IDW Transformers Drift: Empire of Stone - Further Information

Hey if Drift goes Overlord round 2, or takes on the DJD it would be epic. Not expecting that I just know it would make my day! I'll read this for sure. I just reread the arc where Drift leaves. I have a hard time believing Drift agreed to be a part of all that mess in the first place. Loved that he quoted Prowl word for word but took all the blame--.

Looking forward to Gui's work and Shane's surprises.

i look forward to buying it

All about this.

I liked what Roberts did to the character. Because I didn't like him before. Now I do.

To be honest, I'm a little worried that McCarthy will backtrack and make him uberkewl again.

Hope they put some Stone based Transformers like the rock lords to make it interesting like in the style of the first Alien movie. No one can see you in a rocky barren wasteland planet again. I'm either a genius or crazy for mentioning this. Now let's

As one of the most outspoken critics of Drift, I will begrudgingly admit that Roberts managed to flesh him out into an actual character with a little bit of depth. But seriously, at what point did IDW think the fandom liked him so much that we'd want a whole nother miniseries about him? Penned by McCarthy, of all people? I'm just so baffled by this decision.

I think it's funny that McCarthy apparently envisioned Drift as an upbeat guy on the surface and....never did anything with it. I'm annoyed that he has him again, I hope that things don't get mucked up too bad.

Oh god, MyCarthy is let near the canon again?

OK, I guess it's time to cancel my subscription to MTMTE and RID, we're still trying to fix the last time he worked on the canon universe while ignoring established canon.

Well it was fun while it lasted.

In further comics news today, some unlettered pages from the upcoming Shane McCarthy/Guido Guidi miniseries from IDW - Drift: Empire of Stone - have surfaced courtesy of the PreviewsWorld article we reported on yesterday! Check them out mirrored below, as they show the ex-Lost Lighter getting involved in some non-robotic (and some robotic) affairs.

Looks pretty good. I think a little time away has been good for Drift, and I'm interested to see what he's been doing. Provided he's not just effortlessly cutting through every obstacle, which can make any character boring, I think it could be a neat miniseries.

I'm kinda torn. On one hand, this feels a little too much like "ROB LIEFIELD COMES BACK TO DO SHATTERSTAR!", where a creator comes back to one of his creations who was turned from an embarrassing joke under his hand into a popular character under someone else's JUST for the sake of a gimmick buck. On the other hand, I am legitimately curious as to whether McCarthy will keep the character development Drift received in MTMTE and build on it, plus the artwork looks pretty good to boot.

If I see it before I read any reviews, I'll check it out.

Heckfire wrote:I'm kinda torn. On one hand, this feels a little too much like "ROB LIEFIELD COMES BACK TO DO SHATTERSTAR!", where a creator comes back to one of his creations who was turned from an embarrassing joke under his hand into a popular character under someone else's JUST for the sake of a gimmick buck. On the other hand, I am legitimately curious as to whether McCarthy will keep the character development Drift received in MTMTE and build on it, plus the artwork looks pretty good to boot.

If I see it before I read any reviews, I'll check it out.

If John Barber edits, maybe he can reign in some of Shane's self-destructive tendencies. I'd like to believe he did learn SOMETHING about working with established continuity, given how badly AHM veered off and we've spent the better part of a decade coming back from it.

I'm actually excited for this...

Sign me up for 'torn'. I actually like McCarthy's Drift, and have soured on Roberts's writing (seriously can he please think of something else to do plotwise than 'THEN HE DIIIIIEEESS NO NOT REALLY'?), but then I saw the above released snippets and....ugh no. Having flashbacks to Spotlight Cliffjumper.

What's my problem? It's what I like to call Old Trek aliens--remember old Star Trek where the aliens were just like...people in bodypaint and funny clothes? Yeah, you could get away with it in the 60s and with live action. With comics...tell me why ALL the aliens have to look like that? And with a 'dog'? Seriously? Was it McCarthy or the artist who has the serious lack of creativity? I'm not sure which answer would be better.

I know that might sound like a petty thing (but trust me, I know people who claim that Livio's art hurts their soul), but it makes me suspect that McCarthy may be back into his tropey days and the story itself suffers from a lack of world-build and thought.

CC, but we can all agree anyone's better than COSTA

Today Comic book Resources has published an interview between them and Shane McCarthy on new developmens on the soon to be released Miniseries, Drift: Empire of Stone
The full article can be read here http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=56820

Excerpt from the article:

Shane McCarthy wrote: Empire of Stone" takes place after Drift was booted off the Lost Light and sent on his way into the galaxy. It's about what he's been doing while he's been gone and how he's trying to be relevant and find his place in the galaxy now he's neither Autobot or Decepticon. Knowing Drift was wrongly accused, Ratchet comes looking for him to bring him back and the two become well and truly caught up in something from Drift's days as a Decepticon. While Drift is trying to save the galaxy, Ratchet is attempting to save Drift from himself. Buddy cop meets space adventure.

Thanks again to fellow Seibertronian SW's Silverhammer eagle eyes, we can share an interview conducted by Comic Book Resources with the writer of the upcoming IDW Transformers mini-series Drift: Empire of Stone (and the creator of the character in the first place) - Shane McMCarthy. Read on below for some snippets on the book, head here for the full thing, and check out the preview pages here!

Later this month, writer Shane McCarthy returns to the samurai Transformer he created in "Drift: Empire of Stone," a four-issue mini-series from IDW Publishing with artist Guido Guidi. As a former Decepticon who found sanctuary with the Autobots, Drift is currently on a journey of self-discovery, attempting to discover his place in the Galaxy. Along with Autobot medic Ratchet, who is along for the ride to help clear Drift's name from a wrongful accusation, Drift will go through what McCarthy describes as "buddy cop meets space adventure."

The writer discussed re-visiting his samurai Transformer in the new IDW mini-series "Drift: Empire of Stone," revealing why Drift finds himself without alliances yet again, his feelings on Michael Bay's interpretation of the character in "Transformers: Age of Extinction" (and why it was "bordering on offensive") and more.

CBR News: Shane, what's the main story behind "Drift: Empire of Stone?"

Shane McCarthy: "Empire of Stone" takes place after Drift was booted off the Lost Light and sent on his way into the galaxy. It's about what he's been doing while he's been gone and how he's trying to be relevant and find his place in the galaxy now he's neither Autobot or Decepticon. Knowing Drift was wrongly accused, Ratchet comes looking for him to bring him back and the two become well and truly caught up in something from Drift's days as a Decepticon. While Drift is trying to save the galaxy, Ratchet is attempting to save Drift from himself. Buddy cop meets space adventure.

[...]

Are you coordinating your story at all with IDW "Transformers" architects John Barber or James Roberts? Will it connect to either "Robots in Disguise" or "More than Meets the Eye?"

Nothing beyond having John as my editor, no. John let me know what happened prior to "Empire of Stone" and I read up on Drift's appearances but, outside of that John's left me completely alone. He's a great guy to work with. Whilst the mini series takes place after the events on the Lost Light, the mini doesn't connect with the major books.

What's it like working with artist Guido Guidi?

Working with Gui is always a treat. He's a great artist! As I was writing up "Empire of Stone" I was sending Guido ideas and letting him know what characters I'd be using that he'd need to design. As the scripts start coming through to him he sends through sketches and pages for John and I to look at. It's like Christmas every time. I really enjoy working with Guido a lot and was over the moon when I found out we'd be able to work together. He was the one guy I really wanted for this and it's fantastic to come together to work on the character we created.

He won't be the wacky hippie guy that's been seen in the comics recently

But that was miles more interesting--and fleshed out--than anything he did with his own character.

I think the "Transformer" films are terrible cinema with no story or plot to speak of.

Funny, that's what I think about "All Hail Megatron" sometimes.

It still baffles me how people can sit there and say the movies have no story or plot. If anything, AOE was a bit overplotted.

So Drift will ignore all the character development he's had, plus instead of leaving the Lost Light as a fall guy (his own idea) he'll actually be kicked of and look for his lot in life, also Ratchet (the Lost Light's medic who's been on the ship before and after Drift left) will come looking for him.

Ignoring continuity and the rest of the comics, as usual, classic McCarthy.

JazZeke wrote:

He won't be the wacky hippie guy that's been seen in the comics recently

But that was miles more interesting--and fleshed out--than anything he did with his own character.

I think the "Transformer" films are terrible cinema with no story or plot to speak of.

Funny, that's what I think about "All Hail Megatron" sometimes.

You want to put the entire sentence from the quote instead of stopping where nodoubt you quit reading? He's not ignoring Drifts character development from MTMTE, it's going to be there as background like McCarthy even says in the rest of the sentence, but he's going to try and developed him further into what he-as the creator- always imagined.

Randomhero wrote:

JazZeke wrote:

He won't be the wacky hippie guy that's been seen in the comics recently

But that was miles more interesting--and fleshed out--than anything he did with his own character.

I think the "Transformer" films are terrible cinema with no story or plot to speak of.

Funny, that's what I think about "All Hail Megatron" sometimes.

You want to put the entire sentence from the quote instead of stopping where nodoubt you quit reading? He's not ignoring Drifts character development from MTMTE, it's going to be there as background like McCarthy even says in the rest of the sentence, but he's going to try and developed him further into what he-as the creator- always imagined.

Oh I read the whole interview, but I'm quoting the key sentence. What he-as a creator-always imagined is boring, two-dimensional, and sanctimonious compared to the more interesting "flaky spiritualist" Roberts fleshed him out into. Dead Metal hit the nail on the head:

Dead Metal wrote:So Drift will ignore all the character development he's had, plus instead of leaving the Lost Light as a fall guy (his own idea) he'll actually be kicked of and look for his lot in life, also Ratchet (the Lost Light's medic who's been on the ship before and after Drift left) will come looking for him.

Ignoring continuity and the rest of the comics, as usual, classic McCarthy.

I don't know what to think. I'm definitely not going to jump the gun and proclaim this is going to suck, but I don't see Ratchet going out of his way to bring Drift back.

"Pre-order your copy of Drift: Empire of Stone today and get your copy personally fapped over by Shane McCarthy!"

So I was at my local comic store and had a look at the previews catalog, in the TF section was the cover to the third issue of this series, only took a pic of that due to well, this:

Looks like RID Megatron/ Car Robots Gigatron is going to be part of the idw G1 cannon.


The description of what happens is something along the lines of "Drift's past problems become his present problems and Ratchet is unhappy that he got caught up in all of it."

It also claims that it ties directly into MTMTE, so make of it what you will.

We've seen that image in the latest batch of solicitations, I believe, and IDW keep saying that it does feed into MTMTE - but that McCarthy interview confuses that point, as he claims he isn't working with Roberts at all, but only Barber. Hmm.

Va'al wrote:We've seen that image in the latest batch of solicitations, I believe, and IDW keep saying that it does feed into MTMTE - but that McCarthy interview confuses that point, as he claims he isn't working with Roberts at all, but only Barber. Hmm.

Ah Ok, didn't know, I don't follow the solicitations anymore, I have a subscription for the tpbs.

Well, my guess is that idw commissioned this series to tie directly into MTMTE, but McCarthy doesn't bother to communicate with the other people working with the cannon because that's they way he works. And now that all the promo material has already been printed (the Previews catalog was likely being printed before actual work on the series actually started) it's too late for any changes made to the promotional material.

Anyway, this does not bode well, idw was winning me over with all the work they put into fixing the universe post Ongoing. But this along with McCarthy's interview really puts me off of continuing to read the tpbs. It just makes it look like they don't give a toss about their own continuity anymore and let random writers do what ever the hell they want now. I'll wait for reviews of this series, if there are continuity errors in it and the reviews point out that it connects badly to MTMTE, then, well, I'll use the TF tpb money instead to buy Sandman tpbs and get through that series faster than I currently am.

And finally, are you ready for the return of your average Decepticon gunman turned Autobot swordsman with a spiritualist tendency? IDW Publishing has you covered this week! Find out below a full preview for the first issue of Drift: Empire of Stone, and head back to Seibertron.com for a review later this week!

Transformers: Drift: Empire of Stone #1 (of 4)—SPOTLIGHT
Shane McCarthy (w) • Guido Guidi (a) • Alex Milne (c)
DRIFT RETURNS! Last year, TRANSFORMERS readers were shocked when DRIFT left the AUTOBOTS in disgrace… and now he’s alone, on a mission to clean up the darkest depths of the galaxy—until RATCHET shows up to try to bring him home!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
The creative team behind the classic—and best-selling—All Hail Megatron return to the character they introduced!
Ties directly in to the ongoing MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE series!
The fan-favorite character from the big screen returns to where he started—the comics page!
Artist’s Edition Variant cover by Guido Guidi!

Yay. Drift. Whoopy.

I'm not sure I'll get this; on one hand, I've all of the IDW stuff since "Death of Optimus Prime".on the other, it's about Drift.

Also, was he really a fan favorite? Not that I'm bashing anybody for liking him, I just thought he was more divisive of a character when he was introduced. Maybe I'm just remembering it wrongly...

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Yay. Drift. Whoopy.

I'm not sure I'll get this; on one hand, I've all of the IDW stuff since "Death of Optimus Prime".on the other, it's about Drift.

Also, was he really a fan favorite? Not that I'm bashing anybody for liking him, I just thought he was more divisive of a character when he was introduced. Maybe I'm just remembering it wrongly...

He was divisive when he started, mainly because he was hyped out the ass for All Hail Megatron (but then, that book had a lot of other problems) and didn't really live up to anything beyond "super cool sword guy doing awesome things".

Roberts' tenure with the character has been more favorably received, mainly by actually giving him a character with flaws and ideals. Of course, now McCarthy (the AHM writer) is doing this book, so it's hard to say if we'll see the return of "Drift Do'Urden" or if he's learned something from his early work.

Shuttershock wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Yay. Drift. Whoopy.

I'm not sure I'll get this; on one hand, I've all of the IDW stuff since "Death of Optimus Prime".on the other, it's about Drift.

Also, was he really a fan favorite? Not that I'm bashing anybody for liking him, I just thought he was more divisive of a character when he was introduced. Maybe I'm just remembering it wrongly...

He was divisive when he started, mainly because he was hyped out the ass for All Hail Megatron (but then, that book had a lot of other problems) and didn't really live up to anything beyond "super cool sword guy doing awesome things".

Roberts' tenure with the character has been more favorably received, mainly by actually giving him a character with flaws and ideals. Of course, now McCarthy (the AHM writer) is doing this book, so it's hard to say if we'll see the return of "Drift Do'Urden" or if he's learned something from his early work.

If TL/DR:

Drift sucked, got better, not sure if sucks again.

I'll read it BECAUSE of Roberts development...but I suspect that he will revert to "seethes with generic rage" levels of mediocrity pretty soon. I'm just not confident in McCarthy's writing.

durn double post. sorry.

Optimizzy wrote:I'll read it BECAUSE of Roberts development...but I suspect that he will revert to "seethes with generic rage" levels of mediocrity pretty soon. I'm just not confident in McCarthy's writing.

Thi is how I feel. I have a smpall hope, however, that with Ratchet in it, they'll keep that interesting relationship going. And anyway, the solicitation for January showed RID Megatron will have a part. So maybe that'll be cool.

zodconvoy wrote:If TL/DR:

Drift sucked, got better, not sure if sucks again.

This. Very much this.

After Regeneration One that's all I can see

Bleh. That's really what they're going with? That's seriously what someone thinks will hook readers and make Drift as popular as they try to pretend he is?

Forget this. If I want to read about a sword-wielding Transformer who had the fanbase in an uproar, I'll wait for the Windblade ongoing. (Though that wait might kill me.)

Nemesis Primal wrote:Bleh. That's really what they're going with? That's seriously what someone thinks will hook readers and make Drift as popular as they try to pretend he is?

Forget this. If I want to read about a sword-wielding Transformer who had the fanbase in an uproar, I'll wait for the Windblade ongoing. (Though that wait might kill me.)

Yeah, our major gripe with Drift is he's all swordplay and no personality, so they show us... all swordplay and no characterization.

JazZeke wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:Bleh. That's really what they're going with? That's seriously what someone thinks will hook readers and make Drift as popular as they try to pretend he is?

Forget this. If I want to read about a sword-wielding Transformer who had the fanbase in an uproar, I'll wait for the Windblade ongoing. (Though that wait might kill me.)

Yeah, our major gripe with Drift is he's all swordplay and no personality, so they show us... all swordplay and no characterization.

What? Honor Badass McStabbin isn't enough personality/characterization? Since when?

Nemesis Maximo wrote:

JazZeke wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:Bleh. That's really what they're going with? That's seriously what someone thinks will hook readers and make Drift as popular as they try to pretend he is?

Forget this. If I want to read about a sword-wielding Transformer who had the fanbase in an uproar, I'll wait for the Windblade ongoing. (Though that wait might kill me.)

Yeah, our major gripe with Drift is he's all swordplay and no personality, so they show us... all swordplay and no characterization.

What? Honor Badass McStabbin isn't enough personality/characterization? Since when?

I dub thee "Drift DoUrden". Go forth and be an invincible smirking killing machine who's just so cool you guys.

Shuttershock wrote:

Nemesis Maximo wrote:

JazZeke wrote:

Nemesis Primal wrote:Bleh. That's really what they're going with? That's seriously what someone thinks will hook readers and make Drift as popular as they try to pretend he is?

Forget this. If I want to read about a sword-wielding Transformer who had the fanbase in an uproar, I'll wait for the Windblade ongoing. (Though that wait might kill me.)

Yeah, our major gripe with Drift is he's all swordplay and no personality, so they show us... all swordplay and no characterization.

What? Honor Badass McStabbin isn't enough personality/characterization? Since when?

I dub thee "Drift DoUrden". Go forth and be an invincible smirking killing machine who's just so cool you guys.

Scene: Drift meditates on the floor.

Enter Office Aid #1: Beg pardon, Drift-San. <Bow>. Many Anime Characters have called; they want back their mojo.

Exit Office Aid #1 Stage Left.

Synopsis
DRIFT RETURNS! Last year, TRANSFORMERS readers were shocked when DRIFT left the AUTOBOTS in disgrace… and now he’s alone, on a mission to clean up the darkest depths of the galaxy—until RATCHET shows up to try to bring him home!



Story

Imagine: you're an ex Decepticon, who used to kill people for fun. Then you grew a conscience. So you traded guns for swords (that famous instrument of peace). Then you grew a bit too much of a conscience, and tried burying guilt beneath it and a veil of reborn spiritualism - and by ways of redemption, take the blame for something you didn't actually do, and are exiled. That's where we are with Drift, as Empire of Stone begins.



It's been some time since we saw him in action, other than flashbacks, and readers have been wary of the return of a character who has been fairly marmite-esque (that's British for divisive). What we find with this first issue back in Shane McCarthy's hands, is thankfully not a return to the character when he first introduced it, though some will complain it can feel that way in places.



Compared to other Transformers comics coming out this week, Empire of Stone is a lot slower in terms of narrative, though it does stand up quite well with the dialogue, and the chemistry between sulky Drift and grumpy Ratchet works nicely. And, as a set-up/catch-up issue, it does what it has to do without wandering too much around.



However, that's about it so far. It's not a bad comic, the story can go in a very interesting direction with the next three issues, and Empire of Stone is a catchy enough title for a popular enough character like Drift - but I can see how it might not be on everyone's immediate buying list as yet. Still.. read on.


Art

The art team is really where the book, much like ReGeneration One before it, will gain traction with potential readers. Guido Guidi's linework and Stephen Baskerville's inking are a great combination, and the action sequences are very well choreographed, with the sword element added to the fights gives space to Guidi's art to play around with the space of and around the panels.



Also back from the ReGen team is colourist JP Bove, doing an amazingly dusty and gritty (in the soil, dirt sense) job of the patina covering some otherwise quite flamboyant roboformers. I will never tire of looking at Guidi backgrounds filled in with Bove's technicolour magic, and there are some excellent sets in the issue.



Unfortunately, the review copy does not fully credit the letterer or editors for the issue, and has some general technical difficulties in the credit page layouts - nonetheless, The Unknown Letterer's work is, while very very subtle, pleasingly appropriate, keeping dialogue in place and a limited amount of background noise. As for the covers, we've seen all of them by now throughout the last couple of months, from the Alex Milne/Josh Perez one to the multiple Guidi variants (including the thumbnail one).


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

As a first issue, and as I mentioned above, Drift: Empire of Stone #1 is a harmless, easily paced, fairly well-dialogued and definitely good looking book, preparing a stage that so far has very little impact on the wider universe of the Transformers, but according to solicits may change everything - again.



It does little more than that, however, other than re-establishing the at times quite moving relationship between Ratchet and Drift, and hopefully diving into more of Drift's story from this point onwards, as well as the presence of the Cybertronians we do find in the issue. Needless to say, I remain hopeful.

Not a Drift fan, but I'll be picking this up for the art. I love the Guidi, Baskerville and Bove art team

the art is pretty good, I like the "sketchiness" of it. Don't care for the writing though. The narration is terrible and the dialogue seems so generic and too familiar.

Mayhem Sucks.

SW's SilverHammer wrote:Mayhem Sucks.

Soul of a poet, that one.

This comment isn't *just* a shameless plug; it's actually relevant to the conversation. I actually voice Drift on the MTMTE audio drama that I produce with other Audio Knights. In getting into character, I researched what made Drift the character he is. Reading all the stuff in the IDW verse, from his time as the Decepticon Deadlock to his stint on the Lost Light, to his siphonist burnout days in the Shadowplay series, I learned a very important thing.

Drift is a junkie. An addict.

Drift finds something to do, to believe in, and he adopts it wholeheartedly, to the point of distraction and, in many cases, to the point of harming himself. As a Decepticon, he thought his role was to punish and kill Autobots. He did his job with such overzealousness that even his superiors wanted him to tone down his brutality. But he couldn't stop, and eventually got "kicked out" for disobeying orders. He left and never looked back(til this issue).

On the Lost Light, he believed so much in the mission Rodimus had set forth(even the secret one concerning Overlord), he had such religious fanaticism to the cause and espoused so much positivity(because that's what he thought it meant to be an Autobot), and when he got kicked out of THAT, even with Ratchet's welcome, he had already moved on.

We've seen his drug addiction in the Shadowplay series. His addiction is obvious there. It seems he's left that behind too.

And now he's out on his own, defending the weak against bullies - this is his new and latest mission, and he has devoted himself whole-hog to this newest obsession. You'll notice Drift has a trigger reaction to most everything. He doesn't leave room for thinking or questions; he just ACTS. He has already decided his stance and doesn't let others talk him out of it. These are classic signs of an addict-to-burnout cycle which he's constantly in.

Drift drifts from place to place carrying his addictive, obsessive nature with him.

I, for one, enjoy playing his character. I can identify with backing a cause and that listless feeling when you feel lost. He's a joy to portray and I hope you guys will give our project a listen! Grab MTMTE issues 1-4 and listen along! www.TheAudioKnightsTheatre.com

Yes, Drift is an addict, and we've seen him almost outright admitting his by now inextricable guilt at what he did, was and could be if left unchecked.

But this first issue did very little in explaining why he has returned to the loner style, if he is still following his faith (whatever that may be) or if he's had a crisis, and where that leads him. It does little of what you outline in the post, which is what I'd like to see in a story that follows a potentially poignant character with a deep storyline hiding beneath the fancy paintwork.

As I said in the review, I am hopeful for next month, but I'm not waiting with baited breath.

So far this series doesn't seem to be too continuity breaking, only having two flubs according to tfwiki, which does seam to suggest that McCarthy's slowly improving.
But, let's just wait and see how the upcoming issues fare.

More quick IDW Publishing news, in the form of three more pages from an upcoming Transformers comic. This time, it's issue #2 of the Drift: Empire of Stone miniseries. Check out the mirrored images below, via iTunes bookstore!

ONCE A DECEPTICON! DRIFT’s past comes back to haunt him, as RATCHET tries to drag him back to the Lost Light. But alone on a far-off world, DRIFT’s honor demands he stand his ground!

Ratchet, haven't you read the G1 comics??? Don't start s**t with Megs!!!