IDW The Transformers #46 Full Preview
Friday, October 16th, 2015 7:15PM CDT
Category: Comic Book NewsPosted by: Va'al Views: 27,349
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Transformers #46
John Barber (w) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (a) • Andrew Griffith (c)
CONQUERORS part 1! OPTIMUS PRIME struggles to find his place on CYBERTRON where half the population hates him and the other half worships him. Meanwhile, on Earth, GALVATRON doesn’t care what anybody thinks.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet Points:
• A new story arc that will have deep-reaching ramifications for TRANSFORMERS.
• The countdown to issue 50 begins here!
• Part of IDW’s Artist’s Edition Month promotion!
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Posted by Optimizzy on October 16th, 2015 @ 7:59pm CDT
Posted by Starsaber468 on October 16th, 2015 @ 8:02pm CDT
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 16th, 2015 @ 8:27pm CDT
Posted by Shuttershock on October 16th, 2015 @ 8:44pm CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on October 17th, 2015 @ 2:02am CDT
Posted by BumbleDouche on October 17th, 2015 @ 3:29am CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on October 17th, 2015 @ 4:30am CDT
Posted by -Soundwave- on October 17th, 2015 @ 10:47am CDT
MegaDump wrote:I'm so conflicted... The concept of peace through tyranny appeals to me, but only under the iron will of Megatron. Now we have a Megatron that has turned into a less responsible version of Captain Kirk and Optimus Prime is in danger of becoming the tyrant.
I find this is what makes it interesting.
Posted by Prowl4 on October 17th, 2015 @ 5:13pm CDT
Not to mention this mistress of flame throwing optimus' thoughts and disbelief in himself to an all time high.
I do feel sorry for the writer as this series seems to be hasbro saying what to push to sell toys and other ideas/agendas.
When you have windblade giving orders to Ironhide one of the longest serving autobots and as noble as prime you have to question these writing decisions.
James Roberts mtmte series is the best transformers title around. It does all of the characters justice and is both funny and serious.
Posted by Shuttershock on October 17th, 2015 @ 5:22pm CDT
Prowl4 wrote:I feel that while this series does some things well I can't help but feel it does strange things like having arcee inexplicably commanding the earth autobots.
Not to mention this mistress of flame throwing optimus' thoughts and disbelief in himself to an all time high.
I do feel sorry for the writer as this series seems to be hasbro saying what to push to sell toys and other ideas/agendas.
When you have windblade giving orders to Ironhide one of the longest serving autobots and as noble as prime you have to question these writing decisions.
James Roberts mtmte series is the best transformers title around. It does all of the characters justice and is both funny and serious.
Arcee's command IS questionable, given her noted instability and relative newness to the team. It's especially jarring considering both Jazz and Kup have served as commanders for longer and are arguably more trustworthy.
Sadly, what does define Optimus in modern IDW is indecision and self-disbelief. He doesn't want to be a the guy who tells everyone how they should act lest he become what he's fought against, but time after time he finds himself pushed into the shoes of his predecessors and doing exactly that. Still, it is nice to actually have the MoF involved in the plot, as opposed to the fat lot of nothing she's contributed thus far and the build up she had going in to Combiner Wars.
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 17th, 2015 @ 7:00pm CDT
Posted by Shuttershock on October 17th, 2015 @ 7:08pm CDT
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:IDW Prime was not always self-doubting. He just began to doubt more once Nova Prime reemerged and the prime lineage was revealed to be nasty
Still, a big portion of the Mike Costa run had him near-inactive and RID kicks off with him abdicating authority to reinvent himself as well as to diffuse tensions.
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 17th, 2015 @ 7:11pm CDT
Shuttershock wrote:D-Maximus_Prime wrote:IDW Prime was not always self-doubting. He just began to doubt more once Nova Prime reemerged and the prime lineage was revealed to be nasty
Still, a big portion of the Mike Costa run had him near-inactive and RID kicks off with him abdicating authority to reinvent himself as well as to diffuse tensions.
Costa had a very different image of him (which I didn't really like) and in my opinion, Barber has done a nice job trying to fix that while keeping a bit of that personality. The Barber Prime now feels much better than Costa Prime
Posted by Shuttershock on October 17th, 2015 @ 7:12pm CDT
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Shuttershock wrote:D-Maximus_Prime wrote:IDW Prime was not always self-doubting. He just began to doubt more once Nova Prime reemerged and the prime lineage was revealed to be nasty
Still, a big portion of the Mike Costa run had him near-inactive and RID kicks off with him abdicating authority to reinvent himself as well as to diffuse tensions.
Costa had a very different image of him (which I didn't really like) and in my opinion, Barber has done a nice job trying to fix that while keeping a bit of that personality. The Barber Prime now feels much better than Costa Prime
Agreed.
Posted by Prowl4 on October 17th, 2015 @ 7:18pm CDT
Shuttershock wrote:Prowl4 wrote:I feel that while this series does some things well I can't help but feel it does strange things like having arcee inexplicably commanding the earth autobots.
Not to mention this mistress of flame throwing optimus' thoughts and disbelief in himself to an all time high.
I do feel sorry for the writer as this series seems to be hasbro saying what to push to sell toys and other ideas/agendas.
When you have windblade giving orders to Ironhide one of the longest serving autobots and as noble as prime you have to question these writing decisions.
James Roberts mtmte series is the best transformers title around. It does all of the characters justice and is both funny and serious.
Arcee's command IS questionable, given her noted instability and relative newness to the team. It's especially jarring considering both Jazz and Kup have served as commanders for longer and are arguably more trustworthy.
Sadly, what does define Optimus in modern IDW is indecision and self-disbelief. He doesn't want to be a the guy who tells everyone how they should act lest he become what he's fought against, but time after time he finds himself pushed into the shoes of his predecessors and doing exactly that. Still, it is nice to actually have the MoF involved in the plot, as opposed to the fat lot of nothing she's contributed thus far and the build up she had going in to Combiner Wars.
I totally agree here. Jazz, kup and jetfire are earth based and keeping command. It seems strange arcee is suddenly thrown into a leader role especially given her past not to mention being a known pawn of prowl.
Optimus started out great a great leader full of courage. Now optimus is questing himself to mof who is an unknown entity and a nothing to the lineage of primes.
If anything alpha trion is the one optimus should seek self confidence in if he's feeling doubtful. I know the comics wrote somewhat around this by trion stating he made bad decisions but optimus taking a leap of faith into getting approval from mof seems very silly.
Another iffy decision is allowing ironhide be written by mairghread scott. If prime isn't going to trust jazz or kup send ironhide to command earth's autobot fforces . I'm an ironhide fan so him taking orders from windblade doesn't sit well with me given what he has done and embodies in idw.
Posted by ZeroWolf on October 18th, 2015 @ 4:49am CDT
Posted by -Soundwave- on October 18th, 2015 @ 12:30pm CDT
Shuttershock wrote:D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Shuttershock wrote:D-Maximus_Prime wrote:IDW Prime was not always self-doubting. He just began to doubt more once Nova Prime reemerged and the prime lineage was revealed to be nasty
Still, a big portion of the Mike Costa run had him near-inactive and RID kicks off with him abdicating authority to reinvent himself as well as to diffuse tensions.
Costa had a very different image of him (which I didn't really like) and in my opinion, Barber has done a nice job trying to fix that while keeping a bit of that personality. The Barber Prime now feels much better than Costa Prime
Agreed.
This all seems to reflect like g1 season 2 Rodimus. Too much doubt, and self questioning, something we're not used to in an Optimus.
Posted by Starsaber468 on October 18th, 2015 @ 8:21pm CDT
Posted by Shuttershock on October 18th, 2015 @ 8:29pm CDT
Starsaber468 wrote:After just reading issue #45 it makes me more excited about this after seeing the zombie conehead seeker combiner and more could the engima of comination quote on quote virus will mean sky regin will be in fombiner wars idk but time will show? Quick question is trailbreaker truely dead because hot rod informed him of how he should avoid his death ,so is he actually dead?
Sadly, I believe he is. Just before the crew left that timeline, Trailbreaker shook Chromedome's mindwipe hand, so he forgot Rodimus's warning.
Shame too, since I cared more about Trailbreaker than a lot of the main cast.
Posted by Prowl4 on October 18th, 2015 @ 8:31pm CDT
Starsaber468 wrote:After just reading issue #45 it makes me more excited about this after seeing the zombie conehead seeker combiner and more could the engima of comination quote on quote virus will mean sky regin will be in fombiner wars idk but time will show? Quick question is trailbreaker truely dead because hot rod informed him of how he should avoid his death ,so is he actually dead?
Well the autobot crew including sky lynx aren't looking in a good position by the end of #45.
Trailbreaker was informed but iirc I think he grabbed chromedomes hand which would have reset his memory to not knowing he'd been told.
If these comics tell us anything nobody truly stays dead if a toy is on the horizon for example megatron, ironhide, nightbeat, rewind and I assume hardhead have all come back from death. I expect sentinel prime to be resurrected too.
It does cheapen deaths which up until this point have been consistent with keeping characters dead like ramjet, bumblebee, reflector and pipes probably the most notable characters to die and stay dead. I'd like to see a fembot die though to show nobody is truly safe. The fembots outside of michael bays transformers seem to get passes from being killed. I'd like for that to change.
Posted by padfoo on October 18th, 2015 @ 9:07pm CDT
Prowl4 wrote:I feel that while this series does some things well I can't help but feel it does strange things like having arcee inexplicably commanding the earth autobots.
Not to mention this mistress of flame throwing optimus' thoughts and disbelief in himself to an all time high.
I do feel sorry for the writer as this series seems to be hasbro saying what to push to sell toys and other ideas/agendas.
When you have Windblade giving orders to Ironhide one of the longest serving autobots and as noble as prime you have to question these writing decisions.
James Roberts mtmte series is the best transformers title around. It does all of the characters justice and is both funny and serious.
I agree with everything you write here. One of the problems with these books is that they focus on a core group of characters that are really popular; in doing so they portray them out of character. I rather not see Ironhide if he is going to be a shell of himself.
I commented on this months ago where in one combiner wars story Ironhide could barely keep up on one of their missions. Someone commented that he is old, and therefore is not performing up to par with younger bots. Well Transformers don't really age, not in a way we know. Kup is a bit crazy and is not fond of repairs or upgrades, therefore he is an old fart in every way. I think the fiction has already established that other old characters such as Omega Supreme, Shockwave, Megatron..... are not impeded by age.
The writers need to introduce newer characters instead of handicapping know bad asses. I agree MTMTE is much more balance in this way.
Posted by Prowl4 on October 18th, 2015 @ 9:43pm CDT
padfoo wrote:Prowl4 wrote:I feel that while this series does some things well I can't help but feel it does strange things like having arcee inexplicably commanding the earth autobots.
Not to mention this mistress of flame throwing optimus' thoughts and disbelief in himself to an all time high.
I do feel sorry for the writer as this series seems to be hasbro saying what to push to sell toys and other ideas/agendas.
When you have Windblade giving orders to Ironhide one of the longest serving autobots and as noble as prime you have to question these writing decisions.
James Roberts mtmte series is the best transformers title around. It does all of the characters justice and is both funny and serious.
I completely agree. Ironhide got a new body a couple years back in the comics but again who's writing decision is it to send him to velocitron a planet of speed If he isn't fast? He had visions which makes him pretty important aa a character and has been around a long time and always done the right thing so seeing windblade give him orders annoyed me as it's totally out of character and chain of command.
do think that mtmte is the best series maybe due to superior writing or maybe roberts has less hasbro interference and doesn't have to work with mairghread scott to bridge her story with a main story. Mtmte does have poor points like not exploring enough of the crew and using the same characters prominently in each story that aren't exciting like chromedome and rewind but I do think characters do get fleshed out more and stay in character throughout. Issues focusing on the djd and the vis vitalis are great.
I agree with everything you write here. One of the problems with these books is that they focus on a core group of characters that are really popular; in doing so they portray them out of character. I rather not see Ironhide if he is going to be a shell of himself.
I commented on this months ago where in one combiner wars story Ironhide could barely keep up on one of their missions. Someone commented that he is old, and therefore is not performing up to par with younger bots. Well Transformers don't really age, not in a way we know. Kup is a bit crazy and is not fond of repairs or upgrades, therefore he is an old fart in every way. I think the fiction has already established that other old characters such as Omega Supreme, Shockwave, Megatron..... are not impeded by age.
The writers need to introduce newer characters instead of handicapping know bad asses. I agree MTMTE is much more balance in this way.
Posted by ZeroWolf on October 19th, 2015 @ 3:40am CDT
As for ironhide taking orders from windblade, well technically speaking she outranks him, being a cityspeaker and all. Being one of the other people being able to speak to a titan is going to have a good rank attached.
Plus characters evolve as writers deploy them in new scenarios. I find prime more interesting seeing him tackle these issues, especially in the knowledge that there is something far greater going on.
Posted by Prowl4 on October 19th, 2015 @ 5:59am CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:Kup was repaired though if you remember his condition in spotlight:Kup. Also a few of the others you mentioned have been modified or given new bodies (like megs was given a completely new body just before Dark Cybertron) plus Shockwave being dead doesn't help the case of death not being Important.
As for ironhide taking orders from windblade, well technically speaking she outranks him, being a cityspeaker and all. Being one of the other people being able to speak to a titan is going to have a good rank attached.
Plus characters evolve as writers deploy them in new scenarios. I find prime more interesting seeing him tackle these issues, especially in the knowledge that there is something far greater going on.
I would think the battle hardened, noble, vision seeing to prevent the world's end, optimus primes second in command, well travelled ironhide would be far higher up the rank than a camien who is still pretty new to cybertron that speaks to decommissioned bots that don't want to be bothered to be honest.
Posted by ZeroWolf on October 19th, 2015 @ 12:12pm CDT
There's also another side to this, the fact that iron hide is more then willing to help wb out. Now, yes, he has softened but that's because he has gone through a lot. Least of the which was his faith in the visions he saw utterly destroyed.
I wouldn't like these characters half as much if they forever stayed the same static characters I knew from the first two seasons
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 19th, 2015 @ 12:48pm CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on October 19th, 2015 @ 2:09pm CDT
Posted by megatronus on October 20th, 2015 @ 12:04am CDT
Posted by Va'al on October 21st, 2015 @ 10:26am CDT
(Spoiler free-ish)
Synopsis
CONQUERORS part 1! OPTIMUS PRIME struggles to find his place on CYBERTRON where half the population hates him and the other half worships him. Meanwhile, on Earth, GALVATRON doesn’t care what anybody thinks.
Story
In the write-up to the preview for issue 46 of The Transformers, I asked three questions that may or may not have been answered in this issue: What is Galvatron up to? Has Optimus come to terms with his status as a Prime? What happened to the Autobot crew on Earth? While the latter is only briefly dealt with, there is so much more to work with in John Barber's wonderful script for the other two.
Galvatron, the smarmy, smirking warrior of old who has clearly never really left his old ways - biding his time, as it were - has started placing his pawns and pieces on the game board. We are reminded of his backstory, shown some more of his cruelty, and brought to his intentions insofar as we can determine a potential endgame. Maybe.
The major player, even more so than Smugmatron, is Optimus Prime, who takes some time, most of the issue, trying to figure out his place in the new post-colony reality of the Cybertronian race. Spurred by the Mistress of Flame on Camien, and new character Aileron on Cybertron, he needs to find a new balance of his multiple selves, playing a longer game than what we, and the other Transformers, have seen him do so far.
Optimus and Galvatron are not the sole foci of the story, of course, but definitely offer the most interesting looks at the developing, and building, story-line. Nonetheless, Starscream is shown to still be battling some of his own doubts, as Soundwave is contacted by a surprising character, and Redemption is seeded subtly.
Art
After Combiner Hunters, and several covers, we get to see Sara Pitre-Durocher's own take on the regular artwork for the series, and what a job does she deliver. Incorporating some of the elements of the recent generation of artists, and bringing her own softer flair to the characters, we get a sometimes moving look at the struggle of Optimus as he finds new leads on how to present himself.
The emotional side, both positive and negative (looking at you again, Purpletron), is beautifully highlighted by the colourwork of Bumbleburrito fan Josh Perez, blending elements nicely of the visual aspects so far with the new art style, seamlessly but still keeping some uniqueness for the development of the linework.
Tom B. Long is still here, still lettering, still doing an amazing job at conveying the intensity of the words and tones used in various interactions, as well as setting the wider tone in more dynamic scenes. The covers come in different types, feeding into convention season and the Artist Edition initiative that IDW run regularly, as Casey Coller offers a wonderful dual Optimus in black and white (thumbnailed), and Coller and JP Bove collaborate for Ricomicon on a classic OP vs Megatron piece.
Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead
If last month's issue brought an epicentre to a massive shift in the status quo for the Transformers universe, issue 46 deals with the initial ripples that will - undoubtedly - lead to the further repercussions of All Hail Optimus early next year. The parallels, however forced, between the corrupt Primes, Galvatron and Optimus are setting themselves up for a massive collision.
The new visual team, staying on the book for a while at least, are an excellent showcase of talent. They bring a good blend of dynamics, posing, emotivity and physical language, mixing the colour skills of Perez and animated lines of Pitre-Durocher, with a side dish of font magic by Long. I'll be looking out for more of this next month, for sure.
Posted by Randomhero on October 21st, 2015 @ 12:11pm CDT
This was a really good issue. There's just so much going on on different fronts.
Posted by ZeroWolf on October 21st, 2015 @ 12:41pm CDT
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 21st, 2015 @ 1:47pm CDT
Posted by 1984forever on October 21st, 2015 @ 2:16pm CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on October 21st, 2015 @ 2:22pm CDT
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Makes you wonder what Wave is up to. There is no way that he doesn't know what Galvs is up to, so what is his goal wish Galvatron?
I think Sound wave may try a coup at some point as it becomes clear that Galvatron was just using him to build an army.
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 21st, 2015 @ 2:31pm CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Makes you wonder what Wave is up to. There is no way that he doesn't know what Galvs is up to, so what is his goal wish Galvatron?
I think Sound wave may try a coup at some point as it becomes clear that Galvatron was just using him to build an army.
At the rate the cycle is going, Galvatron used Wave to build an army, Wave used Needlenose to bring said cons to the commune, Soundwave also killed Horri-bull (needlenose's significant other), everything has a great potential to crash, bash and go holy bejezles here when all hits the fan
Posted by ZeroWolf on October 21st, 2015 @ 2:38pm CDT
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:ZeroWolf wrote:D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Makes you wonder what Wave is up to. There is no way that he doesn't know what Galvs is up to, so what is his goal wish Galvatron?
I think Sound wave may try a coup at some point as it becomes clear that Galvatron was just using him to build an army.
At the rate the cycle is going, Galvatron used Wave to build an army, Wave used Needlenose to bring said cons to the commune, Soundwave also killed Horri-bull (needlenose's significant other), everything has a great potential to crash, bash and go holy bejezles here when all hits the fan
And it will be glorious when it does
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 21st, 2015 @ 2:55pm CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:D-Maximus_Prime wrote:ZeroWolf wrote:D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Makes you wonder what Wave is up to. There is no way that he doesn't know what Galvs is up to, so what is his goal wish Galvatron?
I think Sound wave may try a coup at some point as it becomes clear that Galvatron was just using him to build an army.
At the rate the cycle is going, Galvatron used Wave to build an army, Wave used Needlenose to bring said cons to the commune, Soundwave also killed Horri-bull (needlenose's significant other), everything has a great potential to crash, bash and go holy bejezles here when all hits the fan
And it will be glorious when it does
Gloriously messy in a way that only Michael Bay could beat
Posted by SlyTF1 on October 21st, 2015 @ 3:11pm CDT
Posted by MrBlack on October 21st, 2015 @ 8:23pm CDT
Jetfire is a scientist, not a leader of a combat unit. Cosmos and Sideswipe are both unqualified. That leaves Arcee who not only has extensive experience in combat and stealth, which are essential on this mission, but also has a burning desire to prove that she's ready to be an Autobot. It seems very Prime-like to offer her leadership of the mission in order to let her prove to herself and the others that she's ready.
Posted by budmaloney on October 22nd, 2015 @ 12:24pm CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on October 22nd, 2015 @ 12:31pm CDT
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 22nd, 2015 @ 2:08pm CDT
Posted by budmaloney on October 22nd, 2015 @ 5:22pm CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:What closure would u be giving when it's clear this arc will end on issue 49
Mostly, what happened to the ark and Kup, Jetfire, Skylynx. Just to close last issue's cliff hanger. Plus this issue Optimus was moping around again. I get it's character development but it just feels slow and it drives me crazy. Victorion is no where to be seen. No need to introduce need to introduce new characters, we haven't had the chance to meet the ones they introduced like 2 issues ago.
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:If a comic were a closer every issue, then there would be no good continuity, nor would there be as much excitement with what Barber has been doing
I guess that's what makes Barber great, but sometimes at $5.99 a pop, I feel like it's chasing the dragon. Although I have to admit this didn't feel as fast as the previous one.
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 22nd, 2015 @ 7:26pm CDT
budmaloney wrote:ZeroWolf wrote:What closure would u be giving when it's clear this arc will end on issue 49
Mostly, what happened to the ark and Kup, Jetfire, Skylynx. Just to close last issue's cliff hanger. Plus this issue Optimus was moping around again. I get it's character development but it just feels slow and it drives me crazy. Victorion is no where to be seen. No need to introduce need to introduce new characters, we haven't had the chance to meet the ones they introduced like 2 issues ago.D-Maximus_Prime wrote:If a comic were a closer every issue, then there would be no good continuity, nor would there be as much excitement with what Barber has been doing
I guess that's what makes Barber great, but sometimes at $5.99 a pop, I feel like it's chasing the dragon. Although I have to admit this didn't feel as fast as the previous one.
Don't forget this issue is actually setting up the Victorion introduction into the ongoing next issue, and the others may have been left out to further Cosmos view that all the people died (and some may have, we will have to wait). Poor Jazz though. He had better not die