Review for IDW Transformers Beast Wars #5

Sabrblade wrote:We're talking about the same Megatron who, in one of his greatest moments, proudly gloated the words "EVIL TRIUMPHS!"

That is one of the best quotes in the entire series. Don't take it out of context.

Sabrblade wrote:The most interesting villains are those who view the good guys as evil and themselves as in the right, not self-proclaimed wrongdoers.

Not always. The quote 'no one is the villain in their own story' doesn't have to be their defining trait. Tarantulas and Rampage are two of the best villains Transformers has ever made. That trope doesn't apply to either of them. Nor are they 'one-note monsters'.

Sabrblade wrote: What he hadn't realized at the time was how vicious the others of Megatron's crew were, having apparently only joined up with them shortly before the Golden Disk heist.

And yet Tarantulus is a renowned evil pred that people fear. The way this Dinobot is being written, he would have turned away as soon as he saw that guy in Meg's crew.

Why is it that I loved this style of art in TFA, but don't care for it in these comics? Too many straight lines and angles, not enough curves.

Rodimus Prime wrote:Why is it that I loved this style of art in TFA, but don't care for it in these comics? Too many straight lines and angles, not enough curves.

Still images vs. moving pictures, perhaps?

Alternatively, TFA was stylised but at least they still looked like they were supposed to in altmode. Prowl looked like a bike. Not a bike drawn by a 3yo that doesn't know what bikes look like

Also, in this issue we learned you can still fire blasters in Beast Mode. Wow, that's... artistically lazy. How many issues was it before we get the new artist?

Angry Tarantulas face is amazing.

I still think Burcham was perfect for the art role. Hopefully, as much as I love Coller, he only fills in for just one issue.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Angry Tarantulas face is amazing.

I still think Burcham was perfect for the art role. Hopefully, as much as I love Coller, he only fills in for just one issue.

I'm still a bit confused by the art situation as IDW didn't make any note of it at all in the solits, normally a change of artist (even for one issue) is a big deal, but nothing was said.

Also, I'm with you in liking Burcham's art. It didn't bother me at all.

On the other hand though, regularly rotating the artist isn't bad as it could give exposure to up and comers (still say IDW could have done an TF anthology comic for this purpose)

I'm going to assume the main issue here, is that Burcham drew G1 first and doesn't understand the difference. That Beast Modes are not just cosmetic altmodes. Primal can't pull his shotgun out of his gorilla forearm. No more than Waspinator can shoot lasers from his wasp stinger. The original series couldn't do so and the lore says it doesn't happen, aside from specific exceptions ala Lio Convoy. Then it is simply the artist couldn't be bothered to draw a scene properly.

This issue also highlights that scale is a problem too. There are growing, objective problems with this art. Subjective bias is all well and good. But that is all it is.

Case in point:


Alex Milne has a RI cover in the back of this issue. One that is so impressive, on multiple artistic levels. I think he should have been given this book easily.

Scenes like that though, Primal using his guns in alt mode, i don't care they weren't in the original series...I mean this is its own new thing. The creative team want that in this series, all power to them. The editors were clearly happy with it, so it's really not a problem to me.

Animal Attack Mode was the main gimmick of 1997.

Sabrblade wrote:Animal Attack Mode was the main gimmick of 1997.

Ah yes good point. However even if it wouldn't, I'd still be
Okay with it. I wonder if they'll incorporate it into the Rise of the Beasts movie

Except this isn't it's own new thing, yet. So far, it is a truncated redux with kitbashed extras. No new information has been presented. How things differ, in how they work within this continuity. A New Thing has to define itself. Just as Megatron: Origins and the -Ations did to establish how they were different from G1, Dreamwave etc.

This isn't about gatekeeping. Beast Wars finished 25 years ago. The End. Personally, I don't think there is any merit in catering to nostalgia at all.
But, guns in altmodes thing isn't them doing something "new". It is cutting corners. Because ala this issue, Burcham didn't want to draw Scorponok or Waspinator in Bot Mode. It would be like someone drawing Wolverine slashing a foe, without his claws being displayed.

Given the state of IDW 2.0, I don't think the editors at IDW have an issue with anything being done under the Transformers brand. As long as the money comes in.

...so for the people complaining that this series isn't different enough from the original story, October solicits from IDW are out, and between one of the revealed covers and confirmation from Burcham on Twitter, Razorbeast is coming.


https://twitter.com/jcburcham/status/14 ... 1994667009

Me: "Huh, that's neat. Wonder what his role might be."


Haters: "Oh great! Another character for this series to ruin!"

Great looking cover aside, If drawn by Burcham, I wonder what his altmode will look like...

It wasn't Burnham who drew it, Chan did

ZeroWolf wrote:It wasn't Burnham who drew it, Chan did

I was being facetious. I know Burcham didn't draw that cover, because it looks great. Something you could see as a poster on a wall. Not stuck on a fridge, by comical magnets...

Ah I misread your post, hence my confusion

ZeroWolf wrote:Ah I misread your post, hence my confusion

I thought so. Although you made me doubt that I'd written the right name, at first

As for the comment above. I'm looking forward to Razorbeast's inclusion. Part of the wellspring of non-Mainframe characters, that should have been used in this book from day one. Instead of the digibashes: Bat-Girl and Discount Snapper.

The first arc in IDW's new Beast Wars series, "Savage Landing", is set to conclude with tomorrow's release of Beast Wars #6. IDW Publishing has provided a five page preview of the book as well as its brief solicitation text which provides some information about what to expect:

(W) Erik Burnham (A/CA) Josh Burcham
"Savage Landing", Part 6! It's a siege on the Axalon as the Predacons attempt to end the Beast Wars before they even begin by bringing down the Maximals and their base! As Megatron and his loyal (?) troops launch their assault, one bot on Optimus Primal's ship decides to put it all on the line to help the others turn the tide.

The series will still be ongoing after this unlike many of IDW's recent Transformers titles which were mini-series, so don't forget to keep Beast Wars on your pull list for issue 7 and beyond! Check out the preview pages below, and as always keep it here at Seibertron.com for all the latest Transformers comic book news.

Didn't realise Tarantulas was a Fuzor in this continuity...

That's quite a lot of monologuing.

Sabrblade wrote:Me: "Huh, that's neat. Wonder what his role might be."


Haters: "Oh great! Another character for this series to ruin!"

Actually I'd be quite excited for Razorbeast as that cover looks amazing. It's just that the series regular art is abysmal and makes me have zero interest in this series. I hope just for the sake that someone can derive enjoyment out of it, that it turns out to be a decent story.

o.supreme wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Me: "Huh, that's neat. Wonder what his role might be."


Haters: "Oh great! Another character for this series to ruin!"

Actually I'd be quite excited for Razorbeast as that cover looks amazing. It's just that the series regular art is abysmal and makes me have zero interest in this series. I hope just for the sake that someone can derive enjoyment out of it, that it turns out to be a decent story.

There's a different artist listed for the interior art. Still no announcement from IDW about the artist change, unless the artists rotate regardless

ZeroWolf wrote:

o.supreme wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Me: "Huh, that's neat. Wonder what his role might be."


Haters: "Oh great! Another character for this series to ruin!"

Actually I'd be quite excited for Razorbeast as that cover looks amazing. It's just that the series regular art is abysmal and makes me have zero interest in this series. I hope just for the sake that someone can derive enjoyment out of it, that it turns out to be a decent story.

There's a different artist listed for the interior art. Still no announcement from IDW about the artist change, unless the artists rotate regardless

They are rotating. Josh has discussed it

Ok... that A cover is super cool and dynamic. It looks like all out war!! I've only read the first issue so far and I understand some peoples problem with the art, but I don't mind it. I just don't think it quite works for this type of story. This artist would be AWESOME on an Animated book, but I don't mind it here at all.

This will be a short review because I tend to be more lengthy when I complain than when I praise or am simply having a good time. And that's what this issue was, a good time. Here is some praise for the writing, it was the very first time that I could read the lines with the characters' voices in my head. Which is something I have been unable to do at times in this comic, which is not ideal when your main goal is to give your readers a familiar setting to expand on.

But as of now, I'm good. This issue serves as a fitting end to the six part introduction arc and is similar to how the second episode of the show wraps up. The stand out this issue was Megatron and the weakest link s Cheetor, not due to characterization but because there is just very little of him in this first arc.



In terms of art, I am fine with it too. The style is not for everyone but I felt more comfortable with it now than before, for the robot modes. I like the nice sheen given to Primal and I don't mind his almost gundam wing looking helmet. However, the beast modes are still offputting to me, where the exaggerated and angular style works much better for robots and vehicles than it does biological creatures like rats and Dinosaurs (though Burcham's Terrorsaur looks great in both modes).



My one issue with the art is more about how it does not synch with the words being uttered all the time. For instance, there is a scene where Dinobot says he is facing five Predaccons but there are only 4 in front of him. I actually have no clue who he is referring to in that scene since he himself took one out of commission (in a great callback kind of way) so maybe the error doesn't lie with the art at all but the editing. Someone didn't catch that there were 4 Predacons standing in front of Dinobot in the shot (as there should be). While it may seem I am spending an awful long time on just a few lines, this is where we get the big money shot of the issue and it is the peak of the climax so it definitely sticks out as an error we didn't need. And it could have easily been fixed with changing one word in a few sentences uttered.



In the end, this was a good issue. Looking back on this first arc, it was not all great, but I did have a lot of fun as a Beast Wars fan with these most recent 2 issues. And I am looking forward to what is next for our heroes and villains.


out of

william-james88 wrote:For instance, there is a scene where Dinobot says he is facing five Decepticons but there are only 4 in front of him.

...

Someone didn't catch that there were 4 Decepticons in the shot (as there should be).

You forgot to count Megatron's ego. That's a clear 5th member of the team.

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:For instance, there is a scene where Dinobot says he is facing five Decepticons but there are only 4 in front of him.

...

Someone didn't catch that there were 4 Decepticons in the shot (as there should be).

Haha, right. I'll go fix that. Cheers

This is about the cartoon and not the comic, but this is where my fellow BW fans are at so I'm sharing it here.

I just rewatched the finale today, probably the first time in about a decade. And I caught something I never noticed before. In the first episode, during the space fight, Dinobot shouts "Destroy them!" and Megatron refuses to do so right away. And in Nemesis pt 2, the Nemesis has its fusion canon fully charged, target locked on the Ark, and Megatron shouts "Destroy them!" only for Dinobot II to refuse to do so. I can't help wondering if that was a coincidence or an intentional callback.

I just can't get into this series because the artwork is just so bad... looks worse that coloring book art.

muddyjoe wrote:I just can't get into this series because the artwork is just so bad... looks worse that coloring book art.

The artist is changing next month if i recall. I never found a problem with the art work to be honest but, each go their own.

Let's hope the art style becomes like the alternate BW cover art or like the G1 series.

This style is just lazy, even I could possibly draw as well as this.

So I just got issue 6 and it is probably one of the worst issues to date. Not even for the usual offender being the poorly composed and child-like artwork. This time the writing was just as bad. From IDW 2.0 levels of pointless exposition (comics are a visual medium - SHOW DON'T TELL) to the most monumentally asinine exchange I've read in quite some time. Wherein Optimus Primal explains to Dinobot the origin of HIS OWN NAME

I know now, if this had been out during the Beast Era, I wouldn't have wasted my time on it. This coming from someone who utterly adores Beast Wars. Especially back then, as a kid. I'll give it til the end of the second arc, with the introduction of new characters and obviously better art. If it is still this bad, I'll cancel the subscription and probably give the books to charity.

Just saw the three-page preview of next issue. HUGE improvement on the artwork. Like night and day. Makes me wish the first six issues looked like that.

And something new and potentially interesting in a possible new buddy dynamic between Dinobot and Optimus, with Dinobot being the straight man to Optimus's fun guy persona. It's different and fun and can no way be compared to their very different relationship in the show.

Prepare to maximize your Wednesday with Transformers: Beast Wars #7, set to arrive from IDW Publishing for your weekly new comic book day. Winston Chan takes up the art duties for a short run beginning in this issue, and you can check out the five-page preview provided by IDW further below in this post to get a taste of that for yourself. The publisher's listing for this issue says:

(W) Erik Burnham (A) Winston Chan (CA) Fico Ossio
"Pod", part one! After their first explosive battle, both the Maximals and Predacons have allowed a lull to refresh and regroup. But when the first protoform pod comes down and a new entrant to the Beast Wars enters the fray, things are going to change in a major way! But whose side is Blackarachnia on?!

Check out the preview below and be sure to pick this issue up tomorrow at your local comic shop, through a licensed digital comics retailer, or via the Seibertron.com eBay store.

The art is definitely a step in the right direction. Except for the bizarre hands on Dinobot...

IDW's trip to prehistoric Earth or some near-to-that equivalent continues with today's release of Beast Wars #7. The issue begins a new arc called "Pod" and features the first appearance in this comic of Blackarachnia, and that's not a spoiler when she's on the darn cover. Her fictional debut is accompanied by another that's probably the hot topic when it comes to this particular issue, as a new artist takes over for a little while.


I'm personally a big fan of Josh Burcham's art style, but I'm also not blind - it's definitely a style and reading our boards here at Seibertron and elsewhere on the internet will tell you that style is not enjoyed by some fans. For those fans (who are wrong, but that's ok, I'm wrong on the internet a lot too) it may come as good news that issue 7 features Winston Chan as the interior artist, bringing along a change in that aforementioned style concept. Chan's beast modes are stellar, managing to find that careful point between realistic-ish animals and animals that are so large and out-of-scale with one another that they're completely unreal. SidVenBlu (yes, written like that) takes up the color work and brings major consistency with the opening arc of the series that helps make the transition from one artist to another much less jarring than I'd feared.


If there's an area where Chan's art has room for improvement, it's in the characters' robot modes. Something I'm not art-literate enough to describe just looks off about many of the facial expressions, but aside from that, some of the poses the characters are depicted in feel very stiff and artificial. It's worth noting that the action scenes were better than the talking scenes in this regard. Those action scenes are also bolstered by some of Jake M. Wood's best letter work to date - check the image before the one just above (with Dinobot and Optimus Primal from page 2) for an example. Multiple fonts, fun usage of onomatopoeias and nothing in the way of other things makes for a good time.

Art's usually not the first part of my reviews, but it's good to change things up, so this is also where I'll remind Seibertron.com readers that you can find all the cover images and full credits for the issue through our Vector Sigma Database page for Beast Wars #7.


As much as the art's changed and is rightfully the main point of interest in this issue, the plotting has changed very little, and by that I mean the decompressed pace of events. Eric Burnham's writing leaves little to be desired and gets out of the way when it needs to. The characters are further defined and more of each faction's situation is elaborated on. All of that's good to have, but just like with the "Savage Landing" arc, "Pod" is off to a start that makes it feel much like an episode of Beast Wars' first TV season, which is not as much of a compliment as it may sound like to some. If you see the switch in the book's credits where David Mariotte has moved to supervising editor while Jazmine Joyner takes up the mantle as editor and hope for a change to the pacing from that, let me go ahead and give you the bad news - there isn't any. This issue feels like it was plotted out for the trade paperback, just like nearly every issue of this series so far.


Beast Wars #7 continues a story where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The series itself is quite enjoyable, but it's tough to find a single issue that jumps out as better or worse than others. It's strange that comics publishers will judge a book's success based on how many monthly orders it gets from comic shops while simultaneously creating a product that is best enjoyed by those shops' customers when they abstain from the practice of subscribing to boost those monthly numbers as they wait until the collected version is released. You have to wonder when this anachronistic business model will crack, but that's another tangent for another time.

In short, this was another enjoyable issue that works well as part of the series, it's still not something that shines extremely brightly on its own, and fans turned off by the initial art style may find more to like here than in previous issues.



Look out for this issue today, August 25th, where you can pick it up at the Seibertron.com eBay store or at your local shop, check here to find the closest shop to you.

I already miss Josh's art.

The art is already leaps and bounds better than the crud in the previous releases. Let's hope this artist can replace whatever hack was employed for the others.

primalxconvoy wrote:The art is already leaps and bounds better than the crud in the previous releases. Let's hope this artist can replace whatever hack was employed for the others.

He's already set to return in November. I liked his art as well, just remember that art is subjective. Plenty of people hated animated for it's art style after all

Oh, and Cyberverse plenty of folk knock on Cyberverse but they missed out on some great stories and characters.

ZeroWolf wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:The art is already leaps and bounds better than the crud in the previous releases. Let's hope this artist can replace whatever hack was employed for the others.

He's already set to return in November. I liked his art as well, just remember that art is subjective. Plenty of people hated animated for it's art style after all

Oh, and Cyberverse plenty of folk knock on Cyberverse but they missed out on some great stories and characters.

That's a shame that the "artist" it's returning. As for Animated, I liked the show, but the toys were awful. The aesthetic didn't translate into a great toy line. I remember someone telling me that Animated was linked to a female Hasbro employee, or something? She was demoted/let go due to poor Animated toy sales? Can't really validate that though. Cyberverse had a great little (and surprisingly mature) story too. In both cases, they were leaps and bounds better than the main art in this BW series.

And yes, art is subjective and subjectively, I think the regular art for these BW comics was of an extremely poor quality and out of touch with the majority of TF/BW fans.

primalxconvoy wrote:I remember someone telling me that Animated was linked to a female Hasbro employee, or something? She was demoted/let go due to poor Animated toy sales? Can't really validate that though.

Complete and utter bull. The people who spearheaded Animated in both toys and fiction were all men, the art design aesthetic stemming from the style of Derrick J. Wyatt.

And the toys didn't do poorly since Hasbro kept making them even after the show ended. The main reason Animated ended when it did was because Hasbro wanted to leave Cartoon Network and partner with Discovery to create the Hub Network, and wanted to start over and make a new TF cartoon, Prime, to be a flagship program for the new network.

Depending on where you looked, you got different view points of the art, as D Max pointed out a few pages ago.

The animated toyline was superb and I felt it captured the style brilliantly, look at Deluxe Prowl/ Samurai Prowl for instance, the engineers worked miracles. There was a few duds of course (Voyager Megs) but they were outshone. It was a shame the last few toys never got a wider release.

Not heard of the female employee story

Edit:

Thanks for the clarification Sabrblade!

Sabrblade wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:I remember someone telling me that Animated was linked to a female Hasbro employee, or something? She was demoted/let go due to poor Animated toy sales? Can't really validate that though.

Complete and utter bull. The people who spearheaded Animated in both toys and fiction were all men, the art design aesthetic stemming from the style of Derrick J. Wyatt.

I think it's a reference to Samanttha Lomow but a bunch of facts are getting twisted.

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

primalxconvoy wrote:I remember someone telling me that Animated was linked to a female Hasbro employee, or something? She was demoted/let go due to poor Animated toy sales? Can't really validate that though.

Complete and utter bull. The people who spearheaded Animated in both toys and fiction were all men, the art design aesthetic stemming from the style of Derrick J. Wyatt.

I think it's a reference to Samanttha Lomow but a bunch of facts are getting twisted.

Could you elaborate? Also, for reference, I'm not suggesting that sex/gender is an issue here.

Xenos Prime wrote:I already miss Josh's art.

Same, this looks good, but I like Josh's more

I give this issue the same score

william-james88 wrote:I give this issue the same score

I mean, on my scale/our very unofficial scale a 3.5 = "good", so nothing wrong with that!