iTunes Preview for IDW Transformers #5

the art

This... this newest is awesome. I've never thought of Cybertron having organic lifeforms, but it makes so much sense (I know, they've been introduced before in this series). Just seeing Prowl with the dinobird is great.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but is this the first we're seeing of Megatron's actual politics? Beyond the surface "things need to change". He's basically saying that the Autobots as a ruling class are being too restrictive? Am I the only one interpreting this way?

Nexus Knight wrote:This... this newest is awesome. I've never thought of Cybertron having organic lifeforms, but it makes so much sense (I know, they've been introduced before in this series). Just seeing Prowl with the dinobird is great.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but is this the first we're seeing of Megatron's actual politics? Beyond the surface "things need to change". He's basically saying that the Autobots as a ruling class are being too restrictive? Am I the only one interpreting this way?

He’s been saying that throughout the series in his scenes

Great, now I need a Pteraxodon to go with my Prowl..

I wonder if thats a genuine Earth import, establishing a relative time stamp for this stoyry, or some alien knock-off dinobird? If it is, its a clever way to say “Millions of Years ago, by SHOWING instead of telling.

Nexus Knight wrote:This... this newest is awesome. I've never thought of Cybertron having organic lifeforms, but it makes so much sense (I know, they've been introduced before in this series). Just seeing Prowl with the dinobird is great.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but is this the first we're seeing of Megatron's actual politics? Beyond the surface "things need to change". He's basically saying that the Autobots as a ruling class are being too restrictive? Am I the only one interpreting this way?

Second time, the first in depth look was the end of Book 2 or 3 when someone fired on Megatron during his speech, but this is a much more in depth look at Cybertron’s past and past politics than we have gotten.

Honestly i'm happy for those that are enjoying this.


..but here we go again the "Autobots are bad wah wah" this is NOT Megatron.

Megatron should be a power hungry **** no more no less. Idw please please stop justifying your villain it ruins your villain sometimes people are just ****holes simple as that.

Coptur wrote:Honestly i'm happy for those that are enjoying this.

..but here we go again the "Autobots are bad wah wah" this is NOT Megatron.

Megatron should be a power hungry **** no more no less. Idw please please stop justifying your villain it ruins your villain sometimes people are just ****holes simple as that.

Every a-hole is a product of nature and environment and no two are alike. Batman and his rouges gallery are a case study.

Batman = a-hole for justice
Joker = a-hole for chaos
Riddler = smart a-hole
Penguin = greedy a-hole
Catwoman = sneaky a-hole
Poison Ivy = environmentalist a-hole

None of them were born a-holes, it took time and circumstance to make them the archetypal a-holes that they all are.

Coptur wrote:Honestly i'm happy for those that are enjoying this.


..but here we go again the "Autobots are bad wah wah" this is NOT Megatron.

Megatron should be a power hungry **** no more no less. Idw please please stop justifying your villain it ruins your villain sometimes people are just ****holes simple as that.

Yeeeeeeah Megatron was a one note villain for over 20 years that just cackled and screamed domination with no depth. No thanks. I’d rather have characters that are interesting and have a good background.

Randomhero wrote:

Coptur wrote:Honestly i'm happy for those that are enjoying this.


..but here we go again the "Autobots are bad wah wah" this is NOT Megatron.

Megatron should be a power hungry **** no more no less. Idw please please stop justifying your villain it ruins your villain sometimes people are just ****holes simple as that.

Yeeeeeeah Megatron was a one note villain for over 20 years that just cackled and screamed domination with no depth. No thanks. I’d rather have characters that are interesting and have a good background.

Yeah I can see and understand the container argument.

but if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Making your heroes out to be the bad guy faction isn't good writing either.

Megatron isn't Magneto and and should never be Magneto and doesn't need those layers.

By robbing the Leader-1 / Cy-Kill backstory you aren't doing anything new.

Glad you're liking this take on Megatron though, i guess this just isn't for me anymore.

Coptur wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

Coptur wrote:Honestly i'm happy for those that are enjoying this.


..but here we go again the "Autobots are bad wah wah" this is NOT Megatron.

Megatron should be a power hungry **** no more no less. Idw please please stop justifying your villain it ruins your villain sometimes people are just ****holes simple as that.

Yeeeeeeah Megatron was a one note villain for over 20 years that just cackled and screamed domination with no depth. No thanks. I’d rather have characters that are interesting and have a good background.

Yeah I can see and understand the container argument.

but if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Making your heroes out to be the bad guy faction isn't good writing either.

Megatron isn't Magneto and and should never be Magneto and doesn't need those layers.

By robbing the Leader-1 / Cy-Kill backstory you aren't doing anything new.

Glad you're liking this take on Megatron though, i guess this just isn't for me anymore.

Except it was broke which made those characters not that memorable. When a character just cackles and screams evil things. That’s not great. It worked for a children’s cartoon 35 years ago but not nowadays.

This is also a Megatron that hasnt started the war yet. It’s inevitable he will lose his way but guess what? That’s how most villains start.

The most memorable villains in media have tragic origins that made them who they were. Even going back to transformers with Beast Wars Megatron. A character that was evil but he was evil because he was created on the side of the war that lost and grew up oppressed and became obsessed with changing his heritage.

What you’re wanting is the very thing that people have complained about with the first half of the marvel movies. That the villains were just cookie cutter one dimensional characters that were evil to just be evil and was a big criticism for some of those movies.

Nobody wants what you’re asking for because it doesn’t work

Randomhero wrote:

Coptur wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

Coptur wrote:Honestly i'm happy for those that are enjoying this.


..but here we go again the "Autobots are bad wah wah" this is NOT Megatron.

Megatron should be a power hungry **** no more no less. Idw please please stop justifying your villain it ruins your villain sometimes people are just ****holes simple as that.

Yeeeeeeah Megatron was a one note villain for over 20 years that just cackled and screamed domination with no depth. No thanks. I’d rather have characters that are interesting and have a good background.

Yeah I can see and understand the container argument.

but if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Making your heroes out to be the bad guy faction isn't good writing either.

Megatron isn't Magneto and and should never be Magneto and doesn't need those layers.

By robbing the Leader-1 / Cy-Kill backstory you aren't doing anything new.

Glad you're liking this take on Megatron though, i guess this just isn't for me anymore.

Except it was broke which made those characters not that memorable. When a character just cackles and screams evil things. That’s not great. It worked for a children’s cartoon 35 years ago but not nowadays.

This is also a Megatron that hasnt started the war yet. It’s inevitable he will lose his way but guess what? That’s how most villains start.

The most memorable villains in media have tragic origins that made them who they were. Even going back to transformers with Beast Wars Megatron. A character that was evil but he was evil because he was created on the side of the war that lost and grew up oppressed and became obsessed with changing his heritage.

What you’re wanting is the very thing that people have complained about with the first half of the marvel movies. That the villains were just cookie cutter one dimensional characters that were evil to just be evil and was a big criticism for some of those movies.

Nobody wants what you’re asking for because it doesn’t work

I understand to take out the saturday morning cartoon element i agree but you shouldn't feel sorry for your villains. never.

I can see that but i doesn't stand for all villains Norman Osborn was nasty before he became the Green Goblin for example.

Now I think you have beast wars all wrong the Predacons were not 'oppressed' that was just the political dogma Megatron spouted to gain followers and to take total power for him self (sound familiar to a real life example) so much much so he wanted to kill the ultimate good in auto/max history to gain said power Optimus Prime. He was greying the lines between the Predacons and Maximals. It wasn't the maximals being evil the writers should not grey the lines between good and evil. People incredibly ticked off people with Hydra Captain America (rightly so) and the constant hero vs hero stories, no one wants that either.

Again not true Abomination had a full character arc (corrupted by power), Loki again not exactly a cookie cutter. Iron Monger a full nasty character arc. (i'll give you Malaketh but that film was rubbish anyway).

No one is asking for all villains to have multiple layers either. the writers to should refer back to budiansky's profiles for where the character came from imo.

I do appreciate your side though

Coptur wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

Coptur wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

Coptur wrote:Honestly i'm happy for those that are enjoying this.


..but here we go again the "Autobots are bad wah wah" this is NOT Megatron.

Megatron should be a power hungry **** no more no less. Idw please please stop justifying your villain it ruins your villain sometimes people are just ****holes simple as that.

Yeeeeeeah Megatron was a one note villain for over 20 years that just cackled and screamed domination with no depth. No thanks. I’d rather have characters that are interesting and have a good background.

Yeah I can see and understand the container argument.

but if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Making your heroes out to be the bad guy faction isn't good writing either.

Megatron isn't Magneto and and should never be Magneto and doesn't need those layers.

By robbing the Leader-1 / Cy-Kill backstory you aren't doing anything new.

Glad you're liking this take on Megatron though, i guess this just isn't for me anymore.

Except it was broke which made those characters not that memorable. When a character just cackles and screams evil things. That’s not great. It worked for a children’s cartoon 35 years ago but not nowadays.

This is also a Megatron that hasnt started the war yet. It’s inevitable he will lose his way but guess what? That’s how most villains start.

The most memorable villains in media have tragic origins that made them who they were. Even going back to transformers with Beast Wars Megatron. A character that was evil but he was evil because he was created on the side of the war that lost and grew up oppressed and became obsessed with changing his heritage.

What you’re wanting is the very thing that people have complained about with the first half of the marvel movies. That the villains were just cookie cutter one dimensional characters that were evil to just be evil and was a big criticism for some of those movies.

Nobody wants what you’re asking for because it doesn’t work

I understand to take out the saturday morning cartoon element i agree but you shouldn't feel sorry for your villains. never.

I can see that but i doesn't stand for all villains Norman Osborn was nasty before he became the Green Goblin for example.

Now I think you have beast wars all wrong the Predacons were not 'oppressed' that was just the political dogma Megatron spouted to gain followers and to take total power for him self (sound familiar to a real life example) so much much so he wanted to kill the ultimate good in auto/max history to gain said power Optimus Prime. He was greying the lines between the Predacons and Maximals. It wasn't the maximals being evil the writers should not grey the lines between good and evil. People incredibly ticked off people with Hydra Captain America (rightly so) and the constant hero vs hero stories, no one wants that either.

Again not true Abomination had a full character arc (corrupted by power), Loki again not exactly a cookie cutter. Iron Monger a full nasty character arc. (i'll give you Malaketh but that film was rubbish anyway).

No one is asking for all villains to have multiple layers either. the writers to should refer back to budiansky's profiles for where the character came from imo.

I do appreciate your side though

Loki i will give you. Didnt see Hulk, But Iron Monger was the first in a line of Marvel Villians that were just mirrors of their heroes. Iron Monger had Charisma, and that made him memorable, but he didnt jsve an arc. Sn arc implies change. He juat backslid. The guy from Iron Man 2 had more of an arc, we knew his father had been potentially burned by thr Starks previously. But it sounds like Obafiah Iron Monger Stain is exactly who you want as a Megatron. But IDW is building towards another villian like, to continue the metaphors, Thanos.

But they were oppressed. The episode that introduced the Tripredacus Council explained that after the war the predacons were oppressed in ways and were treated as second class citizens. And BW megatrons plan by the end of season two was to wipe out not just the autobots and maximals by killing Optimus Prime it was to wipe himself out so his ancestors ancestors would become the victors of the war. That very act would destroy himself too and he knew it.

Randomhero wrote:But they were oppressed. The episode that introduced the Tripredacus Council explained that after the war the predacons were oppressed in ways and were treated as second class citizens. And BW megatrons plan by the end of season two was to wipe out not just the autobots and maximals by killing Optimus Prime it was to wipe himself out so his ancestors ancestors would become the victors of the war. That very act would destroy himself too and he knew it.

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron.

Megatron didn't fall victim to the time-nado his plan would've killed only Autobots whereas later on Tarantulas saw the opportunity to do the same but to both factions (in turn serving the Tripredacus Council) by wiping out the Ark with all on board.

Randomhero wrote:But they were oppressed. The episode that introduced the Tripredacus Council explained that after the war the predacons were oppressed in ways and were treated as second class citizens. And BW megatrons plan by the end of season two was to wipe out not just the autobots and maximals by killing Optimus Prime it was to wipe himself out so his ancestors ancestors would become the victors of the war. That very act would destroy himself too and he knew it.

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron.

Megatron didn't fall victim to the time-nado his plan would've killed only Autobots whereas later on Tarantulas saw the opportunity to do the same but to both factions (in turn serving the Tripredacus Council) by wiping out the Ark with all on board.

Randomhero wrote:But they were oppressed. The episode that introduced the Tripredacus Council explained that after the war the predacons were oppressed in ways and were treated as second class citizens. And BW megatrons plan by the end of season two was to wipe out not just the autobots and maximals by killing Optimus Prime it was to wipe himself out so his ancestors ancestors would become the victors of the war. That very act would destroy himself too and he knew it.

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron.

Megatron didn't fall victim to the time-nado his plan would've killed only Autobots whereas later on Tarantulas saw the opportunity to do the same but to both factions (in turn serving the Tripredacus Council) by wiping out the Ark with all on board.

Randomhero wrote:But they were oppressed. The episode that introduced the Tripredacus Council explained that after the war the predacons were oppressed in ways and were treated as second class citizens. And BW megatrons plan by the end of season two was to wipe out not just the autobots and maximals by killing Optimus Prime it was to wipe himself out so his ancestors ancestors would become the victors of the war. That very act would destroy himself too and he knew it.

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron. Peace would feel oppressive to war mongers and haters they would say and do anything (i.e lie) to have full power back in their court.

Megatron didn't fall victim to the time-nado his plan would've killed only Autobots whereas later on Tarantulas saw the opportunity to do the same but to both factions (in turn serving the Tripredacus Council) by wiping out the Ark with all on board.

Coptur wrote:

Randomhero wrote:But they were oppressed. The episode that introduced the Tripredacus Council explained that after the war the predacons were oppressed in ways and were treated as second class citizens. And BW megatrons plan by the end of season two was to wipe out not just the autobots and maximals by killing Optimus Prime it was to wipe himself out so his ancestors ancestors would become the victors of the war. That very act would destroy himself too and he knew it.

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron. Peace would feel oppressive to war mongers and haters they would say and do anything (i.e lie) to have full power back in their court.

Megatron didn't fall victim to the time-nado his plan would've killed only Autobots whereas later on Tarantulas saw the opportunity to do the same but to both factions (in turn serving the Tripredacus Council) by wiping out the Ark with all on board.

The council even states that predacons are second class citizens. That’s why a lot of predacons are living on space stations instead of Cybertron the cartoon

The Tripredacus was planning a war to take back Cybertron. They didn’t stall anything because of a Megatron. He was causing problems in the name of their faction. That’s why they sent ravage to take him out and everyone on prehistoric earth. They didn’t want him and his actions causing a rift in what they were planing.

Megatron knew what he was doing. He himself is as much a biproduct of the end of the autobot/Decepticon war as the maximals. He knew killing Optimus would remove the predacons too because it meant his ancestors would win.

Tigerhawk even states that in the episode that revealed tarantulus’s plan by saying if he does this it will affect the predacons too where the twist was revealed he and the council are not from either side. That’s a bit of retconning because when megatrons plan was revealed a season earlier the Tripredacus council were intended to be decedents of Decepticons.

Coptur wrote:

Randomhero wrote:But they were oppressed. The episode that introduced the Tripredacus Council explained that after the war the predacons were oppressed in ways and were treated as second class citizens. And BW megatrons plan by the end of season two was to wipe out not just the autobots and maximals by killing Optimus Prime it was to wipe himself out so his ancestors ancestors would become the victors of the war. That very act would destroy himself too and he knew it.

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron. Peace would feel oppressive to war mongers and haters they would say and do anything (i.e lie) to have full power back in their court.


Megatron didn't fall victim to the time-nado his plan would've killed only Autobots whereas later on Tarantulas saw the opportunity to do the same but to both factions (in turn serving the Tripredacus Council) by wiping out the Ark with all on board.

The Tripredacus Council could be seen loosely analogous to post WWI Germany. The Allied Powers saddled Germany with enormous debt and responsibility for repairing the damage done by the war, so much so that Germany was forced into exorbinant inflation and was exporting resources it needed to rebuild for itself. For his part, Woodrow Wilson cautioned against such harsh reperations, but was largely ignored.

Now, the Autobot/Decepticon War was probably not anythibg like WW1, but we really don't know how the Pax Cybertronia went down, and its entorely possible, even likely, that Autobot Victors punished the Cons by making them rebuild. And much as how the Nazi party gained traction in the Shadows, (remember, Hitler was ELECTED by a tired, broken people, the Jew-hating, baby eating villianous bad guys part came later) the Tripredacus Council likely evolved under similar circumstances.

Your saying

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron. Peace would feel oppressive to war mongers and haters they would say and do anything (i.e lie) to have full power back in their court.

is only creating plausible deniability in a story where there is none. The writers have told us through the writing that the Predacons were born of a downtrodden loser of a bloody. Costly war. Take that at face value because its Canon.

Even though he's using the "Autobots are containing us" as a "legitimate" reason for his speaking out, I think this issue already makes clear he's not just addressing some grievance. It definitely appears self-serving just based on the dialogue. But we'll see.

Flashwave wrote:

Coptur wrote:

Randomhero wrote:But they were oppressed. The episode that introduced the Tripredacus Council explained that after the war the predacons were oppressed in ways and were treated as second class citizens. And BW megatrons plan by the end of season two was to wipe out not just the autobots and maximals by killing Optimus Prime it was to wipe himself out so his ancestors ancestors would become the victors of the war. That very act would destroy himself too and he knew it.

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron. Peace would feel oppressive to war mongers and haters they would say and do anything (i.e lie) to have full power back in their court.


Megatron didn't fall victim to the time-nado his plan would've killed only Autobots whereas later on Tarantulas saw the opportunity to do the same but to both factions (in turn serving the Tripredacus Council) by wiping out the Ark with all on board.

The Tripredacus Council could be seen loosely analogous to post WWI Germany. The Allied Powers saddled Germany with enormous debt and responsibility for repairing the damage done by the war, so much so that Germany was forced into exorbinant inflation and was exporting resources it needed to rebuild for itself. For his part, Woodrow Wilson cautioned against such harsh reperations, but was largely ignored.

Now, the Autobot/Decepticon War was probably not anythibg like WW1, but we really don't know how the Pax Cybertronia went down, and its entorely possible, even likely, that Autobot Victors punished the Cons by making them rebuild. And much as how the Nazi party gained traction in the Shadows, (remember, Hitler was ELECTED by a tired, broken people, the Jew-hating, baby eating villianous bad guys part came later) the Tripredacus Council likely evolved under similar circumstances.

Your saying

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron. Peace would feel oppressive to war mongers and haters they would say and do anything (i.e lie) to have full power back in their court.

is only creating plausible deniability in a story where there is none. The writers have told us through the writing that the Predacons were born of a downtrodden loser of a bloody. Costly war. Take that at face value because its Canon.

Should losers not have repercussion for their actions?? If you don't want to pick up the smashed glass because you might get cut fingers then don't throw it in the first place.

So the Autobots/Maximals lived up to greatest leader who states that 'freedom is right of all senitent beings' I can not believe that writers would fully intend that real heroes were the ones that forced BW Megatron to want to mass genocide on an entire race.
(Hitlers jew hatred was pretty much from the beginning of his political campaign the deaths came later but the hatred very much there.)

This segment of the story was written from the Bad Guys perspective and you fully believed everything they said as gospel truthful canon. I won't believe one side of story and not consider the other sides.
Now I admit we don't get the good guy side of the story maybe that was a mistake from the writers maybe it was very intentional but from the actions and nature of all the maximals on the show i do not get a sense of superiority or wanting to down tread on the predacons. Optimus often wanted peace with Megatron and to work together to get off of earth.

As with everything transformers there is always more than meets the eye (or ear)

Ultimately the transformers is for children and we shouldn't grey the lines between good and evil.

Optimus Prime and the Autobots should always be for good on life and fight for lose unable to defend themselves Optimus should never put in the same light as Churchill who did a lot of good but also a lot of questionable thing during his life. the same goes for Megatron a murderer and tyrant I shouldn' want to question the whys and what with him as would never question why Hitler was a nasty ****.

Buddies.

Coptur wrote:

Flashwave wrote:

Coptur wrote:

Randomhero wrote:But they were oppressed. The episode that introduced the Tripredacus Council explained that after the war the predacons were oppressed in ways and were treated as second class citizens. And BW megatrons plan by the end of season two was to wipe out not just the autobots and maximals by killing Optimus Prime it was to wipe himself out so his ancestors ancestors would become the victors of the war. That very act would destroy himself too and he knew it.

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron. Peace would feel oppressive to war mongers and haters they would say and do anything (i.e lie) to have full power back in their court.


Megatron didn't fall victim to the time-nado his plan would've killed only Autobots whereas later on Tarantulas saw the opportunity to do the same but to both factions (in turn serving the Tripredacus Council) by wiping out the Ark with all on board.

The Tripredacus Council could be seen loosely analogous to post WWI Germany. The Allied Powers saddled Germany with enormous debt and responsibility for repairing the damage done by the war, so much so that Germany was forced into exorbinant inflation and was exporting resources it needed to rebuild for itself. For his part, Woodrow Wilson cautioned against such harsh reperations, but was largely ignored.

Now, the Autobot/Decepticon War was probably not anythibg like WW1, but we really don't know how the Pax Cybertronia went down, and its entorely possible, even likely, that Autobot Victors punished the Cons by making them rebuild. And much as how the Nazi party gained traction in the Shadows, (remember, Hitler was ELECTED by a tired, broken people, the Jew-hating, baby eating villianous bad guys part came later) the Tripredacus Council likely evolved under similar circumstances.

Your saying

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron. Peace would feel oppressive to war mongers and haters they would say and do anything (i.e lie) to have full power back in their court.

is only creating plausible deniability in a story where there is none. The writers have told us through the writing that the Predacons were born of a downtrodden loser of a bloody. Costly war. Take that at face value because its Canon.

Should losers not have repercussion for their actions?? If you don't want to pick up the smashed glass because you might get cut fingers then don't throw it in the first place.

So the Autobots/Maximals lived up to greatest leader who states that 'freedom is right of all senitent beings' I can not believe that writers would fully intend that real heroes were the ones that forced BW Megatron to want to mass genocide on an entire race.
(Hitlers jew hatred was pretty much from the beginning of his political campaign the deaths came later but the hatred very much there.)

This segment of the story was written from the Bad Guys perspective and you fully believed everything they said as gospel truthful canon. I won't believe one side of story and not consider the other sides.
Now I admit we don't get the good guy side of the story maybe that was a mistake from the writers maybe it was very intentional but from the actions and nature of all the maximals on the show i do not get a sense of superiority or wanting to down tread on the predacons. Optimus often wanted peace with Megatron and to work together to get off of earth.

As with everything transformers there is always more than meets the eye (or ear)

Ultimately the transformers is for children and we shouldn't grey the lines between good and evil.

Optimus Prime and the Autobots should always be for good on life and fight for lose unable to defend themselves Optimus should never put in the same light as Churchill who did a lot of good but also a lot of questionable thing during his life. the same goes for Megatron a murderer and tyrant I shouldn' want to question the whys and what with him as would never question why Hitler was a nasty ****.

Except that history has shown us how Hitler got the way he was, he wasn't born evil, it was events in his life that shaped his views.

I can see that you would prefer the lines more clear cut like in the cartoons but these are the comics and generally, they play the long game. For all you know, these are building up to an event where the corrupt elements of the bot forces ignore orders from prime and kill a lot of megs followers, which in turn breaks his mind, turning him into the megs you want.

Having said that, maybe transformers '84 will be more up your street

ZeroWolf wrote:

Coptur wrote:

Flashwave wrote:

Coptur wrote:

Randomhero wrote:But they were oppressed. The episode that introduced the Tripredacus Council explained that after the war the predacons were oppressed in ways and were treated as second class citizens. And BW megatrons plan by the end of season two was to wipe out not just the autobots and maximals by killing Optimus Prime it was to wipe himself out so his ancestors ancestors would become the victors of the war. That very act would destroy himself too and he knew it.

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron. Peace would feel oppressive to war mongers and haters they would say and do anything (i.e lie) to have full power back in their court.


Megatron didn't fall victim to the time-nado his plan would've killed only Autobots whereas later on Tarantulas saw the opportunity to do the same but to both factions (in turn serving the Tripredacus Council) by wiping out the Ark with all on board.

The Tripredacus Council could be seen loosely analogous to post WWI Germany. The Allied Powers saddled Germany with enormous debt and responsibility for repairing the damage done by the war, so much so that Germany was forced into exorbinant inflation and was exporting resources it needed to rebuild for itself. For his part, Woodrow Wilson cautioned against such harsh reperations, but was largely ignored.

Now, the Autobot/Decepticon War was probably not anythibg like WW1, but we really don't know how the Pax Cybertronia went down, and its entorely possible, even likely, that Autobot Victors punished the Cons by making them rebuild. And much as how the Nazi party gained traction in the Shadows, (remember, Hitler was ELECTED by a tired, broken people, the Jew-hating, baby eating villianous bad guys part came later) the Tripredacus Council likely evolved under similar circumstances.

Your saying

The Tripredous council no doubt 'believed' that and told the masses the same, don't forget they had their own plans in motion which are some what put on hold by BW Megatron. Peace would feel oppressive to war mongers and haters they would say and do anything (i.e lie) to have full power back in their court.

is only creating plausible deniability in a story where there is none. The writers have told us through the writing that the Predacons were born of a downtrodden loser of a bloody. Costly war. Take that at face value because its Canon.

Should losers not have repercussion for their actions?? If you don't want to pick up the smashed glass because you might get cut fingers then don't throw it in the first place.

So the Autobots/Maximals lived up to greatest leader who states that 'freedom is right of all senitent beings' I can not believe that writers would fully intend that real heroes were the ones that forced BW Megatron to want to mass genocide on an entire race.
(Hitlers jew hatred was pretty much from the beginning of his political campaign the deaths came later but the hatred very much there.)

This segment of the story was written from the Bad Guys perspective and you fully believed everything they said as gospel truthful canon. I won't believe one side of story and not consider the other sides.
Now I admit we don't get the good guy side of the story maybe that was a mistake from the writers maybe it was very intentional but from the actions and nature of all the maximals on the show i do not get a sense of superiority or wanting to down tread on the predacons. Optimus often wanted peace with Megatron and to work together to get off of earth.

As with everything transformers there is always more than meets the eye (or ear)

Ultimately the transformers is for children and we shouldn't grey the lines between good and evil.

Optimus Prime and the Autobots should always be for good on life and fight for lose unable to defend themselves Optimus should never put in the same light as Churchill who did a lot of good but also a lot of questionable thing during his life. the same goes for Megatron a murderer and tyrant I shouldn' want to question the whys and what with him as would never question why Hitler was a nasty ****.

Except that history has shown us how Hitler got the way he was, he wasn't born evil, it was events in his life that shaped his views.

I can see that you would prefer the lines more clear cut like in the cartoons but these are the comics and generally, they play the long game. For all you know, these are building up to an event where the corrupt elements of the bot forces ignore orders from prime and kill a lot of megs followers, which in turn breaks his mind, turning him into the megs you want.

Having said that, maybe transformers '84 will be more up your street

Even in the earliest fiction (the Tech Spec bios), not all the Autobots were portrayed as squeeky clean. Mirage, Sunstreaker and Grimlock (and to a degree all the Dinobots) were less than sterling cookie cutter "good guys." Still, at the end of the day there were all "Heroic Autobots."

Sentient beings are pretty complicated with complicated motivations. Characters that are more three dimensional with faults and all are much more compelling and engrossing. Villains you can sympathize with or heroes that you love to hate, that’s engaging. Even in a medium focused around children I mean young readers are light years beyond the 1980’s Saturday morning or weekday afternoon fare that I grew up with. Just sayin’. The hottest fires sometimes start as slow burns.

Randomhero wrote:

Coptur wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

Coptur wrote:Honestly i'm happy for those that are enjoying this.


..but here we go again the "Autobots are bad wah wah" this is NOT Megatron.

Megatron should be a power hungry **** no more no less. Idw please please stop justifying your villain it ruins your villain sometimes people are just ****holes simple as that.

Yeeeeeeah Megatron was a one note villain for over 20 years that just cackled and screamed domination with no depth. No thanks. I’d rather have characters that are interesting and have a good background.

Yeah I can see and understand the container argument.

but if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Making your heroes out to be the bad guy faction isn't good writing either.

Megatron isn't Magneto and and should never be Magneto and doesn't need those layers.

By robbing the Leader-1 / Cy-Kill backstory you aren't doing anything new.

Glad you're liking this take on Megatron though, i guess this just isn't for me anymore.

Except it was broke which made those characters not that memorable. When a character just cackles and screams evil things. That’s not great. It worked for a children’s cartoon 35 years ago but not nowadays.

This is also a Megatron that hasnt started the war yet. It’s inevitable he will lose his way but guess what? That’s how most villains start.

The most memorable villains in media have tragic origins that made them who they were. Even going back to transformers with Beast Wars Megatron. A character that was evil but he was evil because he was created on the side of the war that lost and grew up oppressed and became obsessed with changing his heritage.

What you’re wanting is the very thing that people have complained about with the first half of the marvel movies. That the villains were just cookie cutter one dimensional characters that were evil to just be evil and was a big criticism for some of those movies.

Nobody wants what you’re asking for because it doesn’t work

My kids love Megatron. From 35 years ago. Just saying.

[/quote]
Except that history has shown us how Hitler got the way he was, he wasn't born evil, it was events in his life that shaped his views.

I can see that you would prefer the lines more clear cut like in the cartoons but these are the comics and generally, they play the long game. For all you know, these are building up to an event where the corrupt elements of the bot forces ignore orders from prime and kill a lot of megs followers, which in turn breaks his mind, turning him into the megs you want.

Having said that, maybe transformers '84 will be more up your street [/quote]

I dunno that falls into the nature vs nurture argument. (one I don't want on a forum )
The same events happened to many at the same time but they didn't take the same path. Some people are genuinely just wired 'wrong'.

I get characters with layers I really do but your leader of the 'Evil Decepticons' should be evil, with very sinister motives and your heroes shouldn't be the fallguys that create your bad leader.

Is there info on how the sales are for this new title, whether in comic stores or online? So far it's been overall an underwhelming story, it's like it's having problems getting on track. If it's really supposed to be a 12-issue limited series, the 2nd half better bring the fireworks. Otherwise this might get cancelled quick.

That’s blunt but honest I mean I’m not finding good news on this anywhere I look. Everyone has the same critiques. God that’s terrifying man!

Anyone read anything else from IDW? Executive changes over the few years and they just petitioned the management of sale through JP Morgan like a month ago. Maybe they’re not pouring their faith into this.

I’ll dig around to see if I can find any stats chief - a cursory search just goes to them reprinting the sold out first issue.

Hey chief I found the most recent stats from April comic sales on Comichron -
https://www.comichron.com/monthlycomics ... 19-04.html
It’s amazing to see some of these stats so low having collected through the boom in the 90’s holy smokes.

Ok gang just some quick figures according to Comichron.com in regards to the sales from the first few issues. The totals for May won't be in until next month, but here's a breakdown of the last two months:


Issue #1 was reprinted and issued 3/13 with an estimated 21,757 units.

Issue #2 was printed and issued on 3/27 with an estimated 12,871 units.

Issue #3 was printed and issued 4/17 with an estimated 11,358 units.


I'll check back in next month and get you the current numbers to see if the trend is continuing.

*Figures are compiled from Diamond Distributors Top 500 Charts.

That's quite a drop in sales there

ZeroWolf wrote:That's quite a drop in sales there

Pretty sure it's right in line with the rest of the market. Also, it's bi-weekly. Also, I can't get to the store fast enough to get it before it's sold out, and that's for every issue after #2.

If you're going to get stats, you probably shouldn't be getting them in a vacuum.

I’m pretty sure Diamond Comics Distributors are like the last comics distributors in the US. There are no figures outside of a vacuum. If you find some others here’s the place to post them

00Stargrave00 wrote:I’m pretty sure Diamond Comics Distributors are like the last comics distributors in the US. There are no figures outside of a vacuum. If you find some others here’s the place to post them

By vacuum I mean comparable statistics to other series with the same amount of issues and the drop off accordingly, which is probably going to be similar to this. Just posting Transformers stats and saying "wow that's bad" doesn't tell you a whole lot.

Just like, even though I have trouble getting the issues since I'm not subscribing anywhere, doesn't necessarily mean it's selling well. It could very well be that stores aren't ordering a lot of copies outside of their subscribers.

The conversations I've had at stores says otherwise. They all seem to be surprised at how "hot" the book is (their words, not mine) when I ask them do they have it and shockingly see that have no copies.

That could still be because they simply aren't ordering enough, but when you are there on Wednesday or latest Thursday and they don't have it, they aren't ordering enough for demand. Any store should have 1 or 2 copies over whatever they order. People come in belatedly. I'm coming in the day of and it's gone already, so someone is buying it.

Excellent points it’s obvious at least in your shop (and likely many others) it’s not meeting the demands. I wonder if they can risk ordering more I’ve never run a comic shop but man it’s got to be precipitous these days. I hope it becomes something great in this next phase, runs for a thousand issues, and moves humanity to a Bill and Ted’s peaceful future. Till all are one...dudes.

We've been a little harsh on IDW's rebooted Transformers series, with concerns about pacing reaching a boiling point for some. With the fifth issue out a couple days ago, have things picked up? Yes indeed, they have. Read on for more (late) thoughts about this latest chapter of Brian Ruckley's Transformers tale.

Plus, don't forget that you can buy Transformers comics directly from Seibertron.com's eBay store, including this latest issue! You can check out all the details in this separate article.


Things have been slow over the first four issues but to get straight to the point, stuff finally happens. A steady build of momentum culminates by the end of these 20 pages into a moment that, with some hindsight, feels a bit like it was an inevitability while retaining some of its surprising properties. Pieces of the slow-burn journey to get here play smartly into both the dialogue between characters and the captions of inner monologue, putting a capstone on the well defined but open-ended story that is "The World in Your Eyes". While I could ask for some more character justification for at least one scene involving Soundwave, the fact that the plot is moving would make that feel greedy. Some mysteries can wait if some others are moving along.


The cast on this issue is kept pretty tight, focusing mostly on four characters with contributions from some others like Chromia, Prowl, Wheeljack and Megatron grounding the story within its wider version of Cybertron. It may not be a surprise that this is the best issue since the series' first which also featured a pretty small cast of characters. We all love dozens of Transformers but it can be hard (though not impossible) to tell a story with large ensembles. As the first series in a new universe this tight casting is a positive sign, especially given Ruckley's writing style as seen so far which to me places more emphasis on what is happening rather than how the characters feel about it. While not devoid of the latter, given that this issue has satisfying plot moments that provide benefit to the former the final output of this issue is enhanced as a result.


The art duties on this issue are split between Anna Malkova, Sara Pitre-Durocher and Angel Hernandez, with Joana Lafuente providing colors throughout. The general color temperature of different settings helps provide an identity to the different locations on Cybertron where the story takes place, making things easy to follow even on a new version of the planet. Transformers stalwart Tom B. Long provides letters as usual and makes some smart bubble/caption placement choices that increase the dramatic moments in the final pages. Big, lengthy captions might have taken away some of the immersion, so it's good to see that editors David Mariotte and Tom Waltz channeled them through to the final product.


You may have noticed this review skipped mentioning the line art outside of names in the preceding paragraph. While I found most of the composition to range from good to outstanding, the mix of artists on this particular issue didn't feel as cohesive as it has in past issues. While I'm sure the split duty approach is necessary to keep pace with the aggressive bi-weekly publishing schedule, the transitions from one scene or point-of-view to another also accompanied by an artist switch were more obvious in this installment. Hernandez in particular has a good grasp on the environments and seems to have found comfort in Rubble and other frequently drawn characters, but the depiction of Quake was initially missing a sense of presence. Maybe some thicker inks or a different choice for the reader's sight line, or possibly a blockier approach to that character's depiction would have helped his initial appearance in the issue have even more impact than it did just by virtue of the story itself.

On covers, buyers have a choice of regular covers with Andrew Griffith and Thomas Deer providing a fun ensemble on the "A" cover while Cachét Whitman provides the more story-relevant "B" cover used for this review's news story's thumbnail. Guido Guidi lends an awesome "35th Anniversary" cover for the ten copy incentive, while Adam Riches' work can be seen on a Vault Collectibles exclusive a cartoon inspired Optimus Prime and Megatron. Rounding out the covers is John Gallagher, with two featuring Grimlock and Swoop in their robot and alternate modes - and this Dinobot-fanatic reviewer would like to know where and when these will be available, because we currently have no idea! You can also find images of all of the book's covers along with full credits for the issue in our Vector Sigma Database page for Transformers #5, but please note it contains a character appearance list which probably won't spoil you on anything unless you're hyper picky about spoilers and choose to click that link anyway.


Momentum can be a tricky thing, but this series now has that on its side for the first time since issue 1. After issue four, even our own forums had examples of readers proclaiming their readiness to drop the series from their pull-list, but after this issue those sentiments may have been as premature as those posting them probably hoped they were. Some further patience and allowance for plot development has been earned with this issue that will hopefully keep up into both issue 6 and the next five-part story that begins with issue 7. A tight cast and dramatic developments make this the best issue of the series in two months, but while a little inconsistency in the line art holds it back from true greatness it must be emphasized that this is a major improvement over the previous three issues.

I also want to point out that I suggested thicker inks and blocky design for a character depicted in a blocky way with thick inks, so maybe that isn't the issue there. My art critique vocabulary could probably use some polish, where's Megatronus to help me do words good?

Alrighty, this issue has me back on board. FINALLY, something happened. Now let's hope that things keep happening.

Wheeljack: Another job well done, Rubble!

Rubble: Thanks. It’s fun.

Dang great review Scotty thanks man!

I think that's just the shot in the arm we needed. Much appreciated good sir!

I was beginnibgbto think the lateness of the Review was because of reviewers opinions of the book.

For me, I feel like where Book5 ended, considering this is something like the last page of chapter 1 of a larger story is where we shoukda been in book3. This. Series has a bad habit of spening 17 pages on "story", ramping up thr last 3 pages of "action", and then not continuing the action again. The attack on Megatron comes to mind. Yes, things happened because of the attack, but its words and not actions. Even Megatron feels nonchalant about an attack on his own "flock".

That said, I think in a few years from now this story will be great in the trades, where we can read it and whatever comes next together with no waiting. These Comics are like side dishes, individually they won't fill you up but put together you get a good, if not great, meal.

This story is losing its lustre for me. I like the characters, and I like the world building. I love that the "Golden Age" pre war Cybertron is being shown as a vibrant, thriving part of a larger galaactic community. Something like this is a great way to quietly back-door character families like Rom. But I'm not feeling the "Oh Boy the new Transformers Comic is out" that I was feeling for Issue 1. But 5 left us at an interesting point, so if 6 promises to pickup the ACTION from 5 instead of another Story.

Flashwave wrote:I was beginnibgbto think the lateness of the Review was because of reviewers opinions of the book.

For me, I feel like where Book5 ended, considering this is something like the last page of chapter 1 of a larger story is where we shoukda been in book3. This. Series has a bad habit of spening 17 pages on "story", ramping up thr last 3 pages of "action", and then not continuing the action again. The attack on Megatron comes to mind. Yes, things happened because of the attack, but its words and not actions. Even Megatron feels nonchalant about an attack on his own "flock".

That said, I think in a few years from now this story will be great in the trades, where we can read it and whatever comes next together with no waiting. These Comics are like side dishes, individually they won't fill you up but put together you get a good, if not great, meal.

This story is losing its lustre for me. I like the characters, and I like the world building. I love that the "Golden Age" pre war Cybertron is being shown as a vibrant, thriving part of a larger galaactic community. Something like this is a great way to quietly back-door character families like Rom. But I'm not feeling the "Oh Boy the new Transformers Comic is out" that I was feeling for Issue 1. But 5 left us at an interesting point, so if 6 promises to pickup the ACTION from 5 instead of another Story.

I think you're right about reading in the trades, as that's what I'm doing with this series. I'm still curious as to how much this will tie in to the toylines with the characters rocking the siege look, guess we'll find out soon enough.

I keep checking for any news on the new cartoon- with the dedication to the toy depiction I wonder if it’s a cross media assault with more synergy. That can mean less individual artistic interpretation in each of the mediums but at the end of the day it’s all Transformers it gets me excited. Maybe fans of the show will find the comic. I wonder if it’ll be the exact same stories or not, I think that’s what I’m trying to get at.

I would expect a different story for the Netflix series, that one will probably start in the middle of the war.

A little late to the thread, but I'll be up-to-date in future (now that I've found this forum).

I really enjoyed this issue - more than I've enjoyed any of the others, and that includes issue 1, when I had the untainted optimism around following a new TF comic book series (my first since the original in the 80s).

It seems that the fifth issue follows the same general pattern of the whole series so far - each of the four issues has been 80-90% setup, then a sudden change of pace in the last few pages (the discovery of Brainstorm; the explosion at Megatron's rally; Orion's visit to Codexa). We've had four issues of that, and now things are finally - FINALLY - moving. I sincerely hope they don't drag the pace back to the glacial rate that we've had to suffer.

And please, no more walking and talking. The appeal of Transformers is that they... y'know... transform.

Anyway: here's my video review (the reviews for the four previous issues are also on my channel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WGvi9Gk4a8

Thanks
David

I'm certainly leaning towards the idea someone else should be given the TF license now.

00Stargrave00 wrote:I keep checking for any news on the new cartoon- with the dedication to the toy depiction I wonder if it’s a cross media assault with more synergy. That can mean less individual artistic interpretation in each of the mediums but at the end of the day it’s all Transformers it gets me excited. Maybe fans of the show will find the comic. I wonder if it’ll be the exact same stories or not, I think that’s what I’m trying to get at.

IDW isn’t shying away from new characters, so I think the trade off for strictly toy accurate figures for guys like Prime and Megatron (whom we care most about) is that we get more freeform designs like Geomodus and the aliens, as well as ELita-1 who oddly is not using her PotP toy even though Quake CLEARLY is his TR figure. And I think that’s okay.

ScottyP made a point 2/3 Podcasts back that this toyline accuracy may in fact be less or as much about selling their own toys and more about Hasbro firing back the 3P guys who were making money off the IDW designs of Charactres like Rodimus. Which raises questions again about guys like Geomodus and Froid, who are NOT toy designs. Will we see the 3P guys try to make their money off second stringers? Is there even demand for that?