Papa’s Got a Brand-New Bag of Toys.
Infiltration #0. October 19th 2005.
Let me take a wild guess. All this gear, the general sub-Mulder apparel... you’re looking for little green men, right?
Now in theory, this should be a nice easy way to ease into this new project. Though it’s still a more substantial issue than I remembered at 16 pages, it’s still shorter than just about everything I’ll be talking about going forward.
And famously of course... not a lot happens in it.
But there’s a huge amount to talk about here before we even get to the comic itself. In particular what IDW in general and Simon Furman in particular were motivated by.
IDW (under editor Chris Ryall) had something of a conundrum facing them as they took up the licence. Dreamwave had enjoyed tremendous success with their version, and the collapse of the company was largely unrelated to that. So clearly, the desire in picking it up, was to continue that winning streak.
Let me take a wild guess. All this gear, the general sub-Mulder apparel... you’re looking for little green men, right?
Now in theory, this should be a nice easy way to ease into this new project. Though it’s still a more substantial issue than I remembered at 16 pages, it’s still shorter than just about everything I’ll be talking about going forward.
And famously of course... not a lot happens in it.
But there’s a huge amount to talk about here before we even get to the comic itself. In particular what IDW in general and Simon Furman in particular were motivated by.
IDW (under editor Chris Ryall) had something of a conundrum facing them as they took up the licence. Dreamwave had enjoyed tremendous success with their version, and the collapse of the company was largely unrelated to that. So clearly, the desire in picking it up, was to continue that winning streak.
The first human, robot and moustache of the series. One of them would still be there 13 years later.
But equally, dodgy business dealings and Pat Lee being revealed as more crooked than a Tory had created a lot of bad feeling and quickly turned the perception of those bestselling comics into a punchline.
So, how to keep the Dreamwave momentum going (and there’s going to be a lot of Dreamwave DNA in these early years, more than anyone would want to admit) whilst presenting something that clearly new and defined from what has gone before became the key question.
So, whilst he’s become increasingly controversial in the years since (and boy am I going to talk about that as we go along), Furman had written the best received Dreamwave material and bringing him in as the main point of continuation was actually a sensible move beyond the 80’s nostalgia.
And that last part is significant when it comes to what Furman is trying to do here. His original pitch (and I’ll be talking fairly soon about how I suspect at least one other major writer was sounded out) was a fairly safe Crisis on Infinite Cybertrons story. A very 80’s story.
Furman had largely moved on from comics into other writing fields for several years before Transformers came back into his life. And the majority of his subsequent career in the medium has happened the same way, something from the 70’s/80’s/90’s needs a writer from the 70’s/80’s/90’s who people who remember the 70’s/80’s/90’s have heard of.
So, how to keep the Dreamwave momentum going (and there’s going to be a lot of Dreamwave DNA in these early years, more than anyone would want to admit) whilst presenting something that clearly new and defined from what has gone before became the key question.
So, whilst he’s become increasingly controversial in the years since (and boy am I going to talk about that as we go along), Furman had written the best received Dreamwave material and bringing him in as the main point of continuation was actually a sensible move beyond the 80’s nostalgia.
And that last part is significant when it comes to what Furman is trying to do here. His original pitch (and I’ll be talking fairly soon about how I suspect at least one other major writer was sounded out) was a fairly safe Crisis on Infinite Cybertrons story. A very 80’s story.
Furman had largely moved on from comics into other writing fields for several years before Transformers came back into his life. And the majority of his subsequent career in the medium has happened the same way, something from the 70’s/80’s/90’s needs a writer from the 70’s/80’s/90’s who people who remember the 70’s/80’s/90’s have heard of.
There's no getaway vehicle like a bus.
Which isn’t an automatically bad thing, but it’s very safe. And career limiting. Once his original idea was shot down, he very obviously sat down and decided it was time to show he could be modern and contemporary. Not a throwback.
How successful that is going to be is something to discuss as we go along (though SPOILERS: By 2020 Furman is so resigned to his place in the creative hierarchy that his brand-new creator owned project is intentionally done as if it was a 1980’s comic), but it was a sensible move.
And when I say there was desire to make the series contemporary, we of course mean 2005. Still in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. The year Star Trek and Star Wars ended, Doctor Who came back (as this issue was released we were waiting to see if Christopher Eccleston leaving was a death blow), and no one had heard of a Cinematic Universe. You go back 15 years from 2005 and you’re into the last year of the original Marvel comic. As recent as this issue feels, the world is almost a totally different place since then.
But in 2005, if you wanted to make a modern style brand new comic (especially a comic that had just had a major blockbuster film announced. More on that in 2007) then you were looking at The Ultimates, drawn by Furman's old mucker Bryan Hitch.
How successful that is going to be is something to discuss as we go along (though SPOILERS: By 2020 Furman is so resigned to his place in the creative hierarchy that his brand-new creator owned project is intentionally done as if it was a 1980’s comic), but it was a sensible move.
And when I say there was desire to make the series contemporary, we of course mean 2005. Still in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. The year Star Trek and Star Wars ended, Doctor Who came back (as this issue was released we were waiting to see if Christopher Eccleston leaving was a death blow), and no one had heard of a Cinematic Universe. You go back 15 years from 2005 and you’re into the last year of the original Marvel comic. As recent as this issue feels, the world is almost a totally different place since then.
But in 2005, if you wanted to make a modern style brand new comic (especially a comic that had just had a major blockbuster film announced. More on that in 2007) then you were looking at The Ultimates, drawn by Furman's old mucker Bryan Hitch.
Oh come on.
And film aping was very much the order of the day. Big widescreen hyper-detailed action in a “Written for trade” style. In other words, instead of each issue being its own distinct unit, it’s a part of a two-hour movie that’s been broken up on its original publication but is predominately made with a final paperback in mind.
In that context, Infiltration issue 0 is less a teaser for a forthcoming miniseries, and more the opening ten minutes of a film. A film that will build up as it runs along, starting small and ending on a big fight.
Which was a bold move as it means there are hardly any Transformers in this issue encouraging you to buy the Transformers comic. Which suggests missing the wood from the trees as both the 2007 film and Bumblebee have a similar structure, but make sure to open with a big outstanding Transformers focused action scene, giving a promise to the viewer that this is going somewhere, you’re not accidentally watching a teen sex comedy.
Infiltration opens in a bus station.
Long-time readers will know I’ve said before that opening with the focus on humans as the entry point is an entirely sensible way of starting Transformers that had never been done before, because of the need to make the promoted toys the main attraction.
Which brings us to the first of two, final points to make before diving into the issue itself. That this is almost unique in that there was no need to advertise toys at all. We’re a few years away from Hasbro realising they could pimp the Generations line to older fans via the comics. Until then, IDW are going to have a level of creative freedom even the more critically acclaimed later comics won’t have. How successfully they’re going to use that freedom is going to be a recurring theme.
In that context, Infiltration issue 0 is less a teaser for a forthcoming miniseries, and more the opening ten minutes of a film. A film that will build up as it runs along, starting small and ending on a big fight.
Which was a bold move as it means there are hardly any Transformers in this issue encouraging you to buy the Transformers comic. Which suggests missing the wood from the trees as both the 2007 film and Bumblebee have a similar structure, but make sure to open with a big outstanding Transformers focused action scene, giving a promise to the viewer that this is going somewhere, you’re not accidentally watching a teen sex comedy.
Infiltration opens in a bus station.
Long-time readers will know I’ve said before that opening with the focus on humans as the entry point is an entirely sensible way of starting Transformers that had never been done before, because of the need to make the promoted toys the main attraction.
Which brings us to the first of two, final points to make before diving into the issue itself. That this is almost unique in that there was no need to advertise toys at all. We’re a few years away from Hasbro realising they could pimp the Generations line to older fans via the comics. Until then, IDW are going to have a level of creative freedom even the more critically acclaimed later comics won’t have. How successfully they’re going to use that freedom is going to be a recurring theme.
The colourist is trying to hide it, but how bad do you have to be at drawing humans to not know how many fingers they have?
Secondly, this is the first time Furman has been in on the ground floor of creating a Transformers continuity rather than coming in as the secondary author after things have been established. A large part of his thinking going forward is going to be based around his eagerness to show how he would have done things if he’d been the one creating the backstory for [Insert Gimmick].
And yes, there is going to be a conflict between not having to constantly introduce new toys and the desire to introduce all the toy gimmicks.
But that’s a little way off, as we have our opening of Verity Carlo (or Verity Carter at one point, I think she’s meant to be giving a fake name, but as it’s never mentioned again, it looks like an error), a young homeless American teenager, stealing a bus ticket and some lunch in Phoenix. She also has her eye on that most 2005 of accessories, a PDA in the bag of a seemingly ordinary tired salesman.
A salesman being watched by a mysterious black car.
Furman is of course famously often criticised for his handling of women characters (and despite what some will tell you, that is clearly not a more recent issue from The Woke (tm) as the entire premise of Prime’s Rib is clearly meant to be a response to such complaints) so with a teenage girl as the lead very much fits in with him trying to push beyond his limitations.
Now I came to love Verity, not just because she was in the hands of other authors (to be honest, I’m not sure what even Nick Roche’s American teenagers would be like), but because she’s aged into being an adult. Here you’ve got an attempt to engage with street youth US culture from a middle-aged middle class British guy. The fact she dresses like the lead in 90’s kids show The Secret World of Alex Mack kind of points to how this isn’t going to feel hugely authentic.
And yes, there is going to be a conflict between not having to constantly introduce new toys and the desire to introduce all the toy gimmicks.
But that’s a little way off, as we have our opening of Verity Carlo (or Verity Carter at one point, I think she’s meant to be giving a fake name, but as it’s never mentioned again, it looks like an error), a young homeless American teenager, stealing a bus ticket and some lunch in Phoenix. She also has her eye on that most 2005 of accessories, a PDA in the bag of a seemingly ordinary tired salesman.
A salesman being watched by a mysterious black car.
Furman is of course famously often criticised for his handling of women characters (and despite what some will tell you, that is clearly not a more recent issue from The Woke (tm) as the entire premise of Prime’s Rib is clearly meant to be a response to such complaints) so with a teenage girl as the lead very much fits in with him trying to push beyond his limitations.
Now I came to love Verity, not just because she was in the hands of other authors (to be honest, I’m not sure what even Nick Roche’s American teenagers would be like), but because she’s aged into being an adult. Here you’ve got an attempt to engage with street youth US culture from a middle-aged middle class British guy. The fact she dresses like the lead in 90’s kids show The Secret World of Alex Mack kind of points to how this isn’t going to feel hugely authentic.
This is what you pay E.J. Su for though.
But it was a bold choice considering the perception (though not anywhere like as much as you’d think in reality) the fan base was guys in their 20’s and 30’s who, if they had the disposable income for Transformers comics, were probably pretty middle-class themselves. The other human lead introduced in this comic is probably far more on that level and a more likely choice to make the main introductory character.
As indeed, he will become whilst Verity fades more into the background and irrelevance during Furman’s run.
But before we get to Hunter, a word about the robots. None appear properly in robot mode beyond an extreme close-up of Starscream’s mouth and another shot of his ass in shadow, giving orders from a base in Oregon. Though we see them in the character page that opens the issue (which has several unnamed characters in silhouette, with them being revealed in subsequent issues as each appears). There’s a real effort to make the black car and its white counterpart following the bus a very sinister unknown.
And again, that Furman makes Runabout the first Transformer we see in this reboot rather than a more notable big hitter is an attempt to subvert the expectations of readers.
After Verity steals the palm computer from the sleeping man’s backpack (and in later issues we’ll see the effort he had to go through to get the information on it everyone is chasing, making his screwing up and losing it so easily unintentionally hilarious), she fakes being ill to get off the bus, in the middle of the desert. Leading to hitchhiking.
Which is where Furman is definitely showing his age as I think hitchhiking was very much a dead art by 2005.
I’m not 100% sure, but I also don’t think why Verity was going to LA ever comes up.
As indeed, he will become whilst Verity fades more into the background and irrelevance during Furman’s run.
But before we get to Hunter, a word about the robots. None appear properly in robot mode beyond an extreme close-up of Starscream’s mouth and another shot of his ass in shadow, giving orders from a base in Oregon. Though we see them in the character page that opens the issue (which has several unnamed characters in silhouette, with them being revealed in subsequent issues as each appears). There’s a real effort to make the black car and its white counterpart following the bus a very sinister unknown.
And again, that Furman makes Runabout the first Transformer we see in this reboot rather than a more notable big hitter is an attempt to subvert the expectations of readers.
After Verity steals the palm computer from the sleeping man’s backpack (and in later issues we’ll see the effort he had to go through to get the information on it everyone is chasing, making his screwing up and losing it so easily unintentionally hilarious), she fakes being ill to get off the bus, in the middle of the desert. Leading to hitchhiking.
Which is where Furman is definitely showing his age as I think hitchhiking was very much a dead art by 2005.
I’m not 100% sure, but I also don’t think why Verity was going to LA ever comes up.
An Autobot!
Luckily for her, a passing car thinks it’s still 1974 and picking up hitchhikers is a thing you do even if you believe the world is a massive conspiracy, and the most important human character of this era is introduced.
And the first real sign of how things are going to go wrong as Hunter O’Nion reveals he’s somehow aware he’s in a print medium as he tells Verity his name and then gives it phonetically, so the reader knows it’s not pronounced “Onion”.
Apparently, this is a real surname but, to be brutal, it’s a terrible surname and there’s no good reason for him not to be called Hunter O’Neil. It’s Irwin Spoon all over again but worse, as it’s completely at odds with the Ultimates tone the comic so badly wants to have.
That sort of very Noughties comic desperately wants to be taken seriously as the part of the overwhelming urge to get a film where everyone wears black leather and scowls made out of it. Any perceived sillier elements were often downplayed or removed. There’s no room for a Hunter O’Nion in that world and is the first sign that Furman’s attempts to join the 21st century are not going to work out brilliantly.
Which is a shame as this is where things get interesting. Hunter is, as Verity points out, a full-on Mulder (though more on that next issue), convinced alien robots have been living amongst us for two years in disguise.
He’s even got an (intentionally) hilarious fanzine with a blurry artists impression of Blitzwing on the front.
Unsurprisingly, Verity finds all this hilarious. Even after they find the bus she was on has been driven off the road and the man she stole from is missing.
The irony of Hunter having been desperately chasing leads all over the place whilst Verity has just accidentally stumbled into a vital clue is actually pretty neat and underplayed.
And the first real sign of how things are going to go wrong as Hunter O’Nion reveals he’s somehow aware he’s in a print medium as he tells Verity his name and then gives it phonetically, so the reader knows it’s not pronounced “Onion”.
Apparently, this is a real surname but, to be brutal, it’s a terrible surname and there’s no good reason for him not to be called Hunter O’Neil. It’s Irwin Spoon all over again but worse, as it’s completely at odds with the Ultimates tone the comic so badly wants to have.
That sort of very Noughties comic desperately wants to be taken seriously as the part of the overwhelming urge to get a film where everyone wears black leather and scowls made out of it. Any perceived sillier elements were often downplayed or removed. There’s no room for a Hunter O’Nion in that world and is the first sign that Furman’s attempts to join the 21st century are not going to work out brilliantly.
Which is a shame as this is where things get interesting. Hunter is, as Verity points out, a full-on Mulder (though more on that next issue), convinced alien robots have been living amongst us for two years in disguise.
He’s even got an (intentionally) hilarious fanzine with a blurry artists impression of Blitzwing on the front.
Unsurprisingly, Verity finds all this hilarious. Even after they find the bus she was on has been driven off the road and the man she stole from is missing.
The irony of Hunter having been desperately chasing leads all over the place whilst Verity has just accidentally stumbled into a vital clue is actually pretty neat and underplayed.
Place your bets as to who's who now. With thanks to Dark_Percy on Twitter.
I’ve not spoken much about artist E.J. Su yet. Because he is going to do some extraordinary, era defining stuff over the following issues, but up to this point the story has not played to his strengths as an extremely good technical artist (indeed, a professional industrial designer). Like a great many good Transformers artists, humans are a weak point. With Verity even having six fingers at one point.
So, I’m going to save my major gushing and thoughts on why he was so important and unique for issue 1, but his first real moment to shine is with a double page spread of Thundercracker unleashing his sonic boom on the van they’re in.
Leading to an excellent North by Northwest inspired chase (though how on Earth Hunter can tell an F-22 flying past at speed has no pilot is beyond me) that ends with an ambulance appearing, scoring a hit on the pursing jet with its impressive armaments. At which point the suspicious looking driver starts quoting Arnie.
Sadly not ‘So, you think this is the real Quaid!” (would have been appropriate for a guy who’ll turn out to be a hologram), but “If you want to live, come with me”.
Close enough.
So, I’m going to save my major gushing and thoughts on why he was so important and unique for issue 1, but his first real moment to shine is with a double page spread of Thundercracker unleashing his sonic boom on the van they’re in.
Leading to an excellent North by Northwest inspired chase (though how on Earth Hunter can tell an F-22 flying past at speed has no pilot is beyond me) that ends with an ambulance appearing, scoring a hit on the pursing jet with its impressive armaments. At which point the suspicious looking driver starts quoting Arnie.
Sadly not ‘So, you think this is the real Quaid!” (would have been appropriate for a guy who’ll turn out to be a hologram), but “If you want to live, come with me”.
Close enough.
E.J. Su bits and bobs.
There was a lot of online negativity towards this opening at the time, that would cause a fairly drastic change in plans that I’ll talk about in the coming weeks. But I really liked it and what it was trying to do, even enjoying the slow build up and humans with ridiculous names focus over the robots (though of course, there are more Transformers here than in Dreamwave’s issue 0).
15 years later though, it’s very creaky. The problem with trying to make a comic that’s SO 2005 when it’s not your natural forte is it’s going to age. It’s even more trapped in amber than the Generation 2 comic was.
But, despite its flaws being more apparent, and despite knowing how things are going to go, I still found it a solid start with some very enjoyable moments, largely in the back end with the chase.
I do think it could have been condensed into the opening of the first issue proper, with 0 being given over to a more attention-grabbing full-on action set-piece. Perhaps dead salesman getting his information and evading capture before deciding to flee from alien death machines by taking the bus.
15 years later though, it’s very creaky. The problem with trying to make a comic that’s SO 2005 when it’s not your natural forte is it’s going to age. It’s even more trapped in amber than the Generation 2 comic was.
But, despite its flaws being more apparent, and despite knowing how things are going to go, I still found it a solid start with some very enjoyable moments, largely in the back end with the chase.
I do think it could have been condensed into the opening of the first issue proper, with 0 being given over to a more attention-grabbing full-on action set-piece. Perhaps dead salesman getting his information and evading capture before deciding to flee from alien death machines by taking the bus.
"It's not retro! Hello fellow kids!"
And even though I can’t help but do things like call the blue jet Thundercracker even though he’s meant to be a mysterious unknown threat, I do think this would have worked nicely as someone’s first ever exposure to the franchise.
Two names to mention before I wrap up. First is that Tom B. Long is sharing lettering duties with Robbie Robbins. He’s going to be around for a very long time to come and does some excellent work from the off. I’m not sure which of the two thought to have the speech bubbles faded out after the sonic boom to represent Hunter and Verity’s loss of hearing, but it’s the first of many smart lettering tricks we’ll see over the years.
And I’m not just saying that because Tom designed the Revisitation logo.
I cannot be bought.
Except by money.
It got the lad Roche aboard, but it's a bit... cheesy.
The other is someone you’ll not know was involved if you don’t have the original issue. I’m not going to talk about the secondary material in the issues very much because there’s not much of it and, frankly, letters pages aren’t as interesting as they used to be.
But this era did have one, where Chris Ryall was turned into an Autobot (Chrischarger. Who for issue 0 merely encourages you to come back in January) by one Nick Roche.
Remember that name.
There’s also an E.J. Su sketch page and a brief Furman interview where he emphasises how this is not retro.
Overall, this is an opening I still manage to like, often in-spite of itself. It’s hard to believe that what it started lasted a full 13 years, but there’s promise here.
How that develops we’ll see next week, as we jump into 2006 and the first issue.
Hey... wait... Tom, this cheque bounced!
2005-2006
COMMENT
KO-FI
But this era did have one, where Chris Ryall was turned into an Autobot (Chrischarger. Who for issue 0 merely encourages you to come back in January) by one Nick Roche.
Remember that name.
There’s also an E.J. Su sketch page and a brief Furman interview where he emphasises how this is not retro.
Overall, this is an opening I still manage to like, often in-spite of itself. It’s hard to believe that what it started lasted a full 13 years, but there’s promise here.
How that develops we’ll see next week, as we jump into 2006 and the first issue.
Hey... wait... Tom, this cheque bounced!
2005-2006
COMMENT
KO-FI
