Sneak Peek - IDW Transformers: Windblade #6 iTunes Preview

Interesting...

Heeheehee

*poof!*

So Eukaris is split into four tribes. And not a hint of the word "Maximal" just yet, I noticed... And Blackarachnia is some kind of soothsayer. That's new.

Please don't have messed up Blackarachnia's personality... please, oh please....

Still not feeling this art style.

Down_Shift wrote:Still not feeling this art style.

Same. On one hand I'm happy that more of the characters I grew up with are being re-introduced in modern fiction, but on the other hand I don't like that those characters are appearing in Corin Howell's art style. It looks more like a fan-made web-comic than an official publication.

With that said, I'm surprised to see Beast Wars characters as obscure as Manta Ray (whose only toy came with McDonald's Happy Meals!) and Transmetal 2 Sonar, and Airazor's headcrest going *poof* like a real bird's when she's agitated is a nice touch. This is the first time since the Council of Worlds storyline began that I've actually been interested in one of the colony worlds. But with only two issues to go before Windblade Volume 2 ends it's looking like Eukaris' society and culture won't be explored very much, and most of it will just be summarised in a big exposition dump like the one last issue, where Moonracer just flat-out explains the ins and outs of Velocitronian society in a few sentences, and we don't really get to see much of it.

Black Bumblebee wrote:Please don't have messed up Blackarachnia's personality... please, oh please....

Why not... MTMTE totally messed up Japanese characters such as Star Saber and Dai Atlas.

Munkky wrote:

Down_Shift wrote:Still not feeling this art style.

Same. On one hand I'm happy that more of the characters I grew up with are being re-introduced in modern fiction, but on the other hand I don't like that those characters are appearing in Corin Howell's art style. It looks more like a fan-made web-comic than an official publication.

With that said, I'm surprised to see Beast Wars characters as obscure as Manta Ray (whose only toy came with McDonald's Happy Meals!) and Transmetal 2 Sonar, and Airazor's headcrest going *poof* like a real bird's when she's agitated is a nice touch. This is the first time since the Council of Worlds storyline began that I've actually been interested in one of the colony worlds. But with only two issues to go before Windblade Volume 2 ends it's looking like Eukaris' society and culture won't be explored very much, and most of it will just be summarised in a big exposition dump like the one last issue, where Moonracer just flat-out explains the ins and outs of Velocitronian society in a few sentences, and we don't really get to see much of it.

I agree. I'm finding this Colony Worlds arc to be a bit insubstantial. Velocitron was two issues and then we're off again. Feels like we're getting the theme park experience is all I'm saying.

I'm excited for this one. Really excited. Beast Wars!!

Outcasts, hm? So Tigatron and Airazor have probably been shunned by their respective clans for having an interracial relationship...

Kind of wondering if these beastformers are linked to Onyx Prime. Like maybe Onyx brought Eukaris here or something.

Whilst I'm over the moon to finally have a continuity start in G1 and get all the way to some proper Beast Wars, I'm not feeling that recordicon-looking art style. It's done the long-awaited introduction of some favourite characters a disservice! I mean, who doesn't list Manta Ray and Sonar among their most anticipated Beast era toys/characters to return? It's a real missed opportunity.

OptimusPrimeval wrote:Whilst I'm over the moon to finally have a continuity start in G1 and get all the way to some proper Beast Wars, I'm not feeling that recordicon-looking art style. It's done the long-awaited introduction of some favourite characters a disservice! I mean, who doesn't list Manta Ray and Sonar among their most anticipated Beast era toys/characters to return? It's a real missed opportunity.

I get the impression that Manta Ray and Sonar were picked specifically because they're female, and not really because they're interesting or well-liked characters. You can easily replace them with Terrorsaur and Depth Charge in that scene and it wouldn't change much. Mairghred Scott seems to have a major thing for female representation in comics, she's even said on her Tumblr that she writes Windblade specifically for the female fans. To be clear, I have no problem with female characters (Airazor was one of my first Transformer toys when I was a kid) or female fans (so long as they leave their identity politics at the door, same goes for male fans).

The Windblade comic does like to emphasise how gynocentric (made by women, for women, about women) it is, and it wouldn't surprise me if Scott or someone else in IDW genuinely believes the LIE that comic, gaming and geek culture is a misogynistic boy's club that excludes women. Having read a few of her Tumblr posts and interviews, Scott strikes me as the kind of writer who cares more about equality and diversity in entertainment than she does about story and characterisation.

ok...Im chiming in here.

Im not particularly pleased with how the beast wars are being incorporated here. Its very slapdash. And I agree with the "lets put some more fembots here" Airazor and Blackarachnia are fine, but Sonar? Nah. Its a bit much. I mean, I'm all for awesome characters being female, I'm not that ok with having to deal with uninteresting character BECAUSE they are female. I would have preferred a different character as more iconic, but it is cool that they are being represented. As long as she makes them interesting.

Anyway, I don't really like the way this world works. Velocitron had an interesting environment that was out there and crazy this...

...what, they are tribes? separated by what kind of ecosystem they live in? I'm bored.

and I hate that. I should be uninterested. I have been waiting for an IDW incorporation of Beast Wars for a while and this is sub-par. Maybe it gets better, but I'm seeing less quality with these issues.

I guess expectations are what's getting me...and they were high expectations. But shouldn't I have high expectations at this point?

I mean, it doesn't seem bad, not even a little bit. It just seems...meh.

and another thing...

The whole thing about female fans for female fans, well, jeez I hope not. I never thought of the Windblade series as anything like that. I enjoyed the first series immensially and have been following this one but it's starting to sour. If this was written in this way to appeal to female fans...that's kinda sexist. Female fans want quality too, and their tastes are as varied as male fans as assuming a HUGE population of fans will like a particular thing "just because" is stupid. So I really hope that wasn't the goal.

Honestly, I think this series was probably supposed to go a lot longer. Then got shortened. That probably messed up Scott's story planning and she had to truncate much of the arcing stories. That's what I'm guessing cause there is no way this was planned like this.

I really hope all these are are quick introductions and we can see some different teams flesh them out. Maybe a 4 part on Velocitron and likewise on Eukaris. That would be awesome and all would be forgiven.

Munkky wrote:I get the impression that Manta Ray and Sonar were picked specifically because they're female, and not really because they're interesting or well-liked characters. You can easily replace them with Terrorsaur and Depth Charge in that scene and it wouldn't change much. Mairghred Scott seems to have a major thing for female representation in comics, she's even said on her Tumblr that she writes Windblade specifically for the female fans. To be clear, I have no problem with female characters (Airazor was one of my first Transformer toys when I was a kid) or female fans (so long as they leave their identity politics at the door, same goes for male fans).

The Windblade comic does like to emphasise how gynocentric (made by women, for women, about women) it is, and it wouldn't surprise me if Scott or someone else in IDW genuinely believes the LIE that comic, gaming and geek culture is a misogynistic boy's club that excludes women. Having read a few of her Tumblr posts and interviews, Scott strikes me as the kind of writer who cares more about equality and diversity in entertainment than she does about story and characterisation.

Honestly, if inserting DepthCharge and Terrorsaur wouldn't change the scene much, why even comment on that choice?

I hope you realize that, just by making that comment you are (perhaps unwittingly) bringing your own identity politics into the conversation. There's a really good reason why it's important for women to have a voice in an area where they are typically underrepresented, such as comics. The status quo is by default male-oriented. Instead of bashing the 'identity politics' of a woman writer, maybe we should be more welcoming of her unique perspective.

Optimizzy wrote:ok...Im chiming in here.

Im not particularly pleased with how the beast wars are being incorporated here. Its very slapdash. And I agree with the "lets put some more fembots here" Airazor and Blackarachnia are fine, but Sonar? Nah. Its a bit much. I mean, I'm all for awesome characters being female, I'm not that ok with having to deal with uninteresting character BECAUSE they are female. I would have preferred a different character as more iconic, but it is cool that they are being represented. As long as she makes them interesting.

Anyway, I don't really like the way this world works. Velocitron had an interesting environment that was out there and crazy this...

...what, they are tribes? separated by what kind of ecosystem they live in? I'm bored.

and I hate that. I should be uninterested. I have been waiting for an IDW incorporation of Beast Wars for a while and this is sub-par. Maybe it gets better, but I'm seeing less quality with these issues.

I guess expectations are what's getting me...and they were high expectations. But shouldn't I have high expectations at this point?

I mean, it doesn't seem bad, not even a little bit. It just seems...meh.

Optimizzy wrote:and another thing...

The whole thing about female fans for female fans, well, jeez I hope not. I never thought of the Windblade series as anything like that. I enjoyed the first series immensially and have been following this one but it's starting to sour. If this was written in this way to appeal to female fans...that's kinda sexist. Female fans want quality too, and their tastes are as varied as male fans as assuming a HUGE population of fans will like a particular thing "just because" is stupid. So I really hope that wasn't the goal.

Honestly, I think this series was probably supposed to go a lot longer. Then got shortened. That probably messed up Scott's story planning and she had to truncate much of the arcing stories. That's what I'm guessing cause there is no way this was planned like this.

I really hope all these are are quick introductions and we can see some different teams flesh them out. Maybe a 4 part on Velocitron and likewise on Eukaris. That would be awesome and all would be forgiven.

You're making this lengthy judgement on the material based on 3 preview pages...

I don't see this as 'Beast Wars' so much as the appropriation of Beast Wars characters. We saw the same thing with Velocitron and the presence of Moonracer and Knockout.

The uninteresting characters aren't uninteresting because they're female; they're uninteresting because they are cameo, throwaway characters (probably). Making them male does not automatically put a point in the 'interesting' column. Actually, besides for Fateweaver, we have a 1:1 ratio male and female characters. Is there something necessarily wrong with that?

megatronus wrote:

Optimizzy wrote:ok...Im chiming in here.

Im not particularly pleased with how the beast wars are being incorporated here. Its very slapdash. And I agree with the "lets put some more fembots here" Airazor and Blackarachnia are fine, but Sonar? Nah. Its a bit much. I mean, I'm all for awesome characters being female, I'm not that ok with having to deal with uninteresting character BECAUSE they are female. I would have preferred a different character as more iconic, but it is cool that they are being represented. As long as she makes them interesting.

Anyway, I don't really like the way this world works. Velocitron had an interesting environment that was out there and crazy this...

...what, they are tribes? separated by what kind of ecosystem they live in? I'm bored.

and I hate that. I should be uninterested. I have been waiting for an IDW incorporation of Beast Wars for a while and this is sub-par. Maybe it gets better, but I'm seeing less quality with these issues.

I guess expectations are what's getting me...and they were high expectations. But shouldn't I have high expectations at this point?

I mean, it doesn't seem bad, not even a little bit. It just seems...meh.

Optimizzy wrote:and another thing...

The whole thing about female fans for female fans, well, jeez I hope not. I never thought of the Windblade series as anything like that. I enjoyed the first series immensially and have been following this one but it's starting to sour. If this was written in this way to appeal to female fans...that's kinda sexist. Female fans want quality too, and their tastes are as varied as male fans as assuming a HUGE population of fans will like a particular thing "just because" is stupid. So I really hope that wasn't the goal.

Honestly, I think this series was probably supposed to go a lot longer. Then got shortened. That probably messed up Scott's story planning and she had to truncate much of the arcing stories. That's what I'm guessing cause there is no way this was planned like this.

I really hope all these are are quick introductions and we can see some different teams flesh them out. Maybe a 4 part on Velocitron and likewise on Eukaris. That would be awesome and all would be forgiven.

You're making this lengthy judgement on the material based on 3 preview pages...

I don't see this as 'Beast Wars' so much as the appropriation of Beast Wars characters. We saw the same thing with Velocitron and the presence of Moonracer and Knockout.

The uninteresting characters aren't uninteresting because they're female; they're uninteresting because they are cameo, throwaway characters (probably). Making them male does not automatically put a point in the 'interesting' column. Actually, besides for Fateweaver, we have a 1:1 ratio male and female characters. Is there something necessarily wrong with that?

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the feeling here is "why were these random characters from the Beast Era who only got a little comic time selected as seeming front runners? Because they were female?"

I think if you read what I'm trying to say, it's that I don't think 2 issues will do it justice and from what I have seen its not promising. So yes, I am making a theory on the quality based on available evidence. Last time I checked that was ok. Also, to Shuttershock, yes, to me it smacks of "picked cause girls" and I hate that. and I should correct something I wrote above: my irritation was at Manta Ray not Sonar. I got them confused somehow. Why not Depth Charge seriously???

But like I said, I bet there will be some fleshing out later and the rough stuff now will get smoothed over.

Munkky wrote:

OptimusPrimeval wrote:Whilst I'm over the moon to finally have a continuity start in G1 and get all the way to some proper Beast Wars, I'm not feeling that recordicon-looking art style. It's done the long-awaited introduction of some favourite characters a disservice! I mean, who doesn't list Manta Ray and Sonar among their most anticipated Beast era toys/characters to return? It's a real missed opportunity.

I get the impression that Manta Ray and Sonar were picked specifically because they're female, and not really because they're interesting or well-liked characters. You can easily replace them with Terrorsaur and Depth Charge in that scene and it wouldn't change much. Mairghred Scott seems to have a major thing for female representation in comics, she's even said on her Tumblr that she writes Windblade specifically for the female fans. To be clear, I have no problem with female characters (Airazor was one of my first Transformer toys when I was a kid) or female fans (so long as they leave their identity politics at the door, same goes for male fans).

The Windblade comic does like to emphasise how gynocentric (made by women, for women, about women) it is, and it wouldn't surprise me if Scott or someone else in IDW genuinely believes the LIE that comic, gaming and geek culture is a misogynistic boy's club that excludes women. Having read a few of her Tumblr posts and interviews, Scott strikes me as the kind of writer who cares more about equality and diversity in entertainment than she does about story and characterisation.

Oh, boy. I know I look forward to discussing identity politics when reading Transformers comics.

If Scott's goal really is to write a comic for women, I think that's misguided. I can understand wanting to broaden the demographic and increase sales, but I don't see how injecting a quota of diversity is necessary in a series where the principal cast already includes characters who can turn into dinosaurs as readily as they turn into jets and the personalities of said characters run the gamut. In my opinion, the inclusion of gender specific tropes doesn't add diversity to this fictional universe, it detracts from it by making it more like ours' without the benefit of making characters more relatable, just more easily shoehorned into one other broad character archetype.

A quick and non-scientific perusal of board members who identify as female in our own Cartoon and Comics forum indicates female fans actually enjoy MTMTE most of all, and that series has a principally "male" cast (and an entirely "male" cast for Season 1). I don't know all of said female fans' thoughts on the Windblade miniseries, but at least one of them doesn't care for Windblade and her occasional Mary Sue traits. I don't have access to IDW's own data, but I'd be very surprised if an increase in female readership could be attributed to the Windblade introduction and/or miniseries rather than they got more female readership thanks to better quality work in general from Barber and Roberts than they had under Mike Costa.

I remember the fuss made about the Windblade miniseries and the historic event of an all female creative team and wondering why this was so significant it merited celebration, because to me the gender of the author or artist is immaterial to enjoying their work and I still feel treating the creative output of an all female team as something special and unique undermines the value of the story they're telling and adds another unnecessary burden of expectation. Treating an all female team as you would an all male team sounds egalitarian to me. Treating it as special reminds us all that it's different, that it's "other", and I don't feel that's to anyone's benefit. Probably made for a nice press release, I suppose.

If Scott wants to bring in more diversity, fine, it's her book. I just don't see that goal as conducive to expanding the TF universe. Want more female characters? We did that last year. More beastformers? We already have a bunch whose origins haven't been fully detailed. Still, Beast Wars homages sell... but we already have one as a major character with an arc under Barber's pen, and one Scott has appearing in her work for no other reason than to be comic relief.

Upon reading the preview I didn't feel like any of these characters were specifically chosen for their gender, though I certainly felt it was odd that Depth Charge wasn't chosen to lead the water beastformers. I can't imagine Hasbro has toys in the pipe for non-show Beast Wars characters, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.


TL; DR: Scott, just tell a good story. If you insist on adding "diversity" that doesn't significantly improve your narrative, that hurts not only your series, but the larger universe.

Hmm or maybe manta ray and sonar are throw away characters in throw away roles leaving depth charge (having a bounty hunter as your tribe leader or representative wouldn't be as good as you think) for a bigger role in this quickly expanding universe. Same as terrasaur, people wouldn't be happy if terrasaur was used like that but apparently people aren't happy that he wasn't used like that. Are people really this annoyed that girls took these cameo spots

No I'm not annoyed. I just don't want them to be added JUST because they are girls. Females actually seem to get better coverage in the other comics. Who doesn't love Nautica? Or thinks Arcee isn't a badass? And who can't wait to find out what the deal is with Elita one??

Are these supposed to be tribal chiefs though? Maybe they are just chosen representatives.

I do hope they throw in some Jungle planet characters too.

Optimizzy wrote:No I'm not annoyed. I just don't want them to be added JUST because they are girls. Females actually seem to get better coverage in the other comics. Who doesn't love Nautica? Or thinks Arcee isn't a badass? And who can't wait to find out what the deal is with Elita one??

Are these supposed to be tribal chiefs though? Maybe they are just chosen representatives.

I do hope they throw in some Jungle planet characters too.

Perhaps it is just an attempt to more realistically display the gender ratio on Eukaris. If there are relatively equal numbers of male and female bots, wouldn't it make sense to have at least a couple of female bots among the tribal representatives rather than having them all be male?

Munkky wrote:

OptimusPrimeval wrote:The Windblade comic does like to emphasise how gynocentric (made by women, for women, about women) it is, and it wouldn't surprise me if Scott or someone else in IDW genuinely believes the LIE that comic, gaming and geek culture is a misogynistic boy's club that excludes women. Having read a few of her Tumblr posts and interviews, Scott strikes me as the kind of writer who cares more about equality and diversity in entertainment than she does about story and characterisation.

You're adorable.

MrBlack wrote:

Optimizzy wrote:No I'm not annoyed. I just don't want them to be added JUST because they are girls. Females actually seem to get better coverage in the other comics. Who doesn't love Nautica? Or thinks Arcee isn't a badass? And who can't wait to find out what the deal is with Elita one??

Are these supposed to be tribal chiefs though? Maybe they are just chosen representatives.

I do hope they throw in some Jungle planet characters too.

Perhaps it is just an attempt to more realistically display the gender ratio on Eukaris. If there are relatively equal numbers of male and female bots, wouldn't it make sense to have at least a couple of female bots among the tribal representatives rather than having them all be male?

Perhaps, and I'd be fine with that...but Manta Ray? Come on. There has to be a better choice than that.

DAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW it's adorbable.

That cover is very adorable

How do we know that manta ray wasn't the only option

IDW Publishing just updated their Facebook page with the Retailer Incentive Cover of Windblade #6 by Agnes Garbowska. Check it out below!





Remember keep your optics tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest in news and updates!

What is held by the webs of fate? Find out next week in Transformers: Windlbade issue #6, of which we have the full preview below via Newsarama and IDW! And make sure to come back after reading it on Wednesady for the the Seibertron.com review, too.

Transformers: Windblade #6
Mairghread Scott (w) • Corin Howell (a) • Priscilla Tramontano (c)
BEAST WAR! On EUKARIS, the colonists are more than just robots in disguise—they're whole new breeds of Transformers! But while WINDBLADE and STARSCREAM struggle to gain allies on this brave new world, an ancient power seeks to force them off the planet!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
-Another colony found—but will they be friend or foe?
-Fan favorite characters make the comic-book universe debut!
-Variant Cover by Agnes Garbowska!

Well, I was hoping for additional pages that weren't just recaps and roll calls, but oh well, still cant wait

Faces are horrible and some characters have heads to big for their bodies Knock Out for example.


I can't believe I'm saying this but I prefer Livio Ramondelli as he can make Transformers fit with the tone of the stories.



But the story seems good but I will read the plot on TFwiki instead of buying this issue.

Since I've never been a huge fan of Beast Wars, I don't recognize that face on the cover (I know its a Maximal, however). Does anyone know who it is?

Decepticon Sunstorm wrote:Since I've never been a huge fan of Beast Wars, I don't recognize that face on the cover (I know its a Maximal, however). Does anyone know who it is?

tigatron

Is it just me or does the art look...different?

Rainmaker wrote:Is it just me or does the art look...different?

Corin Howell's art has always looked a little Animated-esque. It's better this issue than I'm used to seeing from her (less over-the-top cartoony), but I'm still glad Sara Pitre-DuRocher is drawing the new ongoing.

WHY are they using Animated Blackarachnia instead of Beast Wars Blackarachnia? Was this some corporate-mandate decision or something?

Sabrblade wrote:WHY are they using Animated Blackarachnia instead of Beast Wars Blackarachnia? Was this some corporate-mandate decision or something?

Because her Beast Wars design is ugly.

SlyTF1 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:WHY are they using Animated Blackarachnia instead of Beast Wars Blackarachnia? Was this some corporate-mandate decision or something?

Because her Beast Wars design is ugly.

I do think the animated design is better but the real shame is that we are not seeing an animated design in the " real world" I would have liked to see Milne or Griffith tackle the design but instead it's pretty much unchanged and fits in with the cartoony art. Shame really.

Has it occurred to anyone that there is a Titan on a Beast themed world and that said Titan could well have adopted a Beast Mode the same as its residents? Think Trypticon or Skorponok only jacked up even bigger and then picture that behemoth coming crashing onto the scene for the upcoming Titan Wars arc.
Just a thought.

Oh, and you people bitching about the Art style? Seriously? It's ART!! You know, freedom of expression and interpretation, not to mention individual style. I know you all have a right to your opinion but honestly, if y'all haven't figured it out by now then I hate to tell ya but the problem isn't with the book: the problem is with your perception and what you seem to think of as the definition of art.

You want my opinion on the art complaints (no choice, you're getting it)

I don't like the art either... I think the reason why is not because there's anything wrong with the style, but the tone.

Cartoony is something we associate for kids. My kids love over exaggerated style... they're 5 and 6. They watch Teen Titans Go, love the Minions, and the 5 year old can't get enough of RID 2015.
That style is great for that age of kids. I think Howell is a great artist, she really hits over the top, silly emotion. It's light, it's cute, it's funny, and it's innocent. You want to hug it.

But the Transformers comics are aimed at older teens and up. Not 5 year olds. The art suggests that this is for kids. The plots are not light hearted adventures, even in MTMTE. It's a story about war, pain, suffering, death, treachery and treason. Lots of loss of life, homes, and most importantly... innocence.

The art is jarring for the style of story, especially for such a gritty theme. A lot of people (myself included) expect different. To each his or her own, yes. There's nothing wrong with it. The issue I see is there's a clash of the aesthetics of the writing and the aesthetics of the art. For a comic medium, readers expect a lot, and well frankly, political coups and people dieing is not... cute.

I can agree with that for the reasons you suggest. The argument would be made that this is a comic based on toys and is thus for kids. But you know what? When I was a kid I wanted stuff the older kids wanted and liked. So even if this stuff is for kids (and you make a good point about the deeper stories) then a more serious art style would be better.

Then again, look at Animated. Great writing and dealt with similar themes but had a cartoony style yet it worked.
I mean it could work...but just doesn't here. And I think the artist is capable of a little more realism but she just doesn't. I dunno. She is image artist and she's just doing her job. Just think it's not the right series for her.

Oh and by the way: pointing out you don't like the art. That's ok. Pointing out why you think the art is good: also ok.

Complaining about people complaining is not ok. People are allowed to voice opinion and why they may not like something. As long as it stays civil and doesn't personally attack I think it's fine.

The only issue I have with the art seen here is that it made Sonar look nigh-unrecognizable at first, since I couldn't tell she(?) was at first until I looked closer at the dialogue bubble that identified her(?) as Sonar.

The "?'s" are due to another point I'm about to make (one not necessarily related to the art itself): I can't tell if Manta Ray and Sonar are still fembots in this or not. Past fiction established both of them as female (when their toys were genderless), but the way they're drawn and portrayed character-wise here makes it difficult to tell if they're still female here or not. Not that I want them to have supermodel bodies or anything like that, mind you. Just that it's hard to tell if this comic will be sticking to what's been established beforehand or if it's doing something totally different with these two. So hopefully the full comic itself will shed some light on this since a small handful of sample pages aren't enough to make a fair call.

As an aside, should Optimus Primal ever show up in this, I kinda want him to be in his Beast Machines body to A) throw those expecting his BW season 1 body for a loop, and B) to make him as visually distinct from Optimus Prime as possible.

CrankyOldTruck wrote:Has it occurred to anyone that there is a Titan on a Beast themed world and that said Titan could well have adopted a Beast Mode the same as its residents? Think Trypticon or Skorponok only jacked up even bigger and then picture that behemoth coming crashing onto the scene for the upcoming Titan Wars arc.
Just a thought.

Orcanoch or bust!

Optimizzy wrote:

SlyTF1 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:WHY are they using Animated Blackarachnia instead of Beast Wars Blackarachnia? Was this some corporate-mandate decision or something?

Because her Beast Wars design is ugly.

I do think the animated design is better but the real shame is that we are not seeing an animated design in the " real world" I would have liked to see Milne or Griffith tackle the design but instead it's pretty much unchanged and fits in with the cartoony art. Shame really.

maybe it's to show that she's a different blackarachinia from her beast wars counterpart. I mean this version of Tigatron and Airrazor are different from beast wars tigatron and airrazor, even ignoring the possibility beast wars is the past/future in the IDW continuity.

I asked elsewhere yesterday why the design for Animated Blackarachnia was used instead of BW Blackarachnia and was directed to Mairghread Scott's Tumblr answering this very question back in the 13th, in which she says that it was just the artist's (Corin Howell's) choice:

I think that was Corin’s call. I just said Blackarachnia in the script, she drew that one and it looked hella cool. Since our Blackarachnia doesn’t have the same background as either of those other takes on Blackarachnia, it didn’t seem to be a problem, but if t makes you feel any better, I kinda wrote with Beast Wars Blackarachnia’s voice in my head, especially that laugh she does.

Sabrblade, I checked out that link, and the rest of Mairghread Scott's tumblr, and she does confirm, in a few posts before that one, that Sonar and Manta Ray are both still female in this continuity.

Bounti76 wrote:Sabrblade, I checked out that link, and the rest of Mairghread Scott's tumblr, and she does confirm, in a few posts before that one, that Sonar and Manta Ray are both still female in this continuity.

Ah, good to hear, thanks.

Also, anyone else notice that Tigatron's altmode is more based on his BotCon 2001 toy than his season beast mode body?

Sabrblade wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:Sabrblade, I checked out that link, and the rest of Mairghread Scott's tumblr, and she does confirm, in a few posts before that one, that Sonar and Manta Ray are both still female in this continuity.

Ah, good to hear, thanks.

Also, anyone else notice that Tigatron's altmode is more based on his BotCon 2001 toy than his season beast mode body?

Eh, I could see that. With the beastformers we've seen so far, they're more robotic animals than organic disguises. Makes sense. Might also work towards explaining Animated Blackarachnia and the Transmetals.

Sabrblade wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:Sabrblade, I checked out that link, and the rest of Mairghread Scott's tumblr, and she does confirm, in a few posts before that one, that Sonar and Manta Ray are both still female in this continuity.

Ah, good to hear, thanks.

Also, anyone else notice that Tigatron's altmode is more based on his BotCon 2001 toy than his season beast mode body?

I personally like that look better than his animation model

Bounti76 wrote:

Rainmaker wrote:Is it just me or does the art look...different?

Corin Howell's art has always looked a little Animated-esque. It's better this issue than I'm used to seeing from her (less over-the-top cartoony), but I'm still glad Sara Pitre-DuRocher is drawing the new ongoing.

"A Little" Quo? Actually, Its Alot animated.
An just about as Anti-Transformer friendly as Anti-Transformer friendly can get. We want A.Miline Fine or even Sub-Miline.
This Chic's art is so Sub standard it's in another category altogether (when it comes to Transformers anyway).

ctrlFrequency wrote:You want my opinion on the art complaints (no choice, you're getting it)

I don't like the art either... I think the reason why is not because there's anything wrong with the style, but the tone.

Cartoony is something we associate for kids. My kids love over exaggerated style... they're 5 and 6. They watch Teen Titans Go,
love the Minions, and the 5 year old can't get enough of RID 2015.
That style is great for that age of kids. I think Howell is a great artist, she really hits over the top, silly emotion. It's light, it's cute, it's funny, and it's innocent. You want to hug it.

But the Transformers comics are aimed at older teens and up. Not 5 year olds. The art suggests that this is for kids. The plots are not light hearted adventures, even in MTMTE. It's a story about war, pain, suffering, death, treachery and treason. Lots of loss of life, homes, and most importantly... innocence.

The art is jarring for the style of story,

Her art holds no place in The Transformers comic world.
Maybe on the New RiD series because it shadows the cartoon but even than I'd leave Her on fill-in ishs. An I'd argue it is 100% her style.
She has more detail in her current 'Bat-mite' mini than she does in
Transformers. Which is Shamefully inexcusable.
"She had more time with DC due to 'Convergence' blah, blah" Yea I don't care. She wants $$$, so she draws whatever. I get that,
But, WHAT I DIDN'T INITIALLY GET IS--
Why would IDW Editor(s) hire her, esp on A title that has always struggled
with sales (considering this 'WindBlade' is vol.3 or 4 in 3 or 4yrs).
Because They want to pair A (HACK) Female writer, with A Female artist on an All Female-Bot book. An its all due to the gender equality petition that started at DC A few yrs ago. When Gail Simone was the only DC Female writer. Who's Gr8 BtW, her 'Villains United' & 'Secret Six' are sum of the Best stuff out in comics in the last decade (Both said titles have been just recently Re-released in Deluxe Tpb. formats with 2+ Stories/12 comics+ per $20 trade).

My Advice quit buying it and don't kill your wallet so an industry (in our case IDW.) can try to meet gender equality standars.