The last issue of Shattered Glass 2 came out his past Wednesday. And with it went 17 years of Transformer comic history. It wasn't the most glorious end, personally I feel like Shattered Glass 2 was a little weak in places, but the Last Bot Standing miniseries that finished some months ago was a fairly strong capstone on IDW's Transformers career. And I think a thread where we can all say goodbye to this era of Transformers is appropriate.
I didn't get my start with IDW. I suppose my start with Transformers comics was a collection of the Marvel Transformers/GI Joe crossover, along with a few random issues of the G2 prologue in GI Joe and G2 proper that I probably found in a quarter bin of the bookstore of my local mall, way back when. And, honestly, it wouldn't be until Dreamwave got the license that I would seriously get into Transformers. That's when I started collecting the comics. And getting Titan's reprints of Marvel's G1 comics. And started frequenting the forums and news sites more often. Even dipping my toes into fanfics, like the Transmasters UK universe, Obsidian's Lament, Corrosion of War Without End, and Myth Wars. It was quite the shock when Dreamwave went under and took all the stories they were in the middle of with them. I really had to hunt to find that last issue of Energon way back when. It would be a while before we got news about who would get the license next. I probably first heard about IDW getting it online, somewhere. But, it's possible that I read about it in a issue of Wizard Magazine.
...The year...was 2005...
October 19th 2005 was when Infiltration #0 came out, starting IDW's run on the book. I didn't quite know what to make of the art. EJ Su's art style took some getting used to, for me. Infiltration was a slower burn than I think I was used to back then. It took it's time. There was a lot of focus on the human kids: Verity, Hunter, and Jimmy. It was a lot more grounded and serious than most of Dreamwave's stuff. Looking back, it was a lot more original, too.
But, then Stormbringer came out, and THIS was more like it, for me! Figueroa art! Cosmic epics! New Cybertronian forms for old characters! This was more like what I wanted Transformers comic to be!
Then the Spotlights starting trickling out. Tantalizing teases of this new world. I was hooked by this point. I was enthralled by all the little plot lines that were starting to be weaved into this story. Say what you will about Furman, but this period was some of his best stuff.
I was on the IDW Forums during this period. I remember some of the Q&A's we got with Ryall and Furman being a lot of fun. I think I even predicted a plot point that was pretty subtly foreshadowed in one of the Q&A's.
We also got some really memorable Live-Action Movie comics during this period. Some of the miniseries were better than the films (...insert your joke of choice here).
IDW had a few mis-steps early on. Megatron Origin and the Avengers crossover weren't as good as we all hoped. The first attempt at Beast Wars died a early death, probably due to bringing in too much from the old Botcon comics. The Beast Wars Sourcebook being a mess didn't help. The 80s movie adaptation had great art...but got extra pages in the trade, burning those who picked up the individual issues (*grumble grumble*). But, the "-Ations" and the Spotlights were still going strong.
...Then All Hail Megatron happened. Furman's run was cut short, which definitely annoyed me at the time. Although, I think Revelations tied things up nicely enough. Furman also gave us a peek into what might have been in a fan-released Mosiac. Who knows if that would ever happen nowadays. It's a little hard to say what the "ending" actually was here, but lets go with Reveltations 4 Spotlight Sideswipe, the EJ Su painted issue, on October 8 2008, but there was a lot of overlap between Furman's epilogues and All Hail Megatron's beginning.
The new era began with Focus on Deceptions on April 9 2008, leading into All Hail Megatron. But, All Hail Megatron signaled a low period, creatively, for IDW. At least in my opinion. The stories all took place on Earth (my least favorite planet). It was ALL Autobots vs Decepticons again. It was just a lot more...simplified. We did get Maximum Dinobots, but that wasn't really enough to soothe my broken heart. But, I powered on through....
Then Mike Costa's series started. Basically picking up where All Hail Megatron left off, we got more in that general style. Figueroa came back on art! ...But, in a much more detailed "Movie" style with....let's say "interesting" faces. It still wasn't doing what *I* liked it Transformers comics...but still, I powered on through....
And smack dab in the middle of Costa's run, we got Roche's Last Stand of the Wreckers. A follow up to Spotlight Kup from YEARS before. OH SWEET QUALITY AT LAST! Memorable characters! A unforgettable plot! This was more like it...again! This is going to be a ongoing theme with IDW....periods of greatness followed by periods of mediocrity.
We got a few other odds and ends in this period of IDW, too. The Infestation crossovers...existed, but barely mattered to the story happening in Transformers. And the end of Costa's run brought two interesting things with it. The "Chaos" event, with Livio Ramondelli's..."memorable" artwork, ending with the inscrutable Decepti-God...and the appearance of a little-known writer named James Roberts. We also got another "ending" with Ironhide in the future, with great art by Casey Coller in "Pax Cybertronia" Transformers 31 on December 7 2011. A nice end to a uneven era for IDW's comics, reminding us all of what happened before.
Now, James Roberts name was known in Transformers circles before his gig at IDW. He had written the fan-novel Eugenesis YEARS before, as a part of that Transmasters UK universe I mentioned before. But, you have to remember, Eugenesis wasn't always the easiest thing to find back in those days. There wasn't a PDF version of the story in those early years. If you didn't have a physical copy of that book, you didn't get to read it. So, while I "knew" about James Roberts....I didn't KNOW about James Roberts, or how big of a deal he would become in Transformers comics, moving forward. He had written the Chaos Theory two-parter in Costa's Transformers 22 and 23, but that was just a small taste of what we'd eventually get. December 21 2011 with the Death of Optimus Prime one-shot would mark the beginning of a bold new era for Transformers.
James Roberts is, in my opinion, THE best writer that Transformers comics has ever seen. And maybe ever WILL see. A LOT of what Roberts did came from the foundations that Furman set up, but Roberts builds on those foundations like a master. He made these giant robots feel more human than most humans in Transformers comics prior. They were fun, and weird, and eccentric. And the plots were memorable, and more violent and impactful than ever before. Roberts introduced us to so many concepts: empurata, prime apotheosis, functionism...SO MANY new sci-fi concepts that plugged in PERFECTLY to the Transformers world that we'd never seen before. Roberts created a richer, more interesting world than any writer or any writer yet. A lot of people say he overstayed his welcome. A lot of people say he lost a little bit of his mojo by the tail end of his run. But, this is still the era that I'm recommending above ALL OTHERS when anyone talks about Transformers comics.
And there's the OTHER big name during this period, John Barber. A lot of people actually like Barber better....and that's fair enough. Barber always had a much more grounded style than Roberts. Roberts stories were quirkier and quippier...while Barber's stories were more political-minded and a little slower. And as time went on, Barber proved himself a MASTER of continuity patching. "Fixing" parts of the story from years past. Weaving in plot threads long-thought discarded. The man had a mind for continuity, and used it to every advantage. While, personally, I think James Roberts run is the better of the two, I'll admit, Barber has the better twists at the end of his runs. His spins on Shockwave and Unicron are some of the most memorable versions of these characters ever seen. He brought Hearts of Steel into the main continuity and actually made it work, the absolute madman.
And I'd be remiss if I forgot to mention Mairghread Scott. Not as big a name as the other two, but she still put out some good work. Mostly helping to flesh out Windblade and the other members of the Council of Worlds. While I think the other two big writers of this period are overall more memorable, I think her runs are also "necessary reading" if you want to get the full picture of this era. She really did help give Starscream a interesting angle while he ran Cybertron.
Oh, and let's not forget Tom Scioli's Tranformers vs GI Joe and Gobots miniseries. While they're out of continuity, I'd still say these are must-reads. They're crazy! Insane! Disjointed! Just a fun time overall. Like watching your 6 year olds play with their toys.
Oh, and then there's Livio Ramondelli's Autocracy series books. I...don't really like Livio's art, so these are kind of the low point of this era for me. I can't really get all nostalgic about these. Barber made them necessary reading, because OF COURSE Barber "fixed" it. But, overall...if you were to skip something during this period, I'd say skip these.
We also got some miniseries that focused on the Dinobots in the Aligned/Prime/War for Cybertron games continuity. Those Dinobot-focused miniseries were a neat little oddity.
We even got sequels to Last Stand of the Wreckers. They took their sweet time getting them out, but they GOT them out. Not as good as the original, but still solid reads.
....I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh, I'm sure there wasn't something huge that made this era even bigger....
...OH YEAH, the Hasbroverse! Hasbro's...frankly over-ambitious attempt to make EVERYTHING in-continuity with IDW's Transformers comics. We got SO MANY SPINOFFS during this era. Micronauts was probably my personal favorite, feeling like the Guardians of the Galaxy, at times. Revolutionaries was a lot of crazy crossover fun. ROM was clearly Ryall's baby. The Visionaries were always kind of interesting to me, even if they didn't get to do much in this universe. Action Man was more fun than I expected. MASK and GI Joe...existed...
Even some of the out-of-continuity stuff was still kind of fun. The Mars Attacks crossover was just a hoot. Furman's Regeneration One was....trying too hard to feel like a 80s comic, but I still didn't hate it, even if most people did.
But, all good things must eventually come to a end. And by November 21 of 2018 this glorious age was over with Optimus Prime #25....but IDW still kept the license. I still don't know what the story behind this was. Every comic was double-shipping for months. We were getting more issues EARLIER than expected than ever...and with IDW that's strange. I can't be sure, but I'm convinced SOMETHING was going on behind the scenes to end everything before the end of that year.
...To be continued (I've used up the 12,000 characters allotment)...kind of a fitting spot, really.
I didn't get my start with IDW. I suppose my start with Transformers comics was a collection of the Marvel Transformers/GI Joe crossover, along with a few random issues of the G2 prologue in GI Joe and G2 proper that I probably found in a quarter bin of the bookstore of my local mall, way back when. And, honestly, it wouldn't be until Dreamwave got the license that I would seriously get into Transformers. That's when I started collecting the comics. And getting Titan's reprints of Marvel's G1 comics. And started frequenting the forums and news sites more often. Even dipping my toes into fanfics, like the Transmasters UK universe, Obsidian's Lament, Corrosion of War Without End, and Myth Wars. It was quite the shock when Dreamwave went under and took all the stories they were in the middle of with them. I really had to hunt to find that last issue of Energon way back when. It would be a while before we got news about who would get the license next. I probably first heard about IDW getting it online, somewhere. But, it's possible that I read about it in a issue of Wizard Magazine.
...The year...was 2005...
October 19th 2005 was when Infiltration #0 came out, starting IDW's run on the book. I didn't quite know what to make of the art. EJ Su's art style took some getting used to, for me. Infiltration was a slower burn than I think I was used to back then. It took it's time. There was a lot of focus on the human kids: Verity, Hunter, and Jimmy. It was a lot more grounded and serious than most of Dreamwave's stuff. Looking back, it was a lot more original, too.
But, then Stormbringer came out, and THIS was more like it, for me! Figueroa art! Cosmic epics! New Cybertronian forms for old characters! This was more like what I wanted Transformers comic to be!
Then the Spotlights starting trickling out. Tantalizing teases of this new world. I was hooked by this point. I was enthralled by all the little plot lines that were starting to be weaved into this story. Say what you will about Furman, but this period was some of his best stuff.
I was on the IDW Forums during this period. I remember some of the Q&A's we got with Ryall and Furman being a lot of fun. I think I even predicted a plot point that was pretty subtly foreshadowed in one of the Q&A's.
We also got some really memorable Live-Action Movie comics during this period. Some of the miniseries were better than the films (...insert your joke of choice here).
IDW had a few mis-steps early on. Megatron Origin and the Avengers crossover weren't as good as we all hoped. The first attempt at Beast Wars died a early death, probably due to bringing in too much from the old Botcon comics. The Beast Wars Sourcebook being a mess didn't help. The 80s movie adaptation had great art...but got extra pages in the trade, burning those who picked up the individual issues (*grumble grumble*). But, the "-Ations" and the Spotlights were still going strong.
...Then All Hail Megatron happened. Furman's run was cut short, which definitely annoyed me at the time. Although, I think Revelations tied things up nicely enough. Furman also gave us a peek into what might have been in a fan-released Mosiac. Who knows if that would ever happen nowadays. It's a little hard to say what the "ending" actually was here, but lets go with Reveltations 4 Spotlight Sideswipe, the EJ Su painted issue, on October 8 2008, but there was a lot of overlap between Furman's epilogues and All Hail Megatron's beginning.
The new era began with Focus on Deceptions on April 9 2008, leading into All Hail Megatron. But, All Hail Megatron signaled a low period, creatively, for IDW. At least in my opinion. The stories all took place on Earth (my least favorite planet). It was ALL Autobots vs Decepticons again. It was just a lot more...simplified. We did get Maximum Dinobots, but that wasn't really enough to soothe my broken heart. But, I powered on through....
Then Mike Costa's series started. Basically picking up where All Hail Megatron left off, we got more in that general style. Figueroa came back on art! ...But, in a much more detailed "Movie" style with....let's say "interesting" faces. It still wasn't doing what *I* liked it Transformers comics...but still, I powered on through....
And smack dab in the middle of Costa's run, we got Roche's Last Stand of the Wreckers. A follow up to Spotlight Kup from YEARS before. OH SWEET QUALITY AT LAST! Memorable characters! A unforgettable plot! This was more like it...again! This is going to be a ongoing theme with IDW....periods of greatness followed by periods of mediocrity.
We got a few other odds and ends in this period of IDW, too. The Infestation crossovers...existed, but barely mattered to the story happening in Transformers. And the end of Costa's run brought two interesting things with it. The "Chaos" event, with Livio Ramondelli's..."memorable" artwork, ending with the inscrutable Decepti-God...and the appearance of a little-known writer named James Roberts. We also got another "ending" with Ironhide in the future, with great art by Casey Coller in "Pax Cybertronia" Transformers 31 on December 7 2011. A nice end to a uneven era for IDW's comics, reminding us all of what happened before.
Now, James Roberts name was known in Transformers circles before his gig at IDW. He had written the fan-novel Eugenesis YEARS before, as a part of that Transmasters UK universe I mentioned before. But, you have to remember, Eugenesis wasn't always the easiest thing to find back in those days. There wasn't a PDF version of the story in those early years. If you didn't have a physical copy of that book, you didn't get to read it. So, while I "knew" about James Roberts....I didn't KNOW about James Roberts, or how big of a deal he would become in Transformers comics, moving forward. He had written the Chaos Theory two-parter in Costa's Transformers 22 and 23, but that was just a small taste of what we'd eventually get. December 21 2011 with the Death of Optimus Prime one-shot would mark the beginning of a bold new era for Transformers.
James Roberts is, in my opinion, THE best writer that Transformers comics has ever seen. And maybe ever WILL see. A LOT of what Roberts did came from the foundations that Furman set up, but Roberts builds on those foundations like a master. He made these giant robots feel more human than most humans in Transformers comics prior. They were fun, and weird, and eccentric. And the plots were memorable, and more violent and impactful than ever before. Roberts introduced us to so many concepts: empurata, prime apotheosis, functionism...SO MANY new sci-fi concepts that plugged in PERFECTLY to the Transformers world that we'd never seen before. Roberts created a richer, more interesting world than any writer or any writer yet. A lot of people say he overstayed his welcome. A lot of people say he lost a little bit of his mojo by the tail end of his run. But, this is still the era that I'm recommending above ALL OTHERS when anyone talks about Transformers comics.
And there's the OTHER big name during this period, John Barber. A lot of people actually like Barber better....and that's fair enough. Barber always had a much more grounded style than Roberts. Roberts stories were quirkier and quippier...while Barber's stories were more political-minded and a little slower. And as time went on, Barber proved himself a MASTER of continuity patching. "Fixing" parts of the story from years past. Weaving in plot threads long-thought discarded. The man had a mind for continuity, and used it to every advantage. While, personally, I think James Roberts run is the better of the two, I'll admit, Barber has the better twists at the end of his runs. His spins on Shockwave and Unicron are some of the most memorable versions of these characters ever seen. He brought Hearts of Steel into the main continuity and actually made it work, the absolute madman.
And I'd be remiss if I forgot to mention Mairghread Scott. Not as big a name as the other two, but she still put out some good work. Mostly helping to flesh out Windblade and the other members of the Council of Worlds. While I think the other two big writers of this period are overall more memorable, I think her runs are also "necessary reading" if you want to get the full picture of this era. She really did help give Starscream a interesting angle while he ran Cybertron.
Oh, and let's not forget Tom Scioli's Tranformers vs GI Joe and Gobots miniseries. While they're out of continuity, I'd still say these are must-reads. They're crazy! Insane! Disjointed! Just a fun time overall. Like watching your 6 year olds play with their toys.
Oh, and then there's Livio Ramondelli's Autocracy series books. I...don't really like Livio's art, so these are kind of the low point of this era for me. I can't really get all nostalgic about these. Barber made them necessary reading, because OF COURSE Barber "fixed" it. But, overall...if you were to skip something during this period, I'd say skip these.
We also got some miniseries that focused on the Dinobots in the Aligned/Prime/War for Cybertron games continuity. Those Dinobot-focused miniseries were a neat little oddity.
We even got sequels to Last Stand of the Wreckers. They took their sweet time getting them out, but they GOT them out. Not as good as the original, but still solid reads.
....I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh, I'm sure there wasn't something huge that made this era even bigger....
...OH YEAH, the Hasbroverse! Hasbro's...frankly over-ambitious attempt to make EVERYTHING in-continuity with IDW's Transformers comics. We got SO MANY SPINOFFS during this era. Micronauts was probably my personal favorite, feeling like the Guardians of the Galaxy, at times. Revolutionaries was a lot of crazy crossover fun. ROM was clearly Ryall's baby. The Visionaries were always kind of interesting to me, even if they didn't get to do much in this universe. Action Man was more fun than I expected. MASK and GI Joe...existed...
Even some of the out-of-continuity stuff was still kind of fun. The Mars Attacks crossover was just a hoot. Furman's Regeneration One was....trying too hard to feel like a 80s comic, but I still didn't hate it, even if most people did.
But, all good things must eventually come to a end. And by November 21 of 2018 this glorious age was over with Optimus Prime #25....but IDW still kept the license. I still don't know what the story behind this was. Every comic was double-shipping for months. We were getting more issues EARLIER than expected than ever...and with IDW that's strange. I can't be sure, but I'm convinced SOMETHING was going on behind the scenes to end everything before the end of that year.
...To be continued (I've used up the 12,000 characters allotment)...kind of a fitting spot, really.
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Unique spin on Unicron too.
