Out Wednesday November 19, 2008.

And your opinions on the extras in the trade only, not the story itself - because, hey, we already covered the issues.

are the extras worth getting the trade for?

That depends. The extras include:

• an editor's letter from Ryall at the beginning
• profiles for both Autobots and Decepticons (plus a human or two) that shows up throughout the entire RoS, written by Josh van Rayek, Shaun Knowler (Josh and Shaun the head boys on the TF Mosaics project), Andrew Griffith, and Mowry
• a concept sketch gallery from Milne
• Mowry's commentary (of sorts) on Easter egss and odd tidbits some might miss, and
• covers used in the original singles run alongside unused covers.

Since I rarely pick up singles, and I really like misc. details that we rarely see, the TPB is certainly worth it. It's like the extras on a DVD, except in paper format.

Well I do usually get individual issues and then the trades. But I can't afford to do that anymore and I don't have the patience to wait while there are comics out there that I want.

Overall the story was a sleeper hit. Easily the best comic story to come out of the movie universe. I have to say I wasn't expecting much from it but it started okay and got better with every issue. I'd have liked some more coverage of the Autobots though but they're not really meant to be the focus in this story.

Wow, that's a lot of extras, especially for the usual IDW TF trades. Really liked ROS, so I'll pick it up.

And Bass put it best. "Sleeper hit".

Yep, I'm looking forward to Mowry contributing to the main universe with Spotlight: Cosmos (Announced at...Botcon or SDCC, one of those) and, with any luck, doing some other stories beyond. To make an overall statement, I'll say I greatly enjoyed how this book balanced action and character development. Alex seems to have found his niche with these movie designs, too: I quite like his G1 work, but these guys especially suit his highly detailed style.

definitely thirding the sleeper hit comment!

Fourthing the "sleeper hit".

Just got my copy! The care and effort shown in producing this is very evident. Wowsers to all involved. They deserve a lot of praise for their efforts. Can't wait for the next movieverse offering.

had you read the individual issues before?

I got this the other day. It reads well as a tpb, but I can see that it may possibly have been a bit chopped up in single issue form. The art is lovely, and the extras are a nice touch, and there's plenty of scope for a sequel. A pleasant surprise, I'd say.

I need to pick this up. Love Alex's art.