Sneak Peek - IDW Transformers Drift: Empire of Stone #2 iTunes Preview

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

That's not Megatron, that's Gigatron.

I always knew there'd be a reason to hold on to that RID Megatron figure.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:I always knew there'd be a reason to hold on to that RID Megatron figure.

YUP!!!! Time to take him out of his RiD box(tub in storage) and put him on the classics/IDW shelf with pride.

I don't know why some people are asking for a new classics/generations figure. He's the same as the damn original toy. Go get him off eBay. He's cheap.

This series is pretty good starting off. It's not world building like the others which is not what it's intending to do. It's just a mini series. I enjoy Shane McCarthy for the most part. Just as long as he doesn't do anymore interviews. Good guy just says the wrong stuff and comes off as a jerk.

I should really go track down a RID Megatron/Gigatron figure on eBay now.

Also, I would love for Hasbro to retool Drift into Deadlock, he looks awesome like that.

jogunwarrior wrote:I should really go track down a RID Megatron/Gigatron figure on eBay now.

Also, I would love for Hasbro to retool Drift into Deadlock, he looks awesome like that.

I'd even spend the money on a tfcc recolor of deadlock. I like Drift. Always have. I never joined the bandwagon of hate all because McCarthy, Hasbro and IDW over sold him but he was a big deal! New character in G1. That was a thing. He's never done anything wrong in the stories and I don't hold it against him for over commercializing him.

I liked Drift from the beginning and his figure was one if the coolest from 2010 generations to me. Need to get my hands on the SG Deadpool recolor

To be fair he wasn't the first new character in G1 and there's been far better additions like Rung and Tailgate. I'm cautious about this series, all hail Megatron beat that into me.

Oh and the best drift writer is James Roberts.

ZeroWolf wrote:To be fair he wasn't the first new character in G1 and there's been far better additions like Rung and Tailgate. I'm cautious about this series, all hail Megatron beat that into me.

Oh and the best drift writer is James Roberts.

Rung > Drift times infinity

The mystery of the Empire of Stone continues, as Drift and Ratchet face an old but new threat in this week's second issue of the mini-series - check out a full preview below, and come back later this week for the Seibertron.com review!

Transformers: Drift—Empire of Stone #2 (of 4)
Shane McCarthy (w) • Guido Guidi (a & c)
ONCE A DECEPTICON! DRIFT’s past comes back to haunt him, as RATCHET tries to drag him back to the Lost Light. But alone on a far-off world, DRIFT’s honor demands he stand his ground!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
The fan-favorite Transformers character returns!
Ties in directly with MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!

Still no name given on Megatron/Gigatron in the comic. And how many times is Drift going to have to say he's not Deadlock? Erg.

Giga-whatsit-tron: "So Deadlock, is the war over" (important question)

Drift: "I told you I'm not Deadlock" (ignores)

Optimizzy wrote:Still no name given on Megatron/Gigatron in the comic.

Second panel on the first page, Turmoil calls him Gigatron!

I'm liking this preview better than the last. Gigatron looks sweet! Despite my initial reservations, I'll pick this up in trade.

Va'al wrote:

Optimizzy wrote:Still no name given on Megatron/Gigatron in the comic.

Second panel on the first page, Turmoil calls him Gigatron!

Ah! I missed that! Thank you.

Good, now it's official.

Kinda wanna slap some Con stickers on my RiD Megatron's shoulderpads now...

Yeah. But this art makes it look way better than it is IMO.

I'ght, so I just thought of something, looking through windblade #4. What if, bear with me, ratchet Drift and Gigatron, are near one of the lost colonies mentioned in windblade #4, because I think, there was a colony of micromaster combiners mentioned.

Gigatron: "Muhahaha! With this hidden cache of Rock Lords at my beck and call, I shall conquer the UNIVERSE! What do you think of that, Deadlock?"

Drift: "I'm not Deadlo-"

Gigatron: "SILENCE!"

SW's SilverHammer wrote:I'ght, so I just thought of something, looking through windblade #4. What if, bear with me, ratchet Drift and Gigatron, are near one of the lost colonies mentioned in windblade #4, because I think, there was a colony of micromaster combiners mentioned.

They were indeed, and I am pointing that out in the review too!

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



Story

You now, Drift - was Deadlock, but would rather not be reminded; was a Decepticon, see above; part of the Lost Light, then self-exiled; feels guilty about everything since pretty much forever, so heads off to be the Batman/Robin Hood of the galaxy. Why am I repeating this? We are not being allowed to forget what Drift's past is, nor his own guilt.



In this second issue, though, what I am left wondering is - will the retreading of Shane McCarthy's initial pitch, with the layers of characterisation given to Drift since All Hail Megatron, actually lead to something other than unspoken guilt, unreasonable bravado and a penchant for lost causes?



Don't get me wrong, there are some very good interactions in the issue, and some of characters have a fair deal of personal creation and minor development - but there is a constant feeling of something still missing in a series that is promising so much to start with, and already in the middle of its run.



I don't mind the dialogue, though I'd like to see more of it, and I like most of the characters that McCarthy is setting up in the miniseries, from the Stone whatevers to the Micromasters (mentioned in Windblade, too), the brief return of Turmoil and the magnificence of Gigatron. But it needs more to keep us in.


Art

Now, the art is great. It was good, if not entirely apt, when the team of Guido Guidi and Steve Baskerville were working together on ReGeneration One, but it's really good in this contemporary setting - there's a sense of grit, chunky big hulks of rock in the designs of the blockier types of characters we've encountered, and that's before we even see a Stone Army.



Of course, the feeling of dust, dirt and stone would not be complete without the magnificently painted work of JP Bove. If the bulk of the rocky art comes from the pencils and inks, the layer of grit and sand is definitely in the colours. And it's tasty grit with crunchy bits thrown in for good measure, and great lighting as the icing on top.



And Tom B. Long gives us a double-whammy this week, by showing his fingers in the fonting, lettering and sounding of the pages of McCarthy's script, and giving some gravitas to the dialogue where needed. The two covers are also quite a thing to look at, dealing with the duality of Drift's character in the main Guidi/Josh Burcham one, and his conscience in the Alex Milne/Josh Perez variant (thumbnail).


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

Much like its preceding issue, Empire of Stone is taking its time to really kickstart its proper plot, and might get on the bad side of some readers used to the tighter stories of the two current ongoings. The stories that are there don't have more than some references, but the characters' different voices ad their interactions can, for some, make up for it.



On the visual side, we have a similar concentration of silent action sequences (and pretty good ones too) to the first issue in the miniseries, and probably something we should expect for the following two issues. Fortunately, the artistic team is magnificent at conveying the ruggedness of this side of the galaxy, and we can revel in the eye candy.

I'm sorely tempted to get this, simply because of Gigatron. But Drift is a big thing that I have trouble getting past. If the finale is mind blowing, it may be worth it. I hope it is - I want McCarthy to make me like Drift.

But mostly I wan to go dig out Mega...ahem...Gigatron.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:I hope it is - I want McCarthy to make me like Drift.

That is exactly my feeling. I want to like this series, the writing, the characters. I want it to be impactful, I want it to relate back to the main story in MTMTE somehow meaningful.

So far, it's not doing it. But it hasn't screamed that it won't at all.

So, like Natalie Imbruglia, I am torn.

I have a question though, didn't spotlight: Night beat kinda hint that the micromasters were the creation of Jihaxus?

I have a question though, didn't spotlight: Night beat kinda hint that the micromasters were the creation of Jihaxus?

I believe the Windblade colony explanation sort of overrides that. As it overrides the 'Arcee is only non-male character'. Jhiaxus may as well have created *some*, but there are more out there that are 'naturally' occurring.

I think.

Ah but none of the Micromaster characters we've seen since have been small so maybe Jhiaxus was involved in down sizing the ones in Nightbeat.

I'm really enjoying this series despite my initial misgivings.

Sigh... I'm going to have to find me an RiD Megatron now?

The story isn't bad. I'm liking that the Breastforce are making an appearance.

Va'al wrote:I believe the Windblade colony explanation sort of overrides that. As it overrides the 'Arcee is only non-male character'. Jhiaxus may as well have created *some*, but there are more out there that are 'naturally' occurring.

I think.

Truthflly, I think its more that after a few years, backgrond cameos get reused and we're reading into it too much.

The Gorlam Prime Micromasters were organic beings who evolved into mechanical ones, first through simple cyborg implants, and then outright living mechanical entities, and yes, that was through Jhaxius' intervention. Off the top of my head, the Gorlam Prime Micromasters were never named as individuals. The fandom "assumed" names becase Hey, that's who they looked like, but they were crowd filler, whereas the Micromasters we've met in story with names but at full scale, Fixit etc., are the actual Micromasters characters. And since I don't have Windblade handy, were the MM colony bots at fll scale or icro scale?

Also of note: There are plenty of Titan's jst laying around. Remember Prime plled one of them out of the time travellling planet, maybe what we saw in WIndblade wa a Titan on Gorlam Prime sleeping with its eyes open?

Va'al wrote:I believe the Windblade colony explanation sort of overrides that. As it overrides the 'Arcee is only non-male character'. Jhiaxus may as well have created *some*, but there are more out there that are 'naturally' occurring.

I think.

Truthflly, I think its more that after a few years, backgrond cameos get reused and we're reading into it too much.

The Gorlam Prime Micromasters were organic beings who evolved into mechanical ones, first through simple cyborg implants, and then outright living mechanical entities, and yes, that was through Jhaxius' intervention. Off the top of my head, the Gorlam Prime Micromasters were never named as individuals. The fandom "assumed" names becase Hey, that's who they looked like, but they were crowd filler, whereas the Micromasters we've met in story with names but at full scale, Fixit etc., are the actual Micromasters characters. And since I don't have Windblade handy, were the MM colony bots at fll scale or icro scale?

Also of note: There are plenty of Titan's jst laying around. Remember Prime plled one of them out of the time travellling planet, maybe what we saw in WIndblade wa a Titan sleeping with its eyes open?

AHM proves that Shane can write much better stuff than this. The plot sucks, the dialogue sucks and the art is outdated. I am so tired of seeing Transformers covered with dents and dings. No one takes pride in their appearance anymore!

1984forever wrote:AHM proves that Shane can write much better stuff than this. The plot sucks, the dialogue sucks and the art is outdated. I am so tired of seeing Transformers covered with dents and dings. No one takes pride in their appearance anymore!

You didn't even notice that this is mentioned in-story? That Ratchet outright says to Drift that he looks like a wreck? Seriously, if you want to criticize the art, at least pay attention... although I admit I'm biased, because I love the artwork : P

I agree with the notion that the Gorlam Prime Micromasters were probably a completley different race with a different origin from the ones seen in Windblade... although I'm pretty positive some of the Micromasters seen on Gorlam were definitely ment to be existing G1 characters, such as the Decepticon sports car patrol...

Thanks to a new listing on online retailer Amazon.com, we have a confirmed release date for the collected trade paperback version of Transformers: Drift - Empire of Stone: June 16, 2015 (currently priced at $16.50). No artwork yet, but check below for further details, including what to expect from the extras by Shane McCarthy, Guido Guidi, Stephen Baskerville and JP Bove.

DRIFT RETURNS! After leaving the Autobots in disgrace, he's now alone, on a mission to clean up the darkest depths of the galaxy - until Ratchet shows up to try to bring him home! Also contains bonus content like creator interviews, behind-the-scenes info, an art gallery, and more!

Paperback: 132 pages
Publisher: IDW Publishing (June 16, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1631402692
ISBN-13: 978-1631402692

Got it in my preorder list now; thanks for the link folks!

The second piece of iTunes via IDW Publishing comics news, sees the third issue of Drift being previewed in its own three pages of Empire of Stone horror - and Ratchet's cynicism. All mirrored below, ready for the full preview next week (And a Seibertron.com review, too). Check it out!

THE STONE ARMY! The secrets of DRIFT’S past become his present-day problems… and RATCHET’S none too happy about being dragged along!

My favorite art team in the business

I wonder what the chances are that somewhere down the line liokaiser could appearance

Aw, it cut off the part where Hellbat was about to say, to ratchet and drift, "What is a transformer? A miserable little pile of secrets!"

Im not a big fan of the art. I don't dislike it though, I just guess I've become a Roche fanboy.

I don't like Mccarthy's writing though. After Barber and Roberts I find him a little pedantic. It's better than previous outings though.

I havn't read any of the issues, but I almost feel like getting the TPB. As much as I dislike Drift, I love me some new villains. And since we have Gigatron and Hellbat, they may be worth McCarthy's reminding us of Drift's past over and over and over again.

In other IDW Publishing Transformers news, this last week of January also sees the third chapter in the new Drift miniseries, Empire of Stone, and the full preview can be found below! Head back here tomorrow for the Seibertron.com review, and let us know what you think in the Energon Pub.

Transformers: Drift—Empire of Stone #3 (of 4)
Shane McCarthy (w) • Guido Guidi (a & c)
THE STONE ARMY! The secrets of DRIFT’S past become his present-day problems… and RATCHET’S none too happy about being dragged along!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
Ties in directly to MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!

Just guessing, but I think Gigatron had something to say about that last comment in the final panel

Synopsis
THE STONE ARMY! The secrets of DRIFT’S past become his present-day problems… and RATCHET’S none too happy about being dragged along!



Story

We've arrived at the third chapter of the four-issue mini-series following Drift, after his exile from the Lost Light, and in case you hadn't noticed... Drift is an ex-Decepticon turned Autobot with issues, gone ultra good then riddled with guilt and in search of redemption - and the search leads him to a place from his past. Got it?



What Shane McCarthy brings to the table in this issue, other than some usual Animated-esque-via-MTMTE Ratchet sass, is a fairly decent twist on the situation as it currently stands, despite some predictable behaviour from the characters involved. Though the plot may have seemed clear from early on, we get a slightly different look at it by this point.



So if you're expecting a complicatedly weaving plot entwined with multiple layers of social commentary, this is not your port of call. What we do get, though, is yet some great interactions between pretty much all characters involved, some fairly twisted motivations reminiscent of 'bad guys' already encountered in this development of the IDWverse, and some very nicely staged action.



What I am still waiting for, really, is a clue as to how all of Empire of Stone will impact not only More Than Meets the Eye, as the solicits keep telling us, but also the wider Transformers fiction established at this point - and this issue, in Hellbat and the Stone Army, possibly hints at it all, at last.

Art

If the action is greatly staged, as Guido Guidi and Stephen Baskerville have shown us in all collaborations so far, this issue really cranks it up a notch. There's a magnificent slow build of smaller to wider layouts as the action escalates, with some truly stunning full splash pages showing off the scale of what the characters are actually playing against.



Not to forget the gloriously gritty look of the book, and the stark contrast with some much sleeker, cleaner visuals for the main background characters under Gigatron's so-called command. John-Paul Bove's colours make sure those are not traits to be missed, and we should revel in his marvellous deployment of pigmented layers.



With so much action still running through so much of the issue, and the interior monologues that Drift uses to narrate and expose the story, Tom B. Long's lettering has plenty of time and space to shine - though parsimoniously used, the touches add some good voicing to exasperated characters. Cover A is a wonderfully expanded and context-free panel from the issue itself, by Guidi and Bove, while Ratchet takes the spotlight in Sarah Stone's glorious variant - see thumbnail!


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

The main draws of this issue, and so far the series as a whole, come down to a handful of things: first, the seriously stunningly mapped out action sequences and fight scenes, thanks to the fantastic work of the visual team working on McCarthy's script. Every issue just looks absolutely stunning and almost tangible in its grainy stoneness.



But the possibly even bigger incentive, and one that has taken me three issues to fully grasp (heh), is the development of the relationship between Drift and Ratchet, not only as a means for the former to come to terms with his own identity issues, but for both of them to grow from where they set out with that moment as Drift left the Lost Light crew.

Just read this issue. Under McCarthy, Drift is such a mary sue. He makes absolutely no mistakes in this book so far. Yeah, you could say stuff he did was dumb, but did it really affect him? He's says that this is all his fault but that comes across more like false humility to me. After all, he's "got this."

Of course, lying to one's self can be considered a fault...but when you get proven correct or justified each time I get bored.

I guess I'm spoiled under Roberts who fleshed this guy out considerably. Drift made mistakes in MTMTE and they were costly ones. He was a good character. Now...ugh. I'm going to read the last one because I'm insane like that, but Empire of Stone is just words and pictures to me. No heart.

But hey, if you're into that....

While I'm not loving this miniseries, I am enjoying the use of Gigatron. Almost makes me want to slap some Decepticon emblems on my RiD Megatron's shoulder pads...

Samsonator wrote:While I'm not loving this miniseries, I am enjoying the use of Gigatron. Almost makes me want to slap some Decepticon emblems on my RiD Megatron's shoulder pads...

I can totally agree with that. Using "Gigatron" was awesome.

Optimizzy wrote:Just read this issue. Under McCarthy, Drift is such a mary sue. He makes absolutely no mistakes in this book so far. Yeah, you could say stuff he did was dumb, but did it really affect him? He's says that this is all his fault but that comes across more like false humility to me. After all, he's "got this."

Of course, lying to one's self can be considered a fault...but when you get proven correct or justified each time I get bored.

I guess I'm spoiled under Roberts who fleshed this guy out considerably. Drift made mistakes in MTMTE and they were costly ones. He was a good character. Now...ugh. I'm going to read the last one because I'm insane like that, but Empire of Stone is just words and pictures to me. No heart.

But hey, if you're into that....

Oh, there has definitely been a massive shift in characterisation, and I doubt the issues will ever peak over a 3.5 rating in my mind, but this third one in particular has done a little more to me about giving some of heart it was seriously lacking until now.

What he really needed, I believe, was to fail that rescue run-jump-swing. That would've provided a serious lack of support for his self-assuredness, and give him a gigantic plot boost (though with serious repercussions of a fridging kind). But let's see.

Va'al wrote:
What he really needed, I believe, was to fail that rescue run-jump-swing. That would've provided a serious lack of support for his self-assuredness, and give him a gigantic plot boost (though with serious repercussions of a fridging kind). But let's see.

Dang. That's a good set up. I wish that happened too. At least it would make him a character rather than a "generic action hero"

Hi! Remember us? We left the interviews with comics creators lagging for a while, as life decided to settle itself, 2014 swept in and we're now ready for Combiner Wars hitting shelves in both paper, plastic and pixel format. But alongside that, we've also seen the return of one of IDW's original Transformers characters, Drift, in the hands of its originator - Shane McCarthy. Read on below for a spotlight on the Australian author of AHM!



Va'al - Shane, it is a pleasure to talk to you for a bit, thank you for agreeing to do this! As we've done for the other creators we've interviewed, I'd like to start from the beginning - from your beginning: how did Transformers enter your life, do you remember your first interaction with the franchise?

Shane McCarthy - I absolutely do. Like most kids I was crazy about cartoons and around that time I was all about He-Man. Saturday morning was where it was at and I would get up super early to watch them all. One morning, when He-Man had finished, on comes this cartoon I'd never heard of. It opened with Cybertron in flames and I was immediately hooked. After that it was a mad dash to the toy store. The first one I ever bought was the double pack of the cassettes... Frenzy and Laserbeak I think.



Va'al - And was that also a gateway moment into collecting the toys, or were you able to keep the plastic addiction at bay (or forced to, by external factors)? Did you, or do you still, have the one that got away, or at least a very elusive toy that was really hard to get?

Shane - Well I'd already started my He-Man collection so buying toys was already a habit. What I could afford mind you; my parents would buy me some big things for Christmas (Castle Grayskull) but I had to buy the figures myself. So picking up Transformers was a natural progression.

As for the one that got away. I was crazy about Prime and Soundwave as a kid and got both of those. There's two I never got that I really wanted as a kid. Ravage, because he looked so damn cool and I never saw him again beyond when I had to make that first choice in the store. And Megatron. Although I wouldn't be after Megs these days, the actual toy doesn't look at all that hot to me.



Va'al - Starting to sense a purple pattern here, I must admit. Would you say that Ravage (or any of the other three) still holds a spot in your collector's heart? Did you continue collecting beyond your childhood and teenage years, with new iterations of the same characters?

Shane - I'd say it's really just Ravage these days; I think the concept and the design are really cool. I think I've still got Frenzy around here somewhere, I lost Laserbeak's head though.

I didn't keep collecting, no. My love of the toys spilled over into books and comics. The next time I bought a Transformer was after Beast Wars came out. Like a lot of people I dismissed Beast Wars as some sort of heretical assault on the old classics. When a friend explained how the old cartoons and Beast Wars lined up and then handed me Transmetal Optimus Primal, I was hooked again. That was a seriously cool toy.

Va'al - That often still happens with some fans, good to hear we won you over to the beast side eventually! So as you ventured from screen media and toys into comics, what were your first impressions, what caught your attention in particular?

Shane - You mean comics in general? Conan, haha. My sister bought me one at a flea market to shut me up. It had Gil Kane on art and it was glorious. From there it was into Batman and Superman then down the road the X-Men.

As far as Transformers though I started picking up the magazine format comics, the ones from the UK that Simon Furman was writing. I absolutely loved them. I remember the first story I came in on, I can't remember the issue number though. But basically Prime and Outback were battered and fighting to survive against some sort of ape creatures I think. Classic stuff.



Va'al - That sounds very much like issue #100, Distant Thunder! As an established comics reader, how long did it take from that point to entering the industry as a creator? How was that process for you?

Shane - That's the one! Man, you're good. Alan Davis on cover art too, wow.

How long did it take? Well the link says that comic came out in 1987. My first publication was Batman for DC Comics in...2005 I think so, 18 years. Yikes.

The process was an interesting one. I never even thought of becoming a writer until I was around twenty odd years old. It had never occurred to me. Once the idea struck (or was actually suggested to me) everything clicked in a way nothing ever had before. After that it was a lot of work, effort and training before I broke in with DC.

Va'al - But you did make it in the end, and you've worked on multiple characters and properties since! What I'm wondering, though, is how the IDW gig started - did they ask you to take over from Furman, or did you pitch material to them?

Shane - I was approached by Chris Ryall to take over from Simon. He'd been doing great stuff but they were wanting to move in a different direction and asked me what I would do if I took over. With the understanding that it was supposed to be a new direction, one they hoped would also appeal to a wider audience, I pitched All Hail Megatron.

Va'al - And Drift was one of the new, original appearances in the series, before he became his own full-on character, correct? We've seen the pitch for him in the recent IDW Complete Drift volume, actually - how did it feel to introduce an entirely new character to the franchise?

Shane - It was fun. I was already having a hell of a lot of fun working on AHM and it was never on my mind to bring in anything new. However when I was working on the book the idea for Drift popped into my head and I thought, why not? I've said it before but the initial pitch was me just firing off a "what if" email to Chris. He liked the idea but said Hasbro would never go for it. Turns out they loved it. Right away they mentioned the possibility of a figure which was brilliant. Apparently some people didn't believe the figure was true when Chris announced it. I still find that hilarious.



Va'al - He was also not the only lasting outcome of the AHM series, as we're still feeling some of the aftermath of those events in the current ongoings and mini-series (such as the beef between Devastator and Spike, which Costa took a step further, and Barber is currently retreading in The Transformers). How does it feel, as the plotter behind it all?

Shane - It's nice to know it's all still going forward. I don't read the books (unless I'm writing for them) but I would hope that some things have been kept and other things have changed. Like any comic book, when a new creative team comes on they need to leave their stamp. It's important everything isn't thrown out but it has to be something new otherwise what's the point?

Va'al - And that, in a way, brings us to the present day, with you returning to Drift after his presence in James Roberts' writing in More Than Meets the Eye. How does it feel to write the book now, compared to any of the three you were working on back then?

Shane - I have to say it was a mix of weird and fun. James' take on Drift was different to mine and I needed to keep that in mind as I did the mini series. I'd read through Drift's "James" appearances and got a feel for who he was there. After that I needed to think about where I wanted to take him and what I wanted to say with the character taking into account what he meant to me when I created him and what he means to me now after he'd gone through so much since AHM.



It kind of felt like seeing a really great friend after they'd been overseas for a while. They're still your good mate but they've got a whole bunch of new hobbies and an accent.

Va'al - Was the inclusion of Ratchet as grumpy but sensible counterpart to him in Empire of Stone something that you built from the MTMTE relationship between the two, then, or entirely your initiative?

Shane - No that was absolutely from MTMTE. I loved the odd couple vibe I was getting from them and knew I needed someone to come calling from the Autobots. It was nice having it be Ratchet, someone who once hated Drift (or was at least seriously annoyed by him). Plus I knew it would make for some fun buddy cop moments.

Va'al - They do have some really good interactions, yes! And what about the other characters showing up, such as Gigatron and super obscure ones like Hellbat and the Micromasters? Are they something you have a connection to, or was it more of an editorial call?

Shane - No those were all my choices. When it comes to finding new, interesting characters that haven't been overused it can get tough so I decided to go to an expert. I went to Twitter and asked a Transformer fan, Sprite, for advice on some underused characters. I knew the kinds of characters I was looking for and she made some great suggestions of who hadn't been used in the IDW universe yet. I had a look through that list and chose the ones I liked the most. Gigatron, Hellbat and Grit all came from that list so, thanks, Sprite.



Va'al - Fans really making an impact, then, on all accounts! Some great artists are also showing up at IDW from the fan base, but you've gone with the established team of Guido Guidi, Stephen Baskerville and JP Bove. How are you finding working with them? What do you feel their art brings to the story?

Shane - They're a fantastic team to work with. It's fantastic to be working with Guido again; I absolutely adore his artwork. After having worked together for a year on AHM it was great to get back into those familiar roles again. And JP, what a champ. Fantastic work and a great guy. I had the pleasure of signing with JP when I was at a UK con, the guy's a riot. Stephen is a new one to me but, like the others, I love what he brought to the book. Everyone is excited to be working together and we're all doing our best to put out a book that we love and hope the readers will love too.

Va'al - It is receiving its fair share of praise so far - but with only one issue left to the series, do you have any other plans in mind for Drift or the Transformers universe in general? Anything we should be looking forward to?

Shane - Not currently no. I'm really glad John [Barber] dropped me a line asking me to do this, it was a blast, but currently this looks like it's it for Transformers. Not to say something won't pop up down the line, IDW is over the moon at how well Drift is being received so you never know.

Va'al - That's a low - though hopeful - tone to be ending this chat upon, however - is there anything you'd like to say to the fans and readers out there before we bid our goodbyes?

Shane - Just a huge thank you. Thank you for reading and thank you for writing in. It's great to know people have enjoyed AHM and Drift.



Va'al - And thank you, Shane, for taking the time to talk to us for this interview - it was great to find out more about your journey as a fan and a creator. Best of luck for future endeavours, and we'll be on the lookout for Drift #4 later this month!


You can find out more about Shane McCarthy's multiple creative lives at his website, SMAcTalk, and on Twitter. IDW Transformers: Drift - Empire of Stone is regularly reviewed on Seibertron.com - join the discussion here!

You can also read Shane's thoughts on Age of Extinction Drift here - and find out more about the latest incarnation of the character in animated series Robots in Disguise here and here.

Man, I always had the imprssion the Mr. McCarthy was a bit of a Spaz. But after reading this, I want to pick up the TPB for Empire of Stone.

I like this approach Seibertron is taking with news posts. More editorials. More interviews. I like it. Keep it up!