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The Transformers: Infiltration (Transformers): Infiltration (Transformers)
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Rebooted and Suited!
Review date: 2007-06-04 Rating: 8 out of 10
After the collapse of Dreamwave's TF universe, I wasn't sure we'd get anymore comics...but here we are again!Better still, Simon Furman isn't scrabbling for crumbs like he was at Dreamwave.In fact, this is a much more considered and rounded approach to the world of Transformers.Much like new Doctor Who, we get introduced to the Transformers through the eyes of a likeable supporting human cast (although Hunter O'Nion is a terrible name!) and its a gradual easing into this new world.this is what i personally want from sci-fi.i want it to engage me and be open to outsiders - i want new people to feel they can hop on and get involved without having to worry about knowing who primus is or whatever.the stripping away of so much of the backstory baggage is so refreshing and has made me excited to be a transformers fan again!i like the slow, teasing build up and the hidden nature of the transformers.i'm also blown away by the characters using the abilities we know they had from the old tech specs, but were seldom used in the previous comics.its such an obvious and small detail, but it makes you understand and get a feel for the characters.i do like the sense of decepticons being two steps ahead of the autobots, much like megatron and his predacons in the beast wars tv show.and before i witter on too much ... EJ Su.what a find this guy is.solid,clean artwork with the same energy as the sainted geoff senior.fantastic.i'm glad these characters are in such capable hands again, and due credit to idw for getting it right!
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Reviews
The master shines
Review date: 2007-02-23 Rating: 10 out of 10
I confess that I hadn't even heard of this new series before reading the excellent review below while cruising Amazon. I had glanced at the previous G1 comic and considered it to be full of pretty pictures but not much depth, so I was inordinately excited to hear that Simon Furman, the legend behind the excellent 'End of the Road' storyline was in charge of the new line.
I was not disappointed; finally given free rein, Furman has created the origin story the Transformers have always deserved. As opposed to the original Marvel series, where Cybertron, all the characters and the reason they were on Earth were all covered in issue one, Infiltration is a slow burn with the trio of human characters slowly getting enveloped into the situation.
The Transformers themselves (seven of each faction, initially) are now much more careful about revealing their robot forms, actually returning the point of them being able to transform in the first place. While most of them do not get much 'individual screen-time' in this initial arc, Furman gives us hints of the distinct personalities of each, particularly Ratchet, Prowl and Starscream.
While very much an introductory story, Furman manages to squeeze in some excellent set-pieces, making the book resemble a high-octane blockbuster in places. These include the attack on the humans' van by fighter jet and a later high-speed chase through a crowded highway. This is a series that actually takes advantage of the dramatic possibilities of living vehicles.
Most enjoyable is the treatment of the faction leaders. Far from being disappointing when they are not among the Earth teams, it just makes it more exciting when the Autobots talk about 'the big Meg' arriving. Furman has always grasped the mythology of the Transformers, and knows when to bring out the big guns.
Add to this sly references to the Dinobots having made a mark in the fossil record, Megatron apparently being in his 'Cybertron form' and the fact that one of the characters has a Gobots DVD in his room, and it becomes apparent that the new series celebrates the old world previous readers have grown to love even as it completely rewrites it.
The art is very good, certainly a massive step up from the first few issues of the 80s series; try to get the non-manga edition so you can soak up the fine colour work. Su may draw the few human with a more manga style than I would like (drops of sweat and everything!) but boy, can he draw some exquisite mechanoids.
If you like the big metal lugs, then why haven't you bought this yet? This is how the master should always have done things, and roll on Volume Two: Stormbringer, and Cybertron...
Robots. In... disguise?!
Review date: 2006-10-08 Rating: 10 out of 10
The original premise of the Transformers was of a secret war, being fought between two opposing groups of living robots, with the fate of the Earth hanging in the balance. The Transformers were able to disguise themselves as Earth-based cars and equipment and, as a child, you would play with toy cars, your parents completely unaware of the secrets the seemingly innocent vehicles held until, with a few flips and twists, all was revealed! The cars you passed on the streets, and even your dad's stereo, could be a robot in disguise! The Transformers were all around us, watching us, frantically trying to keep their presence a secret...
It was an idea which lasted, it seemed, for a few days, and modern-day Transformers fans would be forgiven for thinking that the Transformers' alt-modes aren't disguises at all. In just a couple of years the toy lines rapidly moved away from the disguise element to create outlandish and unlikely alternative forms which could never be mistaken as real-life, Earth-based vehicles. The cartoon series and, to a lesser extent, the original Marvel comic soon made the presence of the Transformers common knowledge to the human characters. It was all fun, but it just wasn't the same.
While the now-defunct Dreamwave comics presented themselves as a quasi-sequel to the 80s cartoon and comics, the passing of the Transformers comic licence to the IDW company has enabled for a reboot, with legendary Transformers author Simon Furman starting things from scratch with a brand-new debut of the Transformers on Earth. Gone - at least for this story - are the mystical, otherworldly elements, and the emphasis on the origins and destiny of the Transformers (surprisingly for this author, who pretty much created the backstory singlehandedly and is allegedly more of a fan of fantasy storytelling than science fiction). In their place is a simple, well-told story featuring a limited number of well-defined, classic characters.
The title of the book, 'Infiltration', gives away the idea that in this tale, the 'robots in disguise' angle is very much a priority - the first robot mode isn't seen until the end of chapter one (which, due to the 'preview' issue, is actually the second chapter) and it's not until the start of chapter three that the Autobots are seen in their full glory. Preserving their legendary status and giving them far more impact, Optimus Prime and Megatron aren't called upon until near the end.
More? Likeable, believable human characters. Transformers' specialist skills (for example, Skywarp's abilities to teleport) actually being put to use. Mature storytelling which will appeal to readers young and old. Excellent dialogue and suspenseful moments (an image of Ironhide staring at a computer screen, repeated three times - it may not sound dramatic, but believe me it is). Bold updating of the Transformers' alt-modes into 2006 models, and reimagining of some of their characteristics and purposes. Artwork bridging both the Marvel and Dreamwave styles.
That's not to say it's without arguable flaws. On its original six (or seven) issue run, some readers complained that it seemed to be going nowhere, and that it was a very straightforward story which could have been told in four parts rather than six - admittedly, each episode did seem fairly non-eventful in 22-page instalments but, gathered here in one volume, all becomes clear. The story is deliberately designed to be slow-building, gathering momentum at its own pace, and read like this, nobody should have a problem. It never really bothered me as I liked the slow build - pretty much the only thing which I didn't like, at first, was Bumblebee's redesigned robot mode, but it soon grew on me.
Sure, other storylines are far more ambitious, with greatly higher stakes, a much more epic sweep, running at a breakneck pace with casts of hundreds. 'Infiltration', though, isn't concerned with such things, except in laying the foundations for stories yet to come. Instead, it presents the Transformers universe at its purest, focussing on a bitter battle between good and evil robots desperately attempting to remain hidden from the inhabitants of the world on which they have landed. In this respect, it ranks as possibly the greatest Transformers storyline to date.
Product Details/Specifications
Authors:
Simon Furman
Recording label: IDW Publishing
Manufacturer: IDW Publishing
EAN: 9781600100109
Binding: Paperback
Dewey decimal number: 741.5941
ISBN: 1600100104
Number of items: 1
Number of pages: 160
Publication date: 2006-09-13
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Unknown)
Language: English (Published)