Out Wednesday, June 18, 2008.

just read it. definetly a good spotlight. it was completely character driven, and the explaination behind wheelie's speech was kind of humorous. kinda of reminds me of an episode of star trek where picard had to start talking weird. and the twist at the end was neat

That...was really good, actually. You actually feel sympathy as one setback after the other befalls Wheelie, and then arm-thumpingly good when he turns the tables on the Reflector trio (or duo) with the help of his new friend.

Excellent character work.

Did everybody's copy lack the character bio on the inside cover? There's a big empty space where it should be. I got Cover A, by the way.

Anyhow, it was honestly, really good. At first I was thinking it was a little too fanfictiony, what with all the misfortunes befalling Wheelie. Then I finally got it and loved it. I wasn't expecting Wheelie to rhyme at all, either. But then they came in with an explanation that worked and was really entertaining.

Also loved how they brought in the Decepticons' most useless character ever, the Reflector trio. I kinda didn't want them to die, but hey, at least they got some screentime.

I can't believe it, but out of the three Transformers comics that came out this week, the one centered around Wheelie was the best.

i kinda think there was never meant to be a little bio for wheelie on the inside of the cover

Cover B is glorious.

I really liked the story. Plus...

HIGHLIGHT to view:
QUINTESSONS!?!

Wow.. this was absolutly awesome! I think it may just be my favorite spotlight yet.. and that's saying alot, considering there have been some extremely good ones!

I whole-heartedly agree.

This reminded me very much of Kup's spotlight, except with out the radiation insanity.

I felt for Wheelie, trying to get noticed and do something important, then crashes and then mishap after mishap, then manages to make a friend at the end.

The art was excellent, loved cover B because of the retro look, but something drew me to A (which also didn't have a bio), I'm not sure why but I love the two-page spread, I think it's the sun on him plus the two moons in the background and the dust blowing up.
Also loved all the alien creatures in it. And I enjoyed the sketchbook at the end showing how they came up with some designs.

Some very surprising moments, I noticed his arm right away and was waiting for the explanation, and I was wondering where Viewfinder was and then, BAM!

The use of rhyming was very good, and I didn't see it coming at all.

And the end was jaw dropping for me. I was expecting something from the Dead Universe, which of course might not be ruled out, but I doubt it.

Loved it, IDW's Spotlights continue to be one of the best parts of their series.

Pretty fun! Wheelie sure was drawn from the JizaiToys garage-kit version.

Interesting and nifty that Roller is apparently his own separate guy in the IDW-verse. Here's hoping he shows up as more than a name cameo at some point.

i just love wheelie more... and idw make those Wheelie T-shirts for crying out loud!

Roller's already appeared in his standard "component of Optimus Prime" portrayal in the IDW-verse, in Escalation. So his inclusion on that list didn't really make sense.

Why not? He could have made good later on, and gotten a job as Optimus Prime's wheeled innards.

'Sides, the guy took out Blitzwing for Pete's Sake...Bumblebee's got nothin' on him in the "appearances can be deceiving" category.

I took the "Roller above Wheelie" bit as another slight against him....putting a drone higher on the board & all.

So does this mean the fandom finally accepts Wheelie?

Amen, brother!

Love the choice of origin for Wheelie's rhyming. As for it feeling like a fanfiction, it barely did IMO -- save the revelation *cough* at the end. Love the concept sketches in the back, plus Moylan's Lil Formers making an appearance -- fitting ones, at that.

Awesome Spotlight issue, one of the best. The Sketch Book section at the end of the strip was excellent, I love seeing how the artists developed their ideas. Would like to see a clearer version of the 'Ancient Wall Design', screams to be made into a wallpaper.



I got a feeling that Wheelie coming after Roller on the list was a slight nod to the 'Lil Formers' strip that was reprinted in the back of this issue.

It means that it's possible to write a Wheelie who isn't annoying and doesn't suck, WITHOUT removing the things that make the character Wheelie (like the rhyming speech, the survivalist aspect, the small size, and the friendly demeanour.)

No small feat indeed.

really dug this issue. it was a great story, AND a great Spotlight that felt like the one-shot character-focused story that the Spotlights are expected to be [at their best].

the art was great too -- Viewfinder's fate was chilling, especially from that angle, and i especially liked the desolate two-page spread of Wheelie in the desert. i actually want more Wheelie Survival stories, and more stories focusing on that twist at the end; the almost cave-drawing-like portrayal of the Quintesson reminds me of Soul Reaver's glyph designs and intrigues me further.

I want a whole mini-series of Wheelie's adventures on post-apocalyptic Quintessa, or whatever the planet he's on is supposed to be.

Even worse, being below a drone AND a dead guy! Bumper, who was killed in "Megatron: Orgin", was on the list. Added salt in the wound is that Bumper was near the top!

Yes. Yes it is.

I couldn't believe it when that was the only cover left in the local comic shop. I almost NEVER get the good cover; this week I got TWO good ones (Roche's Cyclonus is awesome.)

just finished it. wow, that was one of the best spotlights i've read in awhile. ditto on the chilling fate for VF.

great read all in all.

Solid entertainment, expressive art, and a fun take on a behated character that retains all the hated elements yet makes him work so well.

Why can't more TF fiction be like this? Character-driven, can be read and enjoyed without having read the last three-dozen issues, amusing, no GIANT DEATH APOCALYPSE OMFG END OF ALL.... just a nice little one-shot.


M "Stark Contrast With The Cyc Spotlight... Which.. Had Su Art, And That's About It" Sipher

Considering the number of characters Holmes killed off in Megatron Origin that show up in Furman's stories, I'd say Megatron Origin is outside of the main IDW timeline's continuity.

Just as well. Origin sucked.

What number is that? I wasn't aware of any.

Hound, Straxus, Inferno, Trailbreaker, Blot. And that's just issue 4.

Hound was only off-line and Trailbreaker just...fell.

In any case, not like they can't be repaired. Heck, Sentinel prime isn't even supposed to be dead after Origin...

Ah... poor Wheelie. His distress signal did get picked up by Optimus Prime. I like how that cameo was worked into this story unlike Blaster's Spotlight where Furman blatantly went against Blaster's previous cameo.

Good story. Far better than a Wheelie story was expected to be. I do shudder to think what Furman would have done with him if it was he who was writing it.

My only complaint is that the Reflector trio kept their generic cartoon design than their individual toy design. The toy design would have worked better here seeing as how they are individuals and not the Cuckoo Sisters. Unless when Viewfinder died, the other two became individuals.

My gripe here is that it's inconsistent, since two of the components (Spectro and Viewfinder, IIRC) were seen in Spotlight: Sixshot using designs based on their toys.

Yeah. I forgot about that. Inconsistency with what has previously been established annoys me.

Of course, its pretty easy to explain it that they simply got a new upgraded body during their absence. But that explanation is just a cheap cop-out to me.


Oh, and thinking about the issue more, Varta is an organic with a finite lifespan. Wheelie will outlive him and be back where he started from - alone. I think they should have written in a mate for Varta at the end and a kid.

I actually....liked this.


Reattatching a crapped out arm for teh win!

I loved how they picked up on "I haven't transformed in so long, doing it now will be agonizing!", really adds a darker twist to the entire transforming thing.

(facepalm)


M "They Do have Credits In The Book..." Sipher

Optimus Prime is a chump. He knows damn well he heard my man Wheelie calling for help. But I guess it just continues Wheelie's trend of being ignored. Anyways it was a great great spotlight. I always liked Wheelie even when the whole fandom hated him. But if I were him and I was on the shuttle and Varta was down and the Reflector twins down there? I would have said... well Varta.... DEMZ DA BREAKZ!!! And launched my orange ass towards Cybertron.

I thought this was pretty much Klaus' baby - concept, plot and story with Furman just helping out a bit.

Actually it was because his arm wasn't attatched right that it was agonizing, that was the reason WHY he hadn't transformed in so long.

Klaus came up with the concept and plot. Furman polished it up and wrote the script.

Well, it's still the same niche, and I love when it goes that way.

Just read this... the best part and ...I'm surprised nobody's mentioned it...

Wheelie almost crosses the line here.

but that Big Red face on his chestplate draws him back... because it MEANS something.

awesome.

and we also got the Universal greeting

Really, with guys like Hound and Trailbreaker, I'd say seeing them alive and well later on isn't an inconsistency, but rather "They're not really dead". Guys in this verse can take as much of a whupping as in any previous continuity. Look at Starscream. You'd think dead for sure with that hole through 'im.

Yeah, a good rule of thumb with Transformers is not to assume anyone dies unless they outright tell you it's the case or, you, like, see them vaporized or in Outback's case, a rotten corpse. Heck, most everyone Starscream killed in Marvel #50 was apparently fixable via Nucleon, and they were in pieces on the battlefield and then in Ratchet's lab.

Wheeljack came back in the Dreamwave book, and there were even plans, if I recall correctly, to bring Superion back (The humans were shown to have his head, although with Pat Lee's art, it was kinda hard to tell that it wasn't Devastator for me.)

Hence, Bumper and Fastback are well and truly dead, because they had a funeral, and I'd imagine Clench is dead because...well, I can't imagine anyone going to great lengths to repair him in that environment, although it would be nice to have him back. Oh, and those generiformers who died in the pit fights and the Senate and such. Not a lot.

Really good issue. Very similar to Spotlight Kup, and in a good way. And they were both written by two non-Furman guys, given a chance to just center one issue on one guy... coincidence? Not really. (Of course, Megatron Origin did suck. But I'm willing to give Holmes another chance...one.)

I would've liked to have seen the Reflector trio in their other (toy) bodies though, I never liked the whole generic clone thing. But meh. Small complaint overall.

Excellent issue. I don't know who did what exactly, but this Simon + Klaus teamup is made of all kinds of win. MORE!!!!