General IDWverse *SPOILER* discussion

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Starfield
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Post by Starfield »

dotCommunism wrote:Does he actually outrank Prowl? Prowl just says that he doesn't outrank Hot Rod, which could also mean they're the same rank or that Hot Rod is outside of the traditional command structure due to his role. Of course the command structure itself seems pretty ill-defined in general.

I think you could make the case that rather than having authority, Hot Rod's mainly a free agent within the Autobot ranks. Due to his ability and specialization, he's allowed to mainly operate on his own, especially due to his authority issues (which I'm not sure is necessarily supported by this version of the character) and the trauma he underwent when his entire team was wiped out in his spotlight.
You are making me feel better about Hot Rod. I understand his character more. It makes sense if he is somewhat outside of the general command structure. He doesn't follow Prime's lead. Nightbeat told him Prime didn't give orders to orbital jump into the action in Brasnya, but he did anyway, and, as Chip1123 said, he stayed behind on Earth. Ultra Magus isn't a regular troop either.

This doesn't mean I'm not still a little dissappointed that he edged Jazz out of the special mission, but Hod Rod is far more interesting in IDW, so let him at it.
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dotCommunism
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Post by dotCommunism »

Another thing to keep in mind is that Hot Rod being on that mission instead of Jazz is probably just a plot device to get Hot Rod away from the rest of the team so that he could stay behind on Earth. Of course who knows what the point was of having Hot Rod stay on Earth. Hopefully we'll know sometime this year.
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Vincent
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Just read Spotlight: Kup

Post by Vincent »

Jesus Christ, how good a TF comic can you write?

I am so far loving IDW's work. Consistent plots, great characterization, fitting dialogue and character interaction that meshes beautifully.

However, I have to say that Spotlight: Kup is the best IDW I have yet read. The monologue is striking and detailed and gives you a nice shot of the (robo?) psyche.

And the art, though not polished and perfectly proportioned, is just at home with this particular issue.

Sorry if this has been reviewed already, but I just needed to share.
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Blackjack
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IDW: Sixshot=Fiveshot?

Post by Blackjack »

A little thing I noticed... Sixshot's sole appearance is in Spotlight Sixshot and the devastation miniseries.

In all of this, he only showed five modes: Robot, jet, wolf, gun and tank. Except for on one of the spotlight covers, the 'Armored Car' mode was never shown. Not even on the splash page showcasing all of Sixshot's modes.

Of course, as with Astrotrain, it might not be shown at the early stages... What do you think?
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Post by Cliffjumper »

In the case of Sixshot, I guess it's more through lack of panels - unless there's a specific reason to use it, it's not hugely important... I mean, a lot of IDW Transformers might as well be Action Masters anyway (a common trait for Furman comics) for the amount they transform. If it was a more dramatic mode, I'd think it was maybe some sort of finishing mode (like the shitty 7th mode in Headmasters, and possibly accompanied by a Millar-lite line like "Why do you think I'm called Sixshot?" as he utterly destroys some no mark, who would then obviously be thrown in a CR chamber and be basically fine), but I can't see them bothering for arguably the plainest mode.

'Sides which, I doubt we're going to see much of the feller from now on.
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Post by Halfshell »

Mmm. I mean it's not like it has any destructive purpose. And that's what the montage page in the Spotlight were showcasing.

Just imagine the drama:

- The tank mode blows shit up!
- The wolf mode chases shit down!
- The giant gun blows shit up!
- The jet mode shoots shit down!
- The armoured car mode... uhm... drives about a bit.

It doesn't really equate well to TEH CARNAGE that they were trying to put across. It's the most redundant mode he's got. Well, aside from WINGWOLF!!!11, which is basically just his jet mode with a face on it. God, Headmasters needs burning.

Can't see it featuring too heavily in his next appearance either, presuming it's in the capacity I expect.
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Post by Jaynz »

Honestly, considering how the comics have been, I'm surprised they showed him in any alternative mode at all (except maybe jet)...
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Some thoughts/rants on the IDW-verse G1

Post by Dreadwing »

First off, where the hell is Spotlight Sideswipe? Its now a month overdue. After the cop out plot device with "the magnificence" I want to see how wonderfully everything will wrap up already.

When All Hail Megatron and Maximum Dinobots are finished, whats next? Is Furman going to be writing G1 still? Is McCarthy going to contnue his tales? Is G1 Just going to be done? Do you think after this, we might actually get an ongoing series? I think it would be cool if, and they are almost doing it now, if they had two ongoing series, one for the autobots and one for the decepticons. Sometimes stories could intertwine, other times they may have nothing to do with eachother. That is basically whats happening now with AHM and revelations/dinobots. McCarthy has the decepticons and Furman has the Autobots. Heaven forbid they do something creative.

I have talked with my local comics dealer and he says its making it harder on him and his customers by having a new #1 every 4 to 6 months. With all the reprints, movie line, animated line, and multiple G1 lines, we get a new #1 almost every month. That gets old and annoying real fast. I always have to clear up which series it is I actually want. I dont want to see #1, I want to see #100. We would be half way there by now if IDW werent jerks. They even dropped the continuity numbering from the barcodes! Now unless youve been following from the beginning, you have no idea what fits where!

Has anyone else noticed that, with the major exception of Devastation #6, the Revelations arc has been told almost entirely in the spotlights? Its almost as if Furman took what would have been the next 6 part arc and extended it to 10 or 11 parts by doing the spotlights. I thought of this when I was reading some of the spotlights and realised Spotlight Doubledealer is a direct sequel to Spotlight Hotrod, Spotlight Hardhead sequels Spotlight Nightbeat, Cyclonus sequels Galvatron, Arcee is almost a sequel to Prime. Its kind of neat that we get to see concurrent events in the same continuity at the same time.

There is one character that seems more deserving than anyone to get a spotlight and has not. That would be Starscream. He has more personality and schemes than anyone else in in tf line.
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Post by Jaynz »

I got to admit, I lost interest in the IDW series... pretty much at launch, really. They just felt like every other damn comic book on the shelves, lots of 'pin up' art, half-assed writing, stupid story-arcs, and ANGST! Not the 'angst from war' stuff which, ya know, a lot of the audience these days might be able to relate to, but the Hollywood-style angst where people get moody when they don't get Starbucks in the morning.

I kid, a little, but I never really found IDW interesting. Too much wankery, too little solid material. No one's talking about the 'great moments' in the supposedly 'mature' comic, the great characters... occaisionally it's 'guess the lame plot twist'.

Feh. I admit, I dislike it because I know I could do much better. :)
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Post by Denyer »

Dreadwing wrote:I have talked with my local comics dealer and he says its making it harder on him and his customers by having a new #1 every 4 to 6 months. With all the reprints, movie line, animated line, and multiple G1 lines, we get a new #1 almost every month. That gets old and annoying real fast. I always have to clear up which series it is I actually want. I dont want to see #1, I want to see #100. We would be half way there by now if IDW werent jerks. They even dropped the continuity numbering from the barcodes! Now unless youve been following from the beginning, you have no idea what fits where!
There are two separate issues there... starting as an ongoing, it's likely sales would've tailed off more quickly than they have; the comic launched on the back of a cancelled ongoing series from DW and consultation with retailers at the time supported miniseries. However, the subsequent saturation of titles, lack of reading guide in the comics, long gaps between miniseries, and lack of clear labelling on titles to show at a glance which are reprints / non-IDW reprints / etc. are all confusing or off-putting to potential readers.

I don't think, on current evidence, that AHM is going to finish at #12 with healthy sales -- having what's effectively an ongoing isn't necessarily a good thing.

Sideswipe is down for October 8th, and has been for some time. It's the price paid for painted interior art. It's not going to get great sales regardless -- putting the title out as Spotlights has ensured some retailers won't even touch it -- so we may as well wait and have the presentation got right.

After that... well, cynics might suggest that it isn't coincidence that MD has been pushed back to December whilst attempts are made to attract more attention to AHM, but it's as likely to be schedules. The loss of momentum between Devastation and MD will probably have another knock-on effect on sales, so whether we'll see much more is debatable.

A couple more issues (or some serious scaling back of subplots by Furman) and Revelation could've gone out much more gracefully, so the handling has been a great shame and a poor way to treat readers who've invested in following the arc for several years.
TFVanguard wrote: lots of 'pin up' art,
Which series were you pretending to pay attention to?
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Post by Jaynz »

Denyer wrote:Which series were you pretending to pay attention to?
Whatever introduced life-eating Galvatron. And, yes, that's as much as I was paying attention. Seriously... people are paid to write that crap?
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Post by Rossum »

TFVanguard wrote:...and ANGST! Not the 'angst from war' stuff which, ya know, a lot of the audience these days might be able to relate to, but the Hollywood-style angst where people get moody when they don't get Starbucks in the morning.
Aside from too much focus on Verity (which was dropped by the end of Infiltration), there hasn't been a lot of angst that I can see. Maybe Spotlights Kup and Hot Rod, but those could be classified 'war angst'.
Dreadwing wrote:Has anyone else noticed that, with the major exception of Devastation #6, the Revelations arc has been told almost entirely in the spotlights? Its almost as if Furman took what would have been the next 6 part arc and extended it to 10 or 11 parts by doing the spotlights. I thought of this when I was reading some of the spotlights and realised Spotlight Doubledealer is a direct sequel to Spotlight Hotrod, Spotlight Hardhead sequels Spotlight Nightbeat, Cyclonus sequels Galvatron, Arcee is almost a sequel to Prime. Its kind of neat that we get to see concurrent events in the same continuity at the same time.
The Spotlights have done a really good job of showing the wider TF universe beyond Earth and Cybertron and it's smart way to bring in other characters. But tying them heavily into the main continuity, without explicitly saying so, might not have been a good idea. It's proven confusing for some people (from what I've seen) and it's stuffed in a few too many plot threads to follow comfortably.
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Post by -Mainframe- »

I finally found almost every issue I have. :up:


So, everything is going to change and there will be an entirely new continuity?
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Post by Patapsco »

-Mainframe- wrote:I finally found almost every issue I have. :up:


So, everything is going to change and there will be an entirely new continuity?
well... yes and no. It's still in the same continuity, just dropping some of the major plot points that have been in play since the start of Infiltration. I believe it's name is All Fail Megatron or something
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Post by Halfshell »

Dreadwing wrote:First off, where the hell is Spotlight Sideswipe? Its now a month overdue.
No it's not.

It was solicited for September.

Doubledealer was out on 20th August, so optimistically the next issue would have been out on the 17th September (four weeks later). More realistically, the 24th. In fact, it's coming out on 6th October.

How "the hell" does two weeks late count as "a month overdue"?
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Post by -Mainframe- »

pandagork wrote:well... yes and no. It's still in the same continuity, just dropping some of the major plot points that have been in play since the start of Infiltration. I believe it's name is All Fail Megatron or something
I was just reading Infiltration last night.

Hopefully, not much changes and what does change is for the better.
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Post by Commander Shockwav »

I said it before, I'll say it again.

One of the big reasons why so many fans feel "meh" about what IDW has produced is because of Simon's monotonous dialogue.

There really isn't much weakness in the plot. But the way to make things dynamic is to make the dialogue dynamic.

With time, Furmanisms have more and more impact on our enjoyment, to the point where you envision Simon talking, and not the actual characters.

That, and the six month gaps, in my mind, are most responsible for some of the lukewarm reception out there.
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Post by wolfbolt86 »

Besides the gaps between the series releases, the only other thing I have a major grip is the somewhat lack of action in the series.
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Post by inflatable dalek »

At the moment I'm finding it hard to care anymore. I'll keep up with AHM mainly out of a morbid sense of curiosity but also because I don't expect the line to last much longer past the end of it and having come this far... My main hope is that Sideswipe pulss everything together well.
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Halfshell
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IDW Character ID assistance required

Post by Halfshell »

Right minions, you know it's Desperate Measures time if I'm asking for your help, but be some absolute dears and tell me who the two characters I've subtley ringed in yellow are.

ImageImage

For those wondering, the panel is from page 8 of Revelation Part 3. Ta muchly.

Anybody who helps gets to not get shouted at by me for the rest of the year. Maybe?
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