Transformers: Escalation

Transformers IDW #5

by Simon Furman, E.J. Su (Illustrator), John Rauch (Colorist)

The saga of the Transformers' secret war on Earth - begun in Infiltration - continues with Phase Two: Escalation. With the monumental menaces of Megatron and Ore-13 looming, the Autobots could be forgiven for thinking things couldn't get much worse. But, as Optimus Prime musters his response to the mounting threat, the Machination strikes - with shocking and tragic consequences

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comic Book, 21st Century, Graphic Novels Comics

140 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2007

About the author

Simon Christopher Francis Furman is a British comic book writer who is best known for his work on Hasbro/Tomy's Transformers franchise, starting with writing Marvel's initial comic book to promote the toyline worldwide, as well as foundations for both Dreamwave Production's and IDW Publishing's takes on the Generation 1 minifranchise.

Reviews

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Decepticons are moving on to the conquest of Earth. Thus the title "Escalation".

The Autobots are struggling against not only human foes, but the Decepticons have moved on to the next stage of their operation. Megatron is trying to get humans to fight each other, as the Decepticons will use that conflict to further their own goals.

The fight between Optimus and Megatron was well done. I am not a fan of the humans that are helping the Autobots, but the rest of the story is pretty good. The artwork is also good, though not great.

A good addition to the IDW Transformers series. While nothing great it is entertaining, especially if you are a Transformers fan.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is really interesting, as it allows writer Simon Furman (who, for the uninitiated, is like the Proust of giant robot comics) to build Transformers up from the ground with relatively little outside influence. This volume features both Megatron and Optimus Prime coming to Earth to lead up their relevant factions after the events of the last TF volume. One of the great things about this comic was in how it treated the relative leaders - there was a great sense of danger and fear created in the characters when they learned that Megatron was coming to Earth, and likewise a sense of calm from Prime's involvement. Furman does a really great job of giving the characters individual personalities as well, which is something that's never really been done well with Transformers before.

[James Taber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to the 2000s grit we saw in the first volume. More about the Decepticons and their strategy of taking over worlds for resources, plus some indications of why Earth is so special.

Overall, very good. The story is centered on a single battle, which should be fairly exhausting, but key viewpoints shift around during the whole thing and keep it interesting. Optimus Prime also foreshadows something much bigger than this war, which is intriguing.

It's all building up to something. Can't wait to see what it is.

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things have definitely escalated, but the quality? Not so much.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh no, my one weakness—interactions between humans and cybertronians! the way ratchet and jazz connect with verity and jimmy gives me so much serotonin. god, there was so much that happened in this run, and i loved all of it (especially That One panel. furman and su knew what they were doing.)

[Matthew Barbeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part two of my IDW revisit/full read. Really enjoyed this volume, and the humans really felt like villainous characters to rival the Decepticons this time around. Knowing what's coming to some of the human characters just fills me with dread.

The thing I love most about the series is that each and every Autobot and Decepticon feels like they have their own agency, their own room to breathe... and back when it first came out it felt like it was the first time it had ever really happened outside of Beast Wars.

Now I realise it's something that I wish the franchise would have again.

Storytelling in the Transformers universe over the last decade has been 80% trash, and 19% this amazing comic series, and 1% the incredible High Moon TF games that I wish there were more of.

Anyway, onto the next one!

[Reece · Rating 4 out of 5]

Furman really hammers home his ability to write war and conflict. It's rare in Transformers media to see their war as a full-fledged conflict, instead of a few fist fights in an open field. The Decepticons have a plan, and it feels like an honest military strategy, not the cackling plan of an egotistical Megatron.

I enjoyed the use of some lesser known Autobots in the conflict, such as Hardhead, even if it does make the familiar headmaster origin null and void.

Once again, the human subplot left a lot to be desired, but once again, I endure because I know Hunter O'nion (real name they used) eventually serves some of the greatest character development in TF history down the line. Even if he is just a plot device in service of Sunstreaker.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is pretty simple at this point. The Decepticons are trying to start a war and the Autobots are trying to stop them. The subplots though get started and then forgotten about, like the capture of Sunstreaker and one of the humans. Not the best writing overall.

[Dylan Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hot Rod and Hardhead felt a little odd, but they served the thread.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty quick read. Progresses some stuff, I suppose.

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

estoy encerrada aqui para siempre supongo

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Open warfare between the Autobots and Decepticons errupts on Earth, whilst Ironhide, Ratchet and their human allies investigate a shadow organisation which has gone to great lengths to cover-up the capture of Sunstreaker.

Although there are a couple of semi-self-contained 'Spotlight' issues collected here, for Sixshot and Ultra Magnus, the majority of this book is the titular 'Escalation'.
The problem with that is that it's the middle part of a trilogy (the other parts being 'Infiltration' and 'Devastation') and as a result picks up plotlines from the first part and leaves open-ended ones for the conclusion. Now, some stories can pull off being perfectly enjoyable despite being the middle part of a trilogy ('The Empire Strikes Back' being the first to jump to mind) but this definitely isn't one of them. Not really getting any details of the backstory means we go into events already in motion without really knowing the players or build-up and then we don't get much of a conclusion either.

There are still things to enjoy here, such as Ratchet and Iron Hide going rogue to help their friends or Prime getting the drop on Megatron by using Roller, but overall the book just feels incomplete.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[SparrowReads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was fond of large parts of this book - Sunstreaker’s character, for example, and I enjoyed the mix of different antagonists. Ratchet continues to be a real backbone of this series on the Autobot side and some of his interactions with Ironhide or his attempts to help out the humans (against his better judgement) is charming. I can’t say I mind that there has been a bit of a speed-through the development of the relationship between the humans and the Autobots as it really helps move that plot-line along, which also helps to keep that out of the way of the rising stakes. It wasn’t my favourite plot-wise and I found the following series, Devastation, to be stronger overall, but it had some very good character moments.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I much prefer to enjoy the stories set on Cybertron, however I wasn't expecting to enjoy Escalation set on Earth as much as I did. It does enough different to Cybertronian stories to still be interesting instead of just the classic transformers arrive, hide from humans, fight over energon. This is fantastic long term story telling as we're getting references to events from several books ago as well tieing plot points and character arcs.

Also included was Spotlight Sixshot and Ultra Magnus, both of which I've read before. Sixshot wasn't as good as I remembered, Ultra Magnus was the better of the two.

[Jacobi · Rating 3 out of 5]

More Transformers fun.

It is great reading these trades. I know I loved the Transformers as a kid (what 80's baby didnt?), but I don't really remember any of those stories. Reading this series of trades is giving me nice new, slightly more sophisticated, take on the characters and premise I can't help but love.

[James Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Furman's reboot of the Generation One era continues with some interesting twists and intrigues, as the Autobots face off against both the Decepticons and a human organization with its own plans for the Transformers... (A-)

[Nisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's in colour! XD Still loving this new incarnation of the Transformers universe. Definitely a fun read.

[Casey West · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was every bit as good as Infiltration maybe a bit better with more of Prime and Megatron. Devastation should kill this though, great job at building anticipation and tension.

[Matt Richter · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it! they should so do a full-on direct-to-dvd animation feature on some of these IDW Transformers story arcs :)