and have done his research. Hence, the liquid/blaster etc.

It's not so much the tools that bother me, as much as it is the Constructicon's (is it Scavenger or Bonecrusher, I'm not even sure) complete lack of fighting back. It's a completely one sided fight which annoys me as the Decepticon is a war veteran of millions of years, and Spike is a douchebag of 20 something years.

That, and like you said, the execution is piss poor.

[STL]

That said, why solo? He trusts his men seems to be the message at the start. Again your problem however you may argue to him this is very personal. BUT again, where have you developed the character to the point where any of his actions matter or can be positively construed? Nowhere. This could've worked but what it requried was more careful character work rather than a mere few pages, all in the one spot, where the reader has to just accept at face value this coming out of nowhere. Did you really expect fanboys to react otherwise? While IDW/the writer may rationalise it but there's one simple fact : Execution is piss poor.

Ugh. Re-read that and that was a messy bit.

My point is:

Why solo? This contradicts the early part of hte issue where he talks about his bond with his men and their loyalty. If he trusts them, why not select a group to go with him rather than going solo?

[kup]

STL, you seem to have misinterpreted why that Spike sequenced pissed us off. It's not so much about Spike taking the Decepticon out all by himself but how he did it and the intentions of the writer for having him do it.

It was basically a pointless sequence to show off how 'bad ass' Spike is otherwise he would have kept his shirt on while doing it.

Also in the future, please don't be so patronizing to your fellow fans.

[STL]

STL, you seem to have misinterpreted why that Spike sequenced pissed us off. It's not so much about Spike taking the Decepticon out all by himself but how he did it and the intentions of the writer for having him do it.

Really? Like this?

Come on, it doesn't matter how it was done. Spike killed him in the most ridiculous way possible and they even had to have him do it without a shirt. How stupid is that?

I don't have a problem with TFs dying by being shot in the head but I do have a problem when a Douchey human does this super high jump and basically kills the Transformer by hitting him in the face with some chemical.

Bare chested Spike killed him with his super human high jump punches.

He is badass

Wow, Spike is an a-hole.

Also, I went and read 3 just now (because for some reason 2 isn't downloading). I still don't get any feelings of emotion from the robots (Swindle excepted, he had more personality in one panel than everyone else did in the entire issue). It's worse than the Animated comic and how one artist almost always drew everyone going D: regardless of what was happening. IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN.

The writing is terrible. "Hey I'm Spike, I can take out a 30ft, technologically advanced giant robot who's fought in wars for millenia, with no technology, no backup, some chemicals I mixed up in my kitchen and no shirt." Awesome way to completely destroy the Decepticons as any kind of credible threat.

The stupid thing was the intent of the issue is to build Spike up as a bad-ass human hero of the ongoing story, who can hold his own against a Cybertronian. But with the whole "I'm too cool for school, I didn't pay attention and just got in fights" backstory, it just succeeds in making him look like an arsehole.

It was basically a pointless sequence to show off how 'bad ass' Spike is otherwise he would have kept his shirt on while doing it.

On the basis of that comment there alone (ignoring the previous couple of quotes before that) I'd say my post is more trying to dissect in a critical and reasoned manner the story than throwing around cheap little one liners.