Customer Reviews

Transformers: Infiltration

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First book in the "ation" series. Great new starting point to read up on the continuing war between the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth. Art is good. The robots look great, but the human world needs a little polish...

EJ Su's color work is much stronger than his line work.

Seeing Megatron, Starscream and Optimus Prime is a great read... And the plot behind the scenes will shock you. Well, for a former cartoon series...

Once you pick this up please continue with Escalation and finish with Devastation...

This book is to the original Transformes, what Marvel's Ultimate series are to their original Marvel-U titles. Unofficially, this is Ultimate Transformers.
Depending on how you feel about Marvel's Ultimate books, take that however you will; but I think this is a rather decent reimagining of the original G1 Transformer characters.

If you've been a TF fan for years, then chances are you already own this. But if you are just coming into the fandom, then this would be the book to start with.

IDW's update of the original Transformers brings real meaning to the old slogan, "robots in disguise." Rather than accidentally crashing on Earth millions of years ago, the transformers purposely arrive within the last couple of years and take on vehicle forms to, as the title implies, infiltrate our world, one of many fronts in the Cybertronians' civil war, and mask their actions from the local populace. They're not completely successful at this, and as a result a few young humans get caught in the crossfire.

Long time transformers fans may groan at the thought of human characters playing an important role in this story, but though they still have odd names (i.e. Hunter O'Nion), they're considerably more interesting than most humans in previous incarnations, though that's not saying very much.

The Autobots and Decepticons are portrayed as more like military units than before with the Decepticons showing a higher degree of intelligence than in some incarnations of the franchise. Optimus and Megatron are not initially present on Earth due to their roles as leaders in a pangalactic struggle, but that changes due the developments in this story, and Megatron dishes out some serious hurt.

The art is top notch with great looking updated designs for the characters, which strongly resemble their Generation 1 versions. The humans' look may take a little getting used to, though.

Infiltration is a good starting point for fans new and old, but it may move a little slow and be light on big robot action for some people's tastes. If this proves to be the case for you, I recommend checking out Stormbringer (sans humans) before giving up on IDW's take of Transformers.

This great first chapter by Simon Furman starts with a slower pace and lots of background information to build up the entire story. It does focus on the human aspect of the story overall, but it builds up big time as you finish. You start to get the sense of many, many huge events taking place with this first novel in the trilogy. I'm also quite possibly the biggest Megatron Fan on the Planet Earth, and he is absolutely BRUTAL in this continuing story. It was cool to read this since the things taking place are also covered/continued in All Hail Megatron, which I read first. It ties it all together as a continual read.

Overall, Infiltration is a typical first story with the slower pace and the layout for many other facets of a great story. Once Optimus Prime becomes involved in the conflict, it picks up some serious intensity. I continued with Escalation, then Devastation. It certainly gets better & better!

ALL HAIL MEGATRON!!

The company signs Furman on again to recreate generation one, again. For the third time we see the story begin from a new perspective. This time the Autobots and Decepticon are fighting on a universal front, with small, Cold War like battles on individual planets. On Earth, it's Prowl's unit against Starscream's.

The cast is made up of the usual G1 crew on both sides, though you won't see much of them for the first half. The second involves a bit more action, particularly with Megatron fighting his own forces. The human are the main focus. They aren't portrayed as badly as humans in recent television shows or past comics, but they still have the main role in the comics.

Since the story is told from the perspective of the humans, it bears a striking resemblance to the modern transformers live action movie. There's even a section of the government revealed to know about the transformers, with it's own agenda.

The artwork is great, but the story is a double edged sword. It is an original view of an old story, but it also takes the focus away from the transformers themselves. Furman could've taken the kids out and used the Machination as the human focus, while giving plenty of other airtime to the transformers. There are also no elements whatsoever of the recent transformers toons or comics linked into the story. It's strictly Generation One. I'd only recommend it to big fans of the original, or people that really hated the movie.

This book provides a great new version of the beloved classic. Any transformer fan will recognize a number of their favorite Transformers in new bodies. Infiltration is the first book in the series and lays a groundwork for everything that is to come, a groundwork that is nicely built on through several different avenues. It's a little heavy on the human factor for my taste, but there's enough action to keep everyone entertained.

What can I say? I've always loved Transformers and finally there's a comic that lives up to the concept. While still being written by the same man who has been writing Transformers stories for just about as long as there are have been TF comics, Simon Furman, the IDW reboot gives a much needed chance to breath fresh air into a cluttered and stuffy story.

The modernized take, revised designs are all in service of the characters I've known and loved, yet they are presented in a fresh, detailed and intelligent manner. Truly this is THE TF comic for long-time fans.

A great re-telling of the original Transformers story for a modern generation. I read some of the single issues of this series as it was coming out, and was not impressed. But I am a Transformers Fan, and love graphic novels. So I was very surprised to find myself quickly reading this, and then re-reading this graphic novel. It is a great story overall. I am eagerly awaiting the next Graphic Novel in this storyline and will be snatching that up as well. Simon Furman does a great job of adding his own personal touches to a classic story, and I look forward to anything Transformers with his name attached.

Infiltration is a refreshing new vision of the original G1 story. bringing back what was good about the old series while updating the story to modern tastes. I enjoy the trade paperback format, and cannot wait for the next stages of IDW's work to unfold.