Full Preview for IDW Rom Vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #1

Yup, loving this already -- they're really taking advantage of the setting

Kurona wrote:Yup, loving this already -- they're really taking advantage of the setting

Wholeheartedly agree! This is looking great!

"And I could change into a car."

I love this... and I am surprised she turns into a car and not a jet, but i like carformers more, so we're good!

I'm loving the new Starscream design, shows he changed forms as much as he did now (Brings up the count to 8, I believe)

Synopsis
Meet the universe's only Cybertronian Solstar Knight! Hundreds of years ago, Rom discovered Stardrive, the sole survivor of a doomed space probe. Stardrive committed herself to protecting the galaxy from the Dire Wraiths... but when the Decepticon called Starscream makes a deadly deal, Rom and the Transformers are forced into a collision course... with Stardrive caught between two worlds!



Story

An entirely new series, with a different creative approach, and a mix of Transformers and Rom veterans on the writing and art teams, introducing a new character in the middle of a past world and timeline, and the meanest 'diplomats' around - if you were looking at crossovers, and how to do them, this is probably the book you were waiting for.



One of the major complaints about how IDW Publishing is handling the sudden shared universe, with all of the Hasbro licensed properties, is exactly that: its suddenness. None of the books have had a chance to establish themselves and their stories, or even their own in-worlds, before they were blown up into the wider narratives of all of the others.



That is not what John Barber and Christos Gage have done here. Starting from the Solstar order itself, with the Wraith Wars alluded to and slightly explained, the Galactic Council working against everyone while wearing silly hats, we get to find so much foundation to the world of Rom and the Knights that we were perhaps still missing from his main series. Plus, plenty of Transformers cameos, of course.



And then, of course, we have newcomer Stardrive - a Cybertronian raised to fear her race by the Order, made to become part of the Order though never fully accepted by the others, especially the younger cadets, a new perspective on a story that Transformers fans know a lot about, 4 million years of in fact, and finally ask: was the universe right all along?


Art

Alex Milne is on art, and that will make a lot of readers happy. What particularly please me, however, is the approach to the art, as explained in a recent interview: they work plot first, meaning that Milne has pretty much the entire say on how everything in the book looks, no dialogue is fully pre-planned - and I'll admit, it shows, wonderfully so.



The colour side of things is handled by Josh Perez, reunited with Milne linework beyond covers, and the shiny-ness of the Solstar Order is something that suits both of them well - alongside some seriously impressive shifts in tones and hues, juxtaposing Stardrive's childlike innocence with the horrors of the Wraith and Cybertronian Wars.



Tom B. Long is clearly also having plenty of fun with the lettering in the book, as plenty of old sound-words return to grace the panels unencumbered by walls of dialogue and squeezed spaces. Enjoy the

The thumnbnailed cover is the variant by David Lafuente and Lovern Kindzierski, spotlighting something that doesn't happen in the story, really, but sets the tone for sure. Plenty more - including Roche/Burcham, Villanelli/Alexakis, Milne/Perez, can be found in our Comics Database entry!

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

The world-building in this book, born out of both visual and writing teams, is fantastic. Truly admirable how starting from a Transformers base allows for so much to create about the wider universe, give us enough to understand Rom and his world without exposition dumps, and viceversa, give Rom fans just enough about Transformers to make Stardrive's situation fully understandable - if a little standard, narrative wise.



There are puns - Sata and Auxin, above all - and Gundam references, points out ScottyP; there are allusions to diplomacy, treaties, peace-keeping, and wars; there is more Starscream (basic Starscream, argues Kurona, but Starscream nonetheless); there are oddles of alien races and designs dotted across the entire issue. It may still be a baby knight on its first mission, much like Auxin, but this mini-series is bound to shine.

I'll be honest. I haven't been a fan of Barber. Too many humans and I haven't liked how he handled Prowl and Thundercracker.

That said I did enjoy this issue. I was pleasantly surprised. I found Stardrive and Rom likeable.

It was also cool seeing Starscream and Ultra Magnus especially in a story set during the war. For the first time I'm looking forward to the next issue of a Barber written comic.

To round off the review for IDW Publishing's first issue of Rom vs Transformers: Shining Armor, we have some character designs of robot characters - you know, our side of the vs equation - courtesy of arist Alex Milne on Twitter. Specifically, we get a look at 200 years ago (so still in the Aubotot-Decepticon war) Starscream and Bumblebee, plus new character Stardrive. Check them out!

Since ROM vs Transformers 1 is out today, let me share some fun stuff with you. We will start with Bee

Here is the design for my boy Starscream in ROM vs Transformers He's so much fun to draw

My design for Stardrive. Only some slight modifications were made to her head crest for her look in the comic.

I loved these designs a lot in the comic -- though one thing that confused me is the strange bolts on the tires of both Bumblebee and Stardrive. Was that just a thing for Cybertronians a few centuries ago? Was Tracks trying to spread his new fashion?

Kurona wrote:I loved these designs a lot in the comic -- though one thing that confused me is the strange bolts on the tires of both Bumblebee and Stardrive. Was that just a thing for Cybertronians a few centuries ago? Was Tracks trying to spread his new fashion?

Think about it. Their tires are practical because their roads are metal which would require an enormomous amount of traction.

While no doubt a coincidence it was touched on in all hail Megatron when they were driving on cybertron they were having problems driving because their tires were meant for earth terrain and not cybertron.

I really liked the story. I think it's fun and like I've said before I enjoy cross overs. Not just because it has transformers but most crossovers. In my opinion they do less harm than what some say they do and I enjoy interactions with characters you wouldn't think would.

I really enjoyed the easer eggs of the Chinese transformers online game. The cons that get killed are not generics but characters in that game.


For anyone wondering Stardrive is Camien. John has come out and said that's where she's from and her blue energon is meant to reveal that.

I think Stardrive looks like a mix of Lost Light Drift and Chromedome, but as a Camien in this picture.

Bee's Girlfriend wrote:I think Stardrive looks like a mix of Lost Light Drift and Chromedome, but as a Camien in this picture.

In other words, the current generic Alex design

Honestly I'm just thankful she doesn't have window boobs like almost every female transformer he designed in more than meets the eye. Seriously, if go back to the story that introduced firestar every female transformer except the hulk looking one has the same torso. It was annoying

I'm liking the look of this. Might just have to pick it up!

Stardrive looks like Strongarm but more sweet and gentle in that sketch.

*looks up on TFwiki*


... Or terrifying.

WreckerJack wrote:Stardrive looks like Strongarm but more sweet and gentle in that sketch.

*looks up on TFwiki*


... Or terrifying.

You mean the image they lifted from the cropped version I posted in my review? Sure.
(and this is why we use our database, and not TFwiki.)

You sure they didn't just crop their own version of that same panel? I mean, it is a pretty awesome panel.

Va'al wrote:

WreckerJack wrote:Stardrive looks like Strongarm but more sweet and gentle in that sketch.

*looks up on TFwiki*


... Or terrifying.

You mean the image they lifted from the cropped version I posted in my review? Sure.
(and this is why we use our database, and not TFwiki.)

To be completely fair, I'll have enough time to do character profiles and catch them up by 2035. (Anyone that wants to help though, get in touch!)

Daniel Adkins wrote:You sure they didn't just crop their own version of that same panel? I mean, it is a pretty awesome panel.

I just wanted to side-eye people on staff using TFwiki images when I post the exact same one.

It was a great first issue, and this shows that what I was hoping for in this crossover is happening. It is turning out good and I like it a lot

As we've seen the colours (by Josh Perez) in the October solicitations for IDW Publishing's Transformers comics, we now also have the ink-heavy lineart by artist Alex Milne for Rom vs Transformers: Shining Armor #4! Stardrive, Bumblebee, Rom himself, and an ugly situation with Dire Wraith limbs await you below.

Kinda giving me the "Skids in Limbo" vibes of UK G1! I like it!

iTunes preview for issue #2 is here! https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/rom-vs ... 8468?mt=11

Via iTunes, we have a short preview for the second issue of the new Hasbro Universe crossover event Rom vs Transformers: Shining Armor - with art by Alex Milne, written by John Barber. Check it out below, and join the discussion in the Energon Pub!

Starscream forges an unholy pact with the Dire Wraiths and Bumblebee and Ultra Magnus are hot on his trail. Unfortunately for them, Rom and the Solstar Knights don't know the difference between Autobots and Decepticons and they're ready to fight all comers!

Glad to see Dirge being used again. So this is why he abandoned the Decepticons in the RID ongoing, nobody listens to orders. (And that he and Deluge were essentially abandoned on Cybertron) I wish Dirge was used now as much as he was during RID. His last appearance was when Wheeljack came back.

ratchetneededthat wrote:Glad to see Dirge being used again. So this is why he abandoned the Decepticons in the RID ongoing, nobody listens to orders. (And that he and Deluge were essentially abandoned on Cybertron) I wish Dirge was used now as much as he was during RID. His last appearance was when Wheeljack came back.

That's my only pet peeve about rid/TF/op is introducing characters, giving them character and time and then forgetting them.

Tappet, Zetca, waspinator, scoop, dirge, dreading . Really interesting characters that after a while become background characters that might get a line if they're lucky

The art is glorious, and yay Dirge!

Yeah, it is a shame that Dirge hasn't showed up more since RiD. That comic made me actually care about a Conehead; which is an incredible feat in and of itself -- I'm hoping Shining Armour'll give us a little glimpse of his disillusionment with the Decepticon Cause, much like Spotlight: Thundercracker did for another blue seeker.

Along with First Strike #2, this week sees IDW Publishing dip further into crossover territory with the second issue of the mini-series Rom vs Transformers: Shining Armor, as we find out more about Stardrive's place in the Cybertronian world, as well as the wider universe and Starscream's plans, courtesy of Multiversity Comics! Check out the full preview below, and a review later this week on Seibertron.com.

Starscream forges an unholy pact with the Dire Wraiths—and Bumblebee and Ultra Magnus are hot on his trail. Unfortunately for them, Rom and the Solstar Knights don’t know the difference between Autobots and Decepticons—and they’re ready to fight all comers!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:

· An all-star lineup of Christos Gage (Rom), John Barber (Optimus Prime), and Alex Milne (More Than Meets the Eye) tell the never-before-revealed secret history of Rom and the Transformers!

· Don’t miss the cover by Ominous Press creator, Bart Sears, part of our Bart Sears cover month!

Huh Skyblast?

Obscure but it's a welcome cameo (Assuming he is just that)

Jet Vehicon is cool too and it's nice to see more of the war and see Starscream being "evil" again.

I must admit this has been a nice break from OP, LL & TAAO.

I think the current trend of TF comics are running their natural course and we need a big overhaul and/or strong reboot.

I know this may not be popular opinion but i'm just not interested in IDW tf comics at the moment.

Interested to see if issue 2 turns around opinions like it did mine on this story. Strip away the very very nice art and I don't think there's enough plot to fill five issues.

ScottyP wrote:Interested to see if issue 2 turns around opinions like it did mine on this story. Strip away the very very nice art and I don't think there's enough plot to fill five issues.

Personally speaking it felt much weaker than issue #1. That said, I think that's largely because the issue is essentially one big fight scene... and a certain little error on the cast page got me really excited to see a backstory for one of my favourite characters that just didn't happen.
Simply put, aside from the wraith autobot fusion in the middle of the issue, nothing particularly interesting happened but a few interesting things are set up to happen with Rom back in the picture and this version of Ultra Magnus dead.
Also, I totally called this Magnus not being Minimus; he acts so different and certain things that happen to him confirm it's Ramp or Damus or whoever.
Also doesn't help we barely get any focus on Stardrive. Would've thought we'd get a page or something devoted to her thoughts on seeing her fellow Cybertronians for the first time, but, nope. Just Bumblebee being a nice person I guess.

^ I agree with basically all of that. So much 'meh' in this one.

• Skyblast the redshirt legit disappoints me on multiple levels. Even if the entire creative group had no plans to ever do anything with the Space Team/Requiem Blaster, they just handcuffed anyone that might want to later. Just, man, don't red shirt one member of a three bot Combiner team! Unless the later issues are going to have Astroscope and Payload in a Triplicate Girl kind of story then gtfo with this Armada-indifference crap.
• Outside of some fighting, what happens here? What did this issue add to the story that wasn't in issue 1?
• I understand wanting to make it very clear that this Magnus is not Minimus Ambus, but I'm both unsure it fits with established continuity and it felt like being hammered over the head repeatedly with a "this isn't Minimus LOL" hammer.
• Bee and Rom somehow saying what they do and not managing to hold off their teammates? Ehhh I'm having a hard time here.
• Why should I care about Dire Wraiths? What do they want? They've been around a year plus in IDW continuity, let's get some shades of grey in their collective character. This is not just this book's fault, to be fair. Doc and others like her are too far to the other extreme for that to be a fascinating schism.
• As a Rom reader, holy wow I really want a story where he does anything else. The pattern of him trying and succeeding and/or failing to talk Livia down all the time, repetitively, was old months ago. With the first issue out of the way, why not expand on their relationship instead of beating the same path?
• Why is Stardrive like, a background character already?

Yeah, I didn't like it. I strongly disliked it. I may not order 5.

Review is coming at weekend, but similar thoughts indeed.

While I try finding the time to review the second issue of the series, Previews World has updated their pages with some variant covers for IDW Publishing's Rom vs Transformers: Shining Armor #3! The first one below is by gruesome twosome Nick Roch and Josh Burcham, while the second has profile art by Casey Coller and (probably; yo, start crediting people properly, thanks) Joana Lafuente - check them out!


UPDATE: The Coller cover is confirmed as being coloured by John-Paul Bove.

(W) John Barber, Christos Gage (A) Alex Milne (CA) Nick Roche
Crash-landed on a mysterious planet and pursued by both Decepticons and Dire Wraiths, the Solstar Knights and Autobots will have to set aside their differences in order to save themselves!

(W) John Barber, Christos Gage (A) Alex Milne (CA) Casey Coller
Crash-landed on a mysterious planet and pursued by both Decepticons and Dire Wraiths, the Solstar Knights and Autobots will have to set aside their differences in order to save themselves!

Now it looks like we're getting to the interesting stuff. This was something brought up by Scotty initially but I greatly agree with it so I'm gonna re-iterate -- it feels like this was thought out well as a very interesting story, but it wasn't enough story to fill out the number of issues they got so that's why #2 felt a bit filler-y with that drawn out battle.

Shining Armor #3 iTunes preview: https://t.co/O9iLhLMuBg

Via iTunes, we now have a three page preview for the third (of five) issue of Rom Vs. Transformers: Shining Armor. It's due to be released on September 30th, so while you're waiting, check out the pages below, and be sure to read the issue review after it comes out!

Crash-landed on a mysterious planet and pursued by both Decepticons and Dire Wraiths, the Solstar Knights and Autobots will have to set aside their differences in order to save themselves!

I was a bit worried that this was gonna go the same route of Earth hating all Cybertronians and not willing to differentiate; and it was looking like that, but... by the end of page 3 this feels a lot more natural. And a lot more interesting. Can't wait for release

I.. am.. still.. working.. on.. reviewing.. issue.. 2..

Va'al wrote:I.. am.. still.. working.. on.. reviewing.. issue.. 2..

Just say it's good and be done with it

Randomhero wrote:

Va'al wrote:I.. am.. still.. working.. on.. reviewing.. issue.. 2..

Just say it's good and be done with it

It's not. It's.. just ok. But there's reasons.

Also, you've seen my reviews, I'm not just going to say something simply.

My big problem with #2 is that it's basically just a big fight scene. And that's... alright; it's a decent fight scene with a few interesting things going on, but it's basically just a fight scene that only at the end is used as a vehicle to get from point A to point B. #3 just from this preview is looking to be a lot more interesting with a lot more plot and characterisation.

Synopsis

Starscream forges an unholy pact with the Dire Wraiths—and Bumblebee and Ultra Magnus are hot on his trail. Unfortunately for them, Rom and the Solstar Knights don’t know the difference between Autobots and Decepticons—and they’re ready to fight all comers!



Story

Once again, I find myself apologising for the lateness in delivering a review, and I won't use the usual IDW jab to justify it. The series we cover at Seibertron.com deserve our attention no matter when they come out, and sometimes it's just too much to get all in one go with other news around. So my apologies, and on with the show.



After a fairly impressive opening act with the first issue, Shining Armor #2 does something bizarre for this new mini-series set as a prequel to current Hasbro Universe ongoing events: it stalls. The issue itself is not static, but all the set-ups and building we saw in the first book are effectively just repeated in the second chapter... out of five, which is the frustrating part of this.



Where characters like Starscream get good lines and characterisation (previous points still stand), Ultra Magnus has a lot to be talked about, the Dire Wraiths are a serviceable villain overall - but the supposed pivot of the series, the Cybertronian Knight of the Solstar order, Stardrive, is relegated to background character almost immediately, for the entire issue.



There is some more decent world-building, yes, but I was curious to see how Barber and Gage would approach the difficulty of the character they introduced, and am left a little whelmed overall at her handling, to be instead replaced by a lot of fighting and interactions between the Autobot crew and Starscream/Dire Wraiths - a fault of the plot-first approach? More below.


Art

Alex Milne's art is still in top form. There is a good discussion over here about the use of negative space for emphasis, too, in case you're interested. What stands out most for me in this issue are the designs, flitting between organic and mechanic, Cybertronian and Dire Wraith, Solstar Knight and everyone else - and finally, a full Cybetrtonian-Dire Wraith hybrid (infection, really), which I'll leave to you to discover in full.



Josh Perez does not have an easy task with the choice of subject, as the lighting on chrome is different from metal, and different still from organic and spikes - but he performs the duties magisterially, working beautifully in tandem with Milne's lines and compositions.



Equally, the lettering by Tom B. Long is very apt in playing with those elements of space mentioned in the Refined Robo article I link to above, and not using up all of the space left by a very dedicated artist with his panels. You can view all the cover variants, with credit, in our Comics Database, as usual, and choose your favourite - but the one used for the thumbnail is the Nick Roche / Josh Burcham one.

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

As I said, I wonder whether the elements that made me feel as though I was reading the same issue again have something to do with how the writing task is approached in this series, compared to other methods that Barber usually employs. Point notwithstanding, the preview for issue 3 already shows significant improvement, so we may just be looking at a pacing issue in the serialisation instead.



I do want to see more of Stardrive. I do want to find out more about the character and her torn origins - but I also feel like Rom fans may also be slighted in this issue, as it's very much about the Cybertronian presence in relation to the wider cosmic order (Council, Consortia, even Solstar Order, but mostly by name and references), and will happily welcome more work from Gage's input in the remaining three books.

I'm sure this was discussed already, but we're looking at someone else other than Minimus in the Ultra Magnus armor, right? His actions are just so out of character compared to the current version.

This is much nicer than I would have been to it. #JusticeForSkyblast

I don't get the "nothing happened, just a fight scene" criticism. Like, yeah, it was a fight, but this issue established a lot of the key plot points, including the Dire Wraith/Decepticon alliance, how Bumblebee and Ultra Magnus became aware of the Decepticon activity, and what happens when a Dire Wraith tries to infect a Cybertronian (something that was teased as being a big deal back in ROM #4.)

I actually think having Bumblebee narrating this issue works really well because of how similar he is to Stardrive. He's a young bot who doesn't shoot first and ask questions later and genuinely wants to get along with everybody. And considering how ROM-heavy the last issue was, its good to pull back and see things from the Cybertronian perspective.

Also, Va'al, I gotta say, I really don't get this part of the review: "will happily welcome more work from Gage's input in the remaining three books." Do you really think that Gage is only contributing things in regards to ROM? Cause I can go ahead and tell you that's not how comic books work.

Daniel Adkins wrote:Also, Va'al, I gotta say, I really don't get this part of the review: "will happily welcome more work from Gage's input in the remaining three books." Do you really think that Gage is only contributing things in regards to ROM? Cause I can go ahead and tell you that's not how comic books work.

Daniel, I would like to ask you to stop assuming that no one but you knows how comics work. This is not the first time you've made that statement relating to someone disagreeing with your reading or appreciation of a text.


As for the point I was trying to make, which I realise is phrased badly now: what I've seen in these two issues is a lot of Barberisms, rather than Gage's take on characters that I know he writes well. I'm not saying only Barber is writing the books, or that one writes one side and the other writes the other, just that - to me, while reading - I felt like it was a mostly Barber script in its development of certain points. And I'd like to see more recognisable thumbprints of Gage's handiwork in the next issues, alongside Barber's.

Tigertrack wrote:I'm sure this was discussed already, but we're looking at someone else other than Minimus in the Ultra Magnus armor, right? His actions are just so out of character compared to the current version.

That's what heavily implied. Especially since, well, Magnus dies in this.