IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review
Wednesday, October 28th, 2015 2:04AM CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews, Site ArticlesPosted by: Va'al Views: 37,940
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Witness them
(Spoiler free-ish)
(Spoiler free-ish)
Synopsis
INTO THE WILD! The DINOBOTS engaged in some of the most brutal missions of the war—which made them damaged goods in the peace. Now, a mission to change the face of CYBERTRON offers a chance for something they never imagined… redemption.
..for what?
Story
After Punishment came out, it was clear that John Barber was itching to tell another story of the post-war kind, looking at how some of the pre- and during the war misfits may have adapted - or not - to a time of peace, with still increasing tensions now that the universe is a much bigger place. You do not have to have read Punishment, but there are definitely leads into this story.
Ah, casual discrimination
And it's, in fact, a story that picks up some of the threads that both Windblade and The Transformers have been playing around with, including an overt crossover with issue #46 of the latter - but from the Dinobot perspective this time, as has been known for a while now, and their still badly fitting shapes and temperaments in the brave new planet that is Cybertron, with its expanded borders.
Overlaaaaaap
There are some pleasant, and fully aware, parallels with gritty cop stories, but most especially with the Mad Max series, and overtly so with the latest instalment of Fury Road, and they're not painful to see develop, and compare how Barber's story of redemption compares to that of the film, with their very different casts of characters.
Max?
The parallels, however, also open the book to more criticism than if they had not been there in the first place. The relationships and bonding, for example, formed between the characters in the book can feel a little contrived, or lack the depth of chemistry of other pairings in the TFverse. Some of the poignancy of certain scenes is lost as a result, unfortunately, and feels as though could've been set-up differently.
Art
Livio Ramondelli returns to the TFverse for this one-shot, too, and brings his trademark style more into the light than usual - which is only a good thing, even with the tone of the book and the potentially confusing angles that could arise with the variety of characters, both background and fore. There is much more clarity, in the lines and composition, and they allow...
SHINY...
...for the visual effect of the Mad Max references and inspiration to really shine through. Even the colours, which rotate through an intriguing choice of palettes for each region encountered by the main cast on their mission, convey enough setting for the reader not to get lost in the fogs of Rust or fights, though without ever leaving the grittier shades required.
..AND CHROME
While the title is not the work of Tom B. Long, I always admire what he does with a a Barber/Ramondelli script and layout. The dialogue changes according to the tones, and the interactions are made more emotive by just a few modified letters, even more so than with other books. Only two covers present this time round, with Ramondelli taking charge in the main variant, and James Biggie (also the logo designer) covering the alternate image (thumbnailed) playing very nicely on the same themes in different style choices.
Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead
John Barber likes to play around with references, but sticks to a couple per book rather than packing them all in. He's a tone-setter, rather than tone-masher, and Redemption definitely plays to those trends and to Ramondelli's visual strengths - and is clear and explicit when doing so, as shown in the back matter of the issue (definitely worth a read, if you're so inclined).
Heh indeed
As mentioned above, however, it's the inclusion of those references that points out the lapses not as much of the story per se but of the surrounding narrative and character interaction. I can't help but think that an either more explicit link or just a nod to the material would've increased my enjoyment of the book overall. Nonetheless, it's an enjoyable ride, and a good companion to the ongoing, Combiner Hunters and Punishment, with some good links to Monstrosity, and other past TFverse books.
. 
½ out of
½ out of Credit(s): IDW, Va'al
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Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1737407)
Posted by Allenspurs on October 28th, 2015 @ 9:21am CDT
Posted by Allenspurs on October 28th, 2015 @ 9:21am CDT
Really disappointed in the mad max rip off and totally fed up with how the dinobots are portrayed as complete idiots in idw verse.
Also nobody noticed a Dino version of the Bot they are using as a city just laying on the ground
Total waste of £5.49
Also nobody noticed a Dino version of the Bot they are using as a city just laying on the ground
Total waste of £5.49
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1737408)
Posted by BumbleDouche on October 28th, 2015 @ 9:22am CDT
Posted by BumbleDouche on October 28th, 2015 @ 9:22am CDT
I just got done reading this and, once again, no matter how hard I try, I struggle to stomach Ramondelli's horrendous artwork. Regardless of what are, in my opinion, his horrible bot designs, there is once again a pronounced lack of clarity as to what exactly is going on in a number of panels. Considering the volume of material this guy has now produced for IDW, one would think that he'd have improved his storytelling ability by now. I've seen many others make similar complaints, so the man must surely be aware of his critics. That he hasn't improved, despite these criticisms, is a very poor reflection on what he considers "acceptable" for his comics, in my opinion. I'd like to think I'm not a complete Nazi in my sentiment here - I can accept that there are people out there who love his designs - but what I find inexcusable is the clear lack of improvement in his storytelling ability, a feature I think everyone would agree is vitally important in the comic book medium.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1737412)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 28th, 2015 @ 9:53am CDT
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 28th, 2015 @ 9:53am CDT
Nice little one-shot. Gets the dinobots out of the main picture and now we have a new dinobot, plus a combiner and a dinoforce roaming the Rust sea. I am sad about Barricade though, I really was liking him as a character
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1737421)
Posted by ScottyP on October 28th, 2015 @ 11:04am CDT
Posted by ScottyP on October 28th, 2015 @ 11:04am CDT
I really liked this one. Managed to have a consistent tone, developed existing characters, introduced new ones and developed them in interesting ways, looked good (in my opinion), paid homage to something without ripping it off, and made me interested to read more.
I agree with the score Va'al gave it just because it isn't quite a "five out of five" for me, and it gets one whole point redacted for that small scene with the turbofoxes. You monster Barber, that was really sad!
That said, I would personally give this a score of "Mad Max: Fury Road, except I was entertained by this comic" out of a possible "Darude's Sandstorm".
I agree with the score Va'al gave it just because it isn't quite a "five out of five" for me, and it gets one whole point redacted for that small scene with the turbofoxes. You monster Barber, that was really sad!
That said, I would personally give this a score of "Mad Max: Fury Road, except I was entertained by this comic" out of a possible "Darude's Sandstorm".
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1737440)
Posted by SlyTF1 on October 28th, 2015 @ 12:14pm CDT
And I thought I was the only one. It doesn't exactly piss me off, but his art is definitely my least favorite of the recent IDW artists.
Posted by SlyTF1 on October 28th, 2015 @ 12:14pm CDT
MegaDump wrote:I just got done reading this and, once again, no matter how hard I try, I struggle to stomach Ramondelli's horrendous artwork. Regardless of what are, in my opinion, his horrible bot designs, there is once again a pronounced lack of clarity as to what exactly is going on in a number of panels. Considering the volume of material this guy has now produced for IDW, one would think that he'd have improved his storytelling ability by now. I've seen many others make similar complaints, so the man must surely be aware of his critics. That he hasn't improved, despite these criticisms, is a very poor reflection on what he considers "acceptable" for his comics, in my opinion. I'd like to think I'm not a complete Nazi in my sentiment here - I can accept that there are people out there who love his designs - but what I find inexcusable is the clear lack of improvement in his storytelling ability, a feature I think everyone would agree is vitally important in the comic book medium.
And I thought I was the only one. It doesn't exactly piss me off, but his art is definitely my least favorite of the recent IDW artists.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1737472)
Posted by Genericon #378 on October 28th, 2015 @ 1:55pm CDT
Posted by Genericon #378 on October 28th, 2015 @ 1:55pm CDT
Great job, IDW. You killed one of the only interesting characters in this comic. Let's see, the Dinobots only have one personality trait each; any camien character is boring and unnecessary; why did you make a reference to "Age of Extincshit"? Barricade also has the trait of being one of the only good Decepticons left. Strafe looks horrendous, and why choose Strafe? There's already a character named Strafe. Are you going to kill him off too and have the only Strafe be this horrendous piece of junk? "Age of Extinction" was not only the worst movie in the franchise, it butchered the Dinobots. Any reference to that movie can burn in the Pit of Tartarus. The only interesting characters in this comic were Barricade and Bludgeon. Can we not have anymore random camiens, please?
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1737480)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 28th, 2015 @ 2:16pm CDT
Strafe was actually pretty cool, and could you really see a female transformer from caminus being named slash or scorn? Strafe works the best of the 3 (though i would prefer to see a G1 Scorn). And no need to get up in arms over a movie reference. they have happened before and we all know they are meant to be different. And it is cool to see movie references made in other comics, which is why the Axiom Nexus comics are so cool since people from anywhere live with each other. And the other Strafe is in MTMTE, so the names are not to be of any confusion for these stories
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 28th, 2015 @ 2:16pm CDT
Genericon #378 wrote:Great job, IDW. You killed one of the only interesting characters in this comic. Let's see, the Dinobots only have one personality trait each; any camien character is boring and unnecessary; why did you make a reference to "Age of Extincshit"? Barricade also has the trait of being one of the only good Decepticons left. Strafe looks horrendous, and why choose Strafe? There's already a character named Strafe. Are you going to kill him off too and have the only Strafe be this horrendous piece of junk? "Age of Extinction" was not only the worst movie in the franchise, it butchered the Dinobots. Any reference to that movie can burn in the Pit of Tartarus. The only interesting characters in this comic were Barricade and Bludgeon. Can we not have anymore random camiens, please?
Strafe was actually pretty cool, and could you really see a female transformer from caminus being named slash or scorn? Strafe works the best of the 3 (though i would prefer to see a G1 Scorn). And no need to get up in arms over a movie reference. they have happened before and we all know they are meant to be different. And it is cool to see movie references made in other comics, which is why the Axiom Nexus comics are so cool since people from anywhere live with each other. And the other Strafe is in MTMTE, so the names are not to be of any confusion for these stories
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1737633)
Posted by Genericon #378 on October 29th, 2015 @ 12:57am CDT
Ita not the naming choice that irks me the most. It's the unneeded reference to "Age of Extiction" that does. Why reference that movie? Why? Is it good? No. And killing Barricade? Really? You've got a full cast of characters to kill, and you choose Barricade? You choose him instead of the random camiens Aileron, Swift, Sterling and whatever her name is? I know there is a possibility that he's still alive; I mean, look how many times Megatron's been shot, stabbed and blown up and he's STILL come back from most of those encounters.
Posted by Genericon #378 on October 29th, 2015 @ 12:57am CDT
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Genericon #378 wrote:Great job, IDW. You killed one of the only interesting characters in this comic. Let's see, the Dinobots only have one personality trait each; any camien character is boring and unnecessary; why did you make a reference to "Age of Extincshit"? Barricade also has the trait of being one of the only good Decepticons left. Strafe looks horrendous, and why choose Strafe? There's already a character named Strafe. Are you going to kill him off too and have the only Strafe be this horrendous piece of junk? "Age of Extinction" was not only the worst movie in the franchise, it butchered the Dinobots. Any reference to that movie can burn in the Pit of Tartarus. The only interesting characters in this comic were Barricade and Bludgeon. Can we not have anymore random camiens, please?
Strafe was actually pretty cool, and could you really see a female transformer from caminus being named slash or scorn? Strafe works the best of the 3 (though i would prefer to see a G1 Scorn). And no need to get up in arms over a movie reference. they have happened before and we all know they are meant to be different. And it is cool to see movie references made in other comics, which is why the Axiom Nexus comics are so cool since people from anywhere live with each other. And the other Strafe is in MTMTE, so the names are not to be of any confusion for these stories
Ita not the naming choice that irks me the most. It's the unneeded reference to "Age of Extiction" that does. Why reference that movie? Why? Is it good? No. And killing Barricade? Really? You've got a full cast of characters to kill, and you choose Barricade? You choose him instead of the random camiens Aileron, Swift, Sterling and whatever her name is? I know there is a possibility that he's still alive; I mean, look how many times Megatron's been shot, stabbed and blown up and he's STILL come back from most of those encounters.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1737662)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 29th, 2015 @ 8:48am CDT
But the reference is still cool and saying the movie sucked isn't really justification for not including it. If anything this is the first major reference to the movies in IDW G1. And with all the other franchises referenced, why not this one? Many people hate the unicron trilogy, yet the MTMTE 35 had humongous UT references. Some people may hate beast wars, and as a result hate Rattrap and the whole Eukaris story. Some hate animated, and don't care for the reference to Jetfire/Jetstorm or "Blitzving". Just because we don't like a part doesn't mean others don't, as I love the movies and that is how I became part of the transformers, and I love that they made that reference, all other things aside. and for all we know, Barricade could still be alive(unlikely, but still) and I do like him, so i feel the outrage at this. killing Swift may have been a better approach, but then again I hated that Trailcutter died when someone else could have bit the bullet, but it happened
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 29th, 2015 @ 8:48am CDT
Genericon #378 wrote:D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Genericon #378 wrote:Great job, IDW. You killed one of the only interesting characters in this comic. Let's see, the Dinobots only have one personality trait each; any camien character is boring and unnecessary; why did you make a reference to "Age of Extincshit"? Barricade also has the trait of being one of the only good Decepticons left. Strafe looks horrendous, and why choose Strafe? There's already a character named Strafe. Are you going to kill him off too and have the only Strafe be this horrendous piece of junk? "Age of Extinction" was not only the worst movie in the franchise, it butchered the Dinobots. Any reference to that movie can burn in the Pit of Tartarus. The only interesting characters in this comic were Barricade and Bludgeon. Can we not have anymore random camiens, please?
Strafe was actually pretty cool, and could you really see a female transformer from caminus being named slash or scorn? Strafe works the best of the 3 (though i would prefer to see a G1 Scorn). And no need to get up in arms over a movie reference. they have happened before and we all know they are meant to be different. And it is cool to see movie references made in other comics, which is why the Axiom Nexus comics are so cool since people from anywhere live with each other. And the other Strafe is in MTMTE, so the names are not to be of any confusion for these stories
Ita not the naming choice that irks me the most. It's the unneeded reference to "Age of Extiction" that does. Why reference that movie? Why? Is it good? No. And killing Barricade? Really? You've got a full cast of characters to kill, and you choose Barricade? You choose him instead of the random camiens Aileron, Swift, Sterling and whatever her name is? I know there is a possibility that he's still alive; I mean, look how many times Megatron's been shot, stabbed and blown up and he's STILL come back from most of those encounters.
But the reference is still cool and saying the movie sucked isn't really justification for not including it. If anything this is the first major reference to the movies in IDW G1. And with all the other franchises referenced, why not this one? Many people hate the unicron trilogy, yet the MTMTE 35 had humongous UT references. Some people may hate beast wars, and as a result hate Rattrap and the whole Eukaris story. Some hate animated, and don't care for the reference to Jetfire/Jetstorm or "Blitzving". Just because we don't like a part doesn't mean others don't, as I love the movies and that is how I became part of the transformers, and I love that they made that reference, all other things aside. and for all we know, Barricade could still be alive(unlikely, but still) and I do like him, so i feel the outrage at this. killing Swift may have been a better approach, but then again I hated that Trailcutter died when someone else could have bit the bullet, but it happened
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1738443)
Posted by Genericon #378 on November 1st, 2015 @ 1:48am CDT
I'm just going to assume Barricade's still alive. Just hope for the best. Hey, if Bludgeon survived, so can Barricade.
Posted by Genericon #378 on November 1st, 2015 @ 1:48am CDT
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Genericon #378 wrote:D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Genericon #378 wrote:Great job, IDW. You killed one of the only interesting characters in this comic. Let's see, the Dinobots only have one personality trait each; any camien character is boring and unnecessary; why did you make a reference to "Age of Extincshit"? Barricade also has the trait of being one of the only good Decepticons left. Strafe looks horrendous, and why choose Strafe? There's already a character named Strafe. Are you going to kill him off too and have the only Strafe be this horrendous piece of junk? "Age of Extinction" was not only the worst movie in the franchise, it butchered the Dinobots. Any reference to that movie can burn in the Pit of Tartarus. The only interesting characters in this comic were Barricade and Bludgeon. Can we not have anymore random camiens, please?
Strafe was actually pretty cool, and could you really see a female transformer from caminus being named slash or scorn? Strafe works the best of the 3 (though i would prefer to see a G1 Scorn). And no need to get up in arms over a movie reference. they have happened before and we all know they are meant to be different. And it is cool to see movie references made in other comics, which is why the Axiom Nexus comics are so cool since people from anywhere live with each other. And the other Strafe is in MTMTE, so the names are not to be of any confusion for these stories
Ita not the naming choice that irks me the most. It's the unneeded reference to "Age of Extiction" that does. Why reference that movie? Why? Is it good? No. And killing Barricade? Really? You've got a full cast of characters to kill, and you choose Barricade? You choose him instead of the random camiens Aileron, Swift, Sterling and whatever her name is? I know there is a possibility that he's still alive; I mean, look how many times Megatron's been shot, stabbed and blown up and he's STILL come back from most of those encounters.
But the reference is still cool and saying the movie sucked isn't really justification for not including it. If anything this is the first major reference to the movies in IDW G1. And with all the other franchises referenced, why not this one? Many people hate the unicron trilogy, yet the MTMTE 35 had humongous UT references. Some people may hate beast wars, and as a result hate Rattrap and the whole Eukaris story. Some hate animated, and don't care for the reference to Jetfire/Jetstorm or "Blitzving". Just because we don't like a part doesn't mean others don't, as I love the movies and that is how I became part of the transformers, and I love that they made that reference, all other things aside. and for all we know, Barricade could still be alive(unlikely, but still) and I do like him, so i feel the outrage at this. killing Swift may have been a better approach, but then again I hated that Trailcutter died when someone else could have bit the bullet, but it happened
I'm just going to assume Barricade's still alive. Just hope for the best. Hey, if Bludgeon survived, so can Barricade.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1882757)
Posted by Va'al on May 19th, 2017 @ 3:47am CDT
Posted by Va'al on May 19th, 2017 @ 3:47am CDT
The follow up to both Punishment and Redemption, the short series of one-shot Transformers comics from John Barber and Livio Ramondelli - Salvation - was announced back in March for its June release, but we now also have both regular (by Ramondelli) and subscription (by Jeffrey Veregge) covers available via Previews World! Check them out below.
Exiled from civilization, the Dinobots are the last line of defense against the ultimate Cybertronian dinosaur-Trypticon! But how much are the Dinobots willing to sacrifice for a world that hates them?
• Dinobots versus the biggest dino of them all-Trypticon!
• John Barber and Livio Ramondelli finish their Dinobot trilogy that started in Transformers: Punishment and Transformers: Redemption!
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1885948)
Posted by Va'al on June 1st, 2017 @ 1:18pm CDT
Posted by Va'al on June 1st, 2017 @ 1:18pm CDT
Courtesy of iTunes as usual, we have a three page preview of the upcoming one-shot from IDW Publishing in the trilogy of works by John Barber and Livio Ramondelli - Transformers: Salvation. Expect the book to be released in a couple of weeks, and in the meantime, check out the preview below!
Exiled from civilization, the Dinobots are the last line of defense against the ultimate Cybertronian dinosaur—Trypticon! But how much are the Dinobots willing to sacrifice for a world that hates them?
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1885954)
Posted by Bounti76 on June 1st, 2017 @ 1:35pm CDT
Posted by Bounti76 on June 1st, 2017 @ 1:35pm CDT
I guess Trypticon thawed out....
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1885963)
Posted by MrBlack on June 1st, 2017 @ 2:11pm CDT
Posted by MrBlack on June 1st, 2017 @ 2:11pm CDT
This looks like fun.
It will be good to see the Dinobots again, as well as more of Bludgeon's long term plans (I assume he's behind Trypticon's resurrection). Livio's art works well for something like this.
It will be good to see the Dinobots again, as well as more of Bludgeon's long term plans (I assume he's behind Trypticon's resurrection). Livio's art works well for something like this.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1885967)
Posted by SG Roadbuster on June 1st, 2017 @ 2:20pm CDT
Posted by SG Roadbuster on June 1st, 2017 @ 2:20pm CDT
sooooo books with amazing writing and coherent art like Till All are One get cancelled, but Ramondelli is still allowed to wipe his a%* with comic pages and call it "art"?
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1885969)
Posted by Va'al on June 1st, 2017 @ 2:32pm CDT
This is entirely unnecessary.
Posted by Va'al on June 1st, 2017 @ 2:32pm CDT
SG Roadbuster wrote:sooooo books with amazing writing and coherent art like Till All are One get cancelled, but Ramondelli is still allowed to wipe his a%* with comic pages and call it "art"?
This is entirely unnecessary.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1885976)
Posted by Kurona on June 1st, 2017 @ 2:45pm CDT
Posted by Kurona on June 1st, 2017 @ 2:45pm CDT
From this I feel Ramondelli's improved, actually. One of my bigger problems with his art - at least for a Transformers comic - is that everything felt rather flat. Characters and objects melded into the backgrounds and weren't distinguishable from each other; nothing popped or jumped out at you or made an effort to feel three-dimensional.
But not so much here. I've ran out of descriptive words so I'll repeat myself by saying it feels three-dimensional in comparison to his previous works and it doesn't get in the way of my reading it. He's not my favourite artist but he's come a very long way since Chaos.
But not so much here. I've ran out of descriptive words so I'll repeat myself by saying it feels three-dimensional in comparison to his previous works and it doesn't get in the way of my reading it. He's not my favourite artist but he's come a very long way since Chaos.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1886052)
Posted by Randomhero on June 1st, 2017 @ 7:31pm CDT
It's EXTREMELY flat. There's never much depth Livio's art and thank god he's actually playing with sunlight in the past year because for years it was just characters in darkness giving dull expressions. It's an excuse to not work with backgrounds. I imagine it's gotta do with him being a member of the fandom and for the past 6 years he's seen the harsh criticism and he worked on it. I'll say this, he is consistent and he does get better but the flaws are there. There not much depth and he has trouble with angles and story telling.
Posted by Randomhero on June 1st, 2017 @ 7:31pm CDT
Kurona wrote:From this I feel Ramondelli's improved, actually. One of my bigger problems with his art - at least for a Transformers comic - is that everything felt rather flat. Characters and objects melded into the backgrounds and weren't distinguishable from each other; nothing popped or jumped out at you or made an effort to feel three-dimensional.
But not so much here. I've ran out of descriptive words so I'll repeat myself by saying it feels three-dimensional in comparison to his previous works and it doesn't get in the way of my reading it. He's not my favourite artist but he's come a very long way since Chaos.
It's EXTREMELY flat. There's never much depth Livio's art and thank god he's actually playing with sunlight in the past year because for years it was just characters in darkness giving dull expressions. It's an excuse to not work with backgrounds. I imagine it's gotta do with him being a member of the fandom and for the past 6 years he's seen the harsh criticism and he worked on it. I'll say this, he is consistent and he does get better but the flaws are there. There not much depth and he has trouble with angles and story telling.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1886053)
Posted by Randomhero on June 1st, 2017 @ 7:34pm CDT
Posted by Randomhero on June 1st, 2017 @ 7:34pm CDT
He needs to work on his light sources too. Literally in the bottom panel of page one sunlight is coming from above everyone while apparently coming from the bottom of strafe.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1886064)
Posted by ricemazter on June 1st, 2017 @ 8:12pm CDT
Incredibly unnecessary. For the life of me I can't understand the Livio Ramondelli hate that constantly seeps out of this site. He's a talented artist that has room for improvement, sure, but there are many, many worse artists out there. "Cough" Pat Lee "Cough"
Furthermore, despite the flaws, he pulls double duty compared to a lot of other artists who work in teams, doing both the line art and colors. Plus he's improving. Between this and redemption, his line work is much more prominent. Combined more straight primary colors, everything is popping out much more, which is a definite step in the right direction.
Also, it's not as if this is supplanting any other book. This is a one shot. From my memory, all of his books so far have been one shots. Meanwhile, ongoing series have to consistently make their sales figures or they fold. So comparing anything Livio has done to the very unfortunate situation with TAAO is silly.
Posted by ricemazter on June 1st, 2017 @ 8:12pm CDT
Va'al wrote:SG Roadbuster wrote:sooooo books with amazing writing and coherent art like Till All are One get cancelled, but Ramondelli is still allowed to wipe his a%* with comic pages and call it "art"?
This is entirely unnecessary.
Incredibly unnecessary. For the life of me I can't understand the Livio Ramondelli hate that constantly seeps out of this site. He's a talented artist that has room for improvement, sure, but there are many, many worse artists out there. "Cough" Pat Lee "Cough"
Furthermore, despite the flaws, he pulls double duty compared to a lot of other artists who work in teams, doing both the line art and colors. Plus he's improving. Between this and redemption, his line work is much more prominent. Combined more straight primary colors, everything is popping out much more, which is a definite step in the right direction.
Also, it's not as if this is supplanting any other book. This is a one shot. From my memory, all of his books so far have been one shots. Meanwhile, ongoing series have to consistently make their sales figures or they fold. So comparing anything Livio has done to the very unfortunate situation with TAAO is silly.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1886083)
Posted by Kurona on June 1st, 2017 @ 9:16pm CDT
I totally agree that it is very unnecessary, and I do feel the hatred for Ramondelli goes a little too far - yeah his art's not great, but he is a human being that as far as I know has done nothing wrong - but as much as I love any bashing of Pat Lee, I'm not really fond of justifying something by saying "well there are worse things". If art is bad and/or unfitting, it's bad and/or unfitting. Comics are a visual medium so it can't be stated enough how important it is for the art to be good.
Posted by Kurona on June 1st, 2017 @ 9:16pm CDT
ricemazter wrote:Va'al wrote:SG Roadbuster wrote:sooooo books with amazing writing and coherent art like Till All are One get cancelled, but Ramondelli is still allowed to wipe his a%* with comic pages and call it "art"?
This is entirely unnecessary.
Incredibly unnecessary. For the life of me I can't understand the Livio Ramondelli hate that constantly seeps out of this site. He's a talented artist that has room for improvement, sure, but there are many, many worse artists out there. "Cough" Pat Lee "Cough"
I totally agree that it is very unnecessary, and I do feel the hatred for Ramondelli goes a little too far - yeah his art's not great, but he is a human being that as far as I know has done nothing wrong - but as much as I love any bashing of Pat Lee, I'm not really fond of justifying something by saying "well there are worse things". If art is bad and/or unfitting, it's bad and/or unfitting. Comics are a visual medium so it can't be stated enough how important it is for the art to be good.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1886114)
Posted by Randomhero on June 1st, 2017 @ 10:19pm CDT
Posted by Randomhero on June 1st, 2017 @ 10:19pm CDT
I commend him for continuing to draw. I'm not not a fan of livio but I do respect his resolve and him trying to improve. Artillio Rojo was shat on so bad not because his art was awful but because he wasn't Alex Milne. I know some people were not fans and didn't think his art was good but his story telling was solid and it was just his style but plenty of people were just mad he was on mtmte. Plenty of people complained and said "why can't they put him on Robots in disguise and stay off more than meet the eye?" Just like what is going on with jack Lawrence on lost light. The dude has excellent story telling abilities, his page layouts are great and facial expressions are solid but people are just tearing him apart because he is not Alex
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1886115)
Posted by ScottyP on June 1st, 2017 @ 10:21pm CDT
Posted by ScottyP on June 1st, 2017 @ 10:21pm CDT
That Trypticon page is glorious. I've always found these Dinobot stories to be a perfect match for Ramondelli's style. These and Syndromica are places where, to me, his work just shines.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1886117)
Posted by Nexus Knight on June 1st, 2017 @ 10:25pm CDT
Posted by Nexus Knight on June 1st, 2017 @ 10:25pm CDT
I can't comment much as I prefer LL's artwork, but the shot of Trypticon breeding fire (ice?) into the sky is pretty. 
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1886421)
Posted by kirbenvost on June 2nd, 2017 @ 8:53pm CDT
Posted by kirbenvost on June 2nd, 2017 @ 8:53pm CDT
I just came here to post in defense/praise of Ramondelli. It's taken me a long time to warm up to his art but this preview really shows how far he's come. I'm impressed! This will be a fun book, I hope it'll be part of a trade even if it's a one-shot.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1888273)
Posted by Kurona on June 9th, 2017 @ 1:17pm CDT
Posted by Kurona on June 9th, 2017 @ 1:17pm CDT
So... here's an interesting little thing.
A lot of early ex-RiD had focus on Devastator. Trypticon has been foreshadowed in not just the Dinobot comics but also Primacy and Monstrosity. One could argue the Titan Graveyard in early MTMTE provided was a set-up opportunity for Fort Max to go full titan, especially since he decided to stay there.
We can obviously assume IDW was told about the plans for Metroplex - and stuff relating to the Titans only really started showing up just prior to Dark Cybertron - but it is it very possible that beyond that IDW is much more privy to Hasbro's plans for Titan-class figures than they let on? Because there seems to be a lot of long-term planning going on here and IDW have mentioned in reference to Sentinel Prime in Titans Return working ahead with Hasbro to some degree to make things work. But the extent to which this long-term planning goes seems to be larger than I previously thought with all these Titan-class figures that need advertising all coincidentally having convenient opportunities set up for them and it's really starting to make me wonder if I should look a little bit more into Scorponok's appearance in Monstrosity and Omega Supreme still being repaired (which by the way, come on, seriously? He's been there for ages, how long can he stay on life support?)
A lot of early ex-RiD had focus on Devastator. Trypticon has been foreshadowed in not just the Dinobot comics but also Primacy and Monstrosity. One could argue the Titan Graveyard in early MTMTE provided was a set-up opportunity for Fort Max to go full titan, especially since he decided to stay there.
We can obviously assume IDW was told about the plans for Metroplex - and stuff relating to the Titans only really started showing up just prior to Dark Cybertron - but it is it very possible that beyond that IDW is much more privy to Hasbro's plans for Titan-class figures than they let on? Because there seems to be a lot of long-term planning going on here and IDW have mentioned in reference to Sentinel Prime in Titans Return working ahead with Hasbro to some degree to make things work. But the extent to which this long-term planning goes seems to be larger than I previously thought with all these Titan-class figures that need advertising all coincidentally having convenient opportunities set up for them and it's really starting to make me wonder if I should look a little bit more into Scorponok's appearance in Monstrosity and Omega Supreme still being repaired (which by the way, come on, seriously? He's been there for ages, how long can he stay on life support?)
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1888457)
Posted by Va'al on June 10th, 2017 @ 4:18am CDT
Posted by Va'al on June 10th, 2017 @ 4:18am CDT
The second of three expected previews for Transformers comics from IDW Publishing for next week sees the third instalment of the Dinobots' stories told by John Barber and Livio Ramondelli: Salvation. Featuring new Dinobot Strafe, the regular team, Trypticon, and a Bludgeon cover tease... check it out below, courtesy of Newsarama!
Transformers: Salvation
John Barber (w) • Livio Ramondelli (a & c)
Exiled from civilization, the Dinobots are the last line of defense against the ultimate Cybertronian dinosaur—Trypticon! But how much are the Dinobots willing to sacrifice for a world that hates them?
FC • 48 pages • $7.99
Bullet points:
- Dinobots versus the biggest dino of them all—Trypticon!
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1888462)
Posted by Carnivius_Prime on June 10th, 2017 @ 4:50am CDT
Posted by Carnivius_Prime on June 10th, 2017 @ 4:50am CDT
There's Dinobot Strafe and Swoop in IDW now? Is that Strafe different from Technobot Strafe I thought was already in IDW?
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1888464)
Posted by Va'al on June 10th, 2017 @ 5:03am CDT
It all happened in Redemption! Strafe starts out as a Camien with jet mode, then... things happen. Now she's a two-headed dragonsaur creature.
Technobot Strafe is somewhere in Lost Light background character Limbo right now.
Posted by Va'al on June 10th, 2017 @ 5:03am CDT
Carnivius_Prime wrote:There's Dinobot Strafe and Swoop in IDW now? Is that Strafe different from Technobot Strafe I thought was already in IDW?
It all happened in Redemption! Strafe starts out as a Camien with jet mode, then... things happen. Now she's a two-headed dragonsaur creature.
Technobot Strafe is somewhere in Lost Light background character Limbo right now.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1888465)
Posted by Bounti76 on June 10th, 2017 @ 5:05am CDT
Yep. Dinobot Strafe is from Caminus. She was in the previous book in this "series" and joined the Dinobots when Bludgeon mutated her into her beast form.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Strafe_(IDW)
Posted by Bounti76 on June 10th, 2017 @ 5:05am CDT
Carnivius_Prime wrote:There's Dinobot Strafe and Swoop in IDW now? Is that Strafe different from Technobot Strafe I thought was already in IDW?
Yep. Dinobot Strafe is from Caminus. She was in the previous book in this "series" and joined the Dinobots when Bludgeon mutated her into her beast form.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Strafe_(IDW)
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1888466)
Posted by Carnivius_Prime on June 10th, 2017 @ 5:07am CDT
Dino-Strafe's a she? Ok. You can tell I really don't follow IDW. Tried many times (last attempt was probably Sins of the Wreckers which I felt was kinda lousy and I only jumped on that cos it had Carnivac but turned out I didn't really care for his depiction in that at all anyways)
So what happens if Dino-Strafe and Techno-Strafe meet? Can you have TF's with same name? I remember that classic battle of Swoop (who used to be called Divebomb) Vs Predacon Divebomb in the Marvel UK comics. Good times.
Posted by Carnivius_Prime on June 10th, 2017 @ 5:07am CDT
Va'al wrote:Carnivius_Prime wrote:There's Dinobot Strafe and Swoop in IDW now? Is that Strafe different from Technobot Strafe I thought was already in IDW?
It all happened in Redemption! Strafe starts out as a Camien with jet mode, then... things happen. Now she's a two-headed dragonsaur creature.
Technobot Strafe is somewhere in Lost Light background character Limbo right now.
Bounti76 wrote:Carnivius_Prime wrote:There's Dinobot Strafe and Swoop in IDW now? Is that Strafe different from Technobot Strafe I thought was already in IDW?
Yep. Dinobot Strafe is from Caminus. She was in the previous book in this "series" and joined the Dinobots when Bludgeon mutated her into her beast form.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Strafe_(IDW)
Dino-Strafe's a she? Ok. You can tell I really don't follow IDW. Tried many times (last attempt was probably Sins of the Wreckers which I felt was kinda lousy and I only jumped on that cos it had Carnivac but turned out I didn't really care for his depiction in that at all anyways)
So what happens if Dino-Strafe and Techno-Strafe meet? Can you have TF's with same name? I remember that classic battle of Swoop (who used to be called Divebomb) Vs Predacon Divebomb in the Marvel UK comics. Good times.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1888480)
Posted by Randomhero on June 10th, 2017 @ 6:55am CDT
Probably the same thing as if you met someone who shared your name.
"Hey"
"Sup"
Honestly it's not that big of a thing like how simon firman depicted it over 25 years ago.
There's 2 prowls (G1 prowl and a Prowl that turned into a lion), 2 Rollers Optimus's drone and his friend Roller but one may have been named after the other. 2 strafes, 2 tankors(beast machines and G1 octane). 2 knockouts(Prime and the G2 micromaster). It's just one of those things. People share a name. MTMTE played it as a joke saying all the good names are taken.
Both tankors are actually best friends because they share the same name. Even got tattoos for it.
Posted by Randomhero on June 10th, 2017 @ 6:55am CDT
Carnivius_Prime wrote:Va'al wrote:Carnivius_Prime wrote:There's Dinobot Strafe and Swoop in IDW now? Is that Strafe different from Technobot Strafe I thought was already in IDW?
It all happened in Redemption! Strafe starts out as a Camien with jet mode, then... things happen. Now she's a two-headed dragonsaur creature.
Technobot Strafe is somewhere in Lost Light background character Limbo right now.Bounti76 wrote:Carnivius_Prime wrote:There's Dinobot Strafe and Swoop in IDW now? Is that Strafe different from Technobot Strafe I thought was already in IDW?
Yep. Dinobot Strafe is from Caminus. She was in the previous book in this "series" and joined the Dinobots when Bludgeon mutated her into her beast form.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Strafe_(IDW)
Dino-Strafe's a she? Ok. You can tell I really don't follow IDW. Tried many times (last attempt was probably Sins of the Wreckers which I felt was kinda lousy and I only jumped on that cos it had Carnivac but turned out I didn't really care for his depiction in that at all anyways)
So what happens if Dino-Strafe and Techno-Strafe meet? Can you have TF's with same name? I remember that classic battle of Swoop (who used to be called Divebomb) Vs Predacon Divebomb in the Marvel UK comics. Good times.
Probably the same thing as if you met someone who shared your name.
"Hey"
"Sup"
Honestly it's not that big of a thing like how simon firman depicted it over 25 years ago.
There's 2 prowls (G1 prowl and a Prowl that turned into a lion), 2 Rollers Optimus's drone and his friend Roller but one may have been named after the other. 2 strafes, 2 tankors(beast machines and G1 octane). 2 knockouts(Prime and the G2 micromaster). It's just one of those things. People share a name. MTMTE played it as a joke saying all the good names are taken.
Both tankors are actually best friends because they share the same name. Even got tattoos for it.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1888482)
Posted by Carnivius_Prime on June 10th, 2017 @ 7:06am CDT
But do they exist in the same continuity and even same time as the other character with their name? Usually things like that are avoided in storytelling just because it leads to confusion. Even soap operas usually only have one character with a particular first name at any on time (the rare cases of having more usually comes down to a returning character). If the comic actually said 'all the good names are taken' as a reason for reusing a name of a still current character then that does seem kinda like laziness trying to pass itself off as clever or witty.
Sorry I didn't mean to start any argument or debate about it. I just often click news items even of TF stuff I know I'm not into cos I'm killing time and I saw 'Dinobot Strafe' mentioned and was curious as obviously that was a movieverse thing and I wondered what it was doing in IDW and wondered who it was. It turns out my first thoughts of it being a new bot identical to movieverse Strafe or the Technobot Strafe ditching the Technobots in favour of Dinobots with a new alt mode were both wrong.
I'll leave now the topic now. Sorry. 
Posted by Carnivius_Prime on June 10th, 2017 @ 7:06am CDT
Randomhero wrote:There's 2 prowls (G1 prowl and a Prowl that turned into a lion), 2 Rollers Optimus's drone and his friend Roller but one may have been named after the other. 2 strafes, 2 tankors(beast machines and G1 octane). 2 knockouts(Prime and the G2 micromaster). It's just one of those things. People share a name. MTMTE played it as a joke saying all the good names are taken.
Both tankors are actually best friends because they share the same name. Even got tattoos for it.
But do they exist in the same continuity and even same time as the other character with their name? Usually things like that are avoided in storytelling just because it leads to confusion. Even soap operas usually only have one character with a particular first name at any on time (the rare cases of having more usually comes down to a returning character). If the comic actually said 'all the good names are taken' as a reason for reusing a name of a still current character then that does seem kinda like laziness trying to pass itself off as clever or witty.
Sorry I didn't mean to start any argument or debate about it. I just often click news items even of TF stuff I know I'm not into cos I'm killing time and I saw 'Dinobot Strafe' mentioned and was curious as obviously that was a movieverse thing and I wondered what it was doing in IDW and wondered who it was. It turns out my first thoughts of it being a new bot identical to movieverse Strafe or the Technobot Strafe ditching the Technobots in favour of Dinobots with a new alt mode were both wrong.
I'll leave now the topic now. Sorry.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1888487)
Posted by Randomhero on June 10th, 2017 @ 7:33am CDT
They all exist in the G1 continuity. Prime Knockout is from a colony while the micromastet Knockout was part of a decepticons unit. They've never met. The prowls are both autobot but the lion prowl changed his name because of G1 Prick Prowl plus it doesn't matter, lion Prowl died. . As for tankors, Octane goes by tall Tankor and MN Tankor goes by fat tankor. But not to his face. He heard them say it once but thought they said FAST tankor and took it as a compliment for his speed. I'm not making this shit up.
It's really not confusing. None of them except the Tankors interact with eachother.
Posted by Randomhero on June 10th, 2017 @ 7:33am CDT
Carnivius_Prime wrote:Randomhero wrote:There's 2 prowls (G1 prowl and a Prowl that turned into a lion), 2 Rollers Optimus's drone and his friend Roller but one may have been named after the other. 2 strafes, 2 tankors(beast machines and G1 octane). 2 knockouts(Prime and the G2 micromaster). It's just one of those things. People share a name. MTMTE played it as a joke saying all the good names are taken.
Both tankors are actually best friends because they share the same name. Even got tattoos for it.
But do they exist in the same continuity and even same time as the other character with their name? Usually things like that are avoided in storytelling just because it leads to confusion. Even soap operas usually only have one character with a particular first name at any on time (the rare cases of having more usually comes down to a returning character). If the comic actually said 'all the good names are taken' as a reason for reusing a name of a still current character then that does seem kinda like laziness trying to pass itself off as clever or witty.
Sorry I didn't mean to start any argument or debate about it. I just often click news items even of TF stuff I know I'm not into cos I'm killing time and I saw 'Dinobot Strafe' mentioned and was curious as obviously that was a movieverse thing and I wondered what it was doing in IDW and wondered who it was. It turns out my first thoughts of it being a new bot identical to movieverse Strafe or the Technobot Strafe ditching the Technobots in favour of Dinobots with a new alt mode were both wrong.
They all exist in the G1 continuity. Prime Knockout is from a colony while the micromastet Knockout was part of a decepticons unit. They've never met. The prowls are both autobot but the lion prowl changed his name because of G1 Prick Prowl plus it doesn't matter, lion Prowl died. . As for tankors, Octane goes by tall Tankor and MN Tankor goes by fat tankor. But not to his face. He heard them say it once but thought they said FAST tankor and took it as a compliment for his speed. I'm not making this shit up.
It's really not confusing. None of them except the Tankors interact with eachother.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1888494)
Posted by Kurona on June 10th, 2017 @ 8:40am CDT
Posted by Kurona on June 10th, 2017 @ 8:40am CDT
I just find it kinda funny. I want the RiD 2001 Grimlock to turn up from a colony; being all friendly and happy but no-one wants to go near him because they think he's the big badass Dinobot 
Also, the 'all the good names are taken' thing was played up for jokes. They ran into a minor character named Dent early in the story, Ratchet said he knew the guy when he was called Prowl; turns out Dent changed it to avoid confusion and he changed it to Dent because... well, all the good names are taken. It's just a very minor thing and scene and all in good humour.
Also, the 'all the good names are taken' thing was played up for jokes. They ran into a minor character named Dent early in the story, Ratchet said he knew the guy when he was called Prowl; turns out Dent changed it to avoid confusion and he changed it to Dent because... well, all the good names are taken. It's just a very minor thing and scene and all in good humour.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1889281)
Posted by Va'al on June 14th, 2017 @ 2:06am CDT
Synopsis
Exiled from civilization, the Dinobots are the last line of defense against the ultimate Cybertronian dinosaur—Trypticon! But how much are the Dinobots willing to sacrifice for a world that hates them?
Primus hates you too, yes
Story
We now return to your yearly schedule update on the Dinobots, minus Grimlock, because we wouldn't want you to forget that the Dinobots are very much still a thing, except when they're not (most of the time), but here - the third part of the Barber/Ramondelli 'we need more Maximum Dinobots' story: after Punishment and Redemption, comes Salvation.
The bots are back in town
Despite my initial tone there, John Barber is actually able to bring together a lot of previous material into the book, and clear out some air that needed airing, from Trypticon (and even Chaos and Monstrosity) fulfilling the toy quota without a special event, to Bludgeon, Strafe, Swift and the general characterisation of the Dinobots (plus other characters, which I won't go too into here) - and carrying over some Redemption material, at risk of otherwise being ignored.
And some Starscream, of course!
All the character work, of course, is to be nicely found in Bludgeon too. He follows quite steamrollingly in the footsteps of Jhiaxus and Thunderwing - his predecessors in more ways than one - of being a complete cosmic rustheap. However, the Dinobots are most definitely the stars of the book: character, dialogue, interactions, snide comments and shade are all perfectly in line with their personalities as developed in IDW, but also with callbacks to other TF tropes.
Art
I am aware of the fandom's divided opinion on Livio Ramondelli, but the book - in my opinion - shows an artist working on full throttle, with some very well laid out passages and compositions, some clearly defined sequences, and designs that are both recognisable and well-utilised for the individual characters involved in the book. And splash pages and spreads have always been his forte anyway.
Just gonna leave this here
Not to forget, Ramondelli provides his own colours too - which sometimes still leaves me wondering what a different colour artist might do with that lineart - and he captures the various moods of this dark but still somehow hopeful story well, bringing different lights and hues to the scenes that take place. Even on the vaster scale of Cybertron's plains.
also, nightmares!
Tom B. Long's lettering work - with all the above said, perhaps works best with Ramondelli too, giving a chance to the particular style with words that pair and weave with the fiery scenes, or moody scapes. And the caption positioning, of course, eases the reading beautifully. There are two covers alone for the issue, one by Ramondelli, one by Jeffrey Veregge (thumbnailed), but both spotlight the giant space dinosaur in the room in their own way, and are both really great.
Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead
This review was a piece of cooperative work, between staff members with diverging opinions, but one point that we agreed on was this: Salvation does not work with new readers. It relies a real lot on previous stories, previous plot, pre-existing characterisation, and general TF lore that may not be enjoyed fully by newer fans of the comics.
no wai
But! But for long-term, heavily invested readers - on the other hand - that same reliance of all of that material (Chaos, Syndromica, Monstrosity, Redemption, even TAAO and RID) means that the one-shot does not fit in its own name, and still delivers an incredible accomplishment for a team of characters that is often overlooked but widely appreciated in the fandom.
Posted by Va'al on June 14th, 2017 @ 2:06am CDT
Cue the Cranberries
(Spoiler free-ish)
(Spoiler free-ish)
Synopsis
Exiled from civilization, the Dinobots are the last line of defense against the ultimate Cybertronian dinosaur—Trypticon! But how much are the Dinobots willing to sacrifice for a world that hates them?
Primus hates you too, yes
Story
We now return to your yearly schedule update on the Dinobots, minus Grimlock, because we wouldn't want you to forget that the Dinobots are very much still a thing, except when they're not (most of the time), but here - the third part of the Barber/Ramondelli 'we need more Maximum Dinobots' story: after Punishment and Redemption, comes Salvation.
The bots are back in town
Despite my initial tone there, John Barber is actually able to bring together a lot of previous material into the book, and clear out some air that needed airing, from Trypticon (and even Chaos and Monstrosity) fulfilling the toy quota without a special event, to Bludgeon, Strafe, Swift and the general characterisation of the Dinobots (plus other characters, which I won't go too into here) - and carrying over some Redemption material, at risk of otherwise being ignored.
And some Starscream, of course!
All the character work, of course, is to be nicely found in Bludgeon too. He follows quite steamrollingly in the footsteps of Jhiaxus and Thunderwing - his predecessors in more ways than one - of being a complete cosmic rustheap. However, the Dinobots are most definitely the stars of the book: character, dialogue, interactions, snide comments and shade are all perfectly in line with their personalities as developed in IDW, but also with callbacks to other TF tropes.
Art
I am aware of the fandom's divided opinion on Livio Ramondelli, but the book - in my opinion - shows an artist working on full throttle, with some very well laid out passages and compositions, some clearly defined sequences, and designs that are both recognisable and well-utilised for the individual characters involved in the book. And splash pages and spreads have always been his forte anyway.
Just gonna leave this here
Not to forget, Ramondelli provides his own colours too - which sometimes still leaves me wondering what a different colour artist might do with that lineart - and he captures the various moods of this dark but still somehow hopeful story well, bringing different lights and hues to the scenes that take place. Even on the vaster scale of Cybertron's plains.
also, nightmares!
Tom B. Long's lettering work - with all the above said, perhaps works best with Ramondelli too, giving a chance to the particular style with words that pair and weave with the fiery scenes, or moody scapes. And the caption positioning, of course, eases the reading beautifully. There are two covers alone for the issue, one by Ramondelli, one by Jeffrey Veregge (thumbnailed), but both spotlight the giant space dinosaur in the room in their own way, and are both really great.
Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead
This review was a piece of cooperative work, between staff members with diverging opinions, but one point that we agreed on was this: Salvation does not work with new readers. It relies a real lot on previous stories, previous plot, pre-existing characterisation, and general TF lore that may not be enjoyed fully by newer fans of the comics.
no wai
But! But for long-term, heavily invested readers - on the other hand - that same reliance of all of that material (Chaos, Syndromica, Monstrosity, Redemption, even TAAO and RID) means that the one-shot does not fit in its own name, and still delivers an incredible accomplishment for a team of characters that is often overlooked but widely appreciated in the fandom.
. 
½ out of
½ out of
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1889317)
Posted by Randomhero on June 14th, 2017 @ 6:21am CDT
Posted by Randomhero on June 14th, 2017 @ 6:21am CDT
I had kind of a hard time following some of this story so I don't know what to think. I'll have to give it another read tonight after work
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1889324)
Posted by Kurona on June 14th, 2017 @ 7:02am CDT
Posted by Kurona on June 14th, 2017 @ 7:02am CDT
I'll say what I said in the staff emails: I liked most of the pieces of the story, just not how it was put together. Great bricks, terrible cement. Very good posters, awful blu-tak. My analogies are getting worse and worse so I'll just leave it at Bludgeon looking FRIGGIN' AWESOME
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1889341)
Posted by ScottyP on June 14th, 2017 @ 8:36am CDT
Posted by ScottyP on June 14th, 2017 @ 8:36am CDT
I positively adored this story, this book, this arc (long as it took to happen), and the setup it leaves for future stories. Congratulations new Protoforms, your adopted parents are the dumber of the Dinobots, the new smart lady Dinobot, and Sandstorm.
Re: IDW Transformers: Redemption One-Shot Review (1889392)
Posted by RNSrobot on June 14th, 2017 @ 12:53pm CDT
Posted by RNSrobot on June 14th, 2017 @ 12:53pm CDT
I enjoyed it. Ramondelli's art suited the story and was actually among the best I've seen from him. His Trypticon is awesome. Excellent stuff with Starscream, too, very in keeping with how Scott has portrayed him in TAAO. Some fun twists and turns.
I'd like John Barber to stop using a million name tags and somebody's inner monologue now, please.
I'd like John Barber to stop using a million name tags and somebody's inner monologue now, please.
