IDW Transformers Ongoing Comic Issue #2 Covers
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 8:15PM CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, People NewsPosted by: Tigertrack Views: 21,774
Topic Options: View Discussion · Sign in or Join to reply
The covers shown for issue #2 include one by Don, and the Bumblebee variant done by Andrew Wildman, infamous Transformers UK artist, and artist for Dreamwave's War Within series, 'The Dark Ages'. Andrew is drawing the variant cover for each issue in the first story arc.
Check out the two covers for issue #2 here originally, and mirrored below.
IDW's Transformers ongoing begins this November!
Seibertron.com for all of your Transformers news and resource needs.
Vector Sigma Database
Comprehensive Photo Galleries
Most Recent Transformers News
News Search
Got Transformers News? Let us know here!
Most Popular Transformers News
Most Recent Transformers News
Posted by Dinobot Prime on September 3rd, 2009 @ 9:15pm CDT
tigertracks 24 wrote:...the Bumblebee variant done by Andrew Wildman, infamous Transformers UK artist...
What, do we not like Andrew Wildman? His art style looks pretty good to me, nothing to get infamous over.
Posted by Convotron on September 3rd, 2009 @ 9:28pm CDT
Posted by Abraxsis on September 3rd, 2009 @ 9:48pm CDT
Posted by King Henrik on September 3rd, 2009 @ 9:53pm CDT
Posted by Softimus Prime on September 3rd, 2009 @ 10:14pm CDT
ive never been a comic fan but the cover art here seems sub-par. oh well, its only one issue and cover art and story dont always represent each other.
Posted by MYoung23 on September 3rd, 2009 @ 11:06pm CDT
Is that an upgraded from his Skorponok beatdown Hot Rod or a completely different bot? That definitely isnt the same robot from the TO #1 cover
Posted by Convotron on September 3rd, 2009 @ 11:22pm CDT
I think that you could have a movie-cartoon hybrid style that doesn't make the faces look gaunt and emaciated. I personally like EJ Su's concept work on Prowl, for instance:
Posted by Ultra Magnus on September 3rd, 2009 @ 11:50pm CDT
In any case, I'm excited about the new series.
Posted by Dead Metal on September 4th, 2009 @ 5:10am CDT
Personally I think Don is a good artist, a little too over-hyped but still pretty good.
but f**k Don's new style while interesting just dosen't fit into the G1 verse, I wouldn't mind a different and new incarnation of the TFs to have that kind of style, but not the old guys.
Posted by It Is Him on September 4th, 2009 @ 7:27am CDT
Posted by Oilspill on September 4th, 2009 @ 8:41am CDT
Is the interior art going to be in this style too? I'm assuming it is since I think Don was doing the interiors too.
Oh well, I heard the new writer is good so hopefully the story will be top-notch to make up for it.
Posted by Tigertrack on September 4th, 2009 @ 9:39am CDT
Oilspill wrote:Damn, I usually love Don's stuff but them's some ugly G1 bots right there. I gotta agree with Dead Metal, this style could work for a new cast of characters in a new world, but it just looks like the characters we know and love have been disfigured.
Is the interior art going to be in this style too? I'm assuming it is since I think Don was doing the interiors too.
Oh well, I heard the new writer is good so hopefully the story will be top-notch to make up for it.
You can expect a five-page preview of #1 to be posted sometime soon, as it comes out in about a week and a half, but I know we saw the first page and it was Breakdown busting something up walking out of an exploding something...but yes, it was done in Don's current style. It will certainly take some getting used to.
Posted by JazZeke on September 4th, 2009 @ 10:50am CDT
You may not like it, but give it time... the designs may grow on you, especially after you've seen more than just a few sample images and after Don has tweaked and perfected the look. I for one didn't like it at first but the more I look a it the more it grows on me.
Think of how much love Don has to pour into each page to make images that complex and detailed. It's rather astounding.
That said, I want that Andy Wildman cover. I like "sketchy" artwork now and then. And if he's retiring soon like the rumor mill has been saying, then we need to enjoy his final output of artwork while we can.
Posted by It Is Him on September 4th, 2009 @ 12:10pm CDT
JazZeke wrote:How can ANYONE complain that the faces are too generic? G1 characters have ALWAYS had the same faces, with their only distinguishing features being on their helmets and color schemes! Always. Don is just drawing the robot faces in a more "realistic" manor, giving them functional details instead of the impossible "magic bendy metal" that we've been forced to accept for the past two decades. I for one am happy to see someone trying something more real.
The faces look too generic because the style is becoming too mecha. They no longer have the distinctive characteristics of being a Transformer.
Second, they're talking robots from outer space! I don't care about realism.
I'm willing to give this new series a chance because Don was so important in reviving interest in the brand in '02, and because the new writer apparently did an amazing job with G.I. Joe. But honestly, I'm really not enjoying the new artwork.
This series was supposed to be a neo-G1, and now IDW saying it's not... I'm not sure how to feel about that.
Posted by justynnbailey on September 4th, 2009 @ 2:49pm CDT
Posted by Convotron on September 4th, 2009 @ 3:20pm CDT
JazZeke wrote:How can ANYONE complain that the faces are too generic? G1 characters have ALWAYS had the same faces, with their only distinguishing features being on their helmets and color schemes! Always. Don is just drawing the robot faces in a more "realistic" manor, giving them functional details instead of the impossible "magic bendy metal" that we've been forced to accept for the past two decades. I for one am happy to see someone trying something more real.
G1 came out over 20 years ago and the style at the time was the generic anime robot faces like in most mecha anime of the day. I'm a G1 fan but not to fault where I'll say something has to be just like G1 despite the room and need for advancement and improvement.
I don't see the approach to the faces as realistic because if you want realism, robots don't to simulate the appearance of facial muscles like in any robot faces such as G1 or Don's current style. Robots could "speak" if necessary through an equivalent to speakers.
To me, the "robotic faces" Don draws isn't as creative or innovative as what was done in the live action movies for pushing the limits of stylization or EJ Su's Transformers concept work. To me, a less human robot face makes more sense than Don's style of very human faces. Honestly, if he's going to be recognized for putting detail, he could vary the appearance of face types.
My main criticism about the face design is that it's not aesthetically pleasing to me and there's a sinister look about them due to the emaciated look. These faces are better suited to Decepticons in my opinion. In fact, I think they'd look great on Cyclonus or Megatron.
However, the bodies I really like. The more overt mechanical details appeals to me. I love G1 and the blocky style but I also really like the movie style of visible mechanical elements.
JazZeke wrote:You may not like it, but give it time... the designs may grow on you, especially after you've seen more than just a few sample images and after Don has tweaked and perfected the look. I for one didn't like it at first but the more I look a it the more it grows on me.
I definitely agree that we should give the look some time to mature and evolve. Comics normally develop day by day, month by month, so hopefully changes will happen and Don will refine the style for the better.
JazZeke wrote:Think of how much love Don has to pour into each page to make images that complex and detailed. It's rather astounding.
That would be great if that was the case but I think it's more pragmatic. Ultimately, a job is a job even if you love what you do. I'm sure Don's passionate about his comic work and has some sincere feeling going into the art but at the same time it's commercial art at the end of the day. I'm sure that Don's style is at least in part mandated by the editorial staff, who answers to Hasbro.
Posted by JazZeke on September 4th, 2009 @ 3:55pm CDT
Convotron wrote:I don't see the approach to the faces as realistic because if you want realism, robots don't to simulate the appearance of facial muscles like in any robot faces such as G1 or Don's current style. Robots could "speak" if necessary through an equivalent to speakers.
To me, the "robotic faces" Don draws isn't as creative or innovative as what was done in the live action movies for pushing the limits of stylization or EJ Su's Transformers concept work. To me, a less human robot face makes more sense than Don's style of very human faces. Honestly, if he's going to be recognized for putting detail, he could vary the appearance of face types.
My main criticism about the face design is that it's not aesthetically pleasing to me and there's a sinister look about them due to the emaciated look. These faces are better suited to Decepticons in my opinion. In fact, I think they'd look great on Cyclonus or Megatron.
Of course, I know that making the robots even more anthropomorphic is a step in the wrong direction for realism. But by "realism" I meant in terms of functionality. For a robot to be able to emote with its face in ways we've seen Transformers do, it would need a legion of little moving parts, not just the "magic bendy metal" that is presumed to cover up pseudo-science working parts underneath.
Convotron wrote:JazZeke wrote:Think of how much love Don has to pour into each page to make images that complex and detailed. It's rather astounding.
That would be great if that was the case but I think it's more pragmatic. Ultimately, a job is a job even if you love what you do. I'm sure Don's passionate about his comic work and has some sincere feeling going into the art but at the same time it's commercial art at the end of the day. I'm sure that Don's style is at least in part mandated by the editorial staff, who answers to Hasbro.
Nope. That is all Don, as explained by the new editor of the Transformers comics on the IDW board:
Andy Schmidt wrote:That perception is not entirely correct. There was no corporate decision. Don wanted to take different elements from different incarnations and I stood by the decision. Don't not the only artist on here. Look at the "Last Stand of the Wreckers" cover we've released or the Bumblebee cover we've released. Neither of those are movie-fied. What we're doing differently is letting the artists be artists. We're letting them show off their unique skills. Casey, Guido, and many others are working on other TF projects and no one but Don is doing what Don does. No one but Guido is penciling them the way Guido does. It's about letting the artists bring something unique to their stories.
Posted by Convotron on September 4th, 2009 @ 5:25pm CDT
I hope Don does show the characters emoting more with their faces in the ongoing series then because the range of emotion I saw of this style of his in AHM #13 was frowning, glaring, and somewhat deadpan expressions that could be perceived as slight frowning due to the downward angles of the eyes and the framing of the brow rims of the helmets.
Honestly, I would enjoy this style more if the faces weren't as gaunt and/or small looking. I think this could be resolved by making the faces fill out more of the helmets, which kind of look oversized as they are now.
However, one issue I'm reminded of is that the up close shots of the faces in AHM #13 show that when the Autobots speak and teeth are shown, it looks like a corpse. The toothy mouths with no gums or lips along with the prounounced features like cheekbones due to the use of metal plate to make up the planes of the faces make them look cadaverous to me. Even if the characters were to smile, I don't know if they could be recognized as smiling or simply baring gritted teeth in a rictus grin. It kind of reminds me of a robot version of Willem Dafoe.
The extra detail in overall design is great, again, I like the mechanical details. I like how Optimus' helmet is more cartoon/anime-ish with the angled antenna parts. The fact that the faces have more detail looks better with someone like Optimus because you don't have a mouthplate infront of a flat/magic metal type face. The detail makes it now look like there is indeed something behind the plate.
Heck, my signature is a picture of Don's current style. I love how he draws the Transformers for the most part.