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Transformers: The IDW Collection #1.1
Transformers: The IDW Collection, Volume 1
For the first time ever, the entire IDW Transformers Universe is presented in hardcover, in chronological order! Featuring series cover design by EJ Su, this run is sure to redefine your experience with the Robots in Disguise. Volume 1 co Megatron Origin #1-4, Spotlight: Blurr, Spotlight: Cliffjumper, Spotlight: Shockwave, Spotlight: Nightbeat, Spotlight: Hotrod, and Infiltration #0-6.
392 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2010
80 people are currently reading
598 people want to read
About the author
Simon Furman
944 books56 followersSimon 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
August 20, 2017
I just started to IDW Transformers Collection OHCs newly. One day while i was checking out the Amazon, a thought came to me ‘’Is there Transformers Comics ?’’ (this happend in near future) i checked it out and just amazed with what i saw, IDW OHCs and many them !! and what really made me get in to a buying frenzy was The Transformers designs in the first 8 OHCs were Gen1 designs… and i got good Word of mouth from 5 diffrent people about the series. Gen 1 designs and good stories ! this created such an effect on me… i stayed without a move for awhile…. (for 1 munite :P) and then i lost it, i put all The Idw Collection Transformers in basket and bought them !!! i pressed the buy button like crazy !!! BUY ! BUY !! BUY !!!! yes !! YES !!!!! and they already arrived while i was writting this review and i read the first OHC obviously. The Megatron Origin story and Spot Light one shots in this book were alot of fun… other then them; The Inflitration, The Storm Bringer and The Escalation were ok stories. They didn’t follow the cronogical order of publication history with The IDW Transformers Collection series btw. They made a new cronogical order of events from early to latest for better reading experince. They mantion this in the foreword of the 1st OHC too. I want to talk alittle bit about Megatron Origin since it has a little bit of politics in it… shorly it’s about Magatron’s rebel against Cybetron senate and birth of Decepticons.
Cybertron Senate (they haven’t got the name of Autobot yet) depicted as greedy capitalists and Megatron and other workers at mine of a long forgotten part of Planet Cybertron depicted as hard working workers who are all about labor… this means they are communists… The Cybertron senate was greedy for energon which made all transformeres work. They wanted more energon so they brought a automatic systrem called mecanisation to mines so they could get more energon from the mines… this process meant Megatron and other hard working labor force transformers who worked there would lose their jobs… when Megatron and other mine worker transformers already almost worked for nothing realised that they would lose thir jobs, they just lost it… they rebeled against The Cybertron Senate. They beated the transformers from Cybertron Senate who came to the mines and Megatron even killed one them… he went like ‘’what have i done’’ afterwards and this was the first conflict between Deceptions and Autobots. This resistance from Decepticons turned in to civil war which will continue for millennias. The interesting part is Autobots created Decepticons because of their own greed and wrong doings. Megatron went to another forgetten part of The Planet Cybertron with his followers as the civil war went on and he and other deceptions started to fight for energon on the rings. Megatron started to lose it as he fighted and started to like killing his opponents, turned into a total evil pychopath… but he and others were right when they were just rebeling mine workers. There was this interesting point. I just couldn’t pass it without pointing it out.
Cybertron Senate (they haven’t got the name of Autobot yet) depicted as greedy capitalists and Megatron and other workers at mine of a long forgotten part of Planet Cybertron depicted as hard working workers who are all about labor… this means they are communists… The Cybertron senate was greedy for energon which made all transformeres work. They wanted more energon so they brought a automatic systrem called mecanisation to mines so they could get more energon from the mines… this process meant Megatron and other hard working labor force transformers who worked there would lose their jobs… when Megatron and other mine worker transformers already almost worked for nothing realised that they would lose thir jobs, they just lost it… they rebeled against The Cybertron Senate. They beated the transformers from Cybertron Senate who came to the mines and Megatron even killed one them… he went like ‘’what have i done’’ afterwards and this was the first conflict between Deceptions and Autobots. This resistance from Decepticons turned in to civil war which will continue for millennias. The interesting part is Autobots created Decepticons because of their own greed and wrong doings. Megatron went to another forgetten part of The Planet Cybertron with his followers as the civil war went on and he and other deceptions started to fight for energon on the rings. Megatron started to lose it as he fighted and started to like killing his opponents, turned into a total evil pychopath… but he and others were right when they were just rebeling mine workers. There was this interesting point. I just couldn’t pass it without pointing it out.
May 30, 2021
This was a re-read for me. I recently bought a whole IDW run and decided to "finish the story". Thus I start with Volume One. I appreciated the "chronological" order of telling the story. The events and artwork that focus on the rise of Megatron and then the various Spotlight issues on the individual characters are uniformly excellent. A great representation of what makes the Transformer's universe so compelling.
The Second part called "Invasion" or Phase One is not as strong, but that fault lies in the inclusion of the human characters of Hunter, Verity, etc. Sorry not a fan of them. They tend to ruin the dark theme of the story. But do not fret- it's still a good one and will set off the rest of the volumes.
Starscream has come to Earth. He has found a new type of pure Energon and is very powerful. The Autobots and some annoying humans stumble across this mess. The Decepticons engage Siege Mode, but this is not part of the original plan. The under cover operation is under cover no longer. Starscream's treachery has been found out and Megatron has come to Earth to make a reckoning. Start Phase Two, as Optimus also comes to Earth.
An excellent comic for any Transformers fan. Original review follows:
I grew up watching Transformers. I didn't think much of the Hollywood movies and still prefer the 1980's animated version called "Transformers:The Movie". Thus I really enjoyed this IDW volume of their comics. In an interesting turn, the publisher decided instead of publishing the stories in chronological order, which could be confusing, that he would do it to tell a story. Not bad.
The story starts with the rise of Megatron. I really enjoyed this tale. It is dark and grim and gives a VERY different look at the forces that created the implacable Decepticon leader.
Then you have some Spotlight issues of various Transformers. The Blur and Shockwave ones were very well done. As the story progresses we find out about the Ark and Energon. Then the story focus on the Decepticon invasion of Earth.
A fun, action-packed story and great art make this a good one for any Transfromer fans. My three favorite Transformers were Megatron, Soundwave and Shockwave-all three figure prominently here. Look forwards to Vol 2.
The Second part called "Invasion" or Phase One is not as strong, but that fault lies in the inclusion of the human characters of Hunter, Verity, etc. Sorry not a fan of them. They tend to ruin the dark theme of the story. But do not fret- it's still a good one and will set off the rest of the volumes.
Starscream has come to Earth. He has found a new type of pure Energon and is very powerful. The Autobots and some annoying humans stumble across this mess. The Decepticons engage Siege Mode, but this is not part of the original plan. The under cover operation is under cover no longer. Starscream's treachery has been found out and Megatron has come to Earth to make a reckoning. Start Phase Two, as Optimus also comes to Earth.
An excellent comic for any Transformers fan. Original review follows:
I grew up watching Transformers. I didn't think much of the Hollywood movies and still prefer the 1980's animated version called "Transformers:The Movie". Thus I really enjoyed this IDW volume of their comics. In an interesting turn, the publisher decided instead of publishing the stories in chronological order, which could be confusing, that he would do it to tell a story. Not bad.
The story starts with the rise of Megatron. I really enjoyed this tale. It is dark and grim and gives a VERY different look at the forces that created the implacable Decepticon leader.
Then you have some Spotlight issues of various Transformers. The Blur and Shockwave ones were very well done. As the story progresses we find out about the Ark and Energon. Then the story focus on the Decepticon invasion of Earth.
A fun, action-packed story and great art make this a good one for any Transfromer fans. My three favorite Transformers were Megatron, Soundwave and Shockwave-all three figure prominently here. Look forwards to Vol 2.
August 20, 2015
So they say third time's a charm... that's how many tries it took me to get through this book and I'm glad I did. There are two story arcs included here with some one-offs separating the two. The first story arc revolves around Megatron and is rise to power on (and around) Cybertron. Surprisingly, this is the arc which I struggled with. The story itself was decent, nothing awful but I believe it was the art which made things difficult for me. See Cybertron is a mechanical planet (think Coruscant)... almost nothing organic... lots of metal and lots of greys. Throw metal robots on top of that and have them fighting.. well my brain was put into Escher mode trying to make sense of the various panels. I had a pretty good idea as to what was happening, I just had no idea how it was happening.
The one-offs were fun reads. They cover individual Transformers (Decepticons and Autobots) and give a bit of a background story on each. Fun reads for those that enjoy the characters.
The second story arc brings the humans and Transformers together... a fun read featuring Ratchet and some of the flying Decepticons. For a Transformers fanboy like me that loved the jets, it was great.
I wish I could give this book four stars but I just can't... the art for the first arc was too confusing and made it a chore to work through. I'm glad I did though and will definitely be reading the other Collections.
The one-offs were fun reads. They cover individual Transformers (Decepticons and Autobots) and give a bit of a background story on each. Fun reads for those that enjoy the characters.
The second story arc brings the humans and Transformers together... a fun read featuring Ratchet and some of the flying Decepticons. For a Transformers fanboy like me that loved the jets, it was great.
I wish I could give this book four stars but I just can't... the art for the first arc was too confusing and made it a chore to work through. I'm glad I did though and will definitely be reading the other Collections.
September 13, 2020
Ottimo punto di partenza.
March 14, 2016
Mecha boys are the best.
December 2, 2024
no megatron thats not how you form a union
June 2, 2020
Keď sa človek prekúše cez ten tmavý začiatok, kde má problém rozoznať kto je kto podľa kresby poriadne (príbeh furt skvelý!), tak sa to číta podstatne ľahšie. Transformers ma vždy neskutočne bavili a prišli mi ľudskejšie napísaní, ako niektoré príbehy s ľuďmi. Teším sa, až sa mi dostane do rúk ďalšie volume z tých krásnych dvadsiatich.
September 16, 2016
Wonderful collection, beautifully bound. This is an amazing collection of stories.
August 25, 2019
El arte es bueno.
Pero los tiempos de cada suceso me confunden mucho.
Supongo más adelante todo será más claro.
Pero los tiempos de cada suceso me confunden mucho.
Supongo más adelante todo será más claro.
May 22, 2022
I really enjoyed this volume. I like the character spotlights and that they added more depth and detail to the characters- except for Arcee's spotlight. I really hate what they did to her character. Garbage! But over all, the main story line was very interesting and kept me in suspense; I could not put it down! I also really like how they portrayed the Decepticons and showed just how evil and scary they really are.
Read
January 7, 2025אתן יודעות מה נמאס לי מעכשיו אני מוסיפה קומיקסים לגודרידס אללה רובוטריקים
July 28, 2025
3.5 ★
January 6, 2015
Some up-front info: As of January 2015, I haven’t read any TF comics prior More Than Meets the Eye, so these are all a first for me as I slowly work my way backwards through the series (not my choice, believe me, it was a birthday gift accident to start me off with Dark Cybertron but I regret nothing). This neat collection contains: Megatron Origins; Spotlights-Blurr, Cliffjumper, Nightbeat, Shockwave, Soundwave, Hot Rod; and ends with Infiltration.
Spotlights
I really liked a lot of the material in this collection. In fact, I liked ALL of the spotlights except for the Nightbeat, Hot Rod, and Soundwave issues which I was surprised I didn’t like them because they were written by Simon Furman (who is an experienced comic book writer veteran and responsible for reviving the Transformers comics). Furman got his credibility by taking the Transformers seriously and realistically. The Shockwave Spotlight was great but I don’t know why I wasn’t interested in the other three. Not enough emotion I guess.
My favorite spotlight was Cliffjumper’s. No spoilers, but this issue kind of explains why the Autobots care about us, the humans (well, the Autobots that DO care). I always felt kind of weird about how WE are the chosen species and we're so special and blah, blah. But this shows that the Autobots are open to kindness and fairness to any sentient species and believes that they deserve freedom. The Blurr spotlight was my second favorite. Really interesting to see how the fastest bot on two wheels actually struggled to find an identity after the war started. Both of these issues were written by Shane McCarthy.
Volumes
Okay, Megatron Origins. I can finally understand more behind this version of Megatron . He’s a strange character to look at because he starts out as an energon miner who “accidentally” murdered out of anger which he said he didn’t mean to do but one thing leads to another and we get the rage-frothed, war-mongering Decepticon that we all know and love.
Infiltration I really enjoyed! Whadyaknow? Hoomins! Ratchet was the highlighted character in the bit that they shared in this first collection. Because his job is to heal and protect he naturally takes it as his responsibility to “father” the three humans he breaks protocol to protect them.
IDW! Why are these collections so expensive! At least Amazon.com has them for almost half the retail price. Some advice that I didn’t know about before I got this book: These aren’t in chronological order. It would’ve been really cool if they were but when it came down to the decision to put every comic ever together, the editors decided to mix n’ match chronological and publishing date to get kind of an anthology of Cybertronian history. But I still enjoyed it. I need the rest of these collections—like, now!
Spotlights
I really liked a lot of the material in this collection. In fact, I liked ALL of the spotlights except for the Nightbeat, Hot Rod, and Soundwave issues which I was surprised I didn’t like them because they were written by Simon Furman (who is an experienced comic book writer veteran and responsible for reviving the Transformers comics). Furman got his credibility by taking the Transformers seriously and realistically. The Shockwave Spotlight was great but I don’t know why I wasn’t interested in the other three. Not enough emotion I guess.
My favorite spotlight was Cliffjumper’s. No spoilers, but this issue kind of explains why the Autobots care about us, the humans (well, the Autobots that DO care). I always felt kind of weird about how WE are the chosen species and we're so special and blah, blah. But this shows that the Autobots are open to kindness and fairness to any sentient species and believes that they deserve freedom. The Blurr spotlight was my second favorite. Really interesting to see how the fastest bot on two wheels actually struggled to find an identity after the war started. Both of these issues were written by Shane McCarthy.
Volumes
Okay, Megatron Origins. I can finally understand more behind this version of Megatron . He’s a strange character to look at because he starts out as an energon miner who “accidentally” murdered out of anger which he said he didn’t mean to do but one thing leads to another and we get the rage-frothed, war-mongering Decepticon that we all know and love.
Infiltration I really enjoyed! Whadyaknow? Hoomins! Ratchet was the highlighted character in the bit that they shared in this first collection. Because his job is to heal and protect he naturally takes it as his responsibility to “father” the three humans he breaks protocol to protect them.
IDW! Why are these collections so expensive! At least Amazon.com has them for almost half the retail price. Some advice that I didn’t know about before I got this book: These aren’t in chronological order. It would’ve been really cool if they were but when it came down to the decision to put every comic ever together, the editors decided to mix n’ match chronological and publishing date to get kind of an anthology of Cybertronian history. But I still enjoyed it. I need the rest of these collections—like, now!
March 11, 2022
An underwhelming collection, but with a few moments and setpieces that shine.
Megatron Origin
A frustrating read, especially as a first introduction to the world of Cybertron. For a story introducing us to Megatron, I never quite got a sense of his character. The art, while detailed and atmospheric in places, was also messy; I struggled to follow the action in several panels, which is a problem for a property as combat-focused as Transformers.
Spotlight: Blurr
After the previous story's murky colours and cynical tone, the coherent designs and bright colours of this short were very refreshing. I was distracted by the plot’s similarity to the film Cars - but in a children’s comic about robots that turn into vehicles, I ought not to have found this surprising.
Spotlight: Cliffjumper
An exciting story, but one that feels like a bit of a pointless exercise. If you put the Transformers in a setting where the inhabitants abhor any type of violence in any context whatsoever, then of course they're going to feel betrayed when they see the effects of the Autobot-Decepticon war. Nonetheless, a good introduction to this version of Cliffjumper.
Spotlight: Shockwave
Dinobots are a waste of time. You either have to break verisimilitude by having them just turn up, or use valuable narrative space to contrive a story in which it half-makes sense that they turn into dinosaurs. This story opts for the latter, and suffers for it. I'm with Shockwave on this one. Dinobots are lame.
Spotlight: Nightbeat
A fun little mystery story that showcases interesting elements of evolution and transhumanism (transtransformerism?) in this universe. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out in future instalments.
Spotlight: Hot Rod
Easily my favourite of the spotlights; here we get a fantastic sense of place(s), some espionage the type of which is suited perfectly to the Transformers franchise, and a remarkably involving short story for its length.
Spotlight: Soundwave
Soundwave's spotlight was... fine, I guess. But it's strange that Furman struggles to give the effortlessly cool Soundwave a convincing internal monologue.
Infiltration
Now this is the Transformers fiction I like. An exciting, human-focused story that explores the differences between the cultures of Earth and Cybertron - with a lovely sheen of cool "Holy shit, that robot's turning into a FRIGGING PLANE!!" action to boot. Far from groundbreaking, but much closer to my taste.
Megatron Origin
A frustrating read, especially as a first introduction to the world of Cybertron. For a story introducing us to Megatron, I never quite got a sense of his character. The art, while detailed and atmospheric in places, was also messy; I struggled to follow the action in several panels, which is a problem for a property as combat-focused as Transformers.
Spotlight: Blurr
After the previous story's murky colours and cynical tone, the coherent designs and bright colours of this short were very refreshing. I was distracted by the plot’s similarity to the film Cars - but in a children’s comic about robots that turn into vehicles, I ought not to have found this surprising.
Spotlight: Cliffjumper
An exciting story, but one that feels like a bit of a pointless exercise. If you put the Transformers in a setting where the inhabitants abhor any type of violence in any context whatsoever, then of course they're going to feel betrayed when they see the effects of the Autobot-Decepticon war. Nonetheless, a good introduction to this version of Cliffjumper.
Spotlight: Shockwave
Dinobots are a waste of time. You either have to break verisimilitude by having them just turn up, or use valuable narrative space to contrive a story in which it half-makes sense that they turn into dinosaurs. This story opts for the latter, and suffers for it. I'm with Shockwave on this one. Dinobots are lame.
Spotlight: Nightbeat
A fun little mystery story that showcases interesting elements of evolution and transhumanism (transtransformerism?) in this universe. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out in future instalments.
Spotlight: Hot Rod
Easily my favourite of the spotlights; here we get a fantastic sense of place(s), some espionage the type of which is suited perfectly to the Transformers franchise, and a remarkably involving short story for its length.
Spotlight: Soundwave
Soundwave's spotlight was... fine, I guess. But it's strange that Furman struggles to give the effortlessly cool Soundwave a convincing internal monologue.
Infiltration
Now this is the Transformers fiction I like. An exciting, human-focused story that explores the differences between the cultures of Earth and Cybertron - with a lovely sheen of cool "Holy shit, that robot's turning into a FRIGGING PLANE!!" action to boot. Far from groundbreaking, but much closer to my taste.
December 15, 2015
One of the better reboots of any franchise I've seen so far!
The characters feel very much like their original incarnations while still giving us a new feel to them. Their alt-modes as well as robotmodes feel more updated, without straying too far from the old eighties feel.
Having Furman as a writer was probably the best thing to ever happen this reboot (a bit like having Michael Bay direct that other reboot was the worst that could happen...)
We start of before the great war even had begun on Cybertron and are presented with a world with huge differences between the rich and poor. It's not hard to understand the uprising of the decepticons, even though it sure is a bit over the top violent.
Afterwards we are introduced to how the war moved to include our little planet, and here's where the real story begins!
My only gripe is that the book could be a bit wider as it's very thick and could need some more margins.
The characters feel very much like their original incarnations while still giving us a new feel to them. Their alt-modes as well as robotmodes feel more updated, without straying too far from the old eighties feel.
Having Furman as a writer was probably the best thing to ever happen this reboot (a bit like having Michael Bay direct that other reboot was the worst that could happen...)
We start of before the great war even had begun on Cybertron and are presented with a world with huge differences between the rich and poor. It's not hard to understand the uprising of the decepticons, even though it sure is a bit over the top violent.
Afterwards we are introduced to how the war moved to include our little planet, and here's where the real story begins!
My only gripe is that the book could be a bit wider as it's very thick and could need some more margins.
October 14, 2025
Very rewarding read as a die-hard fan of the Michael Bay movies (at least the ones with Shia). Plenty of nods to the comics in those films - I wish I had read the comics earlier so I could have picked up on all the references. Phase 1 Vol 1 kicks off with Origin of Megatron, which is a perfect starting point, but the rest of the IDW recommended reading order is kind of random and fragmented, so I decided to read the comics in canon chronological order.
January 5, 2025
yes sev did make me read this. yes i did absolutely love it.
reread okay this time i'm reading this of my own volition, but it's still sev's fault for getting me into this fandom. love u bestieee <33
reread okay this time i'm reading this of my own volition, but it's still sev's fault for getting me into this fandom. love u bestieee <33
July 28, 2025
The goodreads description of this book is inaccurate. This volume also contains Spotlight: Soundwave. So this review will also mention that comic.
I previously read More Than Meets the Eye as it was coming out when I was 15ish. I completely adored the series and read a few other IDW transformers comics because of that (Some spotlights of my favorites such as Prowl, Hot Rod, Soundwave, etc. A little of RID, all of the Wreckers, Windblade because who doesn't adore Saren Stone's art, and that was roughly it). My love for MTMTE never died or diminished and when a good friend of mine asked me "Hey, I'm trying to get back into reading comics. What are some good ones?" I couldn't help but recommend him the series. He decided to read it and is telling me about his reactions which, naturally, made me decide to reread the series. However, this time I've decided to read ALL of IDW's transformers line. So, we start here.
To save time, space and sanity I've reviewed each individual story in detail on their own pages here on Goodreads, but I'll give a quick little run down;
Megatron Origin was underwhelming as someone who knows his story well. I have various differing opinions on the spotlights. Blurr? So dissected form the context of the series that its borderline hilarious. Cliffjumper? Not a fan because I dislike alien/organics centered Transformers stories. Shockwave? BIG FAN. HUGE FAN. Nightbeat? Expected to like it more. Kinda think the not great art-style killed my enjoyment of it. Hot Rod? Loved it. But Listen. I love Hot Rod and adore Nick Roche's art so I am very biased. Soundwave? Not a huge fan. It just didn't feel like it was about Soundwave to me. And lastly, Infiltration was a really good starter arc. I'd almost argue that you could throw Megatron originals and all the Pre-war bits as flashbacks later because this was the appropriate introductory arc.
Overall, I can't yet give a strong opinion on if I agree with the order they placed these comics in. The spotlights hop around quite a lot so I think I might have a disagreement on those. (I might want Hot Rod's directly before Dealer's, and Nightbeat's before Dark Cybertron because I just don't think we need either of those pieces of information yet.) Also, I want to disagree with Megatron Origins as the first comic because in my opinion it's just not very good. Logically, It should be Megatron Origins because it sets up what will be the story in its barest terms. I just think it might deter readers due to it being the least interesting telling of that story.
I previously read More Than Meets the Eye as it was coming out when I was 15ish. I completely adored the series and read a few other IDW transformers comics because of that (Some spotlights of my favorites such as Prowl, Hot Rod, Soundwave, etc. A little of RID, all of the Wreckers, Windblade because who doesn't adore Saren Stone's art, and that was roughly it). My love for MTMTE never died or diminished and when a good friend of mine asked me "Hey, I'm trying to get back into reading comics. What are some good ones?" I couldn't help but recommend him the series. He decided to read it and is telling me about his reactions which, naturally, made me decide to reread the series. However, this time I've decided to read ALL of IDW's transformers line. So, we start here.
To save time, space and sanity I've reviewed each individual story in detail on their own pages here on Goodreads, but I'll give a quick little run down;
Megatron Origin was underwhelming as someone who knows his story well. I have various differing opinions on the spotlights. Blurr? So dissected form the context of the series that its borderline hilarious. Cliffjumper? Not a fan because I dislike alien/organics centered Transformers stories. Shockwave? BIG FAN. HUGE FAN. Nightbeat? Expected to like it more. Kinda think the not great art-style killed my enjoyment of it. Hot Rod? Loved it. But Listen. I love Hot Rod and adore Nick Roche's art so I am very biased. Soundwave? Not a huge fan. It just didn't feel like it was about Soundwave to me. And lastly, Infiltration was a really good starter arc. I'd almost argue that you could throw Megatron originals and all the Pre-war bits as flashbacks later because this was the appropriate introductory arc.
Overall, I can't yet give a strong opinion on if I agree with the order they placed these comics in. The spotlights hop around quite a lot so I think I might have a disagreement on those. (I might want Hot Rod's directly before Dealer's, and Nightbeat's before Dark Cybertron because I just don't think we need either of those pieces of information yet.) Also, I want to disagree with Megatron Origins as the first comic because in my opinion it's just not very good. Logically, It should be Megatron Origins because it sets up what will be the story in its barest terms. I just think it might deter readers due to it being the least interesting telling of that story.
July 1, 2020
I must admit that nostalgia may play a role in my overall enjoyment and rating. However, I sometimes thing that as a reviewer sometimes it's nice just to enjoy things as they are, drawing out that inner child and making you feel great. That was absolutely the case with this. As a huge Transformers fan as a child I decided recently to look into the world again, having found much my giant robot fix taken by the likes of Gundam. In doing so I wanted to find a story or at least a comic book that was long running and I could buy and read month to month. Obviously, that led me to this, the IDW collection. To begin I would say that it felt wonderful to read these stories, set in a pseudo anthology of a Megatron story and individual stories of specific characters the quality of the art and colour as absolutely world class, a term I don't use often. It reminded me of the transformers graphic novels my parents bought me as a child, which I would read again and again, so to almost repeat that experience was an absolute pleasure. The stories themselves, athough reletively basic, reminded me of the old cartoon shows I used to watch, with relatively little human involvement until the very last story Infiltration. Alas, I would fail as a fair reviewer if I didn't point out bits I didn't 100%. The prospect of a Megatron back story had filled me with eager anticipation, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. It made the Autobots unheroic and nothing from their usual depection. Secondly the lack of any interaction with Optimus and the fact it placed him as automatically evil did annoy me. I genuinely feel there's a story to be told about a disillusioned Megatron who slowly turns into the leader of the Decepticons in a relatable way. However, gripes aside the other stories more than made up for it, with the final story Infiltration beng absolutely brilliant. The human characters actually bolstered the story rather than taking it down like most Transformers media. I hope the story is continued in future editions, alonside continuations of the stories and themes set in the one-off single character focus stories. There were some fascinating prospects brought up by these. It would be a great shame if they weren't expanded upon in any way. If you're a transformers fan, you simply have to buy this. If you're not and curious then please take my bias into consideration, but otherwise I would greatly recommend this to you too!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 8, 2024
Il y a un gros problème éditorial sur ce volume. De ce que je vois sur Internet, beaucoup parlent de l'IDW collection comme une anthologie chronologique, ce qui est faux au moins pour ce tome dont une des histoires mentionne un évènement qui se passe.... dans le tome 2............... (allô ? qui a validé ça ?). Comme indiqué en préface de ce tome : c'est en réalité un ordre de lecture conseillé et ce tome 1 ne comporte que 2 mini séries et des one shots.
La mini-série d'introduction, Megatron Origin m'a donné une impression plus qu'austère pour se lancer. Difficile de différencier les personnages, dont, pour les 3/4 j'ai l'impression qu'on se fout car ils ne font pas partie du cast habituel. C'est lent et avec peu de contenu intéressant, on dirait qu'on a essayé d'étirer 20 pages en 100. Surtout de mettre ça en introduction d'une intégrale, ça donne vraiment pas envie de lire la suite (qui n'est pas du tout du même acabit askip).
Pour la suite, ce sont des one shots de qualité inégale et centrés sur un seul personnage, mais contrairement à Megatron Origin, elles sont plus courtes, les personnages secondaires mieux définis. On se concentre sur des moments charnières ou sur des subtilités dans la personnalité d'un personnage.
Pour conclure, j'ai beaucoup aimé le one-shot de fin , même si c'est classique, c'est bien fait, ça remonte bien mon impression et annonce les enjeux à venir, c'est parfait pour clôturer et donner envie de lire le tome 2.
Allez on s'accroche pour la suite !
La mini-série d'introduction, Megatron Origin m'a donné une impression plus qu'austère pour se lancer. Difficile de différencier les personnages, dont, pour les 3/4 j'ai l'impression qu'on se fout car ils ne font pas partie du cast habituel. C'est lent et avec peu de contenu intéressant, on dirait qu'on a essayé d'étirer 20 pages en 100. Surtout de mettre ça en introduction d'une intégrale, ça donne vraiment pas envie de lire la suite (qui n'est pas du tout du même acabit askip).
Pour la suite, ce sont des one shots de qualité inégale et centrés sur un seul personnage, mais contrairement à Megatron Origin, elles sont plus courtes, les personnages secondaires mieux définis. On se concentre sur des moments charnières ou sur des subtilités dans la personnalité d'un personnage.
Pour conclure, j'ai beaucoup aimé le one-shot de fin , même si c'est classique, c'est bien fait, ça remonte bien mon impression et annonce les enjeux à venir, c'est parfait pour clôturer et donner envie de lire le tome 2.
Allez on s'accroche pour la suite !
April 4, 2018
3.5 stars. The early IDW Transformers comics assembled into something resembling a reading order. "Megatron Origin" is fair, but the art is a big drawback. Very difficult to understand what's happening in many of the sequences.
Several "Spotlights" (off the top of my head, Blurr, Shockwave, Hot Rod, Nightbeat, and Soundwave, I think) follow, most of which are competent to good, with solid art. Then a six-part series titled "Infiltration," which is again, fairly solid - except it all boils down to another Starscream vs. Megatron confrontation, and yet again, Megatron is treated as nigh omnipotent (except when confronted by Optimus Prime, a battle which doesn't occur in this volume).
For somebody who grew up on this stuff, as I did, it's a solidly fun time. I think more casual readers will still enjoy it - Simon Furman writes some solid scripts, and the art, particularly EJ Su's "Infiltration" pages, is mostly good - even if they didn't grow up on the franchise.
Several "Spotlights" (off the top of my head, Blurr, Shockwave, Hot Rod, Nightbeat, and Soundwave, I think) follow, most of which are competent to good, with solid art. Then a six-part series titled "Infiltration," which is again, fairly solid - except it all boils down to another Starscream vs. Megatron confrontation, and yet again, Megatron is treated as nigh omnipotent (except when confronted by Optimus Prime, a battle which doesn't occur in this volume).
For somebody who grew up on this stuff, as I did, it's a solidly fun time. I think more casual readers will still enjoy it - Simon Furman writes some solid scripts, and the art, particularly EJ Su's "Infiltration" pages, is mostly good - even if they didn't grow up on the franchise.
November 26, 2020
I’ve really only dipped my toe in a little bit when it comes to Transformers stories and lore, but I found this to be an interesting take on the origin of Megatron and the Decepticons. This volume collects the stories in an interesting way, displaying them in chronological order instead of in order of publication like IDW’s Ninja Turtles series. The stories themselves were good, and I appreciated the character focused issues so I could get to know these characters better, but I’m mixed on the art. One of my criticism’s of the original Transformers designs is that they can all look a bit same-y when they’re all blocky and unexpressive. Add in some hyper detailed with futuristic backgrounds and it becomes difficult to tell what’s going on and who/what I should focus on in a given panel. I don’t think this series has me hooked per say, but I’m willing to give it another volume.
February 5, 2018
I love Transformers, so I had to give the comics a try and I'm glad I did. There are many different stories. I enjoyed them all, but I especially loved learning how Megatron rose to power (the part when we first see the seekers is super cool), Blurr's spotlight, Shockwave's spotlight, and Infiltration. Infiltration is the second major story arc and features Ratchet (with the humans). If you're a Ratchet fan like I am, you'll enjoy seeing him. The humans aren't too annoying, which was my main concern. Overall, beautiful art and engaging stories equals one happy transformers fan girl :)
On to volume 2~!
On to volume 2~!
February 13, 2022
Took a while to chip away at this, but I did like it. I know these IDW collections change the reading order, and maybe that's why the quality fluctuates a bit, because we start at what's clearly a more polished point in the series and then jump back to what I assume was the original release issues. Still, given how much this jumps around, it makes sense to keep things relatively chronological. I like the added nuance they've given Megatron, and have seen it incorporated in other adaptations, like War for Cybertron (the Netflix series, not the game). Also, kudos to human characters I don't actively dislike or am ambivalent about, at least so far.
August 31, 2017
I ended up picking up this collection as part of the Humble Comics Bundle which included the entire IDW run of both The Transformers and GI Joe. For a bunch of comic books that are about toys the various writers, mostly Simon Furman, does a great job of balancing entertainment, nostalgia and a story that adults who were introduced to The Transformers as a kid will recognize but also really enjoy it's subtly. The art is also way better than any licensed comic has any right to be.
Believe me, no one is more surprised than I am that I liked this collection so much.
Believe me, no one is more surprised than I am that I liked this collection so much.
February 16, 2019
This gets off to a slow start with multiple one-shots focusing on different characters. Some are good, most not. The opening story with Megatron's origin is a confusing mess, both visually and writing-wise. Once, however, you get to the meat of this volume, Infiltration, things really pick up. I am very excited to see where things go from here, but the one-shots that litter these books are a waste. I was hoping for story arcs only. On to volume 2. Recommended for Transformers fans.
February 4, 2020
I have read about 80% of all the issues in the 2005-2018 Transformers G1 universe, but am so glad to have this collected edition as well. This is the definitive way to read phase 1 (meaning all the comics before the chaos event). There are some stories that can be left out while reading phase 2 (post-chaos event), but not in phase 1. In phase 1, you want the whole thing, spotlights included. This is a beautiful book!
May 10, 2021
Binge read this late at night. As a newer Transformers fan (I've only seen the Michael Bay movies and a season of the G1 cartoon), I found this to be enjoyable for the most part. I was told to start here if I wanted to read the IDW comics and though the later issues were a little confusing, I did enjoy the origins issues - specifically Megatron's and Blurr's. The art is absolutely gorgeous! Definately worth a look if you're into Transformers.
November 11, 2021
Excellent series reboot
This is a fresh reboot of the Transformers franchise. I thought it was great. Love the way they organized the story from all the existing issues and series so it made sense in order. It’s pretty close to the original but different enough that it’s not expected to be fully retconned to all the marvel stories and the cartoon. Excellent depth to the characters and story
This is a fresh reboot of the Transformers franchise. I thought it was great. Love the way they organized the story from all the existing issues and series so it made sense in order. It’s pretty close to the original but different enough that it’s not expected to be fully retconned to all the marvel stories and the cartoon. Excellent depth to the characters and story
July 1, 2023
I started reading this bc i really like Transformers movies and then i found out there’s comics! I was so happy.
I started reading this and i was dissapointed.
I read like 40 pages and i was so confused.
Idk what was happening. Who was who and what was the point.
The art was too confusing to me.
I didn’t read more than that. I don’t see the point becouse i missed everything that was happening.
I’m glad i read it online and not bought the expensive volume.
I started reading this and i was dissapointed.
I read like 40 pages and i was so confused.
Idk what was happening. Who was who and what was the point.
The art was too confusing to me.
I didn’t read more than that. I don’t see the point becouse i missed everything that was happening.
I’m glad i read it online and not bought the expensive volume.
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