Monday, December 8, 2008

Drift 2: Electric Boogaloo

I have no idea how that amazing image of Drift I posted yesterday evoked so many angry (and mostly Anonymous) responses, but let's see if today's similarly outstanding image does the same. Remember, everyone, comics are supposed to be fun. Casey and Joana, take 2:

33 comments:

Darkspeed said...

Nice and dynamic, although elaborates a little too much on the Japanese aspects if you ask me... Pass on my props to Casey and Joana for their stunning work though, they did a great job.

Something I am curious about Chris, and maybe you can elaborate... Is Drift going to be the main star of AHM as well as having his own Spotlight? Or is Drift gonna be along for the ride with the other 'bots? Just curious, because if he's gonna be the star of AHM, then will a Spotlight be nessessary for him?

Don't take that all as negative - I'm really looknig forward to seeing him more in action, and the designs are brilliant! I'm just a little miffed where he fits into everything.

Anonymous said...

Drift looks awesome; hopefully his toy version is just as cool. I'll definitely be getting this comic, even though I haven't read the AHM comics yet. The cover art alone sold me, and I'm interested to learn more about the character.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I was looking at all those crazy comments... Don't take personally Chris, they're all just haters.

What shocks me is how people who claim to be fans of something can hate parts of it so vehemently. Especially something like TF which has had some crazy stuff over the years, especially if you consider some of the Japanese series.

imo, if you're a fan of something yeah you can be disappointed or disapproving of something that comes out for it. But if you're a true fan of it I don't see why you would make such hateful comments towards it.

From what I've seen, this Drift character seems as good a character as any past TF, and there doesn't seem to be that much out for him yet so I don't see why anyone could make such extreme judgements about him. If Hasbro is interested in making him into a toy, they obviously see some sort of potential. Though, of course, I'm only one of those casual TF viewers. So what do I know.

James M. Biggie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
James M. Biggie said...

Sorry for the deleted post, but I hate typos. :)

Casey and Joana are absolutely brilliant. This is a gorgeous cover.

Anonymous said...

Fuck that's a nice cover.

Anonymous said...

Oh my. A true fan post.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/True_fan

Sorry if myself and others have differing points of view on Drift.
He reeks of fan character insertion and I'm tired of IDW trying to shove him down my throat.

They can't seem content to let the character exist and see if people are interested in him from a fiction standpoint for a while before deciding he's a breakout character and having Spotlight issues and AHM covers solely dedicated to his alleged awesomeness.

I don't know about the other people who had gripes with yesterday's post, but mine was a lot less about the cover image itself, and more about the fact that he's already getting a Spotlight issue when he hasn't really done anything. He barely debuted in the last AHM issue, and he still hasn't gotten in a spoken word.

I'm also not going to buy into all this "Drift is getting a toy whoohoo!" stuff IDW keeps saying until I hear from Hasbro on this. Sorry to be skeptical on this but I want the word from the biggest authority.

Anonymous said...

How better then to meet a new character then via Spotlight?

Personally, I'd love to see some of the really obscure characters get a bit of Spotlight lovin', but we all know that it's not as likely as seeing "face characters" in the Spotlights.

But, hey the Spotlights have been the consistently best TF thing IDW has done.

Anonymous said...

"Oh my. A true fan post.
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/True_fan"

Lol, I think this was supposed to be aimed at me, though I don't think my comment quite fits.

I wasn't saying that if you don't like Drift you're not a true fan. Actually, I said a fan CAN disapprove of whatever they want. No one expects anyone to love everything about something because they're a fan of it. But the multitude of comments that seemed to be seething with hate for a character thats barely even established seemed surprising. Give the character a chance before you condemn it. Maybe it'll lead into a cool storyline, maybe it won't. But wait until there's something to hate before ripping it to shreds.

So, if it turns out that Optimus decides to hand Drift the Matrix of Leadership and he suddenly becomes Driftimus Prime... then I'll understand the seething comments.

Anonymous said...

Poster. Damnit, I WANT a poster of this and Cover A. XD

Anonymous said...

"Personally, I'd love to see some of the really obscure characters get a bit of Spotlight lovin'"

Actually, I seem to recall that was the original mission statement for the IDW Spotlight series. Allowing the supporting cast to have the spotlight for once.

Anonymous said...

Charlie, the thing is that there's really no such thing as a "true fan", because it's such a subjective thing.
As soon as you like something, really, you become a fan of it. No such thing as a "true fan" beyond that.

In regards to Drift, Chris Ryall here did hint that he likened All Hail Megatron #6 to Incredible Hulk #181. Which featured the debut of Wolverine. Of course, the difference is that Wolverine didn't become a breakout character until later (as opposed to before, like IDW is trying to do with him).
Saying that he'd be like Wolverine is reminding me a lot of Gambit's debut in the Marvel comics where he was just such a spiffy character with a destiny of greatness and wonderful skills that Wolverine couldn't help but like him.

Chris Ryall said...

"He reeks of fan character insertion and I'm tired of IDW trying to shove him down my throat."

He hasn't even spoken a word in the AHM title yet, he's not a featured player, he's a new character who's getting a toy who needs some backstory to explain who he is. This is shoving him down your throat?

Seriously, I expect a certain level of cynicism, especially lately for some reason, but there's been no shoving. He's not taking over the AHM title to spend time on him and derail the main story, we're just giving him more of a profile in an issue that you're entirely free to skip. I really fail to see how this is shoving him down anyone's throat.

When we started TFs in 2005, we were inundated with requests to create new characters and get new toys going, and we finally have that in this character and the majority of people who responded here and at our board seem angry about this fact because they think it somehow means that something like Spotlight: Jhiaxus got bumped for this one. People, you've got to get some perspective here. He's not being shoved, he's not guest-starring in multiple books, he's not getting t-shirts and posters. He's a new character who we were excited about, and these images feature artwork I really liked so I posted them here. That's all there is to it.

Ryan Genovese said...

That is soo... SICK!!


Really awesome job guys!

Ryan Genovese said...

P.S. I just wanted to add that I'm really disappointed some of my fellow TF fans aren't willing to give this character a chance. He hasn't even spoken yet! It's not fair to shoot someone's new creation down so quickly without truly experiencing what the character has to offer. All I'm saying is give Drift a chance. Eh.. that's my two cents.


....at least he looks pretty cool.

Solaris Omega said...

I think a lot of the hate is really just envy. They're just pissed their "original characters" were never made canon.

Robo penis envy.

I fo one have pencil and pen envy XD Casey and Joana rock my socks every time I see something they've worked on!

This just makes me more excited to see Drift in action, and honestly I hope he's so totally freakin' awesome that he pisses off the naysayers and they just leave. They rest of us want to enjoy the books and play nice-nice.

Anonymous said...

Solaris: Well I think you just love Drift because Chris Ryall paid you to say it.

See? I can make wild crazy assumptions too!

Honestly, why should I be pissed my original character would never make it to canon? I don't WANT him to make it to canon. He's awful, I just do him for my own amusement and no one else's. If I manage to get a job as a Transformers writer I intend to write about all those guys that never got a chance in the spotlight. Landmine, Flattop, Bugly, Twin Twist, Scoop, Banzai-Tron, Skram, Kick-Off... The Transformers world is so packed with great characters to explore, why would I want to shove in some sub-par self-insertion piece of crap beyond MAYBE a crowd shot cameo to indulge myself a little bit?

What I do hate is some crappy wapanese ricer car samurai guy. That's about as unoriginal as it gets with fancharacters, and it just makes him sound like every thirteen-year old's "totally badass" creation who kicks all the ass in the world. Maybe if Drift's look and character were a little more inspired than jamming a bunch of Anime stereotypes together with the parroting of Bruce Lee quotes ("Be like water", as Shane so put it in an interview), and he wasn't hyped as their Wolverine, I'd be a little more receptive to it.

Furman's Grindcore, on the other hand, sounded awesome. Why can't we get more on him?

Anonymous said...

Well Grindcore's dead ;-)
And Drift... he's a Buddhist Monk Transformer according to the early reports. With a big freaking sword.
What's not to like?

Okay, if Cosmos was given the Zen makeover I'd not complain...

Anonymous said...

"Charlie, the thing is that there's really no such thing as a "true fan", because it's such a subjective thing.
As soon as you like something, really, you become a fan of it. No such thing as a "true fan" beyond that."

Respectfully, thats not completely true. the term "fan" is actually just short for the word fanatic which is defined as someone who is excessively devoted to a cause. The "cause" in this instance would be TF. Now, you are right in that the term fan has become very generalized to mean someone who likes something. Which is why I chose to use the term "true fan" so that its clear that I'm referring to those individuals who are excessively devoted.

Anonymous said...

"He hasn't even spoken a word in the AHM title yet, he's not a featured player, he's a new character who's getting a toy who needs some backstory to explain who he is. This is shoving him down your throat?"

Exactly, it makes perfect sense to me. In fact, if you were to create a new TF who only appears briefly in mini and then didn't do a story to explain who he is, then I would be upset. So a spotlight not only makes sense but should be expected.

Its not like IDW comes out with a new TF every month, this is a rare occasion. And its not like you're giving him a mini that would be taking up six months woth of TF production... It's just a one shot which doesn't really effect the IDW-TF universe that much in the long run.

Anonymous said...

Some people just have to hate, plain and simple. The sad fact is that it often doesn't make sense.

I dont' get Rascal King's question - "is Drift going to be the main star of AHM as well as having his own spotlight?" - well 5 issues in there's been a couple of images of Drift and no dialogue. I don't know how in the remaining 7 issues he could suddenly be the ONLY MAIN CHARACTER...

There's still Jazz, Ironhide, Prowl, Megatron, Starscream, whoever else...

eh. Whatever, keep "hyping" Transformers Chris, please, if you can. Don't let the whingers get you down. (Not a reference to Rascal btw)

Anonymous said...

Detour,

You should just stop talking now. There's MUCH worse things going on in the world, maybe not YOUR world, but THE world. No one really cares how upset you are.

Andrew Griffith said...

Another top notch piece by Casey and Joana.

Don't get all the gripes.

Oilspill said...

Wow, the off-topic haters are painful to read.

The art on both these covers is absolutely stunning. Gratz to Casey and Joana, I'm loving their stuff :)

Tony Lee said...

"If I manage to get a job as a Transformers writer..."

And THAT's the point kids, where Detour went from being a fan who had his valid point of view to a wannabe writer who's whining that his story would be oh, so better.

Way to cheapen your argument, mate.

On a side note, feel free to kick off at me. I've never watched Transformers, played with Transformers or asked to write Transformers :-)

Anonymous said...

Hey Chris, have Tony do a TF mini... just for shits and giggles. :P

Anonymous said...

Okay, Tony, maybe my wording was a little wrong there.
Less "If I manage to get a job at a Transformers writer" and more "If through the wackiest of circumstances I'm somehow obligated to write a Transformers story in spite of my complete lack of writing experience be it professional or fan fiction or really anything beyond creative writing assignments at school".

I never ever meant it to be that I want a job as a TF writer or that I'm working towards finding such a job or anything of the sort.

Nice try, but my point is still valid.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the "haters" don't like him because his "wapanese" aesthetics

They'll react in the same form to a "spotlight Grindcore" ?

Darkspeed said...

"I dont' get Rascal King's question - "is Drift going to be the main star of AHM as well as having his own spotlight?" - well 5 issues in there's been a couple of images of Drift and no dialogue. I don't know how in the remaining 7 issues he could suddenly be the ONLY MAIN CHARACTER..."

Sorry, probably should have explained that a little better... Basically, from what I've been led to understand, Drift and his adventures were gonig to be a major factor in how AHM plays out and therefor he was gonig to have a much bigger role within the remaining issues.

Thinking about it now, I probably got this assumption through heresay, I can't actually recall where I heard the news now. But still, I just wanted to clear that up. ^^;

Nightingale said...

I think everyone that accuses Drift of being a self insertion really needs to stop and think. There was a time when EVERY transformer was an original "self insertion". In writing or any artform there is in this world, there is no "original" idea. Some of the best talent in the world comes from taking from what is learned in the past to create something in the future.

I personally like him. No, he's not been outstanding yet. But that's why I like how Drift is being trickled in. I don't think he's going to suddenly steal the show. And to point out such an accusation is really dragging it too far.

Until something outrageous happens, stop criticizing.

Seriously, Ryall, I love the cover. And I will buy the spotlight when it comes out.

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