idw...a few years on...what do we think?

[Ender]

I've enjoyed it overall. The whole "magnificence" thing was... not worth talking about.

 

But mostly I think the complaints of continuity problems are exaggerated, and this is the best rendition of G1 we've ever gotten.

[Big Grim]

I've really enjoyed IDW's run, took a while to get set up but thanks to the spotlights in particular we have a fleshed out universe. Have not read All Hail Megatron #12 or any of the following issues since I am in Iraq, but i hope to catch up on that stuff once i get home.

[splendic]

I notice one fundamental difference between the IDW and DW TF comics.

 

1) DW stories typically involved tons of different small stories and casts of characters, where each player (or team of players) would be touched on for a few pages of each issue, and all of these stories somehow affected a larger "main" plot.

 

The IDW books have done a similar thing. HOWEVER it's almost always stretched out over multiple miniseries, tons of 1-shots, etc...

 

 

IMO, the DW style made each book feel constantly exciting, and always left you wanting more. Like a film crosscutting between all the different players during the climax of a grand action/adventure movie.

 

Think...umm...almost like the wrap up of the grand scheme in the "Oceans 11" series. Lots of kinetic energy. Getting to see all the threads of the plot get woven together in a single telling, with everything staying in motion.

 

The IDW stuff, by comparison, is boring and watered down. Most of the stories haven't required all of the issues they're given. And a lot of the 1-shots feel like they could have been 6 pages shorter.

 

 

Also, to be honest, I don't like Simon Furman as a comic writer because...

 

1) I don't think he's good at giving different characters unique voices without turning them into caricatures. His bots always sound the same, OR sound comically different. One of the things I really enjoyed from AHM was bots getting some decent, "character accurate" dialogue.

 

2) His directorial style in terms of both layouts, and panel beats (the pacing of the story as told through the panel layouts size, placement before and after ads, etc...), to me screams late 80's/ early 90's.

 

Where most of the industry has evolved into more of a widescreen/cinematic kind of pacing, (think Megs decimating that skyscraper in one panel, and the next page being devoted to him walking away, silently in AHM, or Captain America learning what year it is, and the next panel is a bunch of guards being kicked through his hospital door in Ultimates ser. 1, vol. 1... or anything Grant Morrison, or Geoff Johns has been putting out lately), Furman's style feels antiquated to me. I feel like I can see his next panel coming, and more times than not, I do, and have thought of better fitting dialogue.

 

Don't get me wrong. I don't HATE Furman.

 

He weaves a decent tapestry in terms of the universe as a whole, especially when viewed from afar, but under the microscope, panel by panel, It's not very pretty.

 

Also, In his favor, I do appreciate how he's helped to build (and rebuild) the TF comic universe with a genuine love and affection for the characters, even if I think he's not the best character writer.

 

Maybe it's the lack of editorial direction?

 

IDK.

 

What I do know, though, is I love comics, and I love TFs, so I'll likely read it all either way.

 

That being said, I'm more excited by the prospect of turning up the old issues of DW's run that I missed out on, than the current direction of IDW's TF verse.

[MikePrime]

I got tired of IDW. They should have started a monthly Transformers comic from the beginning. I'm not reading their stuff anymore. The same goes for IDW's G.I. Joe comics. I like to keep my comics list small, with only a few essentials, so IDW's comics were always on my chopping block.

[Liege Evilmus]

I notice one fundamental difference between the IDW and DW TF comics.

 

1) DW stories typically involved tons of different small stories and casts of characters, where each player (or team of players) would be touched on for a few pages of each issue, and all of these stories somehow affected a larger "main" plot.

 

The IDW books have done a similar thing. HOWEVER it's almost always stretched out over multiple miniseries, tons of 1-shots, etc...

 

 

IMO, the DW style made each book feel constantly exciting, and always left you wanting more. Like a film crosscutting between all the different players during the climax of a grand action/adventure movie.

 

Think...umm...almost like the wrap up of the grand scheme in the "Oceans 11" series. Lots of kinetic energy. Getting to see all the threads of the plot get woven together in a single telling, with everything staying in motion.

 

The IDW stuff, by comparison, is boring and watered down. Most of the stories haven't required all of the issues they're given. And a lot of the 1-shots feel like they could have been 6 pages shorter.

 

 

Also, to be honest, I don't like Simon Furman as a comic writer because...

 

1) I don't think he's good at giving different characters unique voices without turning them into caricatures. His bots always sound the same, OR sound comically different. One of the things I really enjoyed from AHM was bots getting some decent, "character accurate" dialogue.

 

2) His directorial style in terms of both layouts, and panel beats (the pacing of the story as told through the panel layouts size, placement before and after ads, etc...), to me screams late 80's/ early 90's.

 

Where most of the industry has evolved into more of a widescreen/cinematic kind of pacing, (think Megs decimating that skyscraper in one panel, and the next page being devoted to him walking away, silently in AHM, or Captain America learning what year it is, and the next panel is a bunch of guards being kicked through his hospital door in Ultimates ser. 1, vol. 1... or anything Grant Morrison, or Geoff Johns has been putting out lately), Furman's style feels antiquated to me. I feel like I can see his next panel coming, and more times than not, I do, and have thought of better fitting dialogue.

 

Don't get me wrong. I don't HATE Furman.

 

He weaves a decent tapestry in terms of the universe as a whole, especially when viewed from afar, but under the microscope, panel by panel, It's not very pretty.

 

Also, In his favor, I do appreciate how he's helped to build (and rebuild) the TF comic universe with a genuine love and affection for the characters, even if I think he's not the best character writer.

 

Maybe it's the lack of editorial direction?

 

IDK.

 

What I do know, though, is I love comics, and I love TFs, so I'll likely read it all either way.

 

That being said, I'm more excited by the prospect of turning up the old issues of DW's run that I missed out on, than the current direction of IDW's TF verse.

 

I completely agree outside of the last part, I'm not going out of my way for thes books, I gave it a try a couple times, but they just failed to grab me. If I come across them fine, otherwise...

 

And yes, Furman should maybe be an overall editor or something, nice ideas, just poor execution.

[spystreak]

i love idw they need to keep going and hopefully one day be as big as marvel or dc (probably wishful thinking)

[Goktimus Prime]

I've been pleased with everything from IDW thus far except for AHM which I found mediocre at best. (-_-)