Anyone pick this up?

Eight page preview of AHM. Writing's not too shabby but really too little/early to tell. Although i am leery of the obvious way that McCarthy has assembled the Season 2 Decepticon (Minus the Coneheads) cast on Earth now, if that role call section is to be believed...

And I know Hasbro owns the art now...but seeing Pat Lee's Soundwave and more offensively his Starscream (from mtmte 6), which is undoubtedly one of the most hideous protrayal of the character EVER in the role call section's art was a bit of cold water on the face...

I'm picking it up tomorrow if my store has put one aside for me.


And Starscream's profile art is the same one that makes him look like he has concrete boots on in mtmte?

I have no idea how this story will turn out but the preview seems to be pretty good.

I kind of like the symbolism this gives to the Decepticons. Like as if they symbolize how small civilians are to the political powers at war. Kind of like how Godzilla symbolizes the Atomic bomb. This kind of reminds me of why I like Transformers beyond the toys, and the characters. It's always felt to me like the Transformers themselves symbolize gigantic political powers at war and how people are so helpless and weak in the midst of it.

This should not have been the price of a regular IDW comic.

Good thing it wasn't, then.

"We're gonna be showing the REAL WORLD effects of if the Transformers were REALLY HERE blowing stuff up and killing people and ESPECIALLY killing people."

Suddenly it's 2002. I can think of nothing that would interest me in this story, it sounds totally funless.

Gah. I paid too much!

After reading the 8 page preview I found myself less interested in all the building smashing and more interested in the interaction between the Decepticons. That's all I really want to see.

Correct. And the very same one that even makes his signature smirk look off and wrong.

I don't think we ever found out who drew it...I can only imagine it was Lee, as it got approved...

Could have been Ruffolo though...In any case, IDW should have known better to use Pat Lee art. Even if he's not getting paid for its usage...still.

I'm excited for Focus on Decepticons. From the 8-page preview, it reads like somebody who's not Furman who can also write Transformers. And it's obviously by somebody who's scripted comics before, unlike Megatron Origin.

I like it. The art is great. It's about time Guido's cartoon-lovin' art got some bigger exposure. (Not that I didn't llike Su, it's just a neat change of pace). I wonder if Kup and Reflector (love the cartoon design on him, it doesn't get enough love) are involved in AHM, or if the inclusion of Guido sketches of them was just random? Hope they're in there. It's a small sample of writing, to be sure, but one that does seem to really get the personalities of all involved. Even TC who had no lines felt like he was "on voice" due to his reactions/facial expressions.

I'm pretty happy with this decision, actually, since I find the pre-Movie Cons (Plus Galvatron and his crew) tend to make up what I'd call the heart of the Decepticons. They have a lot of great potential for interaction, particularly if the Insecticons are written as treacherous, and we continue to see Soundwave being on the one hand Megatron's right hand and on the other a blackmailer type of character like in his Spotlight issue, too. I enjoyed how his issue was able to combine the two personalities.

There were scattered characters after them who were interesting to me, but to be fair, these dudes, such as Bludgeon, Thunderwing and Scorponok, are already in play in this universe in major ways.

Autobots on the other hand? I find there are great Autobots throughout the run of the G1 series; the prospect of Kup being featured in this series for instance makes me quite happy. Since IDW Kup is such a hardass, I think he'd be right at home on a world controlled by the Decepticons.

In terms of a new writer coming onboard, although he's said he wants to go in a bold new direction (Not a bad thing, necessarily, mind), Furman, even if he's giving the new writer a lack of leeway, is still a presence in this universe, what with Revelations, The 13 and the eight "gap" issues that are going to explain what happens between Revelations and AHM. So I think it should all jibe pretty well. I imagine these scenes of destruction probably happen not long after Devastation, to be honest, since AHM largely is slated to pick up after the Earth is under control.

is this worth buying?

What exactly is in this? Just an 8-page preview for AHM and some random art pieces?

Does it actually say that? Because that reminds me of a certain Shortpacked strip Walky did some time before the new movie. In a bad way.

It's an interview with the writer and artist of AHMeg, a couple of promo pics, some character sketches by Guido that may-or-may-not be from the book. A breif "Role Call" overview of the "Season 1" Cartoon Decepticons (Oddly minus Reflector, who's featured as one of the sketches) and then the 8 pg preview.

My feeling: if your eager for AHM and want to check it out early it's worth it. If you feel you can wait for the actual book without feeling bad then there's really nothing else here.


-ZacWilliam, who's timing his wife's contractions as he types this. Not long now...

ehh... money is tight right now and i would have to get it from ebay so i'll pass. besides, i don't like buying a comic and already read five pages of it.

Flipped through it and I'll hold out for the TPB of AHM.

Really, Starscream's DW MTMTE profile art? Oy...

I like it. It was originally a little weird to see the Masterpiece designs used in the comic, but it's a nice touch. Hopefully Thundercracker and Skywarp's colors will remain consistant. Skywarp's scheme is a nice combination of his Masterpiece colors (all black jet, gray feet, black cannons, red shin details) and the cartoon models (silver pecs and waist, no arm stripes). I really like the designs sketches shown earlier in the book. Too bad Hook doesn't seem to use that design in the actual magazine. It should be interesting to see how the Decepticons interact with each other, especially the main 5, as it were.

Randy

All I gotta say is why wasn't a Free Comic book day thing? It's not worth the 2.99 to buy it. I mean interviews, whoo hoo! Was hoping for more preview pages of various projects and all or some more profile info on the IDW-verse but nooooooo. Just interviews with the writer and artist, a few pages of two sentence bios, and the only good part was a short preview of AHM. If theirs a focus on Autobots coming I'm willing to skip it.

My shop didn't stock the issue (Not a big deal, I'll read the full issue of AHM in a few months)...but I DO love Guido's inked lineart of Megatron walking away from the falling skyscraper, as seen here:
http://guidoarts.deviantart.com/art/Focus-...page-8-82605918

He just infuses so much energy into his work; I love that he's been tapped as the artist for the series.

Of course, it also reminds me a bit of that infamous Dreamwave poster...you know, the one with the Lees walking away from their exploding company. (...wait...yeah.)

Edit: With the Constructicons typically being Megatron's resident tech experts, it's not surprising that they'd be the next to receive the Combiner treatment. Heck, they probably end up experimenting on themselves...wonder if Megatron would be cool with that, considering Thunderwing? On the other hand, I could see him saying "You like the idea? Do it to yourself to make sure it works before you risk other valuable assets, i.e. warriors, on the project". It makes sense to me that Megs would be fine with combiner technology but not with Thunderwing's experimentation. There's a world of different between "Group mind and gestalt robot body" and "entering into a symbiotic relationship, even psychologically, with an entity grown from organic tissue". On the other hand, the next time Megs sees Scorponok, he'll probably want to tear his head off...for all the good it'll do him. ^ ^ Who knows, maybe that's how Scorp got into this predicament in the first place...just look at what happened to poor Ramjet...

I misunderstood what this was, and had it on my online comic subscription. I'm sad I paid for it.

Yeah I think Meg's dosen't mind combiners because it fits the ultimate warrior cybertronian that his philosophy would seem to hold up too.

Pretender suits would seem more cowardly I think. A Decepticon hiding? Nonsense! Absolute utter nonsense!

Now that I've at least seen a decent amount of the preview artwork online thanks to various news articles...

...wow. This is absolutely some of Guido's best work. Sharp, detailed, with a good sense of visual storytelling. In terms of content, I love how...big and awe-inspiring it makes the Cons look, too. I'm particularly thinking of the page where Long Haul first transforms to robot mode and just *towers* over the humans. This sense of the Transformers' size is something I've liked in IDW's work from the beginning; as much as I love Devastation, it was mostly bots and aliens busting each others' heads, so the sheer scale of the Transformers didn't come across as much in that arc. Glad to see this aspect returning.

The coloring is excellent, too, might I say. I love the glossiness and brightness of it all. Really makes a good set of pencils even sharper.

Guido is always The Man as far as I'm concerned.

I have to admit upon picking this up that I like that the preview pages have a little humor, since that's something that Furman doesn't have a clue how to do.

Really? I've been rereading the IDW material, and found myself chuckling at a lot of stuff interspersed throughout the run, often related to the particular characters bickering or making some dry comment or observation. Or just what they say or do in general. For instance, Sunstreaker being a complete jerk in pretty much all of his appearances got me. Humor is entirely subjective, of course. And what might come off as attempts at humor to some might be genuinely funny to others. ^ ^0 I mean, I don't think his characters all sound alike in these books, either (I might have argued that more strongly before IDW, but in the current material, I can tell them apart pretty well if they aren't background dudes; I was impressed even that the different Technobots didn't all sound alike), but I've given up arguing that one...

I was actually put off quite a bit by the preview. I liked IDW's G1 series until now precisely because for once, the Decepticons were presented as more than trigger-happy psychopaths who giggle while shooting fleshies. And that's what AHM seems to be promising so far sadly: G1 alt-modes and characterizations. I didn't like how Furman was steadily going away from Earth with the Dead Universe stuff, but I really enjoyed his more methodical and secretive Decepticons going by the numbers.

"The Decepticons, when done right, aren't standing there twisting their mustaches and shining their monocles; they're fighting for an ideal that they believe in, however evil we may believe it to be."

"No one believes themselves to be a villain, so why do the Decepticons really do what they do?"

So much for the promises made by McCarthy in his interview.

Then comes the eight-page preview. Constructicons that claim to have good intentions, then laugh maniacally and start blasting humans. Seekers that stomp the ground and rejoice at the sights of humans fleeing in terror. Megatron blowing up a building to show Starscream what REAL destruction is.

WOW. I AM TOTALLY STUNNED BY THIS AWESOME CHARACTERIZATION OF THE DECEPTICONS AS ACCESSIBLE, THREE-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS THAT AREN'T JUST CHEAP CARTOON VILLAINS.

Not.

Actually, it was just Scrapper being a sadistic bunghole.....it's his personality remember?




Actually, if you pay attention, you'll notice that T-cracker's body language shows him to be having not such a good time. Skywarp otoh is the complete opposite. Those 2 should provide an interesting dynamic for this series.


The preview shows a lot of potential. I was worried just as much as the next IDW fan about switching courses in the middle of the series, but I feel pretty optimistic about it now. Better dialog and characters that show a bit more personality. After only 8 pages I can say I really like Scrapper and Mixmaster, am interested in seeing Thundercracker's conflicts, and have high hopes that SS will be handled better than under Furman.

Totally agree with Nevermore and TerraEsper. I am extremely worried by this preview... if there's one thing that Transformers has consistently lacked, it's a long-term villian with a depth of personality and believability. The few times we've gotten interesting villians, they either get killed off (Marvel Thunderwing, Marvel Scorponok), incapicitated without a chance to shine (DW Megatron, Marvel Shockwave), etc. Seeing the Decepticons just show up and laugh as they murder and pillage is... not new or interesting. With the whole "Cold War" type thing, you'd expect them to show up, and try to actually work with the humans, albeit in a "submit to our will and we'll make sure you're protected, it's for your own good" sort of way. Only after they've completely pillaged all the resources would I see them blowing everything up for the hell of it and leaving. The psychopath thing just isn't original (or believeable).

Thats true. I always liked the idea that the Decepticons are stagnant and xenophobic and not just all seeking the pleasure of destruction.

I mean think about it the Autobots are travellers willing to see a new culture and embrace it. The Decepticons fear any culture other then their own and their first instinct is to destroy it and be rid of it. While rigidly maintaining their own culture.

Unfourtunately we get that pleasure in destruction is cool sort of thing.

Thing is though I always thought of the Decepticons arrogance and desire for destruction as a coping mechanism. Their like all predatory animals. In truth their more afraid than the animal that is hunted and only strike when it's safe to do so.

In this sense I think the cons indulgence in the destruction of a supposedly inferior race is taking pleasure in the idea that they can hunt without interference.

To them hunting is a positive and noble thing. Imagine the lion that was as intelligent as a man. To the cons this is a sport. It dosen't necessarily say that their all psychopaths because of it.

Now the thing is their fear may not extend to battle yet they certainly seem to fear death as much if not more than the Autobots. Every warrior seems to have no intent to die for a sacrifice or noble cause and would rather someone else die instead of them. They all fear a being more powerful then them and would follow his commands. Yet they won't follow anyone that trys to encourage peace and trust of anything that they can't recognize as simalir to them. This is why they can't sit with Autobots at all that well. Prime symbolizes holding hands with different beings that you feel are a danger to you. Prime scares them in a way that Megatron symbolizes someone that can push away things their afraid of. So Megatron becomes a symbol of protection because he's scary in a way that they can accept. Even admire. He can keep the different things away instead of forcing introduction to them.

The sad part is that this isn't put in proper depth.

I think that Megatron should be considered in a sense of thinking of himself as a benefactor for providing his race of hunters with hunting grounds that are safe and suitable.

I think we see too much of the their all cruel and mean side of it because it's "cool". What we really need is a plausible story for the behaviour. The behaviour is shock value but once your shocked you need a well timed and well told story. One that explains why a different culture from yours would revel in nature we see as destructive. It dosen't have to give all the answers readers need to be left with something. Yet it has to make us see and understand just well enough. Maybe even make us somewhat sympathize while still realizing that these guys are just terrible. Probably don't even deserve the freedom they have had so far and yet we can see that they have just as much emotion as we do. So at the very least we could understand them somewhat.

I always liked that the Decepticon symbol looks like it's smiling arrogantly while the Autobot symbol looks like it's standing for resolve and justice.

I would like a proper reason for why the Decepticons love of arrogance and the freedom to destroy.

I actually think the cons have some strange form of insecurity. Writers are afraid to tackle it because it would make the "tough guys" seem like sissies.

I think the Decepticons act out of fear more than the bots do. Thats debatable. Yet why would anyone follow a guy with a cannon on his arm and why would your leader, and benefactor carry a cannon shoot people to death and show off his power by killing his own followers.

The cons are afraid of everything, themselves and others. The Autobots on the other hand have courage. This is why Optimus doesn't need to stoop to tyrannical methods to lead the Autobots. Or why the Autobots can cope with sharing life with an alien culture.

Prime has trust in his troops and his troops trust him. Thats why their able to work toghether without much coercion and force.

I think this should be looked at. In such a way that dosen't demote the symbol of power the Decepticons have. Since they could lose their allure. Yet in the end I think much of the cruelty of the cons is an actual fear of anything different from themselves. Comics Megatron for example, was a paranoid wreck. Most dictators in the real world were paranoid, frightened, insecure men.

I mean look at how the Decepticons revel in power. This stems from insecurity.

I would like the idea better that the cons are all transformers that were traumitized by insecurity so much that they chose to revel in their dominance over others through the use of strength.

Megatron is pretty much a symbol of that, an idol for them all to imbue charicteristics from. He's not just a villain but a perpetrator of a destructive philosophy that many have taken to heart.

Whether the cons realize their philosophy is wrong or right isn't what this is about but the fact that they were all beings that took this example into themselves because it must have gave them something they felt lacked in their lives.

If anything though it becomes a sick religion because when the leader gives off a philosophy of paranoia, reveling in power, treachery etc. The followers start to see this as the solution to all their emotional problems. Therefore the leader becomes the very target despite being the idol and the preacher of this philosophy.

I think the saddest thing with Starscream is that no one has really given a real depth to what made Starscream such a compulsive traitor. It's clear to me he fell for a idol, and then didn't find the satisfaction he hoped for. He thinks killing this idol and making himself the idol would cure his unease. Yet instead he's just going to feel the same emptiness afterwards and add to the cycle that Megatron had started.

It's stuff like that, which has to be viewed in depth. The decepticons are like a heroic tragedy, these giant and powerful robots. Yet their so insecure of themselves that instead of being comfortable they revel in destruction to remind themselves that their big powerful robots. I don't mean a lack of self esteem in terms of confidence or sense of self. Yet there is some sort of fear of something that makes them like this. Now of course it's probably different for each one but I think this is what has to be looked at in a way that still makes the cons intimidating dangerous villains. While giving the characters some much needed depth.

Of course I don't know if Meg's should have the mentally ill perpetration he had in the old comics. For him to be a compelling villain he should be able to control this fear and paranoia he suffers from more strongly then his followers can. That in essence is what makes him the leader. He can manipulate, kill and run into battle first. Yet he does suffer from all the vices at the same time. This has to be done in a way that makes him compelling, intelligent, fearsome, cunning and yet paranoid, unforgiving and angry enough. That you can see why he would stoop to really terrible methods to get what he wants. I think Animated Megatron has done it best. A megatron thats secure in his power and what he can do, manipulative, intelligent, cunning, sneaky, yet he suffers from vices he needs to rationalize. A strong character thats still ruled over by his lower instincts. It's kind of fascinating how a character could have both mediums and have them under control yet still be victim to them. There has to be many virtues there too for that as well. Or else he couldn't have gained such power and status.

Hey, here's an idea! Let's judge a 12-issue series based on eight or so action pages...! Yeesh, this fandom. Really, what's going to draw in new readers? Eight pages of introspection, or total carnage? You gotta think about what's going to grab peoples' attention, get them to want to pick up the series in the first place. Admittedly, not everyone reads the Q and As in the IDW forums, but even after the preview was released, he's still talking about the long-term plans for the series. For instance, it was intentional on his part to show Thundercracker as not completely enjoying himself there.

Moreover, the Decepticons might have deeper character development in the rest of the series, but they're really not going to be nice "people," and I'll be glad to see them have a chance to ruthlessly cut loose in a way that previous writers simply weren't *allowed* to make them. They're often malicious, cruel, or at least "Ends justify the means" types. Sure, some of them aren't going to get off on killing, but others would no doubt take satisfaction in it. And who would you put on the front lines? The guys that get off on it would most likely be more easily...motivated.

And when you consider the fact that up until they had to leave Cybertron, they were so savage in their warfare that they wasted their own planet...I gotta figure a lot of Cons might not necessarily be happy with the covert route, meaning they would enjoy it when they're let out to play. Heck, even Megatron admitted he was sick of having to maintain a less than combative position by the time he got his hands on Ore 13 and could really cut loose without having to worry about wasting energy.

Furthermore, massive amounts of civilian casualties have been par for the course in many of our own wars, so why wouldn't it be the same were the Decepticons to wage war on Earth? I find it believable for that reason. If anything, their destructive capacity is greater than any human army's, so the death toll would be higher. Makes sense to me to cow your enemies with a staggering, decisive blow that kills large numbers of them and damages their infrastructure. Really bring them to their knees. It might not end up being effective in squelching rebellion in the long term, but...massive carnage is realistic if we're thinking in terms of how humans do things, and since Transformers are based on us... For instance, the U.S. blew up the same bridge in Hanoi...200 times. Or "Shock and awe," anyone? It's still governing contemporary tactics.

In any case, their actions here are in keeping with the 'Cons' philosophy in this continuity. Take Darkwing in Stormbringer: "True. Global devastation is pretty much why we're here (On Nebulos), but when all is said and done...we still want some world left to strip down and ship out." They're still pretty much in it to drain planets dry and move on to the next one instead of necessarily using them as strongholds. Skullcruncher even asked Dreadwing if they should pitch in and help Thunderwing, since he was doing what the Infiltration Unit was there to do, only a lot quicker. Dreadwing dismissed the idea simply because Thunderwing's goal seemed to be to completely destroy the planet. Or think of the planet in "Phase 6" in Stormbringer, where the Wreckers were fighting against a Siege Bunker. It was a barren wasteland!

Thank you Ataru.....

I can't shake the feeling that as soon as something kinda, maybe, sorta looks just a little bit like the DW/cartoon stuff, some of my fellow comic fans start going into convulsions and write the thing off before it's even started. The old style simply wasn't working (by all means, go look at those sales numbers again) so let's try to at least be a bit of a good fan and give this thing a shot.

Edit: Really love Guido's art btw.....that alone is worth supporting right now.

Thanks. To be more specific in one of my earlier points, a friend of mine who majored in illustration (Specializing in comic book art) often points me to the "Eleven Second Rule": although there are exceptions, essentially, a consumer tends to decide within eleven seconds of flipping through a book whether he or she will buy it or not. So if you're trying to catch someone's attention, it makes sense to use something splashy. And if you ask me, Guido's art has never looked better; his designs for Blurr and Sideswipe for this series look great in particular.


http://www.comicon.com/pulse/images_07a/1shanetf2.jpg
http://www.comicon.com/pulse/images_07a/1shanetf9.jpg


And here's Reflector again. I dig the toy elements incorporated.
http://www.comicon.com/pulse/images_07a/1shanetf8.jpg
Sideswipe is pretty much the Universe toy, which makes me happy, since it's a nice design and I'd like to have more toy representations of IDW characters.

I didn't see those yet.....really like Blurr's pointy design....definitely looks like he's built for speed.

Edit: yeah, I can't say I ever cared for Blurr....just looked so generic. Very big improvement here.

Just saying I was worried, not that I'm writing it off entirely. If anything, I actually like the characterization Megatron is getting. It's everyone else who bothers me. Starscream seems to be settling back into that G1 cartoon Starscream persona that is really lame and overdone. I like him much more as we've seen him in IDW so far - entirely capable of backing up his words. I'd like to see him have a better relationship with Megatron, because honestly, the whole "talking about taking over the Decepticons whenever Megs isn't in the room, but Megs puts up with it" thing is silly and unbelievable. Much more likely Megatron would just off him (as he did in Infiltration). After the events of Devastation, if Megatron and Starscream are going to co-exist, they must have reached some sort of semi-understanding with each other.

What bugged me most was Scrapper's line. It's just plain psychopathic. Yes, soldiers tend to be destructive. But when they do, it tends to come out of misplaced hatred or such. The whole line was just a bit too jokey (also, I always figured Scrapper as the type who seemed completely normal and likeable until you saw what he made his sculptures out of, not outwardly psychotic. But that's just me).

I'm also not seeing where you're getting the "Thundercracker isn't happy to be there." Are you just basing this on his facial expression in the lower part of page 6? Because there's not much there to draw from that.

Oh, I know. It's actually good to have something worth debating fiction-wise, as opposed to "Spot the fan references".

Yeah, Shane responded in a Q and A when someone noticed Thundy's facial expression that it was intentional on his part. Should mean he'll get further development, too, since he wants to make this a character-heavy series. (Esp. with no Autobots around.)

The Q and A over on the IDW Forums has really been invaluable in quelling any significant concerns I might have had, since he revealed that Megatron in this series will be someone whose appeal you could understand (Given you were a Decepticon and a bit homicidal), and that he's been doing intensive research into historical dictatorships, for inspiration. He's also an avowed fan of the Simon Furman side of Transformers, wants to avoid having them quote from the cartoon, and plans to avoid stepping on toes continuity-wise. (For instance, I'm interested to see how his statement that the government attempted to cover up the existing Transformer sightings plays out; regardless of whether such a cover-up was effective, it does make logical sense.) He also answered peoples' concerns by saying Starscream won't hew to the cartoon version very heavily, but has his reasons for not being brazenly treasonous.

To be honest, considering what happened to Starscream the last time he stood up to Megatron, and how Megs deals with other, lesser traitors (Like Ramjet)...I'd feel less confident in his mental health if he continued being openly traitorous after having had a huge hole shot in him for his efforts. ^ ^ From Clench to Ramjet, Megatron is really someone who acts decisively and very violently at times.

Incidentally, I did like how (At least in my Escalation trade; I don't have the issues anymore), Prime said the Megatron he knew was calm and measured and in control, and Megs responded that perhaps the calm Megatron Prime knew was a pretender, and his true self was the more crazed and angry individual Prime was facing in Brasnya. Tied in nicely to his mood swings in his origin story.

Having gotten a look at the issue finally, I did like the comment on Megatron not usually showing up during the actual "mass destruction" phase. Like he said in Escalation, he usually just assigns a new unit commander and removes himself...but he thought he'd stick around this time.

...and I was glad to see Shane not forgetting the phase system. (In Megs' defense in stepping up the schedule, for instance, ordering Devastation and then carrying it out in this series, in Escalation he does say that Earth has just become the crucial front line due to Ore 13.)

In Devastation, his troops were weirded out by his bringing in Sixshot, and stepping up the conflict was grounds for bringing back Starscream to reign Megs in, but by the end of that series, they seemed to be enjoying being free to be more destructive, slagging various Reapers. The "Us against the world" mentality was beginning to creep in by the end, there, too. Besides, they are Decepticons, which means the violent insurrectionist tendencies are just below the surface.

Scrapper joking around...well, there are those kinds of guys in military units, and they're generally not folks that the rest might necessarily be comfortable with. It's a bit like Azar in Tim O'Brien's semi-biographical The Things They Carried; a legitimate psycho in O'Brien's American Vietnam infantry unit. Maybe Scrapper's the type to strap puppies to hand grenades? Or for another example, with the Germans, you had the rank and file soldiers, and then the realllly sadistic bastards who got into what they were doing.

Man, Ataru. You're really reading way too much into this. I can't help agree with you -- the preview is action to hook people in.

But Nev's right. It's very "BLARGH! DECEPTICON SMASH!" compared to the stated 'Decepticons will just be guys with their own set of values' from the interviews.

I can understand why this preview would annoy or worry people. I'm personally excited by the idea of a new perspective on Transformers -- but the preview pages don't feel like one.

That said, yay! Guido art!

--Boltax
(Too bad about the flat, lifeless colours.)

Ah, don't worry--initially, I was annoyed just because I was worried we'd have another "Let's judge something only based on a small bit of information" situation like when that image of Animated Prime debuted (These can really get out of hand), but then I forgot about my initial argument and just got into talking about AHM. ^ ^ I get really pumped about TF fiction these days. After so many years where there really wasn't much going on of substance...even something that invites controversy because of its storyline pleases me these days.

I guess it was the implication that this preview showed Shane was going back on his word or not living up to his hype as to how the series would play out that irked me; I think it's too soon to tell. I think from his statements online in the Q and A that the series will end up having room for both and they're showing the side that will capture people's attention. This is just a small segment of a much larger story, after all. (Really, it pleases me that this is the roomiest story arc we've seen yet, at 12 issues. Means if he plays his cards right, he shouldn't have to rush an ending.)

In terms of context, I mean, Furman's set up a very layered and complex world, but you could grab some random action pages from one of his comics and make the case that it wasn't complicated, either.

I suppose the question would be, given that the series is still on-track to be layered, what kind of message were they trying to send with the "Focus" issue: Corroborate McCarthy's statements from the interviews, or pull in casual readers (Another stated objective of this series.) with splashiness? If they were trying to do the former, they didn't succeed, but the latter? Most likely they did well. The issue sold out very fast at my shop (Which consistently supports Transformers books.)

The Sideswipe and Blur designs are great. It makes me happy that Sideswipe is the Classics toy. I wonder if that will happen to Sunstreaker as well?

Randy

After reading these 8 pages, I really can't say for sure if this will be a great or annoying SS, but I am optimistic. I agree that just doing an exact copy of G1 SS wouldn't work here for all the reasons you stated, but I do expect SS to have that same level of likability and humor to him. Personally, I think McDonough nailed him in the DW G1 ongoing. His SS retained the aspects of the original G1 character that made him so popular, but he also played up SS's skills as a both an excellent fighter, as well as his skills as a scientist. THAT Starscream actually made sense to me as being a 2nd in command, and had some great lines that made him fun to read about.
In the G1 cartoon, you never really understand why Megatron keeps SS around, and the same goes for Furman's SS. Furman focuses too much on the cowardice and backstabbing aspects of his character, and IMO isn't able to make him very funny or charismatic either. He scored his victory against Sixshot, but you still got the feeling he wouldn't have lasted more than 2 seconds in a fair fight. I'm a big SS fan, but I've actually come to the point where I rather NOT see SS anymore if Furman is writing him, as he's just not interesting to me.



I'll have to disagree again, because I really want to see characters again that just stick out a bit more from each other. It's so easy for units like the Constructicons to just kinda blend in together. Maybe not a very subtle way to do things, but at least I now see Scrapper more as Scrapper, instead of Constructicon leader guy.
I also think most Decepticons would see killing a bunch of humans as we might view killing bugs or whatever. 'Cons like Scrapper obviously don't have a lot of respect for us, so making sick jokes like that doesn't seem so weird to them. Maybe he just likes being the funny guy other 'Cons look up to? Maybe he has post traumatic stress?
I don't think it's that out of the ordinary.



Just by comparing his body language to that of Skywarp. Skywarp looks very happy to be there....he even does the Movie SS slide to be flashy and slams his fists together like he's ready for a fight. Comparing that to T-Cracker, who just kinda stands around looking timid.On the final page, Megs blasts the building, and SW is all smiles again, while TC just stands there looking at the building collapse.....with his arms just sorta hanging there, his body language is telling me he's hardly excited by all this carnage.

I like Furman's IDW take on Starscream because he actually has a background behind his treachery. For one thing, in Devastation #6 he points out during the battle with the Reapers that while he isn't loyal to Megatron, he does serve the Decepticon cause...where-after we see how Megatron arrogantly identifies himself as the sole embodiment of the Decepticons. So he isn't interested in taking over leadership simply for personal gain and to hell with the rest. It was Starscream who used the Phase system to maximum benefit (Megs is simply reaping...or at this point, undoing...his gains, despite the fact that Megs, after blasting him, credited him for setting up a good scenario on Earth), and the Cons restored him to health to steer things back on track after Megatron threw the system out the window.

Moreover, the fact that he not only revered Megatron (Numerous: he touches on how he used to look up to him until he realized that rather than respecting him, he feared him, in Infiltration, and is downright fanboyish toward him in Megatron: Origin), but was, in fact, eventually his trusted confidant and bodyguard, close enough to know the deactivation codes for Sixshot and even warn Megatron that such a creature was potentially hazardous to have around) gives him added depth.

It's like...he's not doing this stuff anymore simply because he identified Megatron as being in charge and wanted to knock him off, but rather out of betrayed friendship, or at least, closeness, and interest in Decepticon patriotism.

But yeah, he hasn't really seen a lot of action, largely because he was content to be a behind the scenes player in Infiltration until he accumulated sufficient power via Ore-13. Sneaky guy. ^ ^

I really wish we would be SHOWN this though. We've only seen bits and pieces in Origin and Devastation...I'd really like to see it get fleshed out more, whether through a sequel to Origin or just more background given here.

If I read Shane's statements right in the Q and A, AHM might look into the characters' pasts some more; if I recall correctly, he said something about looking at past situations again without conflicting with them. I seem to remember a specific reference to the circa-Megatron: Origin time period. Makes sense, since I do definitely remember him saying that he wanted to explore why Megatron has such a hold over others, what makes him inspirational to Decepticons.

Uhm from what I know Scrapper's always been sort of a Psychopath.

Walked into that one... but yeah, a couple of bucks max would've been a much more sensible price to get people to check it out. DW art reuse for the price of a normal (i.e. $3) issue was vexing... Pat Lee art reuse at any price would be vexing. And comic designs don't need or benefit from excessive toy kibble.

I'm keeping an open mind, but Revelations is the thing I'm most looking forward to. I'd rather see other war fronts than Earth.

No more so than other Decepticons really. His most psychopathic trait is to include his enemies into his construction projects. Other than that, he seems to be pretty sane, sometimes even modest.