5 Decepticon-Aligned Characters I would like to see in the Next IDWverse
Continuing from my previous list I decided to make a list of 5 Decepticon and Decepticon allied characters who have never made an appearance in the current IDW comics and I would love to see them in the next IDW comic universe for various reasons.
1.      Megaempress
    Megaempress is an interesting character in my opinion. A female decepticon whose charisma and seduction like mind control ability which can affect almost any mech, except lovers or those who don’t find her attractive. Traits like these would make a great cult leader villain type, especially during peace times. Also, due to IDW’s take on Cybertronian romance, her power could be tweaked to be able to affect anyone regardless of gender.
    Another reason is I think she would make a good enemy for Pyra Magna. Both characters, while on different sides, have a few things in common: they’re leaders of a combiner team with loyal subordinates, they’re rather manipulative, and both want to be leader of the faction they’re in. These similarities could make Megaempress an evil foil to Pyra Magna, serving as a terrifying glimpse of what Pyra Magna could be if she continues to allow her worse traits and ambitions to fester.
2.      Doctor Arkeville
    To be honest out of all the G1 human characters they had in IDW, I was surprise Arkeville never made an appearance. He was both the first evil human and evil mad scientist character in Transformers. I felt like he would’ve been a good addition to IDW’s antagonistic/evil human characters. He’s a sociopath, lacking any empathy for other lifeforms including other humans and craves power. The direction or origin of his character are endless- he could have been working for a shady government agency till he turned rouge, a scientist from a terrorist group, an ally of the Decepticons, or even a free agent opportunist to whoevers goals align with his own. Also given his intelligence, Arkeville can be shown discovering how to reverse engineer Cybertronian technology or finding ways to harm or used the Autobots for his plans.
3.      Spacewarp
     Spacewarp is not the usual Decepticon character. She’s a Decepticon who goes around the universe doing good deeds. Normally in most stories, the Decepticons, no matter how well intentional they may have started, turn into war mongering genocidal monsters. Her character would add a grayness that normally isn’t shown in stories. Spacewarp would be an interesting twist by being someone who still sides with the narrative villain faction but does more heroic deeds than the rest of them. This could give the Decepticons more depth, as well as further muddy the waters of good and evil in Transformers.
4.      Scrash
    Scrash is a relatively unknown character: A Decepticon who is such a mysterious nobody, not even his own subordinates, know what he looks like. From the few appearances he had, it’s revealed that he can possess other Cybertronians, similar to Starscream. He can serve as an alternative to Starscream for stories involving a Decepticon ghost like entity causing trouble to the protagonists. Also, he can be more easily written back into the story than most antagonists without much retconning or explanation, since his ability can be easily reworked as either an outlier ability or a result of some experiment. Making him a reoccurring foe who could become anyone, waiting in the shadows till the time is right for his return, or when the writer wants to put in a twist villain, would be a clever but terrifying element to any story.
5.      Violin Jiger
    In my previous list I mentioned Sky Garry and the Zodiac energy. As a result, it only make sense to add Violin Jiger as an evil equivalent to the Autobot. He could be used as an example or a reason why the Autobot’s need to keep the Zodiac energy out of the Decepticon’s hands. A Red Skull to Sky Garry’s Captain America. With his unusual form and plethora of powers, Violin Jiger could be reimagine as a Decepticon or Decepticons who through some event was exposed to the Zodiac energy and became the Eldritchcon he is today and is now looking for the Zodiac energy to either further increase his powers or out of a twisted attempt to change him back, depending on the characterization. Also, he could serve as a possible main bad guy for a major event, showing everyone there are other dangerous Decepticons besides Megatron and Shockwave.
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Continuing from last week in the Goodbye IDW Transformers universe list count down: This week’s list will be on 5 things and concepts I’m gonna missed when the Transformer’s reboot comes. Each topic will be on concepts and moments that may not appear in the new Transformers comic universe. And remember these are just my opinions, if you do not agree that’s okay, it just mean we have different opinions.
1.      The focus and development on lesser known Transformers characters.
·        While some characterization are not always perfect, I love that IDW had issues and series focusing on B-list and C-list characters. It made the world building and the scale of the war of the Cybertronians feel more expansive and interesting. With moments like Blaster being a wartime radio jockey, the Throttlebots battling against Sixshot, and Hot Rod’s search for the Magnificence, it really made the battles between the two factions feel more like a war instead of an intense scuffle between two small teams. Also it’s nice to see characters who aren’t part of the usual A-list squad that appears constantly in other media.
2.      Outliers
·        The creation of outliers was a fantastic idea in IDW. It gave an explanation to why certain Cybertronians could use abilities that their peers couldn’t. It was a minor, but cool, concept that I would love to see explored more in the new IDW Transformers comics.
3.      Shadow Play
·        I’m not gonna lie, I love brainwashing and mind control in stories- and in Transformers these concepts fit in perfectly with majority of the cast being sentient androids, yet so few series take advantage of the fact that the characters could be reprogramed or brainwashed. Shadow play being a secret shady technique that can alter one’s mind to be whatever the wielder or boss of said wielder wants was an awesome idea. Also the way it’s performed, five retractable needles from a mech’s hand which once injected to a mech’s head or neck can look into the victim’s mind and/or alter them to whatever the user desired, is subtle and can create all sorts of stories and issues.
4.      Amica Endura and Conjunx Endura
·        The introduction of amica and conjunx endura, while not much of a major plot idea or earth shattering concept, expanded on Cybertronian society and relationships and how they differ from humans. Amica Enduras and Conjunx Enduras were the Cybertronian equivalent of best friends and married couples respectively. However both of them required the Cybertronians to go through a ritual unique with each of them to officially become amicas or conjunxes. Though slightly different, it showed the importance Cybertronians (and Camiens) have on emotional relationships.
5.      Post-War Transformers Stories
·        One thing I will miss in the current IDW Transformers stories are the parts focusing on the post-war era for Cybertronians. Reading about how all the characters are adapting with no longer fighting with each other, as well as all the repercussions that fighting a several million year war had on everyone both inside and outside the Cybertronian race was interesting. Very few stories explored this era and, while it did have a few hiccups here and there, it was amazing to see the kinds of adventures and conflicts that could happen after the war was over.
For this week’s Goodbye IDW list, I’ve decided to list the 5 characters from IDW Transformers I love the most. Why 5, because if I do top 10 the list would be at least 3-4 pages long. Anyway these are just my personal favorite characters from the franchise I love the most. And if you don’t like anyone on the list, then that’s fine it just mean we have different opinions.
5.      Nautica
      Nautica is my favorite female Autobot as well as my favorite member of the Caminus trio that appeared in Dark Cybertron. Similar to Rodimus I found myself relating to her the most out of all the female characters in IDW. She’s nerdy, sweet, a little bit naïve, and curious. However, unlike her fellow Camiens, she actually interacts with the Autobots without the mandatory “what the hell is wrong with you”, “you’re all terrible”, or “this is all your fault” attitude the other main Caminus characters have when something goes wrong. She does show some shocked or disturbed reactions from the more messed up moments with her Autobot companions, but it was a reasonable amount considering she is a civilian. Also I enjoy the fact that she’s an engineer instead of the usual badass warrior, mediator, and healer roles most female characters tend to get. Making her stand out more than the other original female characters in the IDW Transformers franchise.
4.      Verity Carlo
    Out of all the human characters in IDW, Verity is my favorite. She didn’t start out like that though: In early IDW, Verity wasn’t my favorite character out of the original trio. However, as the stories progressed, Verity grew on me as she went through character development, becoming the Autobot’s ally both on and off the field. Starting out as a hitchhiker/thief, her life change drastically after meeting the Autobots. While being brave and resourceful, she also has some emotional moments that make her a rather compelling character to read, especially in the Wreckers Triology. And unlike her fellow survivor of the original trio, Jimmy Pink, she never turned her back on the Autobots despite all the hardship and losing several of her friends such as Hunter and Ironfist.
3.      Drift
      Drift was a fascinating character, an Autobot who used to be a Decepticon was an interesting concept. Drift, after switching sides, tries to find redemption and acceptance within the faction he was originally enemies with. Seeing how this once murderous and violent Decepticon attemptted to change himself was actually fun. Instead of doing the usual angsty, broody, and having a hard time changing his old habits routine, Drift changes himself and his personality to an enthusiastic spiritualist in order to distance himself from his old self (becoming similar to someone with a chameleon personality), which is a unique take on the redeemer trope. Also his interactions with Rodimus and Ratchet are so much fun to read with their banter and emotional moments showing different sides of Drift’s personality throughout his time in IDW.
2.      Springer
     Springer in the IDW is an interesting and complex character. He’s the leader of the Wreckers, yet is one of the few members who wasn’t psychotic or morally messed up. He acted both as the conscience and the voice of authority within the team after becoming leader, Springer tries his hardest to fight for the Autobot cause he believes in. Throughout his time in IDW, Springer goes through both mental and physical hell from performing dangerous missions and dealing with the dark and messed up past of the Autobots (especially Prowl) that they try to keep hidden. Seeing how this seemingly badass Autobot dealt with all the trauma and came to terms with everything surrounding him was amazing to read in the Wreckers trilogy, as well as how he reacts and deals with each of the parental/mentor figures he had throughout the series.
1.      Rodimus
    I’m not exaggerating when I say I love Rodimus in IDW. He is my all-time favorite Autobot in all of IDW. Sure he’s reckless, impulsive, and immature but he’s also confident, brave, and in his own way he’s very compassionate. When he feels guilty due to one of his crewmates or comrades dying, or goes through a negative relapse in character development, it feels genuine and believable. When he gets his act together, you can see why people would join up with him. His overall character and the development is just fun to read. Also, what I personally enjoy about Rodimus is every time he does something bad or stupid the narrative doesn’t gloss over his mistakes, it treats it as a bad or stupid thing. Horrible things happen to and/or around him with everyone around him reacting immediately to it and the retribution is often times equal to whatever the deed was. From getting verbally chewed out for a terrible decision to losing the trust and faith of his comrades and friends, the series showed Rodimus’ actions not only have physical consequences, but social ones too. However, unlike a certain character, he sticks around during the aftermath- he doesn’t runaway and give up, he faces his mistakes and tries to make up for them. It’s all of that that makes Rodimus my favorite character.
This week to start off the countdown for the end of IDW I created a list of the top 10 unpopular opinions I had with the series. please be aware that these are just my personal silly opinions. And if you liked them or not. Then good for you for finding something I, myself couldn’t find or understand.
Warning it’s very long
1. I did not find TAAO all that enjoyable to read.
    Do not get me wrong, TAAO is a decent series. I just couldn’t really get that into it. I have a couple reasons why I didn’t enjoy it:
    Reason one (and the main one)- I’m not a big fan of stories revolving around politics. I just never find these sort of stories interesting and TAAO, which is a continuation of the Windblade series, is a story revolving around the politics and government of Cybertron, albeit with some good moments, similar to ex-RID and its continuation Optimus Prime.
    The second problem I had with the series was that it did a lot of “tell don’t show”, where we are told through character POV narrations and dialogue that certain characters or actions are good/just or bad/evil, but aren’t given much proof or present day story events or arcs that cement said claims. For example, with Elita-One we’re told she’s dangerous and shouldn’t become leader of Cybertron, but has barely done much of anything to prove these claims except being intimidating and saying “half-truths”/letting people believe lies. While these actions do raise caution, they don’t make her any worse than any other leader *cough*OPTIMUS!*cough*.
       The third problem I have with the series was the ending. Yes, I know the series was being cancelled by executives, but the ending with Windblade winning the election didn’t feel earned. While she was the least twisted of the candidates, but she never truly developed past or overcoame many of her flaws that she started with to become the leader Cybertron and, by extension, the colonies. Also, she only won through Starscream’s self-sabotage. While some of these problems could have been fixed if the series wasn’t cut short, I felt Scott should have handled the ending a bit better.
2. I don’t like Windblade
       I know I’m going to be bashed and hated for this one but please hear me out. First I am a girl, a non-neurotypical girl with high functioning autism, but a girl none the less. Windblade’s gender and looks never bothered me- yeah, it was different, but not bad different. My issues with Windblade are just how the story treats her and her character.
       In term of character, Windblade’s personality and morality/standards are all over the place. Though she is shown to be kind hearted and compassionate, Windblade has been shown to lie, cheat, and perform actions outside the law and authority only when she feels it’s necessary. Yet if somebody else does anything even remotely similar, she will condemn them for it. To describe her morality, it’s a subjective morality with double standards. For example: When Optimus went against the council to free the Joes [HA2] in order to save Cybertron in First Strike, Windblade condemned him for it, but during the TAAO annual she also went against the council to tell all of Cybertron about Liege Maximo. It also doesn’t help that Windblade easily forgave Chromia for not only bombing and killing a few people, but also for trying to teleport Metroplex to Caminus which would’ve killed hundreds if not thousands of Cybertronians as a result.
       These issues with her character wouldn’t be as bad if the story didn’t gloss over it. This is where my main issue actually comes from: For every morally questionable thing Windblade has ever done, the narrative treats it as a good or necessary thing and she never truly faces any potential consequences from them. The worst thing that happened to her personally was Chromia going to jail and being tried for her crimes. Things like her cover up or her cheating in a race would’ve had big consequences if they were done by any other lead character. And, let’s be honest, if Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, or even Ironhide did even one of those things that Windblade has done, they would be chewed out by their comrades at best or become persona no grata to the public at worst if they were revealed.
3.  I don’t like Pyra Magna/Victorion
      The reason I don’t like Pyra Magna is very simple- she’s a one note critic character. Majority of the time she appears, she’s complaining and bashing Optimus for everything he’s ever done or believes he’s done. Sometimes even criticizing him for doing something she was criticizing him for not doing earlier. Making it near impossible to tell what her ideals are, her beliefs, or even what values she holds close. Making her criticisms about Optimus weak and criteria for a “perfect” Prime all the more vague. She essentially complains just to complain. Also she’s a terrible hypocrite: In one arc she hates Optimus for manipulating the colonists for his own purposes, but then starts doing the same thing to Slide- feeding and manipulating the colonist into embracing her hatred and bitterness towards the Junkions who killed her twin, referring to her desire for vengeance as justice, thus resulting in Slide becoming skeptical and bitter towards Optimus Prime as well as harboring a hatred and a desire to kill all beings she views as enemies (like Junkions and humans). Also, while she hates Optimus, she views Prowl as an ally. Yep. PROWL- the one who literally sees people as numbers. Though whether or not she actually believes he’s a good person or their goals just align is unknown. In short, she’s the Autobot equivalent of Starscream.
       Victorion isn’t much better. While her design and powers are cool to look at, she’s just Pyra Magna 2.0, but bigger. Her other components, the Torchbearers, individual personalities are almost nowhere to be found in there. Though to be honest the other Torchbearers didn’t have much personality to begin with. They pretty much served as Pyra’s comrades (or cheerleaders) who will pretty much always side and agree with whatever their leader says and participate in Optimus Prime bashing. The only things I remember is that two of them are sisters, two of them are lovers, and the single one Rust Dust is there. I’m not kidding this is literally all I can say about them as individuals.
4.  I don’t like the IDW version Optimus Prime.
       To be honest, I don’t considered him an interesting or complex character in the slightest. IDW Optimus Prime, in my opinion, is a character who writers spend so much time creating flaws in an attempt to make “realistic”, they forgot to give him any GOOD characteristics that could balance those traits. He doubts himself constantly, gives up easily, and ditches his responsibilities whenever he gets the chance. I know what you guys are saying, “But didn’t Rodimus do some of that in the G1 cartoon?” Yes, Rodimus has done that, but there is one small difference between the two: Optimus has been leader of the Autobots for millions of years, whereas Rodimus JUST became leader recently. I can understand and even sympathize with Rodimus, forced into leadership because his actions indirectly lead to Optimus’ death and now he has to lead the Autobots while being in the shadow of Optimus and dealing with his own guilt, but Optimus has been like this since the war and never learned or developed past these traits [HA4] even after the war ended. Also, for all of Rodimus’ flaws, at least he showed more care towards the people under him than Optimus. In fact, every time something goes wrong, he leaves them when things couldn’t be any worse or when he’s still needed. I just find it impossible to imagine how this guy managed to fight in a war for 4 million years against Megatron.
5.  I don’t think Lost Light is bad or a bad sequel to MTMTE.
       Lost Light really isn’t a bad a sequel or comic series in my opinion; maybe it’s because I focused more on comics where each issue has something going on besides the buildup for some climax. Don’t get me wrong, there has been build up for the Grand Architect and Cybertopia for a while, it’s just all the issues don’t feel like they’re only existence is to build up these two events. They have their own plots and arc where, while the buildup is there, it’s not in your face like some comics I’ve read in the past. Another thing I don’t get is all the hate for Robert using British words or slang when he writes- he’s from the United Kingdom, of course he’s likely to use words he’s used to hearing and speaking. It’s the same habit we do when any of us write: we use words and slang that are common to us.
       As a sequel, Lost Light hasn’t lost a lot of quality to its predecessor. While some areas do feel rushed, similar to TAAO, it had quite a bit of executive meddling going on in the background. However, despite feeling a little rushed in some areas, it still pretty well written. Also, I know some people complained about how some of the characters have regressed or become worse in Lost Light, but remember, the cast was betrayed and were (albeit unknowingly) thrown at the mercy of the DJD, a 500 Decepticon army, and Overlord, then, soon afterwards, believed Megatron, the reason the crew betrayed them in the first place, abandoned them to stay in the Functionist Universe. Of course they’re going to have major issues and regress to old habits, it’s how some people actually behave after going through a terrible event like that. Rodimus in particular who has been betrayed and had friends/comrades dying as a direct result before in IDW, would want revenge, it makes sense. Also, the Lost Light is, by far, one of the few series that have a pretty good depiction of someone dealing with betrayal. Seriously, when the Rod Squad meet up with First Aid, Thunderclash, and Riptide, Rodimus is so angry at them, he just refers to them as Mutineer 1 and 2. It’s nice because while he still largely blames Getaway and wants to kill him, he still acknowledges their role in the mutiny as well. Most writers would have a character betrayed by a group only blame the one who caused it, but here Roberts shows Rodimus is angry at the rest of the crew for what happened, though not the same amount as Getaway.
6. I don’t like the “Shockwave is behind everything” twist.
       I always find the twist where one villain is directly responsible for everything messed up in the story to be a boring and bad twist. It makes everything that happens in the story feel kind of cheap; it makes all the things the characters have done, worked for, and/or struggled for in the past feel pointless because this one bad guy somehow planned for it. It also make the villain feel like a villain-sue to the point where when their actual plan is revealed, it feels almost ridiculous or stupid in comparison to all the things they had done just to get it to work. In terms of Shockwave’s plan itself: why? Seriously, he could have done so many things while trapped in the past, but decided to make sure everything happened the way it was written. Why? To prove religion is fake? I don’t know, but the things he claimed to be trying to stop, he caused them in the first place and his overall plan is so unclear and bizarre, I believe he’s just insane.
7. I don’t hate Anode and Lug
       They’re not perfect, but they’re not the worst either. They’re side characters with questionable morality, but they’re neither main leads or treated as these amazing always right characters. Yes, Anode had a main role in the first arc. Yes, she decided to resurrect her Conjunx, Lug. But 1.) It was to introduce new readers to the rebranded series, and 2.) If you had the ability to bring your loved one back, wouldn’t you do the same thing? After the 1st arc the two of them were regulated to the background, occasionally participating in B-plot antics. Also, Anode herself doesn’t bother me as certain other characters do because she gets called out on her antics and her antics makes sense for her character- she’s selfish and reckless, thinking only about herself and Lug. Also, compared to some of the other Neutrals introduced in IDW, they aren’t bashing the Autobots constantly during the comic- which, to me is a breath of fresh air. So yeah, while they’re not my favorite characters, they’re nowhere near my least favorite characters.
8. I do not hate the Hasbroverse idea.
       I thought it was an interesting idea with a bunch of the Hasbro’s old toy lines sharing one universe with a chance to interact with one another. It’s just the execution of the Hasbroverse that sucked: bad writing, bad pacing, too many crossovers back to back, and unnecessary and terrible redesigns on several characters in an attempt to attract more viewers. While ROM, Action Man, and Micronauts were good additions to the TFs, the rest was not well managed or written. If the editors, writers, and the artists thought about what made these series unique and special and not what was trendy, they may have had an amazing expanded universe. But poor decisions in the writing and editorial departments messed up what could have been a fun and interesting expansive universe. If they tried to make another Hasbroverse in the future, I would give it another shot.
9. I did not enjoy the Autobot faction origin story.
        I know the premise of the origin story was to create a morally grey story for both factions, but I felt all it did was make the Autobots out to be even bigger jerks than the Decepticons. I wouldn’t have minded having a few Autobots originate from less than stellar backgrounds, but majority of the Autobots who did show up in flashbacks were shown to be a part of the police forces who worked and aided the corrupt senate, or worked in a twisted institution that brainwashes anyone who was considered a threat to the government. With a few exceptions, almost every Autobot that was shown had either turned a blind eye to or actively participated in the messed up stuff the government was doing to its population. It’s not creative, it’s lazy. Though Barber’s and Roberts’ writing have made the group’s origin more tolerable and complex, the damage was done. And, if anything, it makes it even more baffling why anyone that wasn’t already a part of either group even wanted to join the Autobots in the first place.
10. All the terrible things that happened to the Lost Light’s mutinous crew was completely deserved.
        Okay, I know the crew, with the exception of Getaway and Atomizer, did not mean to leave Rodimus and his allies to be killed by either the Galactic Council or DJD (which nobody, not even Getaway, was aware of), and when they learned what actually happened they were horrified. However, before the message they had several red flags about Getaway being a, while more efficient, bad captain. First, Getaway admitted about using the Nudge gun on anyone who didn’t agree with his mutiny. Soon afterwards they learn he also made a deal with the Galactic Council-you know, the ones that HATE technological lifeforms. Then, later on, we find out Getaway knew a faster way to get to Cybertopia: a series of quantum tunnels known as the Warren that he learned about while he was held captive by Tyrest. The twisted part about this was that one of the reasons for Getaway’s mutiny was how the quest was taking forever to find Cybertopia. So he knew a way to get to Cybertopia, but waited until after the mutiny occurred to share the information. And let’s not forget how no one they left behind was contacting them days or even weeks after the mutiny. Did they honestly believe none of them wouldn’t called or more likely yell (and swear) at them for leaving them on Necroworld?
       To be honest, I think the reason why it took them so long to realize Getaway was bad was because once they admitted Getaway was in the wrong, then, by extension, they would also be admitting that they themselves were in the wrong too. It’s probably the reason why they didn’t try to contact the others all that time as well- they wanted to believe they were in the right so badly. Calling them would admitting to it as well, that’s why they waited. As a result, they ignored all the warnings and red flags surrounding Getaway until it was too late. Was what happened to them awful and terrible? Yes. Definitely. Without a doubt. But when you put a lot blind faith into someone who is shown to do questionable stuff you’re essentially asking for something bad to happen to you
Top 5 Least Favorite Character in IDW Transformers
Since last week’s list was about my favorite character in IDW Transformers, it only makes sense to make the next one about characters I couldn’t stand in the IDWverse. Anyway this is just my personal opinion and if you like any of the characters on this list, that’s good. It means you were able to find enjoyment in them that I couldn’t.
5.      Windblade
    As mentioned in my top 10 unpopular opinions, I don’t like Windblade and I’ll keep it short so I won’t sound like I’m beating a dead Cybertronian horse twice. Her characterization is all over the place depending on the plot, she has a very subjective form of morality, and can be rather hypocritical at times. While she’s not a Mary Sue, she has the narrative protection of one. She can do anything morally questionable and get away with. Along with how quick she is to criticize and condemn the Autobots or Cybertronians, as shown in a recent event for anything bad that happens.  This becomes even more frustrating due to one, she is the leader of Cybertron, the very people she’s blaming who most, like her, weren’t even born during the war that created Unicron, and two, in TAAO, Windblade claimed she felt more like a Cybertronian than a Camien when she was exiled. Essentially she only feels like she’s a part of a group depending on the situation at hand. While she does have her occasional good points and moments, overall I really don’t like her as a character due to how she is written in IDW.
4.      Slide
   Slide is an irritating character. Yes her brother Oiler was killed and I can understand that if anything happened to my sister I would be a bitter, angry person too. But Primus, she is so one note and annoying. After her brother’s death, Pyra shows up and convinces her to wallow in her hatred of the Junkions and questioned Optimus’ positioned as Prime since he didn’t killed the Junkions for “justice” (aka revenge). Since then, Slide’s just been on Little Cybertron complaining about how Optimus is so terrible, similar to Pyra Magna and her Torchbearers, with exception that her complaints are centered about how he doesn’t care about them as much as cared about other beings. The irritating part about all this is that throughout most of Optimus Prime she could’ve just left. Seriously- her home was a Space Bridge or two away, why didn’t she leave since she hated Earth and all the beings that were living on the planet? She was essentially reduced to being another voice of dissidence in the ocean of critics. The only reason she’s low on the list is because she’s a side character and her development was the result of another character’s ignoble manipulation.
3.      Spike Witwicky
   Spike Witwicky is the poster boy of bad human characters in IDW as well as name slap characters in general. Added during the McCarthy and Costa run in IDW Transformers, Spike quickly devolved into an unlikable piece of scrap. They turned him from once an okay goody two shoes human and ally of the Autobots, to this nasty, obnoxious, military prick. He is an arrogant, machine hating, and overall unlikable jerk who thinks he’s in an action movie and he’s the star. With his never my fault attitude and his constant insistence that he’s the best and knows what he’s doing quickly got on my nerves. The only good thing that has happened to him in recent years was when later writers started poking fun at him and acknowledge what a terrible character he was in universe. But overall he is a terrible blemish on Spike Witwicky characters everywhere and should never ever be allowed to exist in another continuity again.
2.      Metalhawk
    My disdain for Metalhawk comes down to two things: First, he’s the straw pacifist character trope, and secondly he’s a hypocrite. He’s an arrogant and holier-than-thou Neutral who spends most of the time either bashing or criticizing the Autobots, especially Bumblebee, and causing rifts and tensions between his group and the Autobots because he hates military force as well as to win the majority vote in the upcoming election to become leader of Cybertron. But what puts him on the number 2 spot is his idiotic/hypocritical decision to befriend Starscream. Yep, THAT Starscream. He felt Starscream was just misguided and misunderstood, and decided to trust and befriend him. What happened afterwards was just pure karma- Starscream literally backstabs him and use his death to become leader of Cybertron, and all the hard work Metalhawk has done during his time alive made it nearly impossible for any Neutral Cybertronian to trust or reason with the Autobots. Because of his arrogant, hypocritical, and holier-than-thou personality and his actions during season 1 of RID made him my 2nd most despised character in IDW.
1.      Pyra Magna
    As mentioned before, I really can’t stand Pyra Magna. She’s everything I despise about Metalhawk and Windblade cranked up to eleven. She’s self-righteous, arrogant, and hypocritical like Metalhawk but has Windblade’s narrative armor and character shield that protects her from any wrong doing she is causing. Her goal/desire is also an Autobot rehash of Metalhawk. She wants to be a Prime; to do it, she has throughout the whole run manipulated others and taken every chance to mudsling Optimus in order to create a schism within the Autobot and colonist ranks. For a quick example, she’s one of the reasons why Slide is such a bitter angsty character in IDW. Her negative qualities overshadow any good qualities she may have so much that often times, I forget she’s supposed to be a good guy. In fact I was surprised when she actually tried to do something heroic in Unicron because of how terribly she’s been everywhere else. I despise this character so much in IDW that I consider her my most hated and least liked character in the whole Transformers franchise.
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Since last week’s list was about the 5 things I’m was going to miss in the IDWverse. I’ve decided to a list about the opposite. This list will focus on the concepts, moments, and characters I despised in the IDW Transformers series. Stuff I will no doubt be glad are ending and hopefully remained in the old IDW Transformers continuity. And remember these are just my own opinions and if you like them that’s good. It just means that we have different opinions
1.      Neutral Cybertronians (N.A.I.L.s)
·        The Neutrals are the worst group of characters in IDW. They are arrogant, irritating, shallow, hypocritical, and only exist to give Autobots problems and conflicts. From the refugees to the Circle of Light, they all act so similar to one another, I only remember a few by name. The majority of them act more like plot devices than actual characters. This becomes more apparent when just about every time an Autobot shows up they treat them like monsters while the Decepticons, who have caused the majority of the damages and deaths during the war, are treated with less hostility and disdain- with the leader of the faction even deciding to befriend Starscream, you know the universe’s biggest backstabber at the time, because he believed Starscream was just misguided and misunderstood. With only a couple likable exceptions that act like actual characters, the majority of the Neutral Cybertronians are just flat self-righteous and holier than thou caricatures so unsympathetic that I will not miss any of them.
2.      No Females on Cybertron/Arcee’s Origin
·        I don’t know what it is with Transformers comics, but they seem to hate gender. In Spotlight: Arcee, the story is about how Cybertronians are normally genderless and a mad scientist, Jhiaxus, attempts to introduce gender by forcefully altering Arcee physically into a female. Besides the messed up implications, this story practically erased female Transformers from the continuity as well as placing an embargo on them for future appearances. Which was a stupid thing to do because female Transformers have been a thing since the second season of the original Transformers cartoon. While Barber, Roberts, and Scott have retconned it and changed Arcee’s character since then, things still haven’t been the same. Some of the female characters that finally made an appearance felt more like name-slap characters due to how different they act, and the amount of retcons that were done just made things more confusing; how was gender erased in the first place and what did it? All in all, can the next IDWverse not try to erase gender from Cybertronians or create an unnecessary explanation about it in the first place?
3.      Bumblebee’s Leadership
·        Before I start, no I don’t hate Bumblebee as a character. I just hated his leadership of the Autobots during IDW.  Due to the powers of Hasbro and IDW, Bumblebee became leader of the Autobots on Earth after Optimus left (the first time) and he was awful. He was a doormat that every other bot either disrespected him or did things behind his back, and all the praising he was given no matter how bad he screwed up made it even more jarring. Then came RID, when he got put in charge again and to me it was even worse. While outside forces like Metalhawk and Starscream didn’t make it easy, Bumblebee’s bad traits from earlier are still present but were cranked up to eleven as well as treating his allies like dirt. He practically sabotage himself and the Autobots’ efforts almost single handedly.
4.      Antagonistic Organic species
·        When I mean organic species, I mean humans, Galactic Council, Solstar Order, etc. I know the 4 million year war between Autobots and Decepticons would leave a negative impression on some alien species, but come on! During all 4 million years, with a few individual character exceptions, barely anyone could distinguish or realized there were different factions with one of them being somewhat nicer than the other. But what was truly aggravating were the ones that did know the difference but continued to treat the Autobots even worse than the Decepticons. It wouldn’t be so bad except, similar to Neutrals, all their complaints and arguments against the Autobots felt like the organic characters were reskins of each other rather than actual individual characters. Also the sooner IDW Spike Witwicky is gone the better- that character was an awful evil action hero wannabee.
5.      The antagonistic adaptations of Japanese Transformers characters
·        Another thing I never understood with the writers in IDW is their constant need to turn every major good guy from the G1 anime series into antagonists with the only exception being Headmasters’ cast (but they all had Western appearances through the Marvel comics). Every main good guy from three of the Transformers G1 anime has been turned into a hypocritical critic at best or a psychopath at worst: Metalhawk and Dai Atlas constantly condemn and criticize the Autobots, yet do little to no help until it’s almost too late, with the former sometimes even manipulating others in order to make the Autobots look bad; Star Saber, on the other hand, is a religious zealot who murders anyone he believes is an atheist or evil and will betray his allies if he feels they are unworthy. The characters who used to be kind hearted, reasonable, and honorable figures are turned into these dishonorable, overly biased, and, in Star Saber’s case, psychotic holier than thou look a likes. If any of them do make a return in the new continuity I would prefer it if they act more like their cartoon selves, because at least those versions were entertaining to watch.
Top 3 Favorite and Least Favorite IDW Transformers Comics
It’s here the final Goodbye IDW list. Unlike previous lists, I’ve decided to combined two topics- my top 3 Favorite IDW Transformers comics and my top 3 Least Favorite IDW Transformers comics. For this list, I decided to go back read through the IDW Transformers comics from the Furman –ation to the Barber/Roberts/Scotts phase two in order to make it from a fresher take and not let nostalgia mess with my decision making.
Warning: It’s long.
3rd Least Favorite- Transformers vs Visionaries
        Transformers vs Visionaries is about the evil Darkling Lords and Merklynn trying to transform Cybertron into new Prysmos with the Spectral Knights and the Cybertronians standing in their way. This crossover is an example of how to not make a crossover story with two unlikely sources. For starters, the writer made the Visionaries’ magic so strong that the Cybertronian characters could do little to stop them and had to rely on the Spectral Knights for help. Resulting in the story feeling more like The Visionaries guest staring the Transformers in the comic with the Transformers characters being grossly under focus and more like set pieces. Visionaries cast however are completely unlikable, with the exception of 2 or 3 characters on the Spectral Knight’s side, every Prysomisian supported the genocide of the Cybertronian race- even several Spectral Knights- and briefly defected to Merklynn’s side because of it. The problem with this is supporting genocide is like supporting the cannibalization of babies: No matter how you try to justify it, it’s just wrong. This resulted in me losing any sympathy I may have had left for them and just wanted them gone or wiped out.  The pacing is all over the place making it hard to keep up with it. Seriously, I thought I was missing some issues throughout the series! Finally, everyone but Merklynn gets away with their attempted genocide and terraforming of Cybertron and were instead given a small, already terraformed, section of land. Essentially, these unrepentant mass murders who attacked, mutilated, and murdered the Transformers characters were rewarded for all their atrocities.   Â
3rd Favorite- ROM vs Transformers: Shining Armor
        ROM vs Transformers:  Shining Armor is a great crossover, possibly the best Transformers crossover I’ve ever read. The story is about the Solstar order finding a Cybertronian protoform, later named Star Drive, raising her to become a SolStar Knight, and during a mission she comes into contact with the Autobots and Decepticons- causing her two worlds to collide. The crossover does a great job telling a story that’s not only about ROM and the Autobot characters, but also expanded on the lore and history of both sides, showing and revealing things such as why the Dire Wraith are against technology and possessing mechanical based beings, what happened between the Solstar knights and the Autobots to make them dislike each other, and how other species view Cybertronians with no personal experience. The series also deconstructs the classic trope of raising an alien child with the character Star Drive’s upbringing being so awful that the poor girl ended up developing lots of issues because the Solstar Order was trying to teach her how not to be “evil”, unlike the rest of her race. My only problem with the series was how the writer and the narrative kept claiming the Autobots are terrible and awful like the Knights but, besides a few insults and comments from Ultra Magnus and Blast Off, they were shown to be good people and to be honest, better people than the Solstar knights as a group. Â
2nd Least Favorite- The Transformers (Costa Ongoing)
        The Costa run of Transformers was one of the most irritating, frustrating, and at times boring runs to read through. The comic follows the Autobots after AHM and shows how they’re doing after defeating Megatron- spoiler, not good. This series made me feel things I normally have reserved for the Bay movie sequels, Energon, and the Prime War Trilogy. The characterizations of the Cybertronians are so off it feels like they’re completely different characters. The Human characters are poorly written caricatures that are so unsympathetic I’m constantly asking myself why, in the name of all that is decent, are the Autobots even trying protect these a-holes? The pacing is either rushing or dragging in almost every arc. Then, the plots themselves make little to no sense the majority of time and I end up having to take breaks in between the arcs because they’re so bad. This was in fact the series that kept me away from the IDWverse for so long because of how terrible it is. Why, then, is it number 2? Because rereading it, while majority of it is awful, there are a few surprising good issues in the mix that I honestly enjoyed; Space Opera and Chaos Theory being the main examples. But, despite the few good ones, overall the Costa Ongoing was a terrible series overall.
2nd Favorite- Transformers: The Wrecker’s Saga
        The Wrecker’s saga is an amazingly deep, dark, and action packed Transformers series. The series revolves around the Wreckers: a group of Autobots sent on missions too dangerous or too awful for most Autobots to handle. Each miniseries of the Wreckers explores the darker aspects of the Autobots actions throughout the war and the consequences of some of those choices from the damning evidence of the Aequitas trials and the cover up on Pova, to Prowl’s past dealings with Tarantualas and how his actions cause problems for the Autobots in present day. While being a twisted and dark series with a fatality rate that would make Bay himself cringe, the deaths all serve a purpose and don’t feel cheap at all. I even found myself crying at few deaths of characters I didn’t know before reading the series. But what I love the most about the series is all the character development the main cast goes through. Springer, Impactor, Verity, and even Prowl go through an amazing amount of development where each come face to face with enemies on the outside, personal demons on the inside, and come to terms with their pasts or the fallout their actions have caused.
1st Least Favorite Transformers Heart of Darkness
        Heart of Darkness is the worst comic I’ve ever read. Similar to the Costa Ongoing, the four issue miniseries suffers from a lot of inconsistent characterization, terrible pacing, and the plot being borderline nonsense with little logic, thought, or even effort being put into it. The reason why this ranks higher than the Costa Ongoing despite the latter being longer comes down to two factors: One, the Costa Ongoing at least had a few good issues to show possible potential, this series was just bad from beginning to end. Second, the art was god awful. Seriously- I am very lenient on art in comics, I don’t mind Lawrence’s art in lost light, I’m okay with Livio’s art despite having a hard time telling characters apart at times, but this art is so horribly drawn that in almost every page and panel the characters are drawn so out of proportion that it makes me cringe. This has never ever happened before, me cringing because of a comic’s art and not it’s content. Because of those reasons, I ranked Heart of Darkness as my least of favorite comic of the Transformers IDWverse.  Â
1st Favorite- Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye
        I’m not going to lie, I LOVE More Than Meets the Eye. A dramedy that takes place after the war, where the Autobots go out into space looking for the ancient Knights of Cybertron and Cyberutopia, which turns into an insane adventure story. It has great characters, amazing pacing, and a deep and complex story with tons of surprises and twists that, if you look back, are hinted and spread out in such a way that it doesn’t come out of left field. Besides all these reasons, the number one reason why this is my favorite is because it’s the comic that not only introduced me to the good of IDW, but it’s also the comic that got me back into loving comics again. Prior to reading MTMTE, I was so burned out on reading comics due to all the BS Marvel and DC were putting in their series to the point that it became more of a chore just to go through one arc. Then, I found MTMTE, and it was unique, complex, interesting, deep, meaningful, but, more than anything else, it was FUN. This comic reignited my love for the genre and the industry. That is why MTMTE is my all-time favorite comic.
Since the first Transformers IDWverse seems to be ending in September, lets all do tops lists of all the stuff we liked, disliked, and wtfed during the comic run as a farewell to 12 years of continuity.
