Transformers Spotlight: A series of one-shots focusing on a single
character (usually), giving them a little more depth while also advancing one
or more "¨u;berplots" for the IDW Generation 1 setting. They're not
officially numbered, all numbers are mine.
Transformers Spotlight #1 (Shockwave): IDW - It opens a little too
infodumpy, but picks up nicely after that. The story takes the nub of the
Dinobot origin from Marvel G1 #8 and fleshes it out to fit into the new
Furmanverse, linking War Within to the neo-G1 storyline. I'll admit that the
rampant interlinking and referencing in this story appeals to my own views of
the TF mythos, but I think that this story will work well even for fairly new
readers. Recommended. $3.99 (Yeah, the price breaks on TF books are over,
we're up to IDW's standard pricepoint.)
"Truly It Is A Savage Land" Award to Transformers Spotlight Shockwave #1
Transformers Spotlight #2 (Nightbeat): IDW - A month late, but thanks to
#3 also being late, at least I don't get them out of order. :/ Great to see
M.D. "Doc" Bright back on Transformers, and his first actual issue (he did
the cover to the original G1 #5) to boot. Either he resisted the temptation
to toss easter eggs into the high-density techy background though, or they
were simply too obscure for me. While not the best I've seen from him, nor
the best TF art out there, it's quite good. The story is a little
disappointing, in that it's all beginning and no ending, instead being mainly
there to set up another Cosmic Mystery and long term plot regarding the True
Origins of Cybertron or something like that. Now, maybe all of these
Spotlight issues are really meant to tell one big story, simply with a
rotating star, but right now it just feels like Furman's tossing out threads
to pick up eventually. Mildly recommended. $3.99
"An Angle On An Ark Sign" Award to Transformers Spotlight #2
"That's INDIGENOUS, Simon, Not INDIGENT" Bonus Award to Transformers
Spotlight #2
Transformers Spotlight #3 (Hot Rod): IDW - There's one disad to being a
major TF fan when reading a story like this one, and that's the transparency
of the plot. As soon as a particular character appeared, it was obvious (at
least in broad strokes) where things were going, and what the character's
name was going to be changed to by the end of the issue. Still, a fun little
one-shot story, with very good art by Nick Roche. Recommended. $3.99 (I got
Cover A by Roche)
"Clouded Perceptions" Award to Transformers Spotlight #3
Transformers Spotlight #4 (Sixshot): IDW - Again, cover B. Art by
Ruffalo, but it's not as bad as his usual stuff. Of the Spotlight issues,
this one seems the least tied-into an overall plot...whether the threat of
this issue is meant to dovetail into the uberplot later, or if Furman just
wanted to take a break and do a character sketch, it's too early to say.
Recommended. $3.99
"Peace Or Else" Award to Transformers Spotlight #4 (Sixshot)
Transformers Spotlight #5 (Ultra Magnus): IDW - The #5 is an
extrapolation, they're back to not having issue numbers anywhere on it.
Makes it hard to order when sometimes they're listed under number and
sometimes just under character. Anyway, this story makes Ultra Magnus out to
be a sort of freelance peacekeeper, yes? Well, more like a circuit-riding
marshal. And depending on whether Furman means years or days when he says
"Stellar cycles" on the last page, this is either current events or
background worldbuilding. Robby Musso's art is pretty good, if a bit on the
Dreamwave-bulky side. There's a preview for a new Star Trek TNG comic, but
no creator credits, and the art looks like a bad cel filter on photos.
Recommended. (I got cover A.) $3.99
"Mixed Marriages Never Work" Award to Transformers Spotlight #5
Transformers Spotlight #6 (Soundwave): IDW - Forgot to check variants on
this one, got cover B because that was what was in my pull. I like it better
anyway. Befitting Soundwave's role as observer in the shadows, this fills in
some backstory in the IDW-verse from his POV. Not quite the loyal aide seen
in the cartoon, but neither purely the opportunistic schemer of his
techspecs, Soundwave even finds himself in a more heroic role here. All in
all, a good fleshing out of a character who so often is thought of as a
cipher in Megatron's shadow. Recommended. $3.99
"He Who Hesitates Is Lost" Award to Transformers Spotlight: Soundwave
Transformers Spotlight #7 (Kup): IDW - Roche writes and draws this one,
and he does a good job of modifying his art style for the horror-esque parts
of the story. While not explicitly Mythos, it does feel like a "Lovecraft
does Transformers" tale. Recommended. $3.99
"Ia Ia Unicron Ftaghn" Award to Transformers Spotlight #7 (Kup)
Transformers Spotlight #8 (Galvatron): IDW - I got cover B, by Milne.
Both were good, though. Set shortly after Escalation #6, this provides a
brand new origin for Galvatron that does NOT involve him being an alteration
of Megatron. Major points for just that. :) It also has a whole bunch of
Cybertronian mode Autobots, AND several pages of Guidi designs so we can
clearly ID who's who and what their modes are (in the event they don't
transform in the story). There's still plenty of vague spots left open, but
that's because it ties into the whole mystery plot Furman's been weaving
around several of the stories in Spotlight (notably Nightbeat's issue). The
actual story has some weaknesses, largely due to the too-coy nature of some
of the storytelling, but nothing fatal. Recommended. $3.99
"Unissons?" Award to Transformers Spotlight #8 (Galvatron)
Transformers Spotlight #9 (Optimus Prime): IDW - A number of familiar
names show up here, with new backstories. This is only nominally Prime's
spotlight, though...he's practically an observer for much of it, and the
listener to someone else's tale for other bits. His main contribution is to
angst about it all. The main purpose of the tale seems to be establishing
that the great Autobot leaders of the mythical past weren't necessarily all
that pure and noble, something that Megatron: Origin is doing with what
amounts to the bronze age of Cybertron. Furman seems dedicated to showing
that Optimus Prime really is the best, most noble leader that the Autobots
have ever had, regardless of what Optimus himself may have thought. The
backup story is a preview chunk for Devastation (hmmmm, given one of the plot
devices in this Spotlight, I wonder what character might be appearing at the
climax of the next main-story arc?). There's also a couple of sketchbook
pages from Figueroa, showing some of his Prime designs. Nova Prime is sort
of like Hero Prime in the cab and Laser Prime in the trailer, made all
organic and rounded. Mildly recommended. $3.99 (I got Cover B by Rodriguez)
"Arms (And Legs And Torsos) Race" Award to Transformers Spotlight #9
Transformers Spotlight #10 (Ramjet): IDW - Got the Musso cover (A).
This one'll be pretty easy to slot into the timeline project, since it
happens parallel to the Brasnya fight sequence (and it also marks one of the
more obvious non-deep-flashback Spotlights to not roughly parallel the
current issues of the main G1 series). It's also got a veiled reference to
New Avengers/Transformers, cute (and yes, I'm sure that's what it is, Stuart
Moore wrote both this Spotlight and that miniseries). Anyway, Ramjet's
mainly here as a representative of type, the sort of ambitious Decepticon
that Megatron has to keep his eyes on but doesn't keep close as he does
Starscream. I love the Emcees, I hope we get more of them in future stories.
And I may kitbash myself one. :) Recommended. $3.99
"Nanomasters!" Award to Transformers Spotlight #10
Transformers Spotlight #11 (Blaster): IDW - They're throttling back, the
only alternate cover this time was a retailer incentive. Kinda narration-
heavy, and the plot is a fairly basic "who tried to kill me?" mystery, but
taken as a spotlight story, it does the job admirably. It establishes who
Blaster is, both his public face and his inner self, and why he's important.
The art by Santalucia is good, and he manages to capture Silverbolt's creepy
lips exactly. :) Recommended. $3.99
"No, Everyone Wants To Shoot At Talk Radio" Award to Transformers
Spotlight #11 (Blaster)
Transformers Spotlight #12 (Arcee): IDW - The Monstructor plot threads
get picked up again, and while Arcee is the title spotlight, Fortress Maximus
is as much in the focus as she is. Furman sets up a contrast of cold justice
and hot vengeance, although the "Arcee as psycho bitch" characterization
doesn't exactly thrill me. At least Furman provides sufficient motivation
for it here. Milne's art gets pretty busy in places, although most of the
bits that are hard to follow are supposed to be. There's still too much love
for harsh lighting contrast by the coloring team, though. Anyway, warm up
the MSTing circuits, Grimlock's getting the Spotlight next month. ;) Mildly
recommended. $3.99 (I got Cover A)
"The Fangs Are A Bit Much" Award to Transformers Spotlight #12 (Arcee)
Transformers Spotlight #13 (Mirage): IDW - It's labeled "Cover A" but
there doesn't seem to be a "Cover B", heh. Writer George Strayton plays with
a variation of the "butterfly who dreams he's a man" conceit, while also
setting it up so you can't be sure if it's a dream or interdimensional
resonance of some sort. To some extent, this is more of a Punch/Counterpunch
story, but it works reasonably well for Mirage too. Guidi's art is sometimes
a bit rough in the story flow department, but otherwise good. Recommended.
$3.99
"It's Either Real Or It's A Dream There's Nothing That Is In Between,
Twilight" Award to Transformers Spotlight #13 (Mirage)
Transformers Spotlight #14 (Grimlock): IDW - Yes, it's written by
Furman. This is a direct sequel to Spotlight #1 (Shockwave), with a
Mysterious Government Project Suspiciously Like Sector 7 trying to revive
Grimlock to use as a weapon against the Decepticons (placing this right after
the end of Devastation and before All Hail Megatron), with it predictably
going wrong. Furman gets in a brief "Me Grimlock" sequence before Grim's
self-repair systems get his vocalizer working properly, but it's mostly
Furman-style Grimlock (down to being a badass who still manages to get his
tailplate kicked). Matere's art is a bit off, and the coloring team has
someone among them who likes pink too much. Anyway, as a one issue character
sketch goes, it does a pretty good job of catching people up on any necessary
backstory and establishing what sort of person Grimlock is in this
continuity, while also advancing a few of the main plotlines. Recommended.
$3.99
"Fire In The Sky" Award to Transformers Spotlight #14
Transformers Spotlight #15 (Wheelie): IDW - Making an executive call
here that Wheelie is #15 (IDW doesn't number these, and Cyclonus came out the
same week) on the grounds that Cyclonus is labeled as part 1 of a story that
this is not part 2 of. :) I got cover B, the retro-G1 piece, which
proclaims this to be #1 of 1. While the idea of a Wheelie Spotlight was
greeted with a certain amount of derision (including from IDW itself, which
used it as the basis for April Foolery IIRC), Furman sets out to try to
establish Wheelie more or less as he's seen in the original movie, but
without being a child or a fool. In places it's a little too much of a
Just-So Story, but it's otherwise pretty good. Recommended. $3.99
"Shout Out For Scrounge!" Award to Transformers Spotlight #15 (Wheelie)
Transformers Spotlight #16 (Cyclonus): IDW - Whoog. You can really tell
this isn't meant to be a single-part story, given how aggressively the story
shifts scenes. Sure, Cyclonus is on the cover and gets most of the
narration, but there's a load of plot lines that get service, both from
previous Spotlights and from the Earth-bound stories over in Infiltration,
Escalation and Devastation. In fact, if you haven't been reading just about
ever IDW G1 series to date, you'll find this issue fairly incomprehensible
other than the core character sketch of Cyclonus. I got the more
impressionistic Roche cover B. Mildly recommended, the main problem is that
it's kinda hard to follow. $3.99
"Anatomical Separation, One Rank" Award to Transformers Spotlight #16
(Cyclonus)
Transformers Spotlight #17 (Hardhead): IDW - Revelation part 2. I got
Roche's more stylized cover B. Heh. I like Hardhead as a sort of Brock
Samson character as Furman writes him, although on the muted side of Brock.
A different sort of badass than Grimlock. There's also a pretty aggressive
"bring in the new product" effect, even though the product in question hit
stores in the 1980s (more Pretenders, implication of Headmasters ramping up,
and lots and lots of Micromasters). Because this is part of an arc, the
story jumps around a bit, and Hardhead isn't really spotlighted as much as
the title character of previous Spotlights was, but I liked what we got of
him. Recommended. $3.99
"Problem Decomposer" Award to Transformers Spotlight #17 (Hardhead)
Transformers Spotlight #18 (Doubledealer): IDW - I got cover B, I prefer
the playing card motif used for it. About half the issue jumps around the
various Revelations arc plot elements like a kindergartner hopped up on pixy
sticks, but the rest is a bookend for #3 (Hot Rod), resolving his unfinished
business with Dealer/Doubledealer. Dan Khanna's art isn't up to his usual
standards, a lot of it feels rushed. Mildly recommended. $3.99
"Too Bad He Didn't Have His Eagle Mode" Award to Transformers Spotlight
#18
Transformers Spotlight #19 (Sideswipe): IDW - I got cover B, liked the
look better. End of the Revelations Arc, so it comes with pretty high
expectations that something will be, you know, revealed. Of course, it also
comes with the expectation that Sideswipe won't get a whole lot of
spotlighting, and at least that one is met. As for the Big Reveals, it was a
confused mess. And the whole Gorram Prime renaming thing came out of left
field, Furman tossing in an overly clever bit and not explaining it enough
for it to actually BE clever. EJ Su's painted art is okay, but I prefer his
traditional stuff. Mildly recommended. $3.99
"Not So Much Epic Tale As Epic Fail" Award to Transformers Spotlight #19
(Sideswipe)
Transformers Spotlight #20 (Blurr): IDW - Back to non-arc stuff, with
Shane McCarthy writing this "how Blurr became an Autobot" story. Some of the
backstory gets hazy, though, with a non-Prime Optimus showing up. I mean,
the TF:A Bulkhead cameo is just an easter egg, but I guess I'd been more or
less assuming that most of the War Within background was still part of the
IDW backstory. That aside, the story is pretty color-by-numbers. The good
art by Casey Coller and Joana LaFuente (who is the artist of the webcomic
Loli Loves Venom) mitigates this somewhat, but a flat story is still a flat
story. Mildly recommended. $3.99 (I got Cover B, the art deco-ish one by
Hutchison, rather than the magazine-cover-like Cover A.)
"At Least They Used The Space Bar" Award to Transforemers Spotlight #20
