Three-Page Preview for IDW Transformers Unicron: The Darkest Hour #0 #FCBD

Oh hi bumblebee...hi Soundwave. I guess everything works out in The Falling story arc...


I’m very bummed after hearing from the QnA panel that everything is coming to an end this year for IDW. I know they also said the comics will continue but it’s still sad to know we’re probaly more than likely getting rebooted next year.

I blame ScottyP...this is all your fault dude. Wanting Unicron for so long

So they bring beeback to life just to kill them again with the rest of the universe? Neat.

Though I think this will lead up to a similar place as cybertron (the animated series) I. E. Unicron becomes a massive black hole in whatever continuity follows this reset. Allowing the possibility that Unicron may return for another event

It looks like after this UNICRON series, the Have IDWverse ends and begins anew. A good point to jump off.

Va'al wrote:So is Unicron actually devouring the whole IDWverse? Looks like it might be the case after all...

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... ytf/40719/

We are wrapping up current IDW continuities this year, Unicron is coming to devour everybody. The intention is to continue after that, whatever comes next. Towards end of year we should know more, but we will collaborate on more stories.

Now I feel as if I've wasted my time with the series.

Ironhidensh wrote:Now I feel as if I've wasted my time with the series.

I thought that at The Death of Optimus Prime...

Ironhidensh wrote:

Va'al wrote:So is Unicron actually devouring the whole IDWverse? Looks like it might be the case after all...

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... ytf/40719/

We are wrapping up current IDW continuities this year, Unicron is coming to devour everybody. The intention is to continue after that, whatever comes next. Towards end of year we should know more, but we will collaborate on more stories.

Now I feel as if I've wasted my time with the series.

Not if you’ve enjoyed the ride. My favorite comic Invincible ended this week. 15 years, was that a waste? When Chew ended last year did that too feel like years wasted? Hell no! If you enjoy something and it ends it’s never a waste.

That’s like saying you feel like you wasted your childhood after watching all of G1 as a kid becuase rebirth was the finale.

Guess this is IDW’s version of Flashpoint to reset the continuity? I’m all for it, not all of the new 52 was bad.

I'm currently collecting a Transformers part work, exploring the history of all Transformers comics. The newest ones this week were Dark Cybertron (part 2) and All Hail Optimus Prime.

Bearing in mind I tapped out of IDWverse with Death of Optimus Prime yet, if these stories are indication of what IDWverse has become... Unicron should devour it

Randomhero wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:

Va'al wrote:So is Unicron actually devouring the whole IDWverse? Looks like it might be the case after all...

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... ytf/40719/

We are wrapping up current IDW continuities this year, Unicron is coming to devour everybody. The intention is to continue after that, whatever comes next. Towards end of year we should know more, but we will collaborate on more stories.

Now I feel as if I've wasted my time with the series.

Not if you’ve enjoyed the ride. My favorite comic Invincible ended this week. 15 years, was that a waste? When Chew ended last year did that too feel like years wasted? Hell no! If you enjoy something and it ends it’s never a waste.

That’s like saying you feel like you wasted your childhood after watching all of G1 as a kid becuase rebirth was the finale.

I don't feel time was wasted because it's ending, I feel time was wasted because I'm willing to bet Hasbro is ending it so the IDW comics can be turned into a toy commercial first, and a story a distant second.

They're really putting those issues out of order aren't they? Dark Cybertron was almost two years before all hail optimus.

ZeroWolf wrote:They're really putting those issues out of order aren't they? Dark Cybertron was almost two years before all hail optimus.

It's pretty random how they pair the volumes. Dark Cybertron was Vol.60, All Hail Optimus Vol. 71. It is clear that a lot happened in the interim.

That_Guy wrote:Guess this is IDW’s version of Flashpoint to reset the continuity? I’m all for it, not all of the new 52 was bad.

Eh, I'm not sure how I feel about this. IDW got the transformers universe into a really interesting place. I don't want to have to spend another decade going through the war all over again, reintroducing each character and scrapping all the current story directions instead of fixing the ones that don't work as of now. Thee war ending was probably the best thing to happen to transformers.

Also, I thought it was odd that the TAAO annual would put Windblade in charge with significant changes to Cybertron while the rest of the titles ignore what happened and play catch up in between. Now I know why, because they planned to flush everything down the toilet anyway, so who cares what happens in the nebulous future if the universe is going to explode before that happens? Ugh.

ricemazter wrote:

That_Guy wrote:Guess this is IDW’s version of Flashpoint to reset the continuity? I’m all for it, not all of the new 52 was bad.

Eh, I'm not sure how I feel about this. IDW got the transformers universe into a really interesting place. I don't want to have to spend another decade going through the war all over again, reintroducing each character and scrapping all the current story directions instead of fixing the ones that don't work as of now.

Reminds me of when the -Ations ended and AHM took over. Shattering everything interesting that Furman was building, for Sunbow 2.0. All the more disappointing was that AHM was successful, indicating to Hasbro and IDW, Sunbow was all people actually wanted from Transformers.

IDWverse does need a reboot now though. It's become too convoluted and bloated. It started with the Primacy trilogy and the pointless retcons and later by shoehorning too many other properties into Transformers.

ricemazter wrote:The war ending was probably the best thing to happen to transformers.

Not in IDW, as the war never really took off in this continuity. Furman gave highlights, some tertiary battlegrounds such as Earth in Infiltration. Then AHM "ended" the Sunbow War and now we are at "people in robot suits".

I don't see how you can say the war never took off as it did happen, and is pointed out every so often, or do you mean because IDW haven't displayed it much? Still one thing we have to be clear on is that after the reset hits, the franchises will still be together but I'm hoping they'll roll in together a lot more organically this time. After all gi joe and tfs have a long history together and technically the generation 2 comic series launched out of a gi joe series, as megatron rebuilt himself with Cobra tech he bartered for from Cobra Commander.

Though IDW if you're listening please let some other series serve as a launch pad for new stuff this time round, give the Transformers a break.

Yeah, the War has been a case of "Tell, don't show" in IDW. The closest it came to showing The War was Megatron: Origin and Stormbringer. After Spotlight Kup and Wheelie, implication of The War seemed to be the last way it would be mentioned as an ongoing conflict.

They have characters such as Thundercracker decrying all the killing and destruction they have witnessed, yet we haven't be shown any of that.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

ricemazter wrote:

That_Guy wrote:Guess this is IDW’s version of Flashpoint to reset the continuity? I’m all for it, not all of the new 52 was bad.

Eh, I'm not sure how I feel about this. IDW got the transformers universe into a really interesting place. I don't want to have to spend another decade going through the war all over again, reintroducing each character and scrapping all the current story directions instead of fixing the ones that don't work as of now.

Reminds me of when the -Ations ended and AHM took over. Shattering everything interesting that Furman was building, for Sunbow 2.0. All the more disappointing was that AHM was successful, indicating to Hasbro and IDW, Sunbow was all people actually wanted from Transformers.

IDWverse does need a reboot now though. It's become too convoluted and bloated. It started with the Primacy trilogy and the pointless retcons and later by shoehorning too many other properties into Transformers.

ricemazter wrote:The war ending was probably the best thing to happen to transformers.

Not in IDW, as the war never really took off in this continuity. Furman gave highlights, some tertiary battlegrounds such as Earth in Infiltration. Then AHM "ended" the Sunbow War and now we are at "people in robot suits".

We had,I think, plenty of highlights from the war itself. Unlike the Sunbow cartoon, the IDW war was a massive galaxy spanning affair taking place on multiple fronts. Last Stand of the Wreckers was a good example of the war itself, and we saw it again multiple times throughout MTMTE, like in the first couple Scavengers issues and when Sunder got loose, not to mention the various spotlights. I think the war was always something best left implied and kept to singular stories as it was never very interesting. The fallout and implications of the war were, however and all we needed were snippets. I think any ongoing series that seriously used the war as a focus would get very boring very quickly, which is why the spotlights worked so well.

Also, with the specifics of the war being kept vague, any writer could come in and do a prequel story at any point and make an interesting or crazy setting like in ROM vs Transformers. Heck, if we did want to go back to the war, we wouldn't even need a reboot. There's 4 million years of untold stories just waiting for someone to take a crack at.

Also the destruction that upset Thundercracker so much was in all hail megatron as he saw the campaign against the humans. That's actually something of want to survive in the reboot, screenwriter Thundercracker and his dog buster...I love it whenever he's used.

QUICK! EVERYONE RUN TO THE FUNCTIONALIST UNIVERSE! MEGATRON HAS BEEN PREPPING IT FOR US!!!!!

If only

Randomhero wrote:QUICK! EVERYONE RUN TO THE FUNCTIONALIST UNIVERSE! MEGATRON HAS BEEN PREPPING IT FOR US!!!!!

If only

I think you might be onto something. Why suddenly dump Megatron away like that? There’s probably a lot in the planning of this, as truncated as it is probably going to be.

What if Lost Light? Is that just going to fade out on it’s own? Seems like there’s some universe shattering stuff coming up there too.

Stormshot_Prime wrote:

Randomhero wrote:QUICK! EVERYONE RUN TO THE FUNCTIONALIST UNIVERSE! MEGATRON HAS BEEN PREPPING IT FOR US!!!!!

If only

I think you might be onto something. Why suddenly dump Megatron away like that? There’s probably a lot in the planning of this, as truncated as it is probably going to be.

What if Lost Light? Is that just going to fade out on it’s own? Seems like there’s some universe shattering stuff coming up there too.

Well I think this is all just hype. IDW isn’t losing the rights or anything. They said the comics will come after this event. The entire “Unicron is coming to destroy everything” is just hype. He’s not going to eat earth, he’s not gonna eat Cybertron. The universe is not getting reset. Comics do this all the time. Unicron will be defeated and we wil be entering into phase 4(?) of the IDWverse.

Lost light? I don’t know. I can’t even imagine but I don’t think that series is really ending but maybe it is. We got this Scavengers story ending and it’s supposedly their final story and then we got this story about Rodimus and crew “Dying” so I means that would leave around 7-8 issues to get the crew to Cyberutopia and conclude...maybe that’s enough I don’t know.

Even IF lost light ends let’s all be grown ups for a moment and look at the real picture. It’s james Roberts. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he is this generations Simon Furman. He will always have a place writing transformers fiction. Just like Simon did for the span of 25 years if James wants to continue and he more than likely will if offered. Just like how John has cemented himself as one of the best writers too. Unless these guys don’t want to continue doing it or IDW doesn’t want them which I find hard to believe considering how their relationships with the company are they won’t be going anywhere. John may not be editor anymore but let’s not kid ourselves he’s still running this whole universe for transformers,

While I don’t want a new start but let’s not deny that over 13 years so far we’ve gotten way more good stories than bad and it’s the longest running continuity that transformers has ever had. It’s been a helluva run

Over 300issue I think. That’s damn good for company like IDW

The comics are all selling far below what TAAO was selling when it got cancelled. So ending it all and then rebooting makes sense from that standpoint for sure. Especially since the first issues of First Strike outsold any Transformers comic that month. Events comics are selling. The regulate comics are not.

Targetmaster Kup wrote:The comics are all selling far below what TAAO was selling when it got cancelled. So ending it all and then rebooting makes sense from that standpoint for sure. Especially since the first issues of First Strike outsold any Transformers comic that month. Events comics are selling. The regulate comics are not.

Comics are a dying thing and that’s only physical numbers. Digital ones aren’t released and I’m actually one of those people. I haven’t bought a physical comic since 2013

Randomhero wrote:

Stormshot_Prime wrote:

Randomhero wrote:QUICK! EVERYONE RUN TO THE FUNCTIONALIST UNIVERSE! MEGATRON HAS BEEN PREPPING IT FOR US!!!!!

If only

I think you might be onto something. Why suddenly dump Megatron away like that? There’s probably a lot in the planning of this, as truncated as it is probably going to be.

What if Lost Light? Is that just going to fade out on it’s own? Seems like there’s some universe shattering stuff coming up there too.

Well I think this is all just hype. IDW isn’t losing the rights or anything. They said the comics will come after this event. The entire “Unicron is coming to destroy everything” is just hype. He’s not going to eat earth, he’s not gonna eat Cybertron. The universe is not getting reset. Comics do this all the time. Unicron will be defeated and we wil be entering into phase 4(?) of the IDWverse.

Lost light? I don’t know. I can’t even imagine but I don’t think that series is really ending but maybe it is. We got this Scavengers story ending and it’s supposedly their final story and then we got this story about Rodimus and crew “Dying” so I means that would leave around 7-8 issues to get the crew to Cyberutopia and conclude...maybe that’s enough I don’t know.

Even IF lost light ends let’s all be grown ups for a moment and look at the real picture. It’s james Roberts. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he is this generations Simon Furman. He will always have a place writing transformers fiction. Just like Simon did for the span of 25 years if James wants to continue and he more than likely will if offered. Just like how John has cemented himself as one of the best writers too. Unless these guys don’t want to continue doing it or IDW doesn’t want them which I find hard to believe considering how their relationships with the company are they won’t be going anywhere. John may not be editor anymore but let’s not kid ourselves he’s still running this whole universe for transformers,

While I don’t want a new start but let’s not deny that over 13 years so far we’ve gotten way more good stories than bad and it’s the longest running continuity that transformers has ever had. It’s been a helluva run

Over 300issue I think. That’s damn good for company like IDW

I agree with most of what you said apart from Barber being one of the best writers.

I can't stand the stuff he's done. I hate Thundercracker's screenwriting nonsense, his dog and the mess he made of Prowl. To say nothing of going back to Earth and focussing far too much on the humans.

To me, Barber is the Michael Bay of the comics.

Mairghead, James, Nick and Simon are great writers though.

I'll be picking up a copy of this for sure. I do love the way they make Bumblebee emote they really did make him look sad but in kinda a cute way. Can't help but feel sorry for the lil fella.

I'm pretty sure the interview person just mis-used the word continuity. About 90% sure. Like how they ended 'continuity' with Death of Optimus Prime and Revolution.

We are wrapping up current IDW continuities this year, Unicron is coming to devour everybody. The intention is to continue after that, whatever comes next. Towards end of year we should know more, but we will collaborate on more stories.

I took this as: Unicron is coming to devour stuff, everybody has to fix the problem. And then there will be the aftermath, where things start happening again.

MagicDeath wrote:I'm pretty sure the interview person just mis-used the word continuity. About 90% sure. Like how they ended 'continuity' with Death of Optimus Prime and Revolution.

We are wrapping up current IDW continuities this year, Unicron is coming to devour everybody. The intention is to continue after that, whatever comes next. Towards end of year we should know more, but we will collaborate on more stories.

I took this as: Unicron is coming to devour stuff, everybody has to fix the problem. And then there will be the aftermath, where things start happening again.

That is indeed a possible reading of what is meant!

The entire TF comics Twitter is buzzing right now, with Roberts talking of News, Griffith tweeting a new Barber scripted issue #1 of Something.. we'll find out as soon as the solicits are out this week.

Va'al wrote:

MagicDeath wrote:I'm pretty sure the interview person just mis-used the word continuity. About 90% sure. Like how they ended 'continuity' with Death of Optimus Prime and Revolution.

We are wrapping up current IDW continuities this year, Unicron is coming to devour everybody. The intention is to continue after that, whatever comes next. Towards end of year we should know more, but we will collaborate on more stories.

I took this as: Unicron is coming to devour stuff, everybody has to fix the problem. And then there will be the aftermath, where things start happening again.

That is indeed a possible reading of what is meant!

The entire TF comics Twitter is buzzing right now, with Roberts talking of News, Griffith tweeting a new Barber scripted issue #1 of Something.. we'll find out as soon as the solicits are out this week.

There is still just so much left unfinished in LL, I don't think know I can handle a massive direction change.

Optimus Prime, I'm not so invested in, so that will be fine, but I barely survived (as a reader) the shake up of MTMTE changing to Lost Light. I really don't want to do it again.


Rebooting has gotten way to popular in comics. If that is what is required for survival, maybe it is time for the industry to fade away.

That's gorgeous art. Looking forward to this. See how things go.

I am so glad they are doing this. IDW has just been one terrible shitshow.

I want to read about TRANSFORMERS, I don't want G.I.Joe, M.A.S.K., Rom, Visionaries, or Micronauts.

I want Autobots VS Decepticons.

I don't want Autobots Shooting down other Autobots or hacking them in Half with a sword (Here's looking at you LOST LIGHT GARBAGE).

They should take the ENTIRE license from IDW, it started out as GARBAGE and was barely readable and now it's just a shitty ass bunch of books. Good riddance.

Errr you do realise that IDW are still going on with tf afterwards and they are still part of the connected universe with gi joe and co. You may not like the direction the stories have gone and the idea that there is bad players on both sides (remember sentinel prime in the Movie?) But any thing that comes after will still do these things. Doing just autobots vs cons will get old. You may feel that the comics aren't for you which is perfectly fine, you can't please everyone after all just don't get your hopes up that hasbro/IDW will cater to your personal wishes. Remember don't like don't buy it

Which brings up the reason reboots exist. What if the next upcoming IDW TF Writers don't want to write about Autobot Megatron, Metrotitans, Functionism, Autobot psychiatry, Colony worlds with oddly gender specific Transformers etc etc

What if they want to write about the Beast Wars? Or the rivalry between Fort Max and Scorponok? Exploring the potential of a symbiotic hive mind between Scourge and the Sweeps?

They can't do that in present IDW, let's also be clear about this: Indie books can continue a narrative for years, decades etc Licensed properties don't have that luxury.

Maybe this potential "End of Days" for IDWverse and the recent cancellation of future Bayformers isn't coincidental??

Sighs.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Which brings up the reason reboots exist. What if the next upcoming IDW TF Writers don't want to write about Autobot Megatron, Metrotitans, Functionism, Autobot psychiatry, Colony worlds with oddly gender specific Transformers etc etc

What if they want to write about the Beast Wars? Or the rivalry between Fort Max and Scorponok? Exploring the potential of a symbiotic hive mind between Scourge and the Sweeps?

They can't do that in present IDW, let's also be clear about this: Indie books can continue a narrative for years, decades etc Licensed properties don't have that luxury.

Maybe this potential "End of Days" for IDWverse and the recent cancellation of future Bayformers isn't coincidental??

The IDWverse is still continuing though...they will all still be connected plus if writers wanted to write those stories they could pitch it to IDW who could put out a miniseries for that.

@Vaal I can understand your frustration.

ZeroWolf wrote:The IDWverse is still continuing though...they will all still be connected plus if writers wanted to write those stories they could pitch it to IDW who could put out a miniseries for that.

@Vaal I can understand your frustration.

Of course the IDWverse is still continuing, that's obvious, it still makes money. But that doesn't mean it will stay as it is. People make too big a deal out of this whole "shared universe" gimmick that Marvel made profitable through the MCU. It's inherently lazy writing. Propping up lesser things, not on their own merits, but because they are share a singular platform that guarantees either complete success or total failure.

I've been there with the Frustration myself. I wanted Furman to continue IDWverse with the -Ations. Aside from Last Stand of the Wreckers, I found nothing of interest in IDWverse post-Furman, so I walked away. Even slowly reading other stories via the Part Work, I don't regret that decision. The more I read of RiD/Optimus Prime and MTMTE/Lost Light, I am reassured I wouldn't have enjoyed reading them independently.

Comics always change. Status Quo forever restored etc etc It's happened as long as the medium has existed. I've read X-Men since the 80's, the fact has been hammered home to me on many occasions.
If this is a reboot, prepare yourself for the fact that concepts and ideas unique to this era of Transformers IE Rung, Buster The Dog, Windblade, Non-Decepticon Cyclonus, Minimus Ambus, Politician Starscream et al might not be returning.

I blame ROM.


Sorry, never been a fan of that IP.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:The IDWverse is still continuing though...they will all still be connected plus if writers wanted to write those stories they could pitch it to IDW who could put out a miniseries for that.

@Vaal I can understand your frustration.

Of course the IDWverse is still continuing, that's obvious, it still makes money. But that doesn't mean it will stay as it is. People make too big a deal out of this whole "shared universe" gimmick that Marvel made profitable through the MCU. It's inherently lazy writing. Propping up lesser things, not on their own merits, but because they are share a singular platform that guarantees either complete success or total failure.

I've been there with the Frustration myself. I wanted Furman to continue IDWverse with the -Ations. Aside from Last Stand of the Wreckers, I found nothing of interest in IDWverse post-Furman, so I walked away. Even slowly reading other stories via the Part Work, I don't regret that decision. The more I read of RiD/Optimus Prime and MTMTE/Lost Light, I am reassured I wouldn't have enjoyed reading them independently.

Comics always change. Status Quo forever restored etc etc It's happened as long as the medium has existed. I've read X-Men since the 80's, the fact has been hammered home to me on many occasions.
If this is a reboot, prepare yourself for the fact that concepts and ideas unique to this era of Transformers IE Rung, Buster The Dog, Windblade, Non-Decepticon Cyclonus, Minimus Ambus, Politician Starscream et al might not be returning.

They may not, but they may very well be embedded in any new fiction.

Windblade is here to stay. She's everywhere, to varying degrees of success, but she's most definitely staying.

Starscream as a ruthless politician has always been the case, IDW writers just took the concept from a different angle.

I can agree on the others probably not finding a dominant space in a new universe, but I'd personally like to see a lot of themes - some groundbreaking - from the current IDW incarnation to become the base level from which all new stories might spring forwards.

Va'al wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:The IDWverse is still continuing though...they will all still be connected plus if writers wanted to write those stories they could pitch it to IDW who could put out a miniseries for that.

@Vaal I can understand your frustration.

Of course the IDWverse is still continuing, that's obvious, it still makes money. But that doesn't mean it will stay as it is. People make too big a deal out of this whole "shared universe" gimmick that Marvel made profitable through the MCU. It's inherently lazy writing. Propping up lesser things, not on their own merits, but because they are share a singular platform that guarantees either complete success or total failure.

I've been there with the Frustration myself. I wanted Furman to continue IDWverse with the -Ations. Aside from Last Stand of the Wreckers, I found nothing of interest in IDWverse post-Furman, so I walked away. Even slowly reading other stories via the Part Work, I don't regret that decision. The more I read of RiD/Optimus Prime and MTMTE/Lost Light, I am reassured I wouldn't have enjoyed reading them independently.

Comics always change. Status Quo forever restored etc etc It's happened as long as the medium has existed. I've read X-Men since the 80's, the fact has been hammered home to me on many occasions.
If this is a reboot, prepare yourself for the fact that concepts and ideas unique to this era of Transformers IE Rung, Buster The Dog, Windblade, Non-Decepticon Cyclonus, Minimus Ambus, Politician Starscream et al might not be returning.

They may not, but they may very well be embedded in any new fiction.

Windblade is here to stay. She's everywhere, to varying degrees of success, but she's most definitely staying.

Starscream as a ruthless politician has always been the case, IDW writers just took the concept from a different angle.

I can agree on the others probably not finding a dominant space in a new universe, but I'd personally like to see a lot of themes - some groundbreaking - from the current IDW incarnation to become the base level from which all new stories might spring forwards.

I completely forgot windblade for a moment there (its been a rough day before anyone gets snarky) I think Va'al is more right on the money with this, in fact they may use this to put right the gender thing by having them both be natural to cybertron instead of only the colony world's having gender. This will bring it into line with all the other fiction funnily enough

Sighs

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Sighs

I'm sure you'll be okay with one extra fictional female character.

"Female" character or not is irrelevant to me. It just brings up the old idea that Gender in Transformers only exists through the Fembots. I've never understood the need to sexualise Giant alien robots, but it exists now and can't be undone.

I am going to miss the old. IDW did a lot of things right. Spottlight Prowl and Cliff are two of my favorites. ending the war was a brave, risky thing, but it allowed them to do something different and relatable, and stuff that you cant neccesarily do with a childrens cartoon. I am glad we got shades of good in the Decepticons (Scavengers, Rhundercracker), and moral ambiguity in the "Good" Guys. We got a reason for Megatron and the Decepticons beyond just "He's evil hur dur".

we got real, raw PTSD, we got Wreckers. we got some powerful emotions and deep relationships. (Can you honestly say that the Chromedome grieving moments werent anything but raw with emotion?). We've mourned good bots (Skids) and explored the value of a life lived (Sideswipe). We got Whirl; lovable, laughable, maniacal, Whirl who has been an incredible character arcover MTMTE and LL.

we got to see the cultural and religious significance of the Matrix, which has always been said to be a mystical talisman but how much of that did we really see, as well as the impact that has in the bot bearing it, even though I didnt neccesarily like the direction that they took Optimus in.

But, I am excited for something new. And I am excited for the chance to weave the other hasbro properties in RIGHT. I remember when the first teaser for TF1 dropped in 2007. Everyone loved Blackout vs. the US Army. Lennox and his crew were good characters, even some of the purists were excited. If IDW can give us that with GI JOE, I am down. If IDW can fill out the Galaxy with with ROM source alien cultures for extra flavor, I am down. We have new writers and old guard whobprobably would do well in a blank canvas, and I am down.

Whatever comes next will no doubt be just as rich, after all, even though everything is changing, nothing at IDW is. So whole I will be sad and mourn all of the good that has come out, but I am confidant that whetever we get next will be worth it.

You know what else I am excited about? Unicron might actually get to be a successful villian. I mean, I am sure the Good Guys will win, they always do, but Unicron might actually succeed in ending the Universe. Thats a rare thing.

Some folks are upset about Reboots, but the reality is that no story medium today save a few holdouts last more than 5 seasons. The... Is it polite to say "attention span"? isnt there for that anymore. Not in Comics, not itln TV, even in the oft-praised MCU they are shedding a lot of original stories for the new phase. Some of that is actor contracts, but you know if they wanted to they could tell more Iron Man movies. But its burnt out; on to the next idea. Gone are the days of the 187 issue runs, or the continious story. Waning are the 15 season TV shows, the Star Treks of yesterday, thats justbthe way of things.

Flashwave wrote:I am going to miss the old. IDW did a lot of things right. Spottlight Prowl and Cliff are two of my favorites. ending the war was a brave, risky thing, but it allowed them to do something different and relatable, and stuff that you cant neccesarily do with a childrens cartoon. I am glad we got shades of good in the Decepticons (Scavengers, Rhundercracker), and moral ambiguity in the "Good" Guys. We got a reason for Megatron and the Decepticons beyond just "He's evil hur dur".

we got real, raw PTSD, we got Wreckers. we got some powerful emotions and deep relationships. (Can you honestly say that the Chromedome grieving moments werent anything but raw with emotion?). We've mourned good bots (Skids) and explored the value of a life lived (Sideswipe). We got Whirl; lovable, laughable, maniacal, Whirl who has been an incredible character arcover MTMTE and LL.

Let's not forget the ONE time they showed the actual War between the Autobots and Decepticons in cartoon form, "fans" complained because the Autobots rightly got slaughtered by a stronger military force.

Yeah, Megatron got fleshed out more in Origin then ever before. Just a miner rising up to challenge oppression, yet lost himself to his darker impulses, a fascinating character study. I ignore pointless retcons made by MTMTE/LL, as I haven't read them nor feel the need to dilute Origin's message. Likewise the -Ations and initial Spotlights gave a lot of depth to the Decepticons in general.

Too much emphasis on Autobots following AHM, but clearly I'm not the intended audience of such books, so I continue to remain indifferent to them. Last Stand of The Wreckers was fantastic, it's a shame we never got an ongoing series with that tone.

Hopefully the Next IDWverse will have writers treat Decepticons with a bit more respect than the latter years of the current one and not as disposable foils and Red Shirts for Autobot Fan-wankery. Nor sanitize them into Space Hippies and/or proto-Autobots.
Transformers is made up of two equal sides and should be respectfully treated as such.

Sanitize them? I call that developing them especially looking at the original goals (something that hasn't changed since origins). Also I take it the one time depiction if the war you mentioned AllNewSuperRobot is the assault at the beginning of the movie? Where megatron is pretty much the only thing killing everyone. I wouldn't use that as an example as that had just one purpose...to clear shelves. After all he didn't prove very effective in the series (neither did galvatron in s3).

Also look at it this way, they fought for over four billion years and no side was actual getting close to winning with both needing energy. It was only through offscreen magic that the cons took over cybertron in the Movie. Now that I think about it, that meant a lot of the people killed by unicrons attack were cons...sucks to be a bad guy don't it.

Also you mentioned you didn't like it that gender was introduced well you can just thank season 2 for that one when it introduced us to elita 1 and her group

All in all it seems like you rather them stick to gen 1 type story telling with easily definable sides, I'm not sure you'll get that as i can see them taking megs the way of magneto who (as I'm sure you're aware) bounced between good and evil. Are you saying tf characters can't be developed like that? We can't see their fears? Their hopes? What they would rather be doing instead of fighting? You mentioned before about how you think they are just people in robot suits now but that's how Furman had them in the 80s and that's what he did with them at the beginning of IDW.

@Flashwave thank you for your post, if we had a like button, I would like it a billion times.

Hnn, wow, wonder how they are going to do the whole Unicron thing and TFs after that. Lost Light has so much left to finish, and OP really has a good ball rolling, so this'll be sad if they end up ending.

ZeroWolf wrote:Sanitize them? I call that developing them especially looking at the original goals (something that hasn't changed since origins). Also I take it the one time depiction if the war you mentioned AllNewSuperRobot is the assault at the beginning of the movie? Where megatron is pretty much the only thing killing everyone. I wouldn't use that as an example as that had just one purpose...to clear shelves. After all he didn't prove very effective in the series (neither did galvatron in s3).


Also look at it this way, they fought for over four billion years and no side was actual getting close to winning with both needing energy. It was only through offscreen magic that the cons took over cybertron in the Movie. Now that I think about it, that meant a lot of the people killed by unicrons attack were cons...sucks to be a bad guy don't it.

Well, Megatron was responsible for most of the Autobot Shuttle kills, aside from Prowl. But the Autobot City kills, no. Wheeljack, Windcharger etc was down to others. Sure we can cynically say, as adults, it was just advertising new toys over old ones. In the moment, at the right age however, the death toll of The Movie can't be so easily dismissed as ..aggressive marketing. On an actual battlefront, not even hardened soldiers survive every offensive and the Autobot ranks contained few of those. That's the facts of Season 1 & 2.

And Yes, the whole point of the Autobot Shuttle launch was that Megatron controlled Cybertron, something Optimus never accomplished in Sunbow. Shockwave and the Coneheads were the only visible fatalities of Unicron's assault, alongside the crew of the Junkion ship (did they ever specify who that was?) They weren't all that memorable before the attack, in Sunbow at least.

ZeroWolf wrote:Also you mentioned you didn't like it that gender was introduced well you can just thank season 2 for that one when it introduced us to elita 1 and her group

Indeed and to re-iterate, I preferred G1 Post-Movie and aside from Soundwave, I have no affinity to the cast of Season 1 & 2.

ZeroWolf wrote:All in all it seems like you rather them stick to gen 1 type story telling with easily definable sides, I'm not sure you'll get that as i can see them taking megs the way of magneto who (as I'm sure you're aware) bounced between good and evil. Are you saying tf characters can't be developed like that? We can't see their fears? Their hopes? What they would rather be doing instead of fighting? You mentioned before about how you think they are just people in robot suits now but that's how Furman had them in the 80s and that's what he did with them at the beginning of IDW.

Origin already took Megatron the way of Magneto. That was the first conclusion I took from reading it.
What I took from Transformers was a parable of War and it's escalation. It started with ground level skirmishes, onto Gestalts, to City Bots, to Planet Bots to their very limbs becoming weapons of destruction. A spreading madness across the galaxy, an allegory for the corrupting nature of war itself

As was explored in IDWverse itself from the very beginning there is no good and evil in a Civil War, only collateral damage in the crossfire. The Autobots wrought evil, which was returned upon them through Megatron and his rebellion. Optimus and Megatron are exactly the same in IDW. This was even touched on in the -Ations, where Megatron calls Prime out on his hypocrisy.

So no, I have no interest in the basic 'morality for kids' of G1, because G1 is dead. While I have high regard for The Movie and it's subsequent series, it pales in comparison to Beast Wars. Which arguably presents the most humanised Transformers to date, but doesn't hit you in the face with it by giving you the TF equivalent of West Wing and/or Cheers.

You don't need to force upon them specific human emotions, coping mechanisms and weaknesses to explore character and growth in a sentient robotic alien race. Much as you said writers often discount the "Robots in Disguise" attribute of the series, so too do most writers who can't grasp how to make 'The Alien' aspect engaging and relatable. Instead they give them dogs, screen plays and model collections

To be fair to Thundercracker, cybertron had movies so I don't see the issue. In fact I don't see the problem with the characters having hobbies. Everyone has something they like doing on their downtime.

D-max@ Im hoping that should a galaxy/timeline reset happen then LL will have wrapped up nicely before then. But an alternative scenario is one like va'al and someone else said where things aren't going to change as much as we're worrying, which case LL can continue with little worry. I do wonder if the war for Cybertron tie in will be a flashback to pre-thunderwing screwing up cybertron days showing some old war stories

Gentle reminder that IDWverse is (still) not the G1 fiction.

If something happened in G1, comics or cartoon, it has no bearing on IDW.

Man, where is all this bile coming from? IDW has done a great job with the TFS over the years. Sure it went a little down hill with the forced introduction of the rest of the Hasbro universe (save ROM. ROM Vs Transformers was super enjoyable.) but all in all, IDW has friggin' killed it with TFs. I've enjoyed damn near the whole thing. Long may it continue.

Va'al wrote:Gentle reminder that IDWverse is (still) not the G1 fiction.

If something happened in G1, comics or cartoon, it has no bearing on IDW.

That's where it excels, when it does things not done before. Not always successfully EG Heart of Darkness, but IDWverse has broken more ground than much TF fiction before it. The status quo of G1 really holds Transformers back more often than it should.

Like I said, my main frustration is how one sided TF Fiction is at present. Transformers should be: 50/50
That's how it was sold from Day One. Over the years many writers have understood this EG Beast Wars crews having equal numbers etc Reading what I've read of IDWverse post-DoOP, the Cons have been marginalised in favour of colony worlds and those that have been given a higher profile aren't allowed to be Decepticons anymore.

I've always said the Decepticons need their own ongoing. One Bot book, One Con book. Have Roche & Roberts apply the tone of LSoTW to the Con book and Barber cover the Autobot one.