Transformers Comic Overview Part 4: IDW is our Savior!
December 15th 2006 13:07
And so we come to the final part in my overview of the various Transformers comics over the last 20 years. I've discussed the Marvel run, and its superior UK offshoot. I've informed you about the Dreamwave relaunch, and how it allowed Pat Lee to rip off a whole bunch of people. Now it's time to tell you about the current incarnation.
The situation was this: with Dreamwave bankrupt, the Transformers license was up in the air, and a few companies were ready to snatch it up. The most likely candidate seemed to be Devil's Due, who already held the license to another Hasbro property in G.I. Joe. Encouragingly, Devil's Due said that they would probably continue with the plotlines set up by Dreamwave rather than starting up yet another continuity. For reasons unknown to me, Devil's Due didn't get the license. It instead went to IDW, a smaller company known for successfully using licensed properties, such as CSI.
The news with IDW was good and bad. The good: they were hiring Simon Furman (yes, him again!) to write everything. At first I was a little disappointed at this, to be honest. I had thought it might be time for a fresh creative voice on the franchise, perhaps a Grant Morrison or a Nathan Mahney. Nevertheless, you can't really go wrong with the Furmanator, so all was good on that front. The bad: new continuity. Total reboot, which is exactly what I didn't want with the Dreamwave stories just sitting there unfinished.
IDW launched the franchise with Transformers: Infiltration. The series was much more human-centric than we had seen in a while. Furman had decided to emphasize the 'Robots in Disguise' angle, so the Transformers were rarely seen in robot mode. The set-up differed from the classic Transformers story - instead of crash-landing on Earth four million years ago and waking up in the 1980s, Autobots and Decepticons were waging a covert war on Earth and all over the universe, and had only been here on this planet for a couple of years.
The series was a definite slow burner, and I found myself a bit dissatisfied with the lack of Giant Robot Fighting. This was alleviated at the end by a decent Megatron/Starscream fight, but the series ended rather than concluded. It reads much better when you've got all the issues in one hit, and even better when you've read the follow ups. As set-up for a franchise it was good, but as a story in itself it was rather unfinished.
Next up came Stormbringer, a mini that advertised itself as All Robots! No Humans! This was more up my alley, and it delivered. The story goes off into space to show us the wider scope of the war, and also the state of Cybertron (it's not looking good at all). Optimus Prime has a large role after his absence from Infiltration, as do a whole load of other guys. This was exactly what the franchise needed after the sluggish set-up mini. Plus it had the awesome Don Figueroa on art, looking better than ever.
The next mini, entitled Escalation, has just begun, and takes the story back to Earth. There's also been a few one-shots spotlighting various characters, with more to follow. Of particular note is the Shockwave spotlight, probably the best single issue of the IDW run so far.
All in all the IDW Transformers is rather good. On first read I found it a bit dull, but read as a whole it really shines. Furman is getting his chance to finally build a Transformers universe from the ground up, and it makes more sense than any before it. The writing is good, and the books look great - they're much more solid in the art department than Dreamwave's efforts. Thinsg are looking good for the Transformers at the moment, and I'm really looking forward to future installments.
The situation was this: with Dreamwave bankrupt, the Transformers license was up in the air, and a few companies were ready to snatch it up. The most likely candidate seemed to be Devil's Due, who already held the license to another Hasbro property in G.I. Joe. Encouragingly, Devil's Due said that they would probably continue with the plotlines set up by Dreamwave rather than starting up yet another continuity. For reasons unknown to me, Devil's Due didn't get the license. It instead went to IDW, a smaller company known for successfully using licensed properties, such as CSI.
The news with IDW was good and bad. The good: they were hiring Simon Furman (yes, him again!) to write everything. At first I was a little disappointed at this, to be honest. I had thought it might be time for a fresh creative voice on the franchise, perhaps a Grant Morrison or a Nathan Mahney. Nevertheless, you can't really go wrong with the Furmanator, so all was good on that front. The bad: new continuity. Total reboot, which is exactly what I didn't want with the Dreamwave stories just sitting there unfinished.
The series was a definite slow burner, and I found myself a bit dissatisfied with the lack of Giant Robot Fighting. This was alleviated at the end by a decent Megatron/Starscream fight, but the series ended rather than concluded. It reads much better when you've got all the issues in one hit, and even better when you've read the follow ups. As set-up for a franchise it was good, but as a story in itself it was rather unfinished.
All in all the IDW Transformers is rather good. On first read I found it a bit dull, but read as a whole it really shines. Furman is getting his chance to finally build a Transformers universe from the ground up, and it makes more sense than any before it. The writing is good, and the books look great - they're much more solid in the art department than Dreamwave's efforts. Thinsg are looking good for the Transformers at the moment, and I'm really looking forward to future installments.
| 42 |
| Vote |
