IDW Drift #4 C4 Exclusive with Alex Milne Sketch

Since I already split up my planned "IDW Comic Treasures" post by sharing the Dark Cybertron #1 sketch cover by Andrew Griffith, I may as well dedicate a very short post to this treasure as well. This is the Central Canada Comic Con (C4) Pop Culture Expo exclusive cover for IDW's Drift #4 (of 4) mini series from October 2010. What makes it extra special, apart from being a very tricky exclusive cover, is that it contains a personalised sketch from Drift and More Than Meets The Eye artist Alex Milne.

Generations Drift and G1 Dai Atlas - Pic courtesy of Bryce Rutledge

Drift was an original character introduced by IDW to the Transformers universe, created and woven in by Shane McCarthy. His existence was divisive, but as my first experience of him was as a deeply well-written character in More Than Meets The Eye by James Roberts, and stunningly pencilled by superstar Transformers artist Alex Milne, I was completely on board. First impressions are everything. I eventually went back and read the mini series and spotlight, loving all of it.

 

Drift #4 covers

The original 4 part mini series was also drawn by Alex Milne, and his #4 convention exclusive wraparound cover is at the top of this article. The story is that Drift was originally a deadly Decepticon soldier called "Deadlock", who got into trouble with his commander Turmoil and escaped, then through a chance encounter with the Circle Of Light (led by Dai Atlas), was rehabilitated, eventually becoming an Autobot.

Two amazing people, Gordon Yip and Robert Langton, without my knowledge made it possible for 2 copies of this amazing cover to find their way to me, one of them signed and sketched (MTMTE Drift sketch) by Alex Milne in person at the Winnipeg show last year. Not just that, but the sketch version was dedicated to me personally. While that may not mean a great deal to Milne himself as I wasn't there, it did mean the world to me as a collector's item, a massive fan and a gift from my great friend, Gordon. Milne himself has actually met me before...

Alex Milne, me, Marcelo Matere and Milne's Alternators Jazz box art - BotCon 06

Milne's distinctive and celebrated style has become an absolutely integral part of MTMTE's success, and the characterisation of the cast is beyond reproach, Roberts's masterpiece title bringing people like me into Transformers comics from the darkness. Drift has been a huge part of why I loved MTMTE season 1, and my collection of all MTMTE cover variants extends into the Drift comics including the spotlight covers and the mini series covers. To have not just one pristine untouched copy of the C4 exclusive, but another with a sketch by the man who has arguably brought the most life to the character artistically, is an enormous privilege.

For the record, I'm not the only one who got a sketch that day...

You can read Brandon's post about his special gift from that day HERE

All the best
Maz