Full Preview for IDW Transformers Optimus Prime #19

He's not wrong like...

I am not afraid to admit I don’t like Sarah’s art. It’s not my taste at all but the coloring really makes it great. Maybe it was just the coloring in Till all are one that really put me off. A lot of bots in one color(elita, obsidian, rattrap, etc) just made me just made me see so many flaws. That being said this looks amazing

Synopsis
“The Falling,” Part 4. Onyx Prime’s motivations are clear, and his scheme seems unstoppable. Heroes have fallen, and hope dwindles for the survivors. Cybertron’s last chance of salvation is in the hands of… well, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?



Story
After a whole issue of backstory, and after one of shocking revelations, we have an aftermath of an issue that tries dealing with the consequences of it all, while trying to handle the seemingly infinite cast that John Barber has been playing with for a long time now - meaning that not all have the space to get the treatment they entirely deserve, but where we do, the highlights are excellent.



The major issue taking place within the story, for me and some of the other staff I consulted with before writing the review, is the unfortunate timing of the solicitations and Unicron FCBD book: they spoil what could've been a fairly well played, if not touching, moment in the pages of this arc, removing some of the subtlety that was attempted since early Till All Are One issues.



That said, seeing Onyx Prime at the height of his threat - notwithstanding his actual identity at this stage; he is indeed still both characters, as they both exist simultaneously in the past and the present - is thrilling, even with the timeline and rhetorical headaches the story itself might be producing. On the other hand, the reveal/truth about the story is still a little.. eh.



Overall, though, and with one more issue to go before the conclusion of this narrative arc, I'm ..strangely not entirely impressed. The build-up in previous issues, including the backstory, exposition filled issue of last month, had felt so much tenser and vibrant than the current unravelling of plot and mythology, and it feels as though too much is happening at the same time for all of it to be actually final or of serious consequence. More on this below.


Art
Sara Pitre Durocher takes over from Kei Zama in this issue, and brings her signature style along to another look at Starscream still hung up on the ending of Till All Are One (for a little while, at least). And after the Ramondelli break last issue, this shift works out really well, even in the stark difference between the heaviness of the lines, and the softer (but clear) direction this month.



Of course, the effect is also helped by Josh Burcham, who does some pretty amazing stuff, bringing the darker, muted tones of his regular colouring style on this series to the cleaner, sleeker art style of Pitre Durocher, without losing the continuity with previous issues or watering the art itself down for the sake of visual coherence.



There are several instances in this issue where the font-mastery and balloon placing of letterer Tom B Long ensures that the humour or pacing of the interaction hits its mark, and by several, I mean a lot. Seriously - a lot. And they all land.

Casey Coller continues to perform excellence, with colourist John Paul Bove, as the variant cover that features all the major players (thumbnail). And as we had already seen previously, but you can do so again in our database entry (warning. there be spoilers) here, Kei Zama and Bove also deliver a fantastically creepy Shockwave-centric main cover too.

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

If my opening statement seemed unfair to the script, it's fair to also say that the focus on the characters that are explored is very well.. focused, and explored. There are some misgivings about Devastator and Starscream's behaviours, and my general feelings about the reveal are still not overly positively thrilled, but I'm enjoying the story moving forward even with those speedbumps.



Still, even with all of that, the issue is stunning to look at, and having now had three different art teams for the past three months is working out surprisingly well - which bodes even better for the increased frequency schedule that is supposed to take place after this month, to arrive at the final conclusion of it all alongside Unicron. I'll still shake my fists at IDW's schedules, though.

Came in to see Starscream's figuratively smoldering remains after Shockwave roasted him by calling him a fool.

I noticed a mistake in the review: there's two more issues in this arc, not one.

So, in issue 18 Shockwave kills Optimus by throwing him off a building. However, during the hunt for Galvatron, Optimus is shown to have very powerful flight capabilities. What the fudge?!

snavej wrote:So, in issue 18 Shockwave kills Optimus by throwing him off a building. However, during the hunt for Galvatron, Optimus is shown to have very powerful flight capabilities. What the fudge?!

In the hunt for Galvatron, Optimus had the time to get a jetpack while Arcee and Cosmos chased and distracted Galvatron and Astrotrain.

In issue 18, Optimus is badly wounded and in enemy hands, with no jetpack. And he was absorbed into a small singularity/black hole, not hitting the ground

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

snavej wrote:So, in issue 18 Shockwave kills Optimus by throwing him off a building. However, during the hunt for Galvatron, Optimus is shown to have very powerful flight capabilities. What the fudge?!

In the hunt for Galvatron, Optimus had the time to get a jetpack while Arcee and Cosmos chased and distracted Galvatron and Astrotrain.

In issue 18, Optimus is badly wounded and in enemy hands, with no jetpack. And he was absorbed into a small singularity/black hole, not hitting the ground

And that is HOW it happened.

It was also seen in G1 where the decepticons fell into the magma, they fell and did not take flight. Chances are Oh shit is the first reaction before jumping into flight, a short distance probably is harder to recover from than a long drop. If Starscream fell 40 feet, he might just fall. But if it was 400 after the inital Oh shit, he probably would fire his thrusters and correct himself.

Also, if you are falling head first, and you've got thruster feet -or any downward facing source of thrust, then you are likely to hit the ground faster if you fired them. If you are falling backward - recovery might be harder due to the abnormal perspective (you may not be aware of where the ground is.) falling feet or belly first chances of recovery are likely higher.

Optimus prime fell backward into a singularity (black-hole.) Black holes are said to be able to alter one's experience to time. the closer to the event horizon, the slower things appear from the outside. Being that this is a small singularity, then the effects might be minimal, but possibly enough that elapsed time for prime may not be enough for him to react to fly. Autobots are inherently non fliers, so even if he had a jetpack in subspace, the time it may take to retrieve it would be too long for such a short distance.

How is it a 'black hole' when it doesn't consume the entire planet? It's something else, like a portal. The use of the wrong term is just IDW 'bigging itself up'.

snavej wrote:How is it a 'black hole' when it doesn't consume the entire planet? It's something else, like a portal. The use of the wrong term is just IDW 'bigging itself up'.

It’s an artificial black hole. It’s not a natural one that doesn’t follow the same physics as a regular black hole.

If megaton can use space bride technology to siphon the dark matter of a black hole to power himself up from his eyes than a small stable black hole can exist on Cybertron.

It’s also a comic book about giant alien robots fighting where prime once opened the matrix and reformatted an entire planet into a primordial state sooooo yeah. Maybe not try to base it too much in reality.

Hey some scientists can't agree on black holes anyway

ZeroWolf wrote:Hey some scientists can't agree on black holes anyway

They are still gravity based...

What about the ones who don't think they exist? Plus as randomhero pointed out this isn't a natural black hole but an artificial one so which is all it needs to be otherwise we start picking apart everything.

ZeroWolf wrote:Plus as randomhero pointed out this isn't a natural black hole but an artificial one so which is all it needs to be otherwise we start picking apart everything.

Scrolling back, I see the issue here. It's language. A "Black Hole" and a "Singularity" are not interchangeable terms. They can in fact refer to different things.

A singularity, in many examples, is the central point of a Black Hole. Within the gravity well, not part of it. Therefore a Singularity can exist without causing calamitous damage to Cybertron itself.

ZeroWolf wrote:What about the ones who don't think they exist?

Most likely the same kind of people that deny evolution and think the Earth is flat...

AlphaBass wrote:Came in to see Starscream's figuratively smoldering remains after Shockwave roasted him by calling him a fool.

Literally my favorite part of the issue.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Plus as randomhero pointed out this isn't a natural black hole but an artificial one so which is all it needs to be otherwise we start picking apart everything.

Scrolling back, I see the issue here. It's language. A "Black Hole" and a "Singularity" are not interchangeable terms. They can in fact refer to different things.

A singularity, in many examples, is the central point of a Black Hole. Within the gravity well, not part of it. Therefore a Singularity can exist without causing calamitous damage to Cybertron itself.

ZeroWolf wrote:What about the ones who don't think they exist?

Most likely the same kind of people that deny evolution and think the Earth is flat...

The sad thing is the amount who believe in things like that are on the rise and their theories are getting stupider.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Plus as randomhero pointed out this isn't a natural black hole but an artificial one so which is all it needs to be otherwise we start picking apart everything.

Scrolling back, I see the issue here. It's language. A "Black Hole" and a "Singularity" are not interchangeable terms. They can in fact refer to different things.

A singularity, in many examples, is the central point of a Black Hole. Within the gravity well, not part of it. Therefore a Singularity can exist without causing calamitous damage to Cybertron itself.

ZeroWolf wrote:What about the ones who don't think they exist?

Most likely the same kind of people that deny evolution and think the Earth is flat...

I'll have to re-read up on that. If I am mistaken, then I will be soon corrected.

Hello all.

Quite the long Hiatus. Just manage to catch up and read Optimus issues 17-19. Re-read all 3 copies twice.

Not sure if I'm in the minority here.
But having Shockwave being the big revelation throughout a big significant portion of IDW Cybertron history (the era of the 13 Primes) was really quite a ...
Huge Letdown for me.

When I reached the panels, I was like, what really? All that 'Cybertronian myth yet cool different era history exposition' build up in multiple books is due to the machinations of one bot, Shockwave? I was (waiting for years) expecting more actually. New reveals and different character arcs from that time to play their crucial roles in the makings and consequences of that era... Not Shockwave. I honestly felt that reveal kinda cheapen out the lore.

I was quite content actually of Shockwave's current development, from being Jhiaxus's student, to a rebelious Senator seeding plans for a better Cybertron, getting caught and was subject to direct shadowplay & empurata by the then senate, turned to cold calculative intellect ruled by cold logic, derived from that conducted secret cruel experiments on bots, life and worlds alike in the name of science, conjured up an elaborate plan spanning eons in the making of alternate source of energy ultimately for the use of fulfilling his dark cybertron prophecy deeming life is chaos thus it should not exists, and ultimately at the very last moment saved by Orion Pax/Optimus by overcoming his millions of years shadowplay conditioning, where in the end sacrificing himself to save the universe. That was a beyond Epic character Arc.

This Shockwave being alive transported back in time and taking Onyx's prime mantle orchastrating the bulk of Cybertron history is just feels like an easy cop out of more layered and complex rich new revelations.

At this point, Boo John Barber. Had so much hope.

Hope Roberts will end his run with a bang. Not going half arsed since its ending.

Sorry folks. Just my honest two cents ...

Anyone else is of like impression ?

I agree on the letdown, and was still holding on to the possibility of it all being a Liege Maximo ruse/projection/illusion. Alas, no.

Don't get me wrong, I like how it's being written, but I don't think this was the story that I wanted - nor the one that I cared to see developed. Shockwave (and Bumblebee) were gone. Megatron is still gone. That was fine.

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the Knights of Cybertron are linked to Shockwave and/or Auto-Megatron in the alternate universe. Just makes the scope of IDWverse seem so.. small and unambitious.

I know throughout his work, Furman had his favourites that always had their time to shine (Galvatron, Grimlock etc). This is another example of that. Shockwave is clearly one of Robert's biggest favourites, obvious since the overly convoluted Shadowplay.

...but Roberts doesn't write op, barber does.

ZeroWolf wrote:...but Roberts doesn't write op, barber does.

And? Barber didn't write Shadowplay or Dark Cybertron, of which this entire characterisation of Shockwave is based on. It's certainly not based on Furman's iteration from Spotlight and Maximum Dinobots.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:...but Roberts doesn't write op, barber does.

And? Barber didn't write Shadowplay or Dark Cybertron, of which this entire characterisation of Shockwave is based on. It's certainly not based on Furman's iteration from Spotlight and Maximum Dinobots.

Barber and Roberts co-wrote all 12 issues of Dark Cybertron.

I think this version of Shockwave is very heavily the Furman/G1 character, with a new wrinkle in his backstory. I would agree that he reads funny now but it's one reason that I hold out hope for the "Shockwave done it" twist really being "Liege Maximo is making it look like Shockwave done it"

Randomhero wrote:

snavej wrote:How is it a 'black hole' when it doesn't consume the entire planet? It's something else, like a portal. The use of the wrong term is just IDW 'bigging itself up'.

It’s an artificial black hole. It’s not a natural one that doesn’t follow the same physics as a regular black hole.

If megaton can use space bride technology to siphon the dark matter of a black hole to power himself up from his eyes than a small stable black hole can exist on Cybertron.

It’s also a comic book about giant alien robots fighting where prime once opened the matrix and reformatted an entire planet into a primordial state sooooo yeah. Maybe not try to base it too much in reality.

Space brides? Can we order them online?!

'Megaton' should be 'Megatron'. I never really agreed with the MTMTE depiction of that power. Why did he have to siphon antimatter from a black hole when he could get it much more easily from the quantum foam of empty space? It was stupid.

If the stories have little basis in reality, fundamental forces would be screwed. There would be true chaos. The stories would become impossible to understand. They wouldn't be very entertaining and would be rather pointless. There has to be considerable basis in reality for the stories to be meaningful.

The real problem here is arts graduates failing to grasp science but arrogantly trying to style it out.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the Knights of Cybertron are linked to Shockwave and/or Auto-Megatron in the alternate universe. Just makes the scope of IDWverse seem so.. small and unambitious.

I know throughout his work, Furman had his favourites that always had their time to shine (Galvatron, Grimlock etc). This is another example of that. Shockwave is clearly one of Robert's biggest favourites, obvious since the overly convoluted Shadowplay.

Don't forget the cross-dressing Overlord, who was sent into the past and future in 'Requiem for the Wreckers'! As you do.

Indeed...

See, when IDWverse first started it was huge, in scale. The Great War was stretched out across the galaxy. Earth was just one of many fronts it was being waged on. The entire cast was spread out as cells waging a war of attrition on seemingly every planet in this universe.

Since then, everyone has more or less been piled back into Earth, Cybertron and the Lost Light. Expansion through the Colony Worlds did overall very little to readdress that, as all of the speaking characters were put on Cybertron anyway.

It's just quite sad really, to see all that promise squandered.

ScottyP wrote:I would agree that he reads funny now

That's just it. In his (brilliant) Spotlight, he seeded a primitive world with Energon for experimentation. Yet in spite of the awesome act of defeating the entire Dynobots single-handedly, was ultimately caught out by a sneak attack from Grimlock. That to me, just doesn't mesh with This infallible Shockwave, that has been planning unbeatable schemes from the shadows for ages.

He went from 'Brainiac' to 'Darkseid'.

...Roberts didn't write requiem, and Roberts didn't write op. This isn't hard to understand. If you want to argue that the characters are being written in the style of another writer's characterisation, then that makes sense but is still silly as the writer will build on the previous work. Also to argue about stories being based on reality is, ultimately, daft. These are stories about giant shape changing robots that just so happen to look bipedal aka humanoid. Reality left at the first possible exit. If the argument was: "Prime defeats unicron with the power of friendship!" Then we could agree that is daft. However arguing about how made up physics would act in a made up work of fiction? That's like arguing that 'A Christmas Carol' is an appalling work of fiction because you believe ghosts don't exist. Or that the lion king is a terrible kids movie because lions can't really talk. The writer's wanted these events to happen, as long as they've gave an explanation in the story (unless it was meant as a humourous moment of craziness) then focus your fire elsewhere.

Unless of course the story is depicted as a very realistic tale with no fantastical elements, then fire away.

ZeroWolf wrote:...Roberts didn't write requiem, and Roberts didn't write op. This isn't hard to understand.

Who was talking about Requiem? Or op for that matter. I was making an observation about Shockwave, his role within op and his characterisation.

ZeroWolf wrote: If you want to argue that the characters are being written in the style of another writer's characterisation, then that makes sense but is still silly as the writer will build on the previous work.

Tying in the Ore thing perhaps, but this is Robert's Shockwave, not Furman's. As noted above ^

Well now it's barbers shockwave as it's him who is writing op. Actually giving Barber's guiding hand on the stories since he joined, I think all all the characters are his to some extent. Likewise I think barber had a big hand in shadowplay for dark cybertron and this arc. This may not be the story we wanted but it's the story they wanted to tell.

Also bear in mind, the line defining the suspension of disbelief (especially in Transformers) has always varied wildly from person to person. There are still some who decry Mass Displacement and Insecticon cloning tech, after all these years. Some people will have different intellectual limitations and boundaries others don't within their personal enjoyment of the same fiction.

From IDW Publishing, and in lieu of a new comic from their Transformers universe this week, we have a full preview of the third collected volume (in trade paperback) of the ongoing series Optimus Prime, by John Barber and a cast of different artists - as this particular collection also includes the First Strike tie-in two parter originally released as Optimus Prime: First Strike and Transformers: First Strike (both of which can also be found in the Champions TPB).

Take a look below, and join the discussion in the Energon Pub discussion thread!

Transformers: Optimus Prime, Vol. 3
John Barber (w) • Kei Zama, Priscilla Tramontano, Casey Coller (a)
What new future will the Transformers bots face? With Optimus Prime trapped on Cybertron, embroiled in the First Strike event, the Autobots on Earth set off on a mission to find their missing friend, Jazz. But anti-Cybertronian humans are after him as well, and they're armed with Cybertronian weapons! Collects Optimus Prime issues #11–14 and the Optimus Prime: First Strike and Transformers: First Strike one-shots.
TPB • FC • $19.99 • 144 pages • ISBN: 978-1-68405-270-7

Bullet points:
“Engaging and shows that IDW's line of Transformers comics are more than meets the eye.”—Graphic Policy

WHEN does this coming out?

steve2275 wrote:WHEN does this coming out?

This week, if schedule is correct! You probably need to order it from your local comics shop.

Coming at us via both Previews World and the artist Kei Zama herself, we have a look at the retailer incentive variant cover art for issue #20 in the ongoing Transformers comics series from IDW Publishing Optimus Prime, as it concludes the penultimate story arc The Falling!

And as you can see, we're leaning heavily into Onyx Prime's beastly presence, with a fantastic homage to the Beast Wars continuity, featuring Optimus Primal, Megatron, and the Beast Wars II Nemesis ocular planet-ship used in the series so far. Take a look below, and beware of the ..'spoiler' of sorts in the solicit blurb!

Optimus Prime #20 Retailer Incentive Comic Book Cover

IDW PUBLISHING
APR180353
(W) John Barber (A/CA) Kei Zama

"The Falling," Part 5. Optimus Prime has faced defeat before and come back... but he's never seen anything like this. Beyond life, beyond death-only the wisdom of an old friend can save him. Meanwhile, Victorion battles Devastator... and only one will survive.

The return of Bumblebee! One shall rise, one shall fall, but who will destroy them all?

In Shops: Jul 11, 2018
SRP: PI

That's some stellar art there of bw op and megs but do they play any part at all?

That cover is freakin' gorgeous!

ZeroWolf wrote:That's some stellar art there of bw op and megs but do they play any part at all?

Hopefully more than the Spooky Onyx Bodyguards role that they have so far! Don't have a shred of a concrete idea though. Certainly does have me reflecting on how wildly different members of the Beast Wars cast have been handled.

Rhinox is ancient, presumably died a long time ago - unless he's Fat Tankor now which would be fine. Rattrap schemes for Prowl. Tigatron and Airazor are on the Council of Worlds. Cheetor and Blackarachnia were introduced but never had their plot or Eukaris' go anywhere and are presumably in Unicron's tummy. Primal, Megatron, and a massive host of others have been in Onyx's entourage. The universe still hates Waspinator, but at least he survived the Visionaries crossover and his temporary Thrustinator reformatting!

The continuity will probably end with waspinator still complaining about it all hating him. You know I'm surprised no one has hit upon the idea of making waspinator the tf equivalent of deadpool (just the 4th wall breaking immortal side)

That cover is gorgeous!!! I really really really hope both characters actually do something

Thanks to a heads up from Podcaster and comic master ScottyP, we have news that the final Trade Paperback for IDW's Optimus Prime series has been listed on the Penguin Random House website. The trade will collect issues 22-25 and the 2018 Annual. Worthy of note though is that the trade's cover is left mostly blank, with the top Optimus Prime logo visible as well as a thin line of the actual cover, but so far the cover itself is being kept a secret. What are they up to?

Check out the listing above as well as the little bit of the cover we see below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

End of the Road! The Autobots are faced with mutliple threats, one of them a danger not only to Cybertron, but to the whole Universe!

Trapped between Shockwave’s attack and Unicron’s onslaught, Optimus and the Autobots struggle to make sense of what’s left of their world, as Optimus’ colonist soldiers contend with a brutal reality–they have no homes to return to. Plus, Shockwave reveals ancient truths–as an old friend tries to reconnect with Cybertron.

Collects the 2018 Annual and issues #22-25, which conclude the series.

I initially thought it was the OP 19 cover with Shockwave, but the colours of that 'beacon' streak don't match.





This one, however...

If we already know the cover then why hide it?

william-james88 wrote:If we already know the cover then why hide it?

Not everyone follows the solicits or the single issue releases, and may not want the Shockwave and Bumblebee spoiler so many months in advance of the trade release.

william-james88 wrote:If we already know the cover then why hide it?

Some guy at Penguin publishing was probably just following a well-intended note from IDW.

Alternately, the cover Va'al sleuthed out is a red herring. We know Alpha Bravo will save the universe so he probably gets the last cover

Va'al wrote:

william-james88 wrote:If we already know the cover then why hide it?

Not everyone follows the solicits or the single issue releases, and may not want the Shockwave and Bumblebee spoiler so many months in advance of the trade release.

Haha, yeah I get that. But they also gave out a free comic a few weeks ago that had Bumblebee on the cover

ScottyP wrote:

william-james88 wrote:If we already know the cover then why hide it?

Some guy at Penguin publishing was probably just following a well-intended note from IDW.

Amazon sure didnt get that note

https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Opt ... formers-20?tag=seibertron07-20&

william-james88 wrote:

Va'al wrote:

william-james88 wrote:If we already know the cover then why hide it?

Not everyone follows the solicits or the single issue releases, and may not want the Shockwave and Bumblebee spoiler so many months in advance of the trade release.

Haha, yeah I get that. But they also gave out a free comic a few weeks ago that had Bumblebee on the cover

Again, not Penguin!

Via the usual source Previews World, and fellow Seibertron.com admin ScottyP, we have two covers for the price of one for the upcoming issue #21 of the IDW Publishing ongoing Transformers comics series Optimus Prime! Why two in one? Because the Kei Zama line art is used for the retailer incentive cover, while the full coloured version by Josh Burcham will be the main variant for the issue.

As for the contents? Check it out below, along with the synopsis, and join the discussion about the two hands featured in the art - probably underrated protagonists of the story thread Aileron and Arcee - as we reach the end of The Falling story arc.

(W) John Barber (A) Sara Pitre-Durocher (CA) Kei Zama
"The Falling," Part 6. Bumblebee and Optimus Prime make a last, desperate bid to return to the real world as Shockwave teams up with the Autobots! Can Optimus stop what's coming, or has he played right into the hands of the ultimate destroyer?
In Shops: Jul 18, 2018

So thanks to Amazon we know what IDW were hiding. They appear to be under the mistaken assumption that Bumblebee's resurrection (revealed on one of the Unicron covers months back and confirmed by the Free Comic Book Day issue) is still a secret. He appears in his new evergreen design on the cover.

Agent 53 wrote:So thanks to Amazon we know what IDW were hiding. They appear to be under the mistaken assumption that Bumblebee's resurrection (revealed on one of the Unicron covers months back and confirmed by the Free Comic Book Day issue) is still a secret. He appears in his new evergreen design on the cover.

They still have to treat it as such.