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MattMoylan — Lil Formers - G1 Nouveau
Published: 2009-11-09 07:26:24 +0000 UTC; Views: 33393; Favourites: 372; Downloads: 418
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For more Lil Formers head to www.LilFormers.comThis'll get you guys talking!
To see the new look I'm referencing here, check out this preview on Comic Book Resources:
Transformers #1 Preview
Now, I'm not slamming Don Figueroa's art skills, he's still unquestionably the top Transformers penciller now or ever. But I think the choice of these hyper detailed faces is a big blunder. They're ugly, they're emotionless, they look like old men/skeletons. They have no personality... they're no longer characters I can get attached to or care about. Just big scary machines. Sure, perhaps the tradional smooth metal faces with eyes and mouths that some how magically flex might not make sense, but tht didn't matter. You could get expressions out of TF's with those faces, you could see characters with emotion in them.
Anyway, I actually have bigger complaint about this new look... what's up with the colouring!? I may have high standards as I work at a studio known for its high end colouring skills, but this is just god-awful stuff. Either the guy is on his first job, or was ultra-rushed and couldn't finish, or wasn't paid enough to do a decent job, or SOMEthing... but in my opinion as an editor this should never have seen print. Guh.
So anyway, all opinions welcome, what do you guys think of the new TF comic style??
PS: Yes, I am directly contradicting my robot reproduction statement from the Springer strip. But funny trumps consistency.
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Comments: 271
...ugh. Just... ugh. WHY??????
I don't like the new "Bayformer hybrid" look. Yes, they are machines, but they're LIVING machines! Done in THIS style they look like monsters. Some things were just not meant to mix...
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I don't know... The faces could use some work, admittedly, but it's probably the closest we'll get to seeing a movie-style G1 story.
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Also, Don's probably just testing this new style out. There's nothing that says he won't make a few adjustments (faces and all) as time goes on. As he said in TFW2005, he's an artist, and likes to try new things out.
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Thank you for being a voice of version. 
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No problem. Just giving my opinion is all.
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If Don wants to try a new appraoch with his art style, who are we to judge?
I'm looking forward to the series.
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Is it just me or does EVERYBOT have the exact same face. Theres nothing there that points out HEY THATS PROWL! If the do a close up pictures we are all screwed casue we'll have no clue who it is.
GOD I HATE THE MOVIE!
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Yeah your right, I like the designs but the faces are too similar.
But seeings how they are giant robots with different designs, I'm sure we can tell them apart besides their faces.
And double yes the movies sucked, it was more like "Sam Witwicky featuring Transformers."
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Godamn movie has way too much influence. The styles should never blend like this. Tranformers Comic is Japanese Style Mecha, and Movie is Crap Style Mecha. the 2 just don't blend. Hopefully we'll get rid of this by the end on Don's Run. i do agree that the guy is great, but these faces are completely made of crap.
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Much respect for Don, because he's my favorite TF artist, but people need to get it through their heads that the movie style simply does not look good.
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it feels designs 4rm the movie were merged with it. i kinda like it, though i only saw the preview from the link you provided. I never really had any transformers comics, except the movie tie in ones, so its ok. Though i do miss the old designs which had better facial expressions.
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[link] <-- this deviation isn't as scary looking compared to the "new" faces. >_<
And gotta admit... the coloring on that is not what I'd expect from IDW's stuff... let alone most of the more noteworthy comics publishers out there atm.
Bumblebee scares me. ...oh and dammit... Ironhide! They killed him?? Blargh.
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O_o No. Just no.
They look...well, unfinished, I guess. [and yes, way too Bayformers, either give us G1 or give us G1 versions of Bayformers, but not Bayformered G1. O_o]
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As I said on another forum, it's one thing to do the live-action movie characters in that style, becuase that's how they're intended to look. It's another thing to use that style in a universe and on characters whom we've known for close to 30 years now.
All creds to Don Fig for wanting to try out a new style, but this just does not work.
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Call me crazy, but specifically what irks you about the colouring, because I'm not certain its the worst I've seen?
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it's flat, the characters have not volume, they all look like cardboard cutouts. characters are flat, backgrounds are flat. Really crumby smoke fx. Overboard on glows making it really garish. Amature use of gradients, it's just all around bad.
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I can see what you're saying.
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While I like the Movie designs, the bastard stepchild of G1 and Movie designs that Figueroa's come up with is awful, as are some of the justifications he's made for it.
Fortunately it's only Figueroa's work, so after his six issues are over we can go back to artists who realize that updating/doing designs in your own style doesn't mean making them look like a different continuity. ...if the art and writing hasn't turned everyone off by then.
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THANK GOD!!! *whipes forhead* And here I was worried I'd have no G1 left but repeats.
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We're getting the Wreckers mini in January by Nick Roche too, which'll definitely be awesome G1, so the well's not completely dry... yet.
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On one hand, we ALL should have seen this coming (G1 getting combined with live action Movie), but it just... yeah. What makes it worse is the comics were my one last escape to see G1 (Now that TF Animated is over). I hope this is only a phase... >.>
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Is it weird that I kind of like the new style? I don't know. I just kind of like the past and present coming together like that. Not sure if I like what they do to Ironhide though.
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The faces are scary...and they killed Ironhide...*slams head*
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Why do they hate us old school Geewunners?
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This deserves a
That is not pretty. I like it better with more human like faces. not even the movie faces are this bad! I like the movies though.
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I agree with you 100%
I got a fairly recent issue of All Hail Megatron with Prime and Ironhide on the cover and i was like WTF!!! everyone had these fucking gawdaweful skeletor faces, Ironhide looked like a monster.
G1 TF's have normal looking faces because they have a insulating covering over their mechanics.... you cart go fighting big fuck off robots with telicate facial motor-functions on diplay for anyone to damage lol
I love Don's TF's, but that choice, whoever made it, was ghastly
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I gotta agree... poor Roddy Jr. 
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yyyyookay...this is different.
maybe you guys should take over TF 
I don't think they're 'bad' - but like anything it's a change - we all had to get used to Don being top dog after Pat Lee - this isn't any different
I've been catching up with the All Hail Megatron TPB's so I'm curious to see how all this plays out.
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Can't say I really care never liked IDW as a publisher. I hate there layout and there adds even more so.
Great gijoe fan and of yet it is there better selling comic but stopped reading it as a prequel in a prequel, prequel storyline got old very fast.
as for the transformer comics i have no idea where to start reading.
Liked dreamwva former and ddp joe a lot better
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I'm a TF noob here...never really read the comics, or seen too much G1, but Transformers #1 has been something that I've been looking forward to for a little while now. I've seen the art, and I don't think it's too bad, I actually like it, cause the faces seem to go well with the extra detail present on the bodies of the transformers, and I like that it's still got that G1 style, personally I like it. I understand that there are many people who don't like it, but I think that like the recent movies, people will come to like it, perhaps even love it. So I say just give it time.
However, the colouring does seem...interesting, to say the least. and after seeing that link to UDON Megatron, I'd prefer if one of UDON was working on the comic...but hey, given time people will like this new style
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You are spot on, I thought it was just me who hated all this over-detailed stuff.
'Old man skeleton'
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I'd like to see how they make them expressive with the new faces :V
It may be a good change, but I'm not going to call the RUINING TRANSFORMERS FOREVER card yet. :F
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Oh Don, what has he done... *facepalms*
Don't worry, I'm one of the people noticing that. I prefer if they still hire either Guido (he did well with AHM) or Nick (I'm starting to like that guy, he knows how to deal with expressions). But oh well... *faceplams again*
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That is WHY I don't like the movie designs to begin with.
Funny, lovable characters with amazingly human-like faces (like our best friends who could turn themselves into vehicles) is one of THE reasons why we fell for Transformers to begin with.
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That's... G1 bodies plus movie faces. Plain freaky and, yeah, emotionless.
Reckon they're slowly going to "evolve" across into the movie-look 'bots?
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I don't think this art-direction is a good idea. I like the movie Transformers and I like the G1 Transformers but that doesn't mean I want my G1 Transformers to look like movie Transformers.
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When the X-men got their movie adventure, they got new outfits in the comics to resemble the ones in the movie. They even had a reasonable explanation for it. I respected the decision Marvel made
But now that they're doing it to Transformers, I think they're going a bit too far. First we had the redesign in AHM to make them look like the Universe toys (I understand where that came from, Hasbro needs to advertise and that's what the comics are for), and now they're moving away from it, just after AHM is finished to make them look more "realistic" (what's realistic about alien robots transforming into cars and airplanes anyway?).
I think they should have stuck with the designs they started out with. Newly introduced characters could then be inspired on the latest toy designs, but no other character should get a drastic change in appearence, unless with a reason.
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Poor little Roddy...
Looks like many readers has the same opinion to the detailed-face new style
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NonononononononononoNO! That looks AWFUL! NO!
(Oh, and great comic as always!)
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The art style is pretty hideous. But I'm more upset over the fact that apparently the first thing they feel the need to do in the new series is kill off Ironhide.
WTF, IDW. Why do you feel the need to kill off so many of my favorites??? First Sunstreaker, now Ironhide??? W.T.F.
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Does he have a porno-stash or is it just me?
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I dont mine the Bayformers aesthetic, but they should try to to keep the style out of G1, thye IDW seem to just be trying to wind up the Geewunners out there lol
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