Transformers (2023) #1

[shakalooloo]

So, we saw Jetfire appear at the end of Void Rivals #1. Following that, he flew to Earth to awaken those aboard the Ark, in a scene resembling the original cartoon:

Comments

[thanekos]

We're only one issue in, but this looks like a Starscream whose characterization is neither going to be " the futility of disrupting a series status quo that won't be disrupted until the writers're good and ready to " or " the writers think they're especially clever for commenting/riffing on that futility " - which has promise.

[shakalooloo]

I'll reserve full judgement until his inevitable reunion with Megatron, but given his look of genuine concern for Thundercracker he definitely seems to be a little less self-serving than usual.

[zylly]

I’m reserving final judgement until the first arc is done, but I’d so far drop this as good, not great. But there’s enough intrigue and mystery to keep me interested.

And I’d drop even odds in ‘bee eventually making a return, albeit voiceless like his film version.

[shakalooloo]

This series is leaning so heavily into Geewun that I seriously doubt any aspect from the live-action films makes it in. No Allspark, no radio Bumblebee and no pot brownies.

They already have Rumble being blue (puttup!), and I'm genuinely surprised they have Jetfire and not Skyfire here.

[scorntx]

*not looking up from their sudoku*
Oh? Bumblebee's dead. That's nice. No, paint it whatever colour you want...

[beyondthefringe]

Return as Goldbug in 5...4...3...

[scorntx]

Either he returns as Goldbug, or it turns out there's just a whole squad of Bumblebees.
(Depending on how dark'n'edgy the writer's feeling, either they're volunteers, or randos Prowl has abducted and turned into extra Bumblebees for The Greater Good.)

[super_fly]

He's been shot in the lower face, so my guess is damaged voice box.

[shakalooloo]

"But what happens to our memories, our personalities, whenever we detach our
heads from our bodies?"

"You simply download into the auxiliary memory circuits in your chest."

[scorntx]

Transformers who... turn into heads?
Not in *my* Geewun!

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Huh... "hundred" years, eh?

Four million was always a bit much, perhaps, but I feel like they might have overcorrected here.

[shakalooloo]

We don't know how long they've been buried in the Earth. It may be a hundred years for the Ark crew trapped in stasis-lock, but who knows how much longer the war has been going on in their absence.

[super_fly]

OPTIMUS PRIME OUT OF NOWHERE WITH A BELLY TO BACK SUPLEX! MAH GAWD, STARSCREAM HAS BEEN BROKEN IN HALF!

[obsidianwolf]

I keep debating what to say to this and coming up short. It's not bad but it's not really good either it just kind of sort of is just there. It doesn't help that it is clearly counting on nostalgia to do the heavy lifting until the arc can really get going but at the same time there's not quiet enough in the difference department to really act as a hook to get things going. I Mean Starscream shooting Bumblebee in the face doesn't have much oomph since either way it goes if it's a rebuke to Bumblebee's new prominence or a set up for voice box less Bee that's dominated recent portrayels it just kind of has been done.

There's also the looming specter of Hasbro cause no matter what kind of story the writer and company want to tell. Hasbro is sitting there with their To sell toys mandate and sooner or later the interference will start. For Example even if the writers wanted Bumblebee dead and gone forever the chances of Hasbro allowing that are very very slim.

[shakalooloo]

I suppose the last panel is meant to be the big 'shock change', having the aesthetics of the eighties cartoon with a much bloodier tone. Bumblebee's life may or may not matter, but throwing in a human body count certainly does.

[obsidianwolf]

Except human casualties are nothing new. Sure the bloody squish is a bit more over the top but that has the potential to back fire and be seen as just blood for the sake of blood.

Frankly the fact GI Joe is part of this reboot means I imagine we'll also see Transformers killed by human weapons this time around far more graphically and none of that is really much of a changein content except for the gore level and we've seen so many titles go the darker and edgier gore filled route so even though this is new for Transformers it isn't new in the sense that it really shocks anyone anymore.

[shakalooloo]

Since this series is playing more off the cartoons than off previous comics, having human deaths IS a big departure. It seems as if this is being aimed at people familiar only with the original series, adding a few small tweaks here and there to diverge a little.

Saving the death until the final page really sells to me that it's meant to be a big shock "ZOMG, a Decepticon just killed someone!!!". Given that any fan of TF will have read other comics before by this point, it really does seem like a weird point to make, since there must be nobody that falls into that naive target audience they're shooting for.

More than anything, this feels like the first Dreamwave issues, showing classic Transformer designs only doing more violence. The cover for issue 2 (Starscream seen through a jet canopy) even references Megatron's initial rampage from those days.

I suppose at this point DW was over twenty years ago now, so that's another distinct era of nostalgia with its own crowd of fans now...

[obsidianwolf]

In a sense I think your right it's like this would be shocking to folks who never read another transformers comic or watched the live action films etc. It honestly reads like someone involved somewhere in the process is wildly out of touch and convinced there's an untapped market of non comic reading Generation one fans taht will be chomping at the bit for this and I just don't see that happening..

I mean Both Dreamwave and IDW's start are both around 20 years give or take a few years. It does give this series a bit of a feeling of been there done that add inn the violence like Starscream shooting Bee in the face feels exactly like an old Marvel Gen 2 issue with a shocking death and it gets even older feeling.

[thezmage]

I really think the point is to make us worried about Spike’s dad possibly also dying.

[shakalooloo]

Bleh, they already tried that trick on page one. If Starscream had spotted Mr Witwicky there at the end, maybe I'd worry about it.

[scorntx]

... actually apparently Hasbro not only okayed Bumblebee being shot, they've gotten tired of the little guy being everywhere all the time.

(though also apparently Hasbro were still clucking all over this issue like a vast, mothery hen...)

[obsidianwolf]

Which means that even if Hasbro cuts back on the Bumblebee toys for a while and he stays dead as soon as they have a new bumblebee toy to sell he'll be back.

So nothing has really changed of course I don't think anyone who has had any experience with Hasbro and the transformers comics expected it too.

[thezmage]

So this is so quick to hit the ground running that it comes off quite similar to the Scioli TF/GI Joe comic. Bumblebee dies, Ravage dies, some human guy dies: the stakes have *yawn* been established and hopefully we can get on with things. Nothing super exciting but first issues are hard I guess. I have no idea what this series is going to look like going forward and hopefully this is like Void Rivals where an unremarkable first issue is followed by much more interesting stories going forward

I know the writers are different, but I’m a lot more apprehensive about the Duke and Cobra Commander books nonetheless