Transformers Movie: Prequel #1-4/TPB

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Denyer
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Transformers Movie: Prequel #1-4/TPB

Post by Denyer »

Probably out on the 21st, although Diamond have told some people the 28th.

http://forums.idwpublishing.com/cgi-bin ... =21;t=3507

Preview pages:
http://tfarchive.com/comics/idw/preview ... vieprequel

Advance review:
http://tfarchive.com/comics/idw/movieprequel1a.php

Worth checking out, IMO. :)
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Post by Clogs »

LOL! Never trust the vizier!!!

Thanks for the info, Denyer. I have this on order and I'm glad about it now.
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Post by another tf fan »

Allow me to preface my remarks with a few words about me and comic books.

Before my renewed interest in Transformers in 2001 i had never, ever bought or read a comic book. in 2004 i began expanding my quest for Transformers related fiction to the g1 U.S. Marvel comics. They were lousy, but i liked them anyways. Then I bought the DW G1 first 6 issues. I liked the modern looking art and not being a comic book fan, the story seemed fun and good to me.

Then nothing.
Until I stumble into what became my regular comic shop in September, 2005. The owner told me IDW was going to start making new TF comics. I dutifully returned in October and got Infiltration #0 and have bought everything IDW has done on the subject of transformers. I also have enjoyed every one.

So, I just bought and read the B & W Movie Prequel #1.

Holy Hell that was the best Transformers Comic I have ever read!

If the movie is as good as this comic The Transformers have been eternally changed for the better.

Chris Ryall is an excellent story teller and I can't wait for issue two. Figueroa's designs are inspired and the art soars above Stormbringer.

I'd like to say that I don't care for the Black and White issues. I bought Escalation one in B & W and thought it lacking. With the movie prequel I have seen the color sample pages and they are dark. The high contrast of the B & W clears up some of the subdued colors.

I'm still buying the color issue next week.

So let me wrap this up by giving the Movie Prequel #1 five out of five stars.
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by another tf fan
I bought Escalation one in B & W
Off-topic... is it actually black and white, or greyscale (four tone, full gradient, etc)? And same question for the movie prequel issue.
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Post by another tf fan »

Escalation #1 Black and White is actually gray scale.

Movie Prequel #1 B & W is just that, Black and White.

I don't know if IDW is using a code for the difference, but on the Escalation cover they call it "Black & White" and the movie prequel says "B & W Version".
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Post by Commander Shockwav »

Read it.

Did a good job as an introductory setup issue, BUT....the word to describe this issue is "confined".

What I mean by that is I feel both Ryall and Don were confined in showcasing the best of what they are about.

Artwise, Don was confined by the ridiculously complex nature of these new Transformers. Is there any artist that can take these guys and pose them when they are so freaking complicated in their structure? Don did as good a job as possible with them. Kudos to him for that, but I can only imagine he was pulling his hair out over this. I can't imagine the headache it must have been to make these bots look consistent from one panel to the next. And I don't think Megatron "hands" will ever sit right with me.

Storywise, I thought Chris did a nice job. But again, he was confined by the upcoming movie in where he can go and what he can do with this series. I feel this will not allow us to see Chris, who obviously has talent, at his best. For example, Bumblebee at the end can't talk because his vocal processor is damaged. I mean, these bots are so advanced, but they can't repair a voice processor? Obviously, the sole reason for this is because (unfortunately for all TF fans), Bumblebee is likely going to be mute for the movie. That is a depressing revelation to me. And Chris had to go with it because that's what we're going to get. See what I mean by confined?

Chris, I enjoyed your debut. But I hope that in the future, we get to see you write without being confined. A oneshot maybe?

Overall, a "B-" issue. Probably as good as an introductory issue can get given the limitations placed before it.
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Post by Brimstone »

So the question is, who all did we recognize in the comic?

Obviously there was Arcee, Megatron, and Bumblebee. But what about the others?

For me, I believe at the end while Bumblebee was on the gurney, that Ratchet was there (he was white, but he had the funky grill on his chest). I think in the same set of panels that Silverstreak was there, or perhaps Prowl (because of the red forehead "horns"). Also, the other main Autobot that survived the onslaught...I wonder if that was supposed to be Inferno or perhaps Red Alert? So many of them seemed familiar and that I should know who they are, but the designs changed drastically enough that I just can't tell. I know the interview with Ryall said that we should be able to tell who they are (even though they aren't named). Some of them have very distinct heads and faces, you'd think they'd be recognizeable.

Also, I have no idea who those two Decepticons were supposed to be. I mean, if they weren't Decepticons I would have said they were Sideswipe and Skids.

Oh, and it appears that we at least have the answer about Megatron's alt mode...it is definately his Cybertronian mode and not some super secret military jet. So that makes me feel better. I wonder what Earth alt mode he'll end up taking (if any).

(for those of you that know...that was a rhetorical question and I don't want to know until I see the movie!!!) :D
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Originally posted by Brimstone
So the question is, who all did we recognize in the comic?


I think I spotted BM Rattrap in shadow at one point, but everyone else I drew a blank on (Bar Movie Starscream in the crowd shot beg=hind Megatron that is- I'm assuming the rest were the Movie cons but I'm hopeless at this).


Good things about this issue:

Fast paced, well written and whilst it had the feeling of being aimed slightly younger it still entertained. And thankfully there was nothing to suggest Arcee was a fembot in the design (and are the drones/new bots seen all Don's work or taken from unused Movie designs?).

Is it me or is the Allspark in fact the Puzzel Box from Hellraiser?

If Megatron's slightly Panto dame dialouge is indicative of how he's written in the film I can definately hear David Kaye more in the role than I can Welker.

The silly highlight: Bumblebee's impasioned speech about how slowely, and with great struggle, he was able to find new ways to comunicate with the other Autobots to tell them what happened. Which not only suggests no one on Cybertron has invented the pen and paper yet, but gave me a mental image of this:

Optimus: Right, first word.. two syllibals, first syllibal sounds like... Big? Huge? large... Mega? Ah, Megatron!... Megatron... small word... Has? Has... Gone... Gone after... short word...as? In? The... Megatron has gone after the... sounds like round? sphere? circle... wait... ball! Sounds like Ball? Call? Haul? All? ALL!! All... Megatron has gone after the All... what? Damn it, I don't get what you're miming!
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Post by another tf fan »

About the robo-charades::laugh:
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Talkback for Movie Prequel #2

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Post by Brimstone »

I just read about a misprinted color version of Prequel #1. I was wondering if anyone knows what was wrong with it.
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Post by Denyer »

IIRC, fifth page has completely wrong text layouts superimposed on the image.
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Post by another tf fan »

Issue 2 was very good and the 19th century earth tie-ins were wonderful.

the issue moved a little slower, but seemed to read faster. less staring at the pictures this time.

I'm still very interested in the story and i'm excited for issue 3.
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Post by Commander Shockwav »

Read it.

Very, very nicely done, by everyone.

First the writing. I felt the story flowed very nicely, was not verbose with just the right amount of exposition, and really set this story up well. I was getting some DW vibes from this issue while I was reading it, and before anyone comments on that, I consider most of what DW did to be quite good. What I mean is, this issue's story kind of harkens back to those first few issues of DW, where it was Soundwave being found encased in ice instead. That was a time of excitement for many a TF fan, and reading this issue did no less in getting me pumped. As much as I dislike humans in TF stories, I actually enjoyed the human interaction simply because the dialogue was so crisp. Chris definitely gets a pat on the back for this one from me. *pat,pat,pat*

And the art? Well, if I could pat Don on the back for every time he did something fantastic, his eyes would be knocked out of his head. Don delivers time and time again, and this issue was no different. His humans in particular are better than ever. Again, I got this DW feel from this issue also because Don was DW, artistically speaking. Everything was clear, unlike in the first issue, where all the complex forms of these bots made things quite jumbled and indistinct.

A solid "A" issue. It's not often where I'll give a comic an "A", but this is one of those times I think it meets that standard.

Good job guys, looking forward to more.
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Post by Brimstone »

Hmm...so Bumblebee is the infamous sillouetted(sp) transformer from the anouncement trailer, huh? I'll have to watch that again to see if it matches up (probably not).
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Post by Nevermore »

This issue read like someone pasted the intro pages to five or six different issues together in chronological order. You know, the way a comic often starts with "X years ago", features one or two pages of exposition and then jumps to the present day. This issue felt like a collage of that kind of scenes, just without any actual present day main story.
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Post by Brimstone »

So, I just went frame by frame of the anouncement trailer and...holy cow, I think that really is Bumblebee!! I mean, the body is hard to tell...but that head, there's one shot where you can see the crest and what looks to be the two little bumps on either side (his "horns/antennae"), and the two sort of cheeck protrusions on either side of his face. That really does look like Bumblebee's head.

I'm impressed.
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Post by Denyer »

Originally posted by Nevermore
This issue read like someone pasted the intro pages to five or six different issues together in chronological order. You know, the way a comic often starts with "X years ago", features one or two pages of exposition and then jumps to the present day. This issue felt like a collage of that kind of scenes, just without any actual present day main story.

Yeah, it is kinda like a flashback montage in a film before a story picks up again at current events.

I'd quite like to have seen what the other Autobots were doing meanwhile, but it seems that's the territory covered by the prequel novel and the two publishing camps have decided to work together on different focuses rather than just retell what each other is doing.
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Post by another tf fan »

I'm glad they are working two different angles.

We all know if they were covering the same material we would get conflicting stories. (G1 comics AND g1 tv show)
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Movie Prequel #3

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