General IDWverse *SPOILER* discussion

[Cliffjumper]

Is they Decepticons? If yes, the left one in the middle may be Road Pig, or even Skyjack. If Autobots... Doublecross?

[Halfshell]

They're Autobots. Doublecross was my first instinct, but upon comparison to toy/character models, I couldn't get it. I think the colours were inverted or something... a while back that I investigated it.

Left to right, we've got:
Catilla, Fastlane [or Cloudraker], Steppericochet, [pass], Searchlight, Cosmos, Cloudraker [or Fastlane], [pass] and Skyfall

[Cliffjumper]

The kibble on his back really does look very Doublecross to me the more I look at it... how fixed are the IDW character models? Are they shifting all over the place, a la Dreamwave? Shame we don't get a really good look at his hands.

Sizzle, maybe? It'd be pretty radical, but I'm drawing a blank on other red/dark Autobots.

For the other chap... wasn't one of the Really Dragging It Out Autobot Pretenders green and brown? Crossblades?

[zigzagger]

[pass] (the first one)

Though the colour scheme does seem to match the silver War Within Bluestreak, we know that he is blue in the IDW-verse so scratch that. The only other design (a Cybertronian-ized version of an original, of course) I could see matching this, and hasn't already been mentioned, is Crosscut. He has the headlight boobies and the colours seem to be in about the right place. That's a stretch though, since he's kind of an obscure character. But then so was Stepper/Richochet not too long ago (well, sort of), and it looks like he's there too (like you said).

[Halfshell]

Gah.

Crosscut works, ish. But has silver thighs and a red groin, as does Doublecross.

Not that he can't be miscoloured, it's just... odd. I can't think of any other candidates, though.

[Sunstreaker2]

Why does Furman bring in new characters only to kill them? Is it some misguided effort to not have to explain the characters? Outback, Leadfoot, Autobot Drench, various other characters...It would have been cool to see the more obscure, but it seems IDW's plans only involve stuff related to the Dead Universe.

[inflatable dalek]

Outback wasn't killed by Furman. To be honest, if a story specifically requires someone get killed I'd rather it be a toy based character who isn't likely to do anything anyway rather than a generic. Not only does it make their impending demise less obvious (QV Team Non Entity in Spotlight: Hot Rod) but its probably a bit easier on the artist as well to draw a established face rather than spend time designing a new one.

[inflatable dalek]

Good to see I'm not the only one who was put in mind of WW Prowl/Bluestreak...

I'm wondering if the colourist thought the second guy was supposed to be Hoist as featured on the previous page? The green/yellow/orange matches and he's standing in about the right place...

[Sunstreaker2]

Outback wasn't killed by Furman. To be honest, if a story specifically requires someone get killed I'd rather it be a toy based character who isn't likely to do anything anyway rather than a generic. Not only does it make their impending demise less obvious (QV Team Non Entity in Spotlight: Hot Rod) but its probably a bit easier on the artist as well to draw a established face rather than spend time designing a new one.

But it ruins the opportunity for character to be given to the more obscure guys! We'll never know what AM Treadshot or Autobot Drench or Leadfoot or Clench was like because they DIED IMMEDIATELY. And IDW seems so ready to kill off characters that they had to create a new character (Fastback) to avoid having to explain how Outback could be in two places at once, and then killed HIM so they wouldn't have to explain just where he came from! IDW's redshirting of everyone who isn't Optimus, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, or a Dead Universe guy is getting annoying.

[Energon Hot Shot]

EDIT: Nevermind.



I agree with inflatable dalek. I'd rather have an existing character who isn't likely to have a noticeable role die instead of an obvious generic. It adds a little surprise, unlike in the original Star Trek where you're just waiting for the two redshirts Kirk brought along to get killed.

[Denyer]

IDW is supposed to be retconning Megatron Origin out of the main continuity,

Source?

[Energon Hot Shot]

Source?

I just finished looking around for where I read that, but I came up empty-handed. Take what I said as a grain of salt.

[Civ]

Wow. I guess I'm the oddball. I've been really enjoying the IDW-verse quite a bit. AHM and all, with the exception of Megatron: Origin, which I thought wasn't as good as it should've been.

[inflatable dalek]

But it ruins the opportunity for character to be given to the more obscure guys! We'll never know what AM Treadshot or Autobot Drench or Leadfoot or Clench was like because they DIED IMMEDIATELY.

We're a long way from being out of completely obscure characters to work with. Any story you might tell with Drench or Treadshot would work just as well with... well just about any of their respective contemporaries because they're such blank slates. It would have no effect on the story being told and is just a minor cosmetic detail as nice as it is for us any when we see that special toy only they love get that special treatment.

And look at the equally obscure characters introduced with Leadfoot, Skram and Road Rocket despite not being dead and featuring in several issues have less well developed personalities than he did. They're pure plot functions. Even Banzaitron, who has probably done best out of all the previously unused characters featured so far, has only managed a few dozen lines at most over three or four pages where he's been more concerned with expositioning at people than establishing a distinct character ("Most likely supposed to be played by Andrew Robinson" pretty much sums him up) despite him doing it with a degree of style.

And would Galvatron have been a better comic if Hound's team had been Skraam, Road Rocket and Whoremonger? At least as is there's a one in three chance of any of them being this weeks sacrificial lamb.


Treadshot's not dead the last time we see him either, though I will be highly surprised if we ever get a firm answer either way.

And IDW seems so ready to kill off characters that they had to create a new character (Fastback) to avoid having to explain how Outback could be in two places at once, and then killed HIM so they wouldn't have to explain just where he came from!

So your argument against IDW killing off Outback straight away in his first appearance his that it later stopped him being killed off straight away in his second appearance? It's worth noting that several Autobots who are seen is stories set later but published earlier are seemingly killed in Origin, that's not a problem with the way the company picks and chooses who buys the farm, it's a problem with either Milne or Holmes forgetting their writing a bloody prequel and not actually checking who's been in the modern day stuff first.

And let us not forget, despite being dead for the entirety of the issue Outback is a far more memorable character in Kup than anyone in Origin, except perhaps the fusion cannon. [Though I wouldn't personally put Outback on the same non entity level as the other characters you mentioned, decent minor but memoerable roles in the original cartoon and comics means he's had as big a moment in the sun as he's ever likely to get].

One other factor to consider is that if any writer in the future does feel a desperate need to feature all of Rotor Force they can contrive to bring them back with a "Whew, lucky we found the cure for that Dead universe funny handshaek eh?" line. Though these days I suspect they'd just hope we wouldn't notice (look at Blaster/Stormbringer for some serious fudging around a non dead character).

POTENTIAL [BUT VAGUE] SPOILERS FOR RECENT ISSUES!!!! DO NOT READ ON IF YOU WISH TO BE COMPLETELY UNSPOILERISED!!!!!!! IT WILL MAKE YOU CRY!!!!

SPOILER! (select to read)

IDW's redshirting of everyone who isn't Optimus, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, or a Dead Universe guy is getting annoying.

Without going into specific spoilers, some of your annoyances are over with now. And if I want to be really nitpicky, the Dead Universe guys have been technically dead since we first met them...
I do appreciate the irony of you hating the fact Sunstreaker hasn't died as far as you've read yet though.

[Blackjack]

The one on the right looks like a Throttlebot/Minibot to me... But the design I cannot recognize...

The one on the left is Sprocket I think, or one of the action masters.

A miscoloured WW Smokescreen/Bluestreak is the most logical choice though.

[Patapsco]

I've actually enjoyed most of the IDW stuff so far except Megatron: Origin which still makes my brain freeze after the twelth or so read. Is it just me or do massive pages of plot development seem missing?

Anyway, I may be in the minority but I loved Infiltration as a scene setter but I can also appreciate the criticisms that came its way. By the same point, Devastation irks me no end as the whole thing seems like a mess pretty much from the second Sixshot arrives on Earth all the way through to its far-too-rushed conclusion. My biggest gripe is still with the Reapers, as there could have been another way of getting Sixshot into the story with the same doubts towards the Decepticon cause without involving an alien race of killing machines.

[Halfshell]

The one on the left is Sprocket I think, or one of the action masters.

Sorry, don't see that at all... unless you're talking about the guy on the far left, who's Catilla.

[Halfshell]

Wow. I guess I'm the oddball.

Finally you realise.

[Civ]

Finally you realise.

Yep, only took 30 years to figure that out.

[another tf fan]

I think some of the unsolved plotlines in SIDESWIPE will be revealed in AHM.