Spotlight: Nightbeat

Post by **Denyer** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:44 am

Since it's technically already out (advance copies were available at BotCon.)

There's an advance review here: http://fractalmatter.com/main/?p=402

And yup, Mark Bright is the guy who did the cover to Marvel US #5.

The release date for the rest of us is apparently the 18th.

Preview here: http://tfarchive.com/comics/idw/preview ... spotlights

Post by **Clay** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 1:28 am

Picked up a copy for Osku while at Botcon.

Eh. It's a comic with Nightbeat, but his story is almost empty except foreshadowing something that'll happen in the other comics in a few months.

I was more impressed with the Shockwave one-shot because it told the back story of how he and the dinobots ended up on earth in the tar as in the original comics. In other words, it fills in a gap. Nightbeat's comic just creates one. :\

Cunning Ravage · Post by **Cunning Ravage** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 9:47 pm

Originally posted by Clay
I was more impressed with the Shockwave one-shot because it told the back story of how he and the dinobots ended up on earth in the tar as in the original comics. In other words, it fills in a gap. Nightbeat's comic just creates one. :\

On the other hand you can't answer a question till you've posed one. Overall I'm still on the fence about it. On hand I have to say am very intreged by the questions rised and want to know what is going to happen. On the other the art, well, decent over all has bloated faces, not Pat Lee bloated, but bloated all the same.

Commander Shockwav · Post by **Commander Shockwav** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:11 pm

I liked it. Not an overly verbose tale, it was mysterious, and as far as telling a story in one issue, it did it's job.

Some have been critical of the art, but I didn't think it was too bad. I liked that the pencils seemed finer, and the coloring I thought was very good. I was particularly fond of how the planet was drawn. It really looked like a busy place on the surface. Not sure what happened to Nightbeats "ears" though.

Obviously, this is a set-up story for bigger things to come. My only major gripe would be it read kind of short.

So overall, I give it a "B". Not on par with the first spotlight, but that would be a standard too high for comparison perhaps.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 7:24 pm

On the first read through I was rather disapointed with this- Mainly because it wasn't what I expected. I was looking forward to another fun Marlowesque detective romp. Instead it's Lovecraft meets 24 (a brainwashed mole who doesn't know they're a mole is right out of that show). I was annoyed that the mystery itself is a bit rubish- Because they want to trap Nightbeat there isn't much actual detection for him to do, just to go where the large clues point.

However, second time through, accepting it's not Chandler, it stands up much better. Nightbeat is still a fantastic character (though he works better with Siren to bounce off), the new enemy is out of left field but has potential and the brainwashing was actually fairly nasty.

The only real problems are the art, which to me is the worst we've had from IDW so far (hard to believe it's the same guy who drew the most iconic TF comic cover), and the fact that the mysterious purple glowing thing underground feeling like a Dreamwave hangover.

Which Micromasters were those btw?

Lambda prime · Post by **Lambda prime** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:09 pm

Loads of Sci Fi have shown this sort of thing with Nightbeat brain implant.
What I wish they had developed more on is the planet he was investigating, oragnic beings becoming cybernetic. Reminds me of the Borg, Cybermen and Cylons (well, they were flexible, first they were reptilian, then mechanical then making humans and the reimagined series shows them creating synthetic human copies).
Then there's the shadowy figure, on the IDW boards it's speculated he is Galvatron.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:10 pm

You need to cite speculation on the IDW boards to say that it's Galvatron? I'd have thought the fact that it's blatantly Galvy would suffice...

Originally posted by inflatable dalek
Which Micromasters were those btw?

The Awesome Patrol.

I mean Sports Car Patrol.

Detour, Blackjack, Roadhugger and Hyperdrive.

Or The Yellow One, The Black One, The Purple One and The Blue One. And no, I didn't have to look that up.

Enjoyed the issue. Nice little short-story romp.

@ Clay - I don't see much of a distinction. The Shockwave issue explains how the characters ended up buried on Earth and sets up the energon seeding stuff that bridges Stormbringer into Escalation. This one explains how Nightbeat ends up as a sleeper agent and sets up the impending arrival of the Big G.

It also has The Awesome Patrol in it, and that immediately makes it brilliant.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:13 pm

I pumped for it being them in the review as I recognised the colour scheme. Though the one having a (toy accurate?) face plate threw me a bit.

I completely failed to recognise Gavlatrons chin though. So I'm hoping it's not him.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:24 pm

Originally posted by inflatable dalek
I completely failed to recognise Gavlatrons chin though. So I'm hoping it's not him.

You can see his forehead! You can see the crown!

The snatches of dialogue may as well say "I'm big and purple/grey and I'm wacky crazy!"

Unless Furmo's got a big swerve up his sleeve. Much as I love Si Furman's work, and as much as he manages to come up with something original and unique once in a while, he always manages to fall back to the same devices in the end.

Post by **Denyer** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:50 am

Not sure it's Galvy, personally.

Enjoyed this despite the spoilers I got from proof-reading... the two spotlights so far dovetail into Escalation very neatly... am guessing the next two or three may cast the net wider.

Didn't have any real problem with the art, although I'll concede I do tend to pay far more attention to words.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 8:33 am

Originally posted by Denyer
Not sure it's Galvy, personally.

Hey, I'd love to be wrong. But the series so far hasn't quite been Astonishing X-Men in levels of "okay... I have no idea what's happening..."

Still, it's not signposted as blatantly as Sixshot's introduction into the DW stuff.

Didn't have any real problem with the art, although I'll concede I do tend to pay far more attention to words.

Same here. It's very rare that artwork ruins it for me... and then it's only in instances where you can't tell what's going on. Stormbringer #4 looks beautiful, but the sequence with Thunderwing's feet makes it almost impossible to work out what's happening from where I was sat.

Mediocre art that still conveys the story > Beautifully rendered art that doesn't.

Post by **Denyer** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 9:13 pm

Particularly liked the focus being on the spotlight character (Shockwave was as much about the Dinobots as Shockwave -- not that I'm complaining, I'm glad we're getting a range of styles and stories.) Rauch's colours work better here than they have in Infiltration, particularly his technique of defaulting panel backgrounds and non-foregrounded parts of characters to grey. Meshes with the art well too, after expecting the worst reading a few reviews -- very sketchy and Marvel UK-ish, and Bright captures scale (the cities, the cavern with the "pool") effectively.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 11:25 am

I think it's because my mental image of Nightbeat is of the Senior variety- lean and mean. The Spotlight Beat looked like he'd enjoyed a few to many pies.

And even if the one guy is Galvatron, who's the other phat headed one ?

Ballplayer · Post by **Ballplayer** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:12 pm

Kinda liked the story, about how the planet evolved and stuff...

but about Nightbeat being a detective, it was really unclear to me what he was investigating all the issue long...

and euhmmm Galvatron??? Where??? I mean a purple hand it could be anyone...

as for the art...

I can be short... I don't like the old school marvel, let's color the main character, and make the rest look purplelish or brownish. It's one of the main reasons I liked the cartoon better than the marvel comic...

With all the advances now days why make an ugly comic :S

I also don't like the pencilling. Nightbeat seems to be very unclear about how he looks

and well for Prime, this guy must have never watched or read any Transformers because even my mother could draw Prime better.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:32 pm

Originally posted by Ballplayer
and euhmmm Galvatron??? Where??? I mean a purple hand it could be anyone...

The face. The dialogue.

and well for Prime, this guy must have never watched or read any Transformers because even my mother could draw Prime better.

To his IDW Cybertronian character model?

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:35 pm

Originally posted by Brendocon
To his IDW Cybertronian character model?

For just his head?

The fact that the cerebral implant looked so big you'd have had to remove Nightbeats entire brain to fit it in was my favorite art madness moment.

Post by **Denyer** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 3:28 pm

Originally posted by Ballplayer
With all the advances now days

Honestly, most modern comics don't look better than 80s and 90s stuff (i.e. artists with a better grasp of anatomy) -- they're just covered with Photoshop effects. Look at something such as The Authority: Human On The Inside... absolutely sumptuous colours, but the art isn't hot stuff.

it was really unclear to me what he was investigating

The first ark, an ancient space shuttle that disappeared and is now almost legendary. Says in the first few pages. He goes to the planet because he's been tipped off that there's a lead.

Prime... is it possible we're seeing what Nightbeat sees? He's just had half his noggin ripped off. Works for me as an explanation, anyway.

Ballplayer · Post by **Ballplayer** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 3:40 pm

Honestly, most modern comics don't look better than 80s and 90s stuff (i.e. artists with a better grasp of anatomy) -- they're just covered with Photoshop effects. Look at something such as The Authority: Human On The Inside... absolutely sumptuous colours, but the art isn't hot stuff.

Well I really like those photoshop effects

I mean Don's and E.J.'s comics didn't have that flaw, altough it's probably a coloring
"problem"

I mean even the cartoon looked better than this issue... (excluding city of Steel

)

Prime... is it possible we're seeing what Nightbeat sees? He's just had half his noggin ripped off. Works for me as an explanation, anyway

Might be an explanation, but euhmmm this shouldn't be something we are left to explain, but should be clear from the comic...

but I must point out I also don't like the art of Nightbeat throughout the issue

Post by **Denyer** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 4:47 pm

Originally posted by Ballplayer
even the cartoon looked better than this issue

Apart from the movie and occasional episodes with more time devoted to them such as Call of the Primitives, Transformers was typical for its time.

So I'd call bull**** on that, personally...

Ballplayer · Post by **Ballplayer** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:00 pm

Apart from the movie and occasional episodes with more time devoted to them such as Call of the Primitives, Transformers was typical for its time.

Okay this might be going to just a discussion about taste so let's just discuss something else