IDW Drift comic reviews & comments (spoilers)

[griffin]

Only 4 issues this one, and bi-weekly, so won't be out for very long.

The story looks at the character of Drift before he was introduced into the IDW universe... an extended spotlight.

First issue came out last week, and the second issue comes out in about 3 days time.

Post your thoughts if you are following it. Topic will remain stickied until a little while after the mini-series is concluded.

(note - Drift-bashing posts will be deleted)

[griffin]

Had a quick look at JustOwen's issue #1, and saw loads of random and obscure Gen1/Gen2/Euro/AMs/JP thrown in all over the place. Recognising them and trying to identify others was probably more fun than trying to work out the story itself... I didn't read through it (will do that when I get the TPB, or all four of his issues at once), but I was a bit lost with how it set itself up.
From my perusal though, it looks like a story about a person who has been abandoned by his people, is cast out, and through meeting up with a mysterious stranger, he learns something about himself that changes his whole life and destiny...
Sounds like something that could have been contained within a single issue Spotlight, but I can understand Hasbro wanting IDW to produce a multi-issue story to sell the new toy currently on shelves.

[SharkyMcShark]

I really liked the issue and the style - all the non Drift/third faction bots are done in a sort of WFC multi layered style.

I felt there could have been more in the lead up to his defection but in saying that I appreciate that they've got a limited space to work in.

I also like the concept of a more populated galaxy interacting with the Transformers, something that we've not really seen recently except in the movie prequels and in the Drift Spotlight.

[i_amtrunks]

Had a quick look at JustOwen's issue #1, and saw loads of random and obscure Gen1/Gen2/Euro/AMs/JP thrown in all over the place. Recognising them and trying to identify others was probably more fun than trying to work out the story itself... I didn't read through it (will do that when I get the TPB, or all four of his issues at once), but I was a bit lost with how it set itself up.

Trying to find all the obscure characters is better than reading the issue. The "story" kinda just... is. There is no lead up, and feels rather forced and overpaced, which is a massive contrast to the drawn out boring pacing of the ongoing.

From my perusal though, it looks like a story about a person who has been abandoned by his people, is cast out, and through meeting up with a mysterious stranger, he learns something about himself that changes his whole life and destiny...

Replace abandoned with "attempted to be executed" and I think you are right on the money bossbot.

Sounds like something that could have been contained within a single issue Spotlight, but I can understand Hasbro wanting IDW to produce a multi-issue story to sell the new toy currently on shelves.

That and Drift already had a waste of a Spotlight issue, this looks to be more of an extension of that of sorts. Personally I think a Terradive mini series would have been vastly more interesting.

The art is good, as Griffin said, spotting all the bots and cons in the first half dozen or so pages is fun (couldnt get them all without cheating myslf) but the rest of the story is just meh. Its nopthing that warrants an issue, a single short paragraph of text would have sufficed to summarise issue one.

[kup]

Its nopthing that warrants an issue, a single short paragraph of text would have sufficed to summarise issue one.

That is so typical of McCarthy's writing.

[Paulbot]

I thought this issue was generally fine, but the pacing seemed off. I think it would have worked better if the battle at the start and the subsequent trial had been flashbacks intercut with the action with Wing. As it is it seems to be working on fast forward to get the story started.

It also seemed really odd to me that we go from Drift being knocked out by the slavers to him waking up with the Cybertronians, and nothing was made of this. Maybe issue two will explain how Wing (and maybe some of these others) rescued him? Or it could be intentional and when Drift wakes up at the end of this issue he's actually in some sort of illusion/trap thing?

[i_amtrunks]

-snip-
Or it could be intentional and when Drift wakes up at the end of this issue he's actually in some sort of illusion/trap thing?

If it were anyone else, I'd say yup, quite a possibility, but I don't think McCarthy could be that subtle. He'll just skip what could have been an ineresting page or two of action and hope that we, like he, will forget it by issue 2.

The pacing really is offputting, I think the flashback idea would have worked really well Paulbot.

[Tallestblue]

Oh, it wasn't that bad. I like Transformers comics that are more Rock'em Sock'em Robots that emobot introspection. I'm actually starting to like Drift.
despite being a Dreadful Cliche.

[griffin]

(note - Drift-bashing posts will be deleted)

And no McCarthy bashing either. This is a review topic for the Drift Miniseries Comic, not a review topic of the Author. Just comment and review this comic, and what he has written this time...

[Sky Shadow]

It wasn't awful, but a lot of this comic makes no sense, or at least does little to quell the Mary-Sueishness of its titular character. Deadlock and the Decepticons have guns that are able to blow massive holes in the Autobots with one shot. Deadlock is even able to use his to shoot Carnivac/G2 Breakdown's head off (and somehow use his powers of lightning speed to run around and shoot him in the face when he was facing in the exact opposite direction in the previous panel.) And yet Deadlock gets hit by the exact same weapons at least four times and he just gets on with what he's doing like they were blowing hairdryers at him.

Then he finds a robot who likes to wear clothes, called Wing, who already looks almost exactly like Deadlock even before Wing's people rebuild Deadlock into Drift. And out of all the varied Transformers faces over the years, Milne has basically given these two the same face.

As Paulbot says, hopefully the "Well, well, a Decepticon. How interesting" line will actually come to something. And I hope Crystal City is interesting, plus presumably we see Megatron next issue, which might be good.