Full Preview for IDW Optimus Prime #7

With issue #7 hitting the stands next week, artist Kei Zama has shown off (after Previews World revealed it) the art for the following book in the Optimus Prime ongoing series from IDW Publishing - in which Casey Coller and JP Bove take on art duties! Lineart by Zama, and colours by Josh Burcham, you can check it out mirrored below.

(W) John Barber (A) Casey W. Coller (CA) Kei Zama
Jazz confronts his past-and the Autobot's future-in front of millions of television viewers. But will he make the people of Earth understand Optimus Prime's mission... or turn against it?

love all the arts

I think the IDW Transformers series stopped being worth it as Combiner Wars started and the Titans Return finished. They felt so all over the place and IDW topped it off with Revolution which made no sense to me and just completely divested me from the series. MTME was the only thing I found made sense. It may be just me, but fragmenting the characters and stories with the Hasbro Universe became really confusing and difficult to follow. I haven't read Optimus Prime, and I'm not sure I will, but if Pyra Magna becomes the next leader of the Autobots or carries the matrix, I'd probably jump in. For now it's the long wait for Lost Light. Keep going strong Roberts.

I'd say that's a shame because if anything, Optimus Prime and Till All Are One have managed to supersede and be much better than their predecessors; creating probably some of the best Transformers stories period. Till All Are One in particular is what I'd consider to be the greatest of the three ongoings this year, but Optimus Prime is not far behind at all.

The very last comic I read other than Lost Light, was the Titans Return Sentinel Prime and Optimus Raising Metroplex from the ground. So if I wanted to jump in, should I go with TAO since you recommend it? Then go Optimus? But won't I be lost with the whole ROM , Micronauts thing? Or will there be a trade coming out that consolidates the important connections.

budmaloney wrote:The very last comic I read other than Lost Light, was the Titans Return Sentinel Prime and Optimus Raising Metroplex from the ground. So if I wanted to jump in, should I go with TAO since you recommend it? Then go Optimus? But won't I be lost with the whole ROM , Micronauts thing? Or will there be a trade coming out that consolidates the important connections.

Right now the Hasbro Universe has been done how a shared universe should in theory be done best - you don't need to read ROM or GI Joe or whatever to follow what's going on in the one comic you actually want to read. They will provide extra details and context on what's going on in other places in the world; but thankfully, all the comics - including Optimus Prime - can act independently of each other. Essentially all you need to know is that G.I. Joe has replaced EDC - and even then the team seen interacting with Prime's team is largely made up of characters that were in ex-RiD; Spike, Talon etc.
So yeah, you can jump right in. You could read Revolution for a bit of extra context if you want, but to be honest it's not a very good story and I'd recommend just looking at a wikipedia article summary instead.

Come to think of it, your concerns aren't exactly uncommon - I'm not surprised that Revolution would make you hesitant to jump in, nor can I blame you; shared universe deals are always a bit iffy especially when a lot of people have grown tired and fatigued of constant events in a lot of comics. Maybe I should write up an article on this...

This comic has made me really like Jetfire. I love what they did with his background, and this is where he and the Technobot's relationship starts! Yay!

I think those 6 go well together, and I'm glad the technobots are actually going to be in a comic again.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:This comic has made me really like Jetfire. I love what they did with his background, and this is where he and the Technobot's relationship starts! Yay!

I think those 6 go well together, and I'm glad the technobots are actually going to be in a comic again.

It's also kind of nice that they're continuing the theme of use-the-dead-guys in flashbacks. First Outback, then Horri-Bull, and now Nosecone. It's like Skids' flashbacks in MTMTE #48 and #49 where all those dead Predators and such showed up - I'm not sure if I should look into any deeper meaning here or if it's just kind of a cool thing.

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:This comic has made me really like Jetfire. I love what they did with his background, and this is where he and the Technobot's relationship starts! Yay!

I think those 6 go well together, and I'm glad the technobots are actually going to be in a comic again.

It's also kind of nice that they're continuing the theme of use-the-dead-guys in flashbacks. First Outback, then Horri-Bull, and now Nosecone. It's like Skids' flashbacks in MTMTE #48 and #49 where all those dead Predators and such showed up - I'm not sure if I should look into any deeper meaning here or if it's just kind of a cool thing.

we'll say cool thing. Cool things are cool

Synopsis
With the Junkion invasion resolved peacefully, Optimus Prime takes a moment to plan the Autobot's next move on Earth.



Story

As we saw last month, the first arc of the new ongoing series focusing on Optimus Prime - but really on Earth after Optimus annexed it to the Council of Worlds (yay space neocolonialism) - and the rebuilding phase is starting. Quite literally. But is everything as it seems in the newtopia of Little Cybertron?



The usual John Barber device of captions to help the narration along is foregone here, in favour of the established parallels with flashbacks, and actual breathing space in character interactions, starting with Optimus and the President of the US, and Jazz's role in the next issue (but also the past). A change of pace, for sure, and a welcome one given the themes addressed in the book.



Not only do we have parallels drawn between violence, guns and ostracism (in particular between Jetfire of the past and Optimus of the present), there are some less than subtle political commentaries on discrimination based on appearance or 'build', if you will - without ever getting preachy or entirely overt. More on this below.



In terms of plot advancement, then, there is A LOT happening in the book too. A very nice balance achieved in using the characters and their actions/words to seed where the story might be going from here, with Arcee, the colonist recruits, Jazz - and most of all, of course, Pyra Magna.

Art

Taking the reins from Zama, Priscilla Tramontano shines as the artist on the book - and working on both lineart and colouring for the issue - especially in one specific case I want to address: the faceplateless Optimus. That, right there, is part of visual storytelling: Optimus at his non-warring, non-fighting, but coming face-to-face with his realisation from last issue, and as he speaks to humanity on a more common level.



Not the sole point to highlight about the art, of course, but one I wanted to reiterate nonetheless. Colour-wise, I found it fascinating how Tramontano was able to mimic Burcham's take so far, with the grainier texture, and add some extra light for the superficially lighter tone of the book, like a vibrant comma in the long sentence that is the ongoing series.



The lack of that many captions, though still some snarky name tags float around, means that we don't have as much from the hands of Tom B. Long - though there is a very good KRUNG if you wait for it. As for covers, we've seen all of them previously, bar Tramontano's own (in the thumbnail), featuring the Junkion-Optimus monument by Casey Coller and JP Bove, and its parody by Andrew Griffith and Josh Perez, plus of course the regular cover by Zama and Burcham. All can be seen in our database listing here!

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

There is a lot more that can be said about this issue, for which I have very little time and space - but some of my thoughts on it are bounced off the Twincast in episode 175 of the podcast, due soon. In the meantime, I wanted to point out that of the many interactions we see in the book, I was glad to have something dealing with Arcee, and Aileron's role is still one that I'm intrigued about.



Pyra Magna is still, however, the biggest presence outside of the titular character, even by just looking at the covers. There is a lot of talk not only about politics but also about faith (again, more thoughts in the podcast episode) in how her and OP interact and confront each other, and there is a lot - a lot - more to come out of this series.

I really enjoyed this issue. It was a "after the dust has settled" issue. It was nice to see nosecone pop up for a flashback since the poor guy has been dead for 6 years.

I despised the crosshatching texture, or at least my eyes did. Dizzying in a weird sort of way.

That aside, really darn good issue and the direction Pyra Magna is going in is fantastic fun to behold.

Now mind you I think it is a good thing for the book, but damn does Pyra piss me off! I'm not sure what it is about her, but she makes me grumpy and generally Brawn-y when I see her and hear her voice (if you call it that, since we now have a voice actor for her), but it's good this time! It adds some tension to the book for me and adds that somewhat good character who also makes her pages more interesting. Slide will totally be her slidekick too when she tries to overthrow Prime (which I still believe will lead into the IDW Power of the Primes thingy, we all know it's coming).

Also, Sideswipe. I know he comes back in 2 issues, but I love what they have done with him and Arcee. I feel like she will be crucial in his "recovery" (based on the cover if you can call it that) too, using her experience coupled with with Aileron's words

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:hear her voice (if you call it that, since we now have a voice actor for her)

Wait, what? Who?!

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:hear her voice (if you call it that, since we now have a voice actor for her)

Wait, what? Who?!

Marissa mentioned that Pyra sounds like Elizabeth Taylor

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:hear her voice (if you call it that, since we now have a voice actor for her)

Wait, what? Who?!

Marissa mentioned that Pyra sounds like Elizabeth Taylor

Oooh right, durr. That's fun~

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:hear her voice (if you call it that, since we now have a voice actor for her)

Wait, what? Who?!

Marissa mentioned that Pyra sounds like Elizabeth Taylor

Oooh right, durr. That's fun~

It's all fun and games until the pungent scent of White Diamonds perfume hits your nose

ScottyP wrote:I despised the crosshatching texture, or at least my eyes did. Dizzying in a weird sort of way.

I can see how that might affect some readers, actually, now that you mention it.

I thought it was a very good way of blending Tramontano's glossier colouring style with Burcham's texture.

Va'al wrote:

ScottyP wrote:I despised the crosshatching texture, or at least my eyes did. Dizzying in a weird sort of way.

I can see how that might affect some readers, actually, now that you mention it.

I thought it was a very good way of blending Tramontano's glossier colouring style with Burcham's texture.

I appreciated the intent and it kind of worked for the Cybertron scenes, but when it carried over to the Earth stuff I got a bit disoriented. No big deal, went and picked up my last few weeks of pulls and it isn't as bad on ink and paper as on a screen.

Crosshatching?

Kurona wrote:Crosshatching?

Square pixel grains in the backgrounds, across the whole issue.

In yet more comics news, but probably the last for now, from iTunes, we have a three-page preview of Optimus Prime #8 - aka the Jazz-centric issue with art by Casey Coller and colours with JP Bove! Check it out below, and head back in a couple of weeks for more.

Jazz confronts his past—and the Autobot’s future—in front of millions of television viewers. But will he make the people of Earth understand Optimus Prime's mission... or turn against it?

Man I love Caseys Art. Always have. I get why he doesn't do interiors but I wish he did.

Oh, we're back to this art! Fantastic! Zama's style grew on me and I do recognise how it was appropriate for the story, and Tramontano I'm also a fan of; but Casey's is my absolute favourite for this book and helped make ex-RiD so great.

I think Johana is a better for his line art however. Josh is a good colorist but his coloring is just too inconsistent anymore. With Guido he uses a very realistic modern comic style. With Alex and Zama is uses too much of a old school dot color style and with Casey Nick and Andrew its just so saturated. feels joyless sometimes. its a little jarring at times.



It's nice to see John doing some more coloring though it's very flat

Dear IDWGodJesusAllahXenuJosephSmithKrishnuMosesCthuluITriedAndHopeYourDeityOfChoiceOrNoChoiceWasListed,

Please put Casey Coller on an ongoing.

That is all,

Scotty.

Can we please get rid of the damn captions? Anyone reading this book knows who everyone is.

Bounti76 wrote:Can we please get rid of the damn captions? Anyone reading this book knows who everyone is.

Uh, no? Considering some monthly readers may not be as into Transformers as others and have to live a life, it's not hard to see how they could forget the names of some of these lesser known bots.

Nexus Knight wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:Can we please get rid of the damn captions? Anyone reading this book knows who everyone is.

Uh, no? Considering some monthly readers may not be as into Transformers as others and have to live a life, it's not hard to see how they could forget the names of some of these lesser known bots.

How about, yeah? If it's a book you subscribe to every month, regardless of how fanatical you are about Transformers, wouldn't you care enough about your monetary investment to follow along with the narrative and learn the names of the characters in the book you're paying for? Lost Light doesn't caption every single issue. Till All Are One doesn't. I genuinely don't understand why OP has to do it all the time, considering all three are books with relatively large casts (TAAO's being the smallest).

Bounti76 wrote:

Nexus Knight wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:Can we please get rid of the damn captions? Anyone reading this book knows who everyone is.

Uh, no? Considering some monthly readers may not be as into Transformers as others and have to live a life, it's not hard to see how they could forget the names of some of these lesser known bots.

How about, yeah? If it's a book you subscribe to every month, regardless of how fanatical you are about Transformers, wouldn't you care enough about your monetary investment to follow along with the narrative and learn the names of the characters in the book you're paying for? Lost Light doesn't caption every single issue. Till All Are One doesn't. I genuinely don't understand why OP has to do it all the time, considering all three are books with relatively large casts (TAAO's being the smallest).

Not everyone has a good memory. Paying for something doesn't mean you instantly remember everything you read/watched. I know people who care a lot about their stories, but sometimes have to be remind even what the heck is going on.

I think it would be better if there was a page before the story that showed pictures of characters, with their names and a tiny description below.

Like, for instance...

The third and final preview for next week's releases from IDW Publishing Transformers comics comes in the form of Optimus Prime #8, out this Wednesday - which is when our review will be going up too. Read more below courtesy of CBR, and enjoy Casey Coller's return to interior art!

Jazz confronts his past—and the Autobot’s future—in front of millions of television viewers. But will he make the people of Earth understand Optimus Prime’s mission… or turn against it?

Hector Ramirez...because why not. This is awesome.

Courtesy of Previews World, we have two variant covers for IDW Publishing's Optimus Prime #9 - the main retail one, and the retailer incentive by fan artist Zerob! Very Arcee-centric either way, but you can check them out below! And note: they include the wrong credits in at the top of the book, with variant A still sporting issue 8's names, unless it's referring to the cover artist, in which case Casey Coller is indeed the culprit.

THE LIFE OF SIDESWIPE! A Junkion machine finally gives long-injured Sideswipe a new lease on life! But when his brother goes missing, Sideswipe and Arcee return to Cybertron-and nothing will be the same between them ever again.

The heck does Sideswipe need a respirator for?

And what even is that second cover?

Deadput wrote:The heck does Sideswipe need a respirator for?

And what even is that second cover?

The respirator is simply thematic and symbolic; covers are supposed to grab a reader's attention and sometimes tell them what's actually going on inside the issue, so without context Sideswipe just floating in a jar wouldn't really convey his medical condition. A respirator allows that to be communicated to the reader.

And yeah, the anatomy and proportions on the second cover are all out of whack.

Kurona wrote:And yeah, the anatomy and proportions on the second cover are all out of whack.

Kinda like she went to the plastic surgeon and said, "Can you make my 2 boobs look like a single car hood?"

TF-fan kev777 wrote:

Kurona wrote:And yeah, the anatomy and proportions on the second cover are all out of whack.

Kinda like she went to the plastic surgeon and said, "Can you make my 2 boobs look like a single car hood?"

... but, she's... consistently looked like that not just in the book, but throughout the entire continuity? With the exception of Heart of Darkness, but that wasn't flattering to anybody...

Kurona wrote:... but, she's... consistently looked like that not just in the book, but throughout the entire continuity? With the exception of Heart of Darkness, but that wasn't flattering to anybody...

My favorite look for arcee is still her Alex Milne design. Still love that weird no cheek look she had. Also

TF-fan kev777 wrote:Kinda like she went to the plastic surgeon and said, "Can you make my 2 boobs look like a single car hood?"

That's how most of the Autobot cars look anyway. Add in Shockwave and his glass boob shelf, and we have some extreme cases of back pain.

Synopsis
Jazz confronts his past—and the Autobot’s future—in front of millions of television viewers. But will he make the people of Earth understand Optimus Prime's mission... or turn against it?



Story

Once again, I find myself apologising for the lateness of this review - let's call it doing an IDW shall we? just to make me feel better - and making it fall so close to all the Transformers: The Last Knight news. On the other hand, the IDW Optimus Prime ongoing in unquestionably good and staying good, so swings and roundabouts!



The usual framing device that John Barber uses for most of his TF writing is replaced here by a fairly ingenious magazine style interview - the very same interview that has been prepared in previous issues leading up to this one - with the perspective being Jazz, playing along pretty much behind the scenes all along so far.



Jazz, as pointed out in the previous issues, is an interesting choice of character - Cybertronian character - for a first big mediatic approach to Earth after Optimus' power-grab/forced annexation/colonialist actions. And all of those threads come up, and create the crux of the story...



But, while Jazz is indeed the main player and spotlight taker in the issue - almost literally - Jetfire and Pyra Magna also take on some very shiny roles, both in flashbacks and present for the former, and the present and a potential future for the latter. There are things afoot, and there are still creases to smoothen out from the past. Hopefully before everything spirals again.


Art

Zama is away from the book again this month, letting Casey W Coller to cover the interior art for a change. And Coller's art has a regularity to it, a crisp, linear feel to the lines and outlines of the character designs and layouts, that may very much appeal to recent readers - and fits perfectly with the framing device of the script.



The artistic collaboration here is with John Paul Bove, and a special one it is at that. Bove has shown how he can mimic several colour styles in the past (and is the colour wizard behind the Hachette definitive collection, too), but what he does here is keep the continuity with Burcham while also adding a lot of his own shine to it.



Of course, Tom B. Long is on lettering, and the different formats offer a whole new playground for his skills too - I actually wonder how much of his production set went into the final look of the issue, and if so, he was excellent. As for the covers, the thumbnail spotlights the Coller/Bove variant, but all the other versions of excellent art can be found in our database entry!

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

The magazine style interview is not an entirely original comics device (recently seen in the likes of The Wicked and The Divine, for example) but the way that it's employed in his issue, and how Barber manages to blend this new toy with his trademark running POV commentary - and how it feeds directly into the story - is extremely pleasing, and satisfying.



The characters, with Jetfire and Pyra Magna taking the biggest chunk, have some very very nice developments in backgrounds and perspective, and there's plotting and planning set up for things about to happen - plus gorgeous designs from Coller and Bove, covers included. Why would you not want to pick up this issue, you cool cats you?

I think this might be my favourite issue yet - I've fallen completely in love with Jazz and Jetfire. This is up there with Soundwaves and MTMTE Revolution as one of the best standalone issues in IDW Transformers imo

I loved it but I was really expecting Jazz to say something like "look, he was going to kill my friend and commander. I did what I had to do. I'm not proud of it and I can't ask for forgiveness but I ask to let me help"

That's all I really wanted. Not to say this was a bad issue at all. Casey is my fav artist and john is my fav writer and it was a solid issue.

Randomhero wrote:I loved it but I was really expecting Jazz to say something like "look, he was going to kill my friend and commander. I did what I had to do. I'm not proud of it and I can't ask for forgiveness but I ask to let me help"

I was hoping Jazz would mention that too, and maybe even mention how said friend then saved the universe (maybe not so much that last part). But it was a great issue, the best of OP so far IMO

Via the usual iTunes source, we have a three-page preview for the upcoming issue #9 of IDW Publishing's ongoing Transformers series Optimus Prime! If you missed our review of issue #8, you can find it here, and then check out the opening pages for next month's book below.

THE LIFE OF SIDESWIPE! A Junkion machine finally gives long-injured Sideswipe a new lease on life! But when his brother goes missing, Sideswipe and Arcee return to Cybertron—and nothing will be the same between them ever again.

I'm getting heavy Wheeljack revival vibes from this. I wonder if that's intentional...

In other IDW Publishing news, the Optimus Prime ongoing Transformers comic sees its issue #9 released this coming week, and we get to go back to Sideswipe as he gets released of his tank - and more! Check out the full preview below via CBR, and come back to Seibertron.com for a review after the book's release!

THE LIFE OF SIDESWIPE! A Junkion machine finally gives long-injured Sideswipe a new lease on life! But when his brother goes missing, Sideswipe and Arcee return to Cybertron—and nothing will be the same between them ever again.

Don’t miss the Optimus Prime cover by Mondo artist Tom Whalen, part of our Tom Whalen Cover Month!
Variant cover by ZEROB!

I know folks complain about these "filler" issues, but that was one of the best single issues that John Barber has written.

I want to see Barber write a lot more character-focused issues, because if the past three have proven anything, it's that he's really friggin' good at it. It's ironic because MTMTE/LL was considered the character-focused one while ex-RiD/TF/OP was considered the story-focused one... but I'm honestly finding myself liking some of these characters on the same level as if not higher than some of the Lost Lighters. Jazz is certainly fitting in comfortably between Chromedome and Whirl.

I wish we'd gotten more of this during post-Dark Cybertron ex-RiD because the lack of fleshed out characterisation among Prime's crew was probably the biggest problem I had with it; it was a great storyline and there were fantastic characters in Optimus, Prowl, Aileron, Soundwave, Cosmos, Thundercracker etc. but I didn't feel connected to most of what was supposed to be the main protagonists. But now I do. I love Sideswipe, Jetfire and Jazz a hell of a lot more than I used to and Barber deserves any praise he gets for these issues.

MrBlack wrote:I know folks complain about these "filler" issues, but that was one of the best single issues that John Barber has written.

Review incoming, but basically. Yes. That.

Synopsis
THE LIFE OF SIDESWIPE! A Junkion machine finally gives long-injured Sideswipe a new lease on life! But when his brother goes missing, Sideswipe and Arcee return to Cybertron—and nothing will be the same between them ever again.



Story

It's fascinating what we get to read in Transformers comics these days, really. Truly fascinating how we've had so much character development taking over the steady progression of plot for a couple of issues, and how breathers have become such a staple in the major arcs that another 'filler' issue isn't really regarded as such. But it still is. And yes, it fills.



John Barber has shown a sharp increase (which is probably a lot more steady, but since stepping down from editorial, the writer in him has just leapt streets ahead, for me) in his talent for capturing voices, both through the established techniques like the caption narratives, and newly acquired tricks in recent issues and sidelines.



In this case, we mostly see the entire issue through the eyes and voice of Sideswipe, as he is awakened from the stasis he was in for a while now already, and we explore this new world to him - the old world of Cybertron in the new reality - and to some newer readers (if we consider Revolution or OP #1 as their starting point), with some assists from Arcee of course, in one of the best platonic friendships the publisher has to offer right now.



The framing of story is interesting, insofar as it tries to follow up just briefly on the Jazz-centric events of the previous issue, but then fully delves into this second spotlight in two months. It takes a deep breath - and plunges an unexpected blade into several sparks. Hard.


Art

What Kei Zama achieves in the issue is really quite extraordinary, bringing her heavy lines and inks back to Cybertron, making Sideswipe himself essentially look like his G2 incarnation while still keeping in tune with the continuity in design, and adding her twists to the fairly numerous cast of the issue, and with delightful composition cues from RID #33, too.



Josh Burcham ups the amping on the grittyness in all the right spots too, playing with lighting and saturation to achieve some very Sideswipe action sequences, mixed in with more calm, tranquil palette choices for the other scenes around them, in yet more proof that he and Zama can work wonders in thick ink and grainy layers.



Tom B. Long also has more work on his hands, with plenty of captions to place around the page, some very good and in fact very subtle fonting work across the book, and carefulness not to cover up lines of dialogue and panel layouts for the overall effect. The cover we're using in the thumbnail is the variant by Casey Coller (EDIT: also on colours!), which best captures the issue's tone by the end too - all other covers can be seen in our database entry right here!

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

I have not commented, not one bit, on the ending / resolution / twist of this book. I talk about it now in the vaguest of terms, and only really to preface a couple of misgivings that people might have about the art or even the dialogue - both of which might seem too on the nose or to go in circle a bit in spots. There is a reason for that. Keep reading.



Take your time with this one, as it closes a number of plot points that we probably wouldn't have addressed in any other satisfying way, cleverly employs known techniques to original results, and had some very strong reactions on staff - ranging from anger, to sadness, to adoration. We're warning you, and it still won't be enough.