Sneak Peak: IDW The Transformers #56 and Casey Coller Subscription Cover

Ramondelli's art looks fantastic here. And it looks like we may find out how Blitzwing ended up with Miles Mayhem in Revolution between these 2 stories

Can't wait for the next issue!

I really need this issue rn because MTMTE 56 was so confusing to read without it.

Newsarama has updated with the newest Transformers preview, that of next week's Transformers 56! Check out the full preview below, as Infinitus and Sentinel Prime make life hard on Alpha Trion and Kup teaches them turbo-revvin' young punks a lesson.

A former Cybertron ruler returns in Optimus Prime's darkest hour in a preview of next week's Transformers #56.
Transformers #56
John Barber (w) • Livio Ramondelli (a & c)
TITANS RETURN! Following the literally-Earth-shattering events of last issue… OPTIMUS PRIME establishes a new base of operations—AUTOBOT CITY! Its first visitor: a newly-revived SENTINEL PRIME, who sees a potential ally in OPTIMUS.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
· You’ve never seen a TRANSFORMERS crossover like this before!
· Ties directly in to this month’s MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!
· Leads into next month’s REVOLUTION!
· Variant cover by Ken Christiansen!

It's pretty funny to think Sentinel still has his enormous ego when he goes into his small titan master mode.


Also pretty funny how Alpha Trion doesn't appear to take him too seriously I love that.

I wonder why Sentinel calls himself Infinitus like this.
I mean, okay, yeah; obviously - to sell toys, but in-universe reason.

I hereby re-dub thee Douchimus Prime.

Seriously, Sentinel wasn't anywhere close to this much of a jerk in Megatron Origin. I get he's been recast as a sort of crazy nationalist villain, but you'd think his hatred of the disposable class would've popped up when a bunch of them attended a state funeral he hosted, or he'd have been less inclined to take prisoners in his pursuit of the illegal gladiators instead of explicitly ordering his troops to be merciful to surrendering enemies.

There's character development, and then there's wide, sweeping character derailment. I have faith in Barber to gradually make this work, but this character work has really put me off so far.

Anyone else notice a screw head on Sentinal's stomach? Just need a giant screwdriver.

Henry921 wrote:I hereby re-dub thee Douchimus Prime.

Seriously, Sentinel wasn't anywhere close to this much of a jerk in Megatron Origin. I get he's been recast as a sort of crazy nationalist villain, but you'd think his hatred of the disposable class would've popped up when a bunch of them attended a state funeral he hosted, or he'd have been less inclined to take prisoners in his pursuit of the illegal gladiators instead of explicitly ordering his troops to be merciful to surrendering enemies.

There's character development, and then there's wide, sweeping character derailment. I have faith in Barber to gradually make this work, but this character work has really put me off so far.

This is all stemming from the fact that when he died, the Decepticons were terrorists that killed him. When he awoke, he saw that said terrorists, whom he would have killed every last one of, are free and walking alongside the Autobots that he thought would crush them, he got angry. He was even angrier when he saw others like the colonists who were not the pure Autobot Cybertronians he knew. So to him, his society is lost, destroyed by terrorists being allowed to roam free and new colonists that are diluting his "pure" race.

So it makes sense for the character, and since the titan gave him the pulsewave that filled him in on all the things he missed, he knows all that has happened too. All that time, plus being killed, can do this to a character, so I don't think it can be called derailment of the character

This is going to be interesting what with A3 gonna be tforming into a beast mode and all. Prime , maybe TM Optimus vs Sentinel Prime? Will good Megs merge with Galvatron's corpse to become TM Mega Galvatron with Nucleon as the TM?

fenrir72 wrote:This is going to be interesting what with A3 gonna be tforming into a beast mode and all. Prime , maybe TM Optimus vs Sentinel Prime? Will good Megs merge with Galvatron's corpse to become TM Mega Galvatron with Nucleon as the TM?

I can all but confirm that last part will not happen. At this point in the story, Megatron along with some of the Lost Lighters like Rodimus have been assumed dead, and even then Megatron is an Autobot now, and he does not like Galvatron, so that part at least cannot happen.

I'm hoping they explain the titan master concept well. And it will be interesting seeing as how so far A3 has only been shown to turn into a car, no sign of a beast mode

Also, just because it's a Titans Return tie-in doesn't mean it'll be exactly accurate to the toyline. Hence Fort Max likely isn't going to become a titan and Alpha Trion isn't required to take up a beast mode.
And Sentinel Prime's in his bizarre black armour get-up.

I know it won't happen but I'd love to see him kill Alpha Trion.

Wish they'd get rid of Barber.

Henry921 wrote:I hereby re-dub thee Douchimus Prime.

Seriously, Sentinel wasn't anywhere close to this much of a jerk in Megatron Origin. I get he's been recast as a sort of crazy nationalist villain, but you'd think his hatred of the disposable class would've popped up when a bunch of them attended a state funeral he hosted, or he'd have been less inclined to take prisoners in his pursuit of the illegal gladiators instead of explicitly ordering his troops to be merciful to surrendering enemies.

There's character development, and then there's wide, sweeping character derailment. I have faith in Barber to gradually make this work, but this character work has really put me off so far.

I agree somewhat. Granted, I missed Megatron Origins, but it does kind of feel like they slapped some of the racial impurity from Nova and Galvatron on him.

Sure, Sentinel was in power near the apex of Functionism, but it feels like an overemphasized trait, hating on the colonists and whatnot. Feel like they could have stuck with the "I've been gone for four million years and you made PEACE with my MURDERERS!?" angle.

Shuttershock wrote:

Henry921 wrote:I hereby re-dub thee Douchimus Prime.

Seriously, Sentinel wasn't anywhere close to this much of a jerk in Megatron Origin. I get he's been recast as a sort of crazy nationalist villain, but you'd think his hatred of the disposable class would've popped up when a bunch of them attended a state funeral he hosted, or he'd have been less inclined to take prisoners in his pursuit of the illegal gladiators instead of explicitly ordering his troops to be merciful to surrendering enemies.

There's character development, and then there's wide, sweeping character derailment. I have faith in Barber to gradually make this work, but this character work has really put me off so far.

I agree somewhat. Granted, I missed Megatron Origins, but it does kind of feel like they slapped some of the racial impurity from Nova and Galvatron on him.

Sure, Sentinel was in power near the apex of Functionism, but it feels like an overemphasized trait, hating on the colonists and whatnot. Feel like they could have stuck with the "I've been gone for four million years and you made PEACE with my MURDERERS!?" angle.

He... enforced empurata on Shockwave, took over the senate, conquered worlds because reasons, claimed that only military action could lead to results. Those all seem like legitimate background character points to lead him to this point.

but this character work has really put me off so far.

He's not supposed to be nice.


The issue does a little more to explain how and why, but that can be discussed once it's out of course.

It's not as if Sentinel was exactly a nice guy in Origins. He took a pretty hardline stance against the Decepticons, and was dismissive of the Senate's wishes. Add to that his support of the hardline aspects of the Senate (Empurata, Shadowplay) and his attitude here makes sense.

In other words, he's always been a jerk in IDW continuity.

Admittedly all the Primes before Optimus being dicks is probably one of my least favourite aspects of IDW. Not because I think the Primes should be pure and peaceful or whatever... but because in terms of character they're all the exact same arsehole.

I will admit that it is a bit strange to have all the Prime's have a similar attitude, but it matches fairly well. Like Zeta: he started off good but then went bad as power went to his head. who knows about the others (well, Nova was always an imperialist) but at least it fits

Synopsis
TITANS RETURN! Following the literally-Earth-shattering events of last issue… OPTIMUS PRIME establishes a new base of operations—AUTOBOT CITY! Its first visitor: a newly-revived SENTINEL PRIME, who sees a potential ally in OPTIMUS.



Story

Despite the distribution and release mix-up, meaning that this issue - which directly follows the Titans Return one-shot - is coming out after More than Meets the Eye #56, and the unclarity with which the whole Titans Return event is supposed to be ordered (apparently it's both TF then MTMTE, but also TF-MTMTE-TF-MTMTE; I know, I don't get it either): we're here! New issue! Backstory! Saltinel Prime!



We have been introduced to the newly resurfaced, orange-clad, extremist view-holding, weapon-toting, supremacist, belligerent candida-- ex-ruler of Cybertron, and we get to see more of the joy he brings to the galaxy in this issue - but with actual plot and plan and details. And violence. I am not rooting for him, in any way, but there is a perverse enjoyment in seeing how ruthless John Barber is playing him, and wondering how the story will develop - even with the knowledge of MTMTE 56.



That does come to the detriment of pretty much everyone else involved, with Optimus Prime and Soundwave forced to have a tete-à-tete with the orange (but also black) tyrannical egomaniac, Arcee facing him head-on, and Alpha Trion ultimately headed elsewhere. While we're at it, we also make sure continuity and characters are kept and established, with (arguably) secondary characters such as Kup, the Victorion team, Jetfire and others, used fairly well in the mix, all considered.



The book also quite loudly sets the stage for the upcoming Revolution event, though how successfully it does that is yet to be seen. The story does make sense, yes, but it takes a lot of suspension of belief and some 'let's see'-ing efforts, with the introduction of some of the characters and plot points that will play a major part later, apparently, such as Blitzwing (as we saw in the Revolution prelude) and *other things*.

Art

We have Livio Ramondelli on art duties again, after the Titans Return introduction, and still rocking the new visual direction he's had in these later books. There is clarity in line purpose, good layout on the page and within the panels, and one particularly amusing detail on the body of Ego-Lord Infinitus: the giant screw in his chest. (There's a particularly dynamic panel too, but it's a fairly big spoiler for this review. Screw it is.)



He also takes the colour control on the art side, as is customary, and there's a really intriguing palette at work here, with a lot of orange (mainly down to Sentinel and his ego, but not entirely), reds, blues, but also some ominous and significant purple, paired with nice light/dark effects and alternate light-sources, too.



Tom B. Long is tirelessly still taking care of the lettering for the book, and playing with some good fonting as Ramondelli's style allows for it, plus giving some distinctive voices to the ever-growing cast and communication devices - helpful, really, in this sort of situation! As for the covers, the main Ramondelli one shows a bit of Prime-on-Prime action, and a potential consequence found in the Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente wonderfully scaled variant, but I chose Kei Zama and Josh Burcham's (arguably) MVP art for the thumbnail, for a taste of the post-revolution style too.


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

Barber is somehow able to bring together the last strands of the storylines happening in The Tranformers, and the beginning of the new line starting with Revolution, while at the same time creating two separate paths that can be used at will - an impressive feat, that borrows heavily from the work he has established in the TFverse since his first involvement (writerly and editorial), and a sign of skill, undoubtedly.



The resulting effect, in my opinion at least and with the help of the visual work from Ramondelli and Long, is a highly enjoyable issue: good pacing, good continuity, good character use, good referencing to previous stories and hinting at new ones/their continuation, good interactions in a very big cast, and one that does not seem to be decreasing any time soon. Good read.

I don't like IDW's TF comics much (I even gave them another chance with Sins of the Wreckers which I didn't enjoy and more recently Titans Return ..which.. I haven't made it passt halfway yet cos I just didn't like it at all and bought cos I've been buying some of the TR figs). However that Soundwave and Prime cover is fantastic.

Carnivius_Prime wrote:...that Soundwave and Prime cover is fantastic.

And that will be the art for the Optimus ongoing!

It's taken me a very long time, but now I finally get what Idw is doing.

They ended the war and sidelined or killed almost everyone so they can have just a few Transformers running around like the X-Men handling little threats that pop up. The current line up consists of Optimus, Soundwave, Arcee, Kup, Jazz and Jetfire vs Sentinel Prime who is the villain of the arc. I was about to say the "Magneto" of the arc, but that distinction belongs to Megatron over in MTMTE. We've seen it before. The big bad joins the heroes, which in this case is the Autobots, and takes over the Lost Light just like Magneto took over Xavier's school back in Uncanny X-Men #200. The writers at Idw don't want to write about Transformers, they want to write Superhero books.

That being said, TF #56 is horrible. I keep seeing Scarlett and Roadblock, so I'm going to assume that the same thing that happened to the TF titles happened to GI Joe and the team has been boiled down to just a few Joes. And those Joes were ineffectual against Transformers as many readers have already predicted.

If you haven't already bought this issue, don't. Borrow a copy or read it off of a friends account. The best part of the book has already been shown in the previews.

1984forever wrote:They ended the war and sidelined or killed almost everyone so they can have just a few Transformers running around like the X-Men handling little threats that pop up.

Did... I miss something major? Because unless I'm forgetting something off the top of my head, the only main deaths in IDW's current run (aside from MTMTE) are Shockwave, Bumblebee and Galvatron. And there were a few years between the former two and the latter. Certainly doesn't strike me as 'almost everyone'.

Outside of GI Joe being, essentially, a pointless Job Squad, I really liked this issue.

[Jest and sarcasm follows]Actually, has GI Joe ever been anything besides a pointless Job Squad? We should give Michael Bay that franchise so it can be great again.

ScottyP wrote:Outside of GI Joe being, essentially, a pointless Job Squad, I really liked this issue.

[Jest and sarcasm follows]Actually, has GI Joe ever been anything besides a pointless Job Squad? We should give Michael Bay that franchise so it can be great again.

And then he'll make us pay for it.

Kurona wrote:Did... I miss something major? Because unless I'm forgetting something off the top of my head, the only main deaths in IDW's current run (aside from MTMTE) are Shockwave, Bumblebee and Galvatron. And there were a few years between the former two and the latter. Certainly doesn't strike me as 'almost everyone'.

Metalhawk!

Terribull!

Turbofoxes!

That's almost everyone, right?

Kurona wrote:

1984forever wrote:They ended the war and sidelined or killed almost everyone so they can have just a few Transformers running around like the X-Men handling little threats that pop up.

Did... I miss something major? Because unless I'm forgetting something off the top of my head, the only main deaths in IDW's current run (aside from MTMTE) are Shockwave, Bumblebee and Galvatron. And there were a few years between the former two and the latter. Certainly doesn't strike me as 'almost everyone'.

You missed the word "sidelined".

People who want to say that a big cast like we had in the G1 cartoon can't work in comic books should read the Dreamwave stuff. It can work. Idw can't do it though.

Back to #56. Two top members of GI Joe shoot machine guns at a Transformer. Not a Bayformer with exposed parts, but a blocky G1 styled Transformer. It's like shooting machine guns at a tank They're supposed to be an elite fighting force?

Now, what's the betting that they're gonna pull a Red Skull and try and make Sentinel Prime "evil" (read: "conservative) by having him spout "extremist" (read: "politically incorrect") viewpoints? Bonus points if it's Windblade or Original the Characters Team Victorion who ends up defeating him. Obviously it's less easy with a race of transforming alien robots where most of the factions aren't tied to real-world ideologies/races/cults or whatever, but given how unbelievably awful modern comics have become, particularly with regards to pandering to Tumblr socialists (Unsolicited opinions on Israel, anyone?)...Well, let's just say I'm beginning to feel glad I don't read the comics.

On the plus side, with all the "LOL Sentinel Prime is DONALD TRUMP ZOMG XD" memespouting going on, I'm now tempted to get a Sentinel Prime. Not TR Sentinel, because I intend to get Astrotrain, but a version of him anyway. He'll build a wall to keep the Decepticons out, and unlike recent Hasbro offerings, it won't be hollow.

If you seriously think someone who says things like this is a nice person, I'm not sure what else to tell you.

Decepticons? Cowards? Killers? All sound pretty verminous to me. He's got my vote. You're sounding like a Tentakillary Clintron supporter! Better keep your email cassetticons locked up!

(In all seriousness that's nowhere NEAR as bad as I was worried it would be. Compare that to the Red Skull, whose "evil speech" consisted of some pretty valid points about the condition of America. I am relieved...temporarily.)

I really like the art style and the way Optimus looks.

Delta Magnus wrote:Compare that to the Red Skull

Forgive me if I've missed something here (and for risking getting political), as I don't particularly keep up with Marvel's current stuff, but isn't Red Skull generally depicted as a straight up Nazi? I'd say that's pretty indefensibly evil.


Regardless, personally I enjoyed this issue, though I do feel that in trying to continue on the Transformers story, introduce the Titans Return arc to the ongoing, and set up for Revolution, it felt at times like it could have just done with being a little longer, to avoid chopping and changing quite so much. I imagine that it'll read a lot better in the trades when you can run straight into the next issues. I am a bit puzzled about poor old Aplha Trion though, he'd been fairly irrelevant for essentially ages, popped up again to have some vague chats with OP on the moon full of implications and mysteriousness, which kind of implied he was going to become imminently more relevant, but then has been pretty brutally killed before he really got the chance.
I think to properly win me over, they're gonna have to really explain how titan masters work within this continuity. Is it the marvel comics method where the consciousness continues in the original head and links to the headmaster (and from what I gather, the old head could be permanently re-attached in RG1)? The japanese headmasters method, where the headmaster themselves is the only one in control, and all the bigger robots have ever been is just a powerup? Something new entirely? Because now I'm not only wondering what the whole deal is regarding Sentinel and Infinitus and whether they've always been the same person who is ultimately just a head, or if maybe Sentinel died but Infinitus as his head lived on, but I'm also thinking that maybe Trion isn't totally dead and when Blacrock/Sovreign inevitably connects to his body, Trion's memories and knowledge and so on will still be there- or maybe Sovreign always was part of Trion, or even part of Onyx Prime, as that name has just been casually dropped like it's no big deal.

ArmadaPrime wrote:

Delta Magnus wrote:Compare that to the Red Skull

Forgive me if I've missed something here (and for risking getting political), as I don't particularly keep up with Marvel's current stuff, but isn't Red Skull generally depicted as a straight up Nazi? I'd say that's pretty indefensibly evil.

I don't read the comics myself (though I do enjoy chortling at the drama surrounding them) but from what I've read, The Red Skull's big "evil" rant was basically "Society is crumbling thanks to the degeneracy of socialism, Islamic terrorism is killing our people and forcing us to live in fear, our culture is being wiped out by "multiculturalism", and if you complain about it you get accused of being a bigot. What the hell's up with that?". Which really isn't that far from the truth. Granted his solutions to these problems are pretty inexcusable, but there's no doubt Marvel screwed the pooch in attempting to make him seem villainous. Leave it to Marvel to make a Nazi's rant seem reasonable. But then this is the same company (I think) that cacked out "ZOMG DONALD TRUMP SUPERVILLAIN OLOLOLOL" and the hilariously bad Anegla: Queen of Hel (UNSOLICITED OPINIONS ON ISRAEL???).

TLDR: Modern comics f**king suck.