Comic Review...

Transformers: All Hail Megatron #10

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artist: Guido Guidi and Emiliano Santalucia

(covers by Casey Coller and Trevor Hutchison)

Summary: Megatron and Bombshell discuss the space bridge newly built in New York City and how it will help usher in the new order. Shortly after, Starscream and his cronies appear to challenge Megatron--who has seen this coming. On Cybertron, the Autobots await the Swarm's next attack. Prowl doesn't estimate their odds as being very good while Prime admits to Tracks that he's scared--but he'd rather face this then one of Kup's drills. The Swarm attack then... The Decepticons attack Megatron, who easily fends them off and tells Starscream he's been waiting for him to make his move and decide what side he was truly on--Megatron's or his own. Then, the Constructicons attack him! The Autobots fight the Swarm but are slowly being overwhelmed... then Omega Supreme arrives and forces the Swarm into a retreat. He transforms and takes the others to Earth. Megatron battles Devastator and goads him on.
Nearby, the other Decepticons notice a squad of jets filling the air and realize the humans are fighting back.

Comments: A good issue, in the sense that stuff happens. Also, we get some decent characterization from the characters (all of them in general) and some good plot elements. I really don't have much critical to say about this issue. I do hope Megatron defeats Devastator though--there is more then one precedent for a leader being able to do this (Megatron in Transformers #25 against Predaking and Optimus Prime against Monstructor in Spotlight Prime. Also, Prime against Devastator in the cartoon, Heavy Metal War all come to mind). One criticism, actually... the whole space bridge thing. Really? Is that the best they could do? I'm so tired of plots revolving around building a space bridge, blowing up a space bridge or taking control of a space bridge network. It's as bad as using the Quintessons or Unicron as the ultimate evil constantly. I don't want to waste money on comics that rehash the same tired plots that were new when I was ten. I want new ideas now, new directions. Not the same old thing because someone was too tired to think of something new and cool, or because they want to do a homage of some sort. Otherwise, though, a good issue.

Recommended.


*********
Transformers: Maximum Dinobots #5 (of 5)

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Nick Roche and James Raiz

(covers by Nick Roche and Marcelo Matere)

Summary: Sludge appears to be dead. Grimlock feels responsible and Snarl saves him from being blasted by Scorponok. Scorponok tells them they've ruined everything and he will have to move on and begin again somewhere new--once he's dealt with them, of course. Shockwave takes the heat off the Autobots while attacking Scorponok himself--he will have vengeance himself. The Dynobots want to cut and run but Grimlock is determined to see this through to the end and tells them so--he's staying, no matter what. Hot Rod agrees, leaving the Dynos there. Grimlock tries to resuscitate Sludge while Shockwave and Scorponok continue their battle. Shockwave bests him and allows him to retreat, further ticking Grimlock off. Hot Rod gets below ground and finds Scorponok's original head... Hunter is there too and tells him to disconnect it, thus rendering Scorponok disabled. However, Scorponok stops him before he can act. On the surface, Grimlock and Shockwave continue their battle... the other Dynobots come back to give him a hand. Slludge recovers as well (thanks to Grimlock's efforts earlier) and joins them. Meanwhile, Shockwave uses Soundwave to permanently disable the self-destruct system Skywatch implanted in his head. Simultaneously, he uses his knowledge of Soundwave's transformation lock to disable it and allow him to be free as well (this happens remotely, incidentally). Grimlock uses a grenade to blow up the building he and Shockwave have gone into and stop him. Nearby, the other Dynobots find Hot Rod and Scorponok and disable his head, thus shutting him down for good. Just then, Ultra Magnus arrives and tells them he'll help them clean up the mess. Epilogue: Sunstreaker is in a CR chamber and will be okay while Hunter's had his connection dampened as Ratchet doesn't know enough about the tech to safely remove it all. Verity and Jimmy are happy to see Hunter once again and tell him so. Ultra Magnus takes Scorponok, Shockwave and Grimlock away to face justice... he tells Grimlock his own sentence should be off-set some by his assistance in capturing the other two. Grimlock is happy to finally be owing up to his own responsibility. Back on Earth, the remaining Dynobots repair their ship and prepare to leave...

Comments: A decent ending to the story--certainly better then Revelations ending was for that overall arc. I can't say this story blew me away or really changed anything in a serious way but it was a good distraction for what it was. I think I would've preferred Scorponok or Shockwave actually dying in the end so it all mattered more--but Furman chose the safe way and kept his story options open instead. Oh well... The art was a mixed bag. I like Nick Roche's style generally and I like James Raiz's art too. But combined together, they just don't work... the art styles clashed badly. Whoever drew Jimmy and Verity, the art was awful and the characters were unrecognizable (their hair was the right colors but...) I don't know why it's so hard to get an artist to commit to drawing five issues of one title. I hate this whole mix-and-match thing IDW keeps doing. All in all, a decent TF story...

Recommended.

WW 2009-08

It seems that the message Autobot Hotrider sent to his teammates got picked up by the Decepticon on guard duty, Mixmaster ! All communication is shown in "Internal message" blocks.

The next strip will be an Soundwave centered piece.

Since many of you may not have read the first parts I am providing an opportunity to catch up.
To download Warlog Weekly collected, click on this link.(3.10Mb)

Greetings,
Backbreaker.

WW 2009-07

Back from a 2 month hiatus, where the previous entry in this blog reveals some of the things to come, Warlog Weekly is going on again. As you may recall, before the valentine day special, Ratbat was going to answer Kasmun's (formerly Larry) questions. Now he does.


After the next 2 episodes(the weekly term seems out of place somehow...AHUM) the format will change a little, going from 1 to 2 stories per strip.

Since many of you may not have read the first parts I am providing an opportunity to catch up.
To download Warlog Weekly collected, click on this link.(2.74Mb)

Greetings,
Backbreaker.
...did anyone recognize the Autobot in the last panel ?(tip: he's from G2)

Easter Surprise

Happy Easter to all !

just a little preview, the cover for the upcoming mini comic: Warlog spotlight PRIMUS, which should come out in june or july 2009. It seems I have somewhat of a fascination with the character and the comic deals with the purpose of PRIMUS.
The cover is a new version of one I did 2 years back, that one was pencilled in about 2 hours behind my pc while talking to someone via MSN....this version got a little more attention.
Enjoy your days and hopefully the image too !

greetings,
-Johan/backbreaker
....Warlog weekly returns end of the week......

Comic Review...

Transformers Spotlight: Drift

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artist: Casey Coller

(covers by Casey Coller and Guido Guidi)

Summary: A mysterious cloaked figure obtains some information from a woman and her bodyguards in an alien bar. She tells him to be careful--he's dealing with a Cybertronian cruiser. She touches his arm and realizes he is a Transformer as well. She is shocked by this revelation but he departs before she can do anything else. Outside, Drift abandons his cloak and uses the stolen information to hide in the docking bay the Decepticon ship is landing in. He waits and plans to strike but the guard are taken out instead by the Wreckers, lead by Kup (it's never really explained why he's suddenly in charge of them, but...) Drift joins their battle, fending off the Decepticon guard. The Wreckers rescue the captive Autobots aboard the ship but are ambushed by more Decepticons, lead by their commander, Turmoil. He recognizes Drift's voice and blasts at him, separating Drift and Kup from the others when they fall through a hole in the deck. The two speak briefly and we confirm Drift is a Decepticon defector... they go to overload the ship's drive. Turmoil tracks them there and Kup escapes while Drift goes to attack him. We learn Drift was once called Deadlock. Drift incapacitates Turmoil then races to find Perceptor's downed form and rescues him narrowly in time to avoid the ship's destruction. Epilogue: Kup offers Drift a position in his new unit and Drift accepts, officially becoming an Autobot.

Comments: This was an interesting issue. The art was good and I liked both of the covers for a change. Storywise, it does a decent job of telling a story about Drift. We learn the basics about him and he gets to be a hero. We don't get much of a real sense of his personality and what's defined him, though. We read a fleeting comment about how an encounter with some third pacifist faction of Transformers changed his life and now he's trying to be a good guy. That's okay, but wouldn't actually telling us that back story have made for a better comic instead? Showing how he goes from a selfish brute to a selfless savant could've been just what we needed but instead we get this story that barely scratches the surface. Blurr's spotlight (also by McCarthy) did a good job in following his personality and his change-over but Drift's just tells us a story about him once it's already all over. Granted, every TF story shouldn't be about their early war switch-over from bad guy to good but it seems like the true meat of Drift's back story here is missed. On another note, I still don't see why they needed to invent Drift anyway--there's already a million Transformer characters out there. Surely they could've given one of them swords and did a story with them instead? All Drift seems to do is exist to be cool--he has short swords and one long sword *and* he becomes a drift racing car! Whoopie! It harkens back to the early days of TF fandom when everyone had an all powerful character codename that was best friends with Optimus Prime (or whatever the case was). It seems pointless to me.

Mildly recommended.

Comic Review...

Transformers: Maximum Dinobots #4

Writer: Simon Furman
Artists: Nick Roche and James Raiz

(covers by Nick Roche and Marcelo Matere)

Summary: On Earth, Ravage and Laserbeak retrieve Soundwave and take him to safety. There, he evaluates his limited options before Shockwave appears and offers to help him. In Dallas, Sunstreaker bursts into the Machination headquarters and Hot Rod comes out simultaneously. Hot Rod wants him to wait while he contacts reinforcements but Sunstreaker won't... Elsewhere, the Dynobots and Monsterbots fly toward Dallas. The Dynobots wonder if they can rejoin the Autobots or not--was their initial grudge match against Shockwave even sanctioned by command? Hot Rod gets a distress signal off and hopes someone somewhere hears it... Inside, Sunstreaker is shot in the back by Scorponok but Hunter escapes and hides. The Dynobots and Monsterbots arrive then and make short work of Scorponok's base defenses, while still having to face hundreds of Headmaster Sunstreaker units. Hunter finds Sunstreaker's original head meanwhile then pulls the plug on it, disabling all the Headmaster units everywhere. Scorponok confronts the Dynobots then and vows revenge--but Shockwave drops out of the sky and says vengeance will be his! And in deep space, Ultra Magnus has gotten Hot Rod's distress signal and realizes his old foe Scorponok has reappeared!

Comments: A busy issue on the cusp of the finale. In some ways, more could happen but it sets up the last issue well... I do wonder what will become of the Dinobots and Shockwave though since we haven't seen them at all in All Hail Megatron (of course, they could just be keeping them out of it on-purpose to keep from interfering with this story. But then again, why use Sunstreaker and kill him off before this story was finished? Kind of ruins the surprise here.) The art was by both Roche and Raiz and again I am annoyed by using two different artists. I like both of their styles individually but combined into one issue just doesn't work well for me.
All in all, a decent issue and I look forward to the finale.

Recommended.

Comic Review...

Transformers Spotlight:
Jazz

Writer: Josh Van Reyk and Shaun Knowler
Artist: E.J. Su

(covers by E.J. Su and Andrew Griffith)

Summary: The setting is Cybertron, during the Autobots hiatus in All Hail Megatron. As the troops are restless (specifically, Cliffjumper and Bumblebee), Tracks gathers them all together and relates a story from his early days in the Great War... His unit was attacked and destroyed on his first combat mission and his optics off-line from damage. Jazz retrieves him but their evac vessel is shot down by the Predacons before they can board it. Razorclaw and his unit watch them, deciding that they should take them out hand to hand instead of remotely
since it's more honorable. Tracks is sure they'll die out there but Jazz keeps his spirits up... the Predacons attack them then and he uses Tracks to distract them while he attacks from behind, taking out three of them in the ensuing battle. Jazz and Tracks escape long enough to hide from Razorclaw and Divebomb (I think). Jazz decides to take on the two remaining Decepticons himself to protect Tracks but he's so inspired by Jazz's heroism that he transforms and rams Divebomb, taking both of them off-line in the process. Jazz fights Razorclaw, who escapes when Autobot reinforcements show up. Tracks was never sure who that Autobot that saved him was--but he knew he inspired him and taught him about courage and what it means to be an Autobot. Many of the Autobots are listening to his tale and all are cheered up by his words. Jazz comes along afterward and tells him thanks for telling that story--it helped him out too.

Comments: This appears to be Tracks first real appearance in the IDW-verse (that is, his first relevant appearance. He was likely in the background somewhere before now). This is a simple tale that wraps up in one issue and I appreciate that aspect of it. It also has the Autobots without Optimus Prime doing something useful to keep their spirits up (instead of being helpless children without Optimus, like seems to be case usually). I like how not only is Jazz's reputation as a bad-ass in the IDW continuity reinforced but Tracks does something useful too for the first time in, um... forever, that I'm aware of (usually he just preens about his image). Not sure who the writers are (I'm leaning towards fans) but this is a solid tale.

Recommended.

Comic Review...

Transformers: All Hail Megatron #9

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artists: Robert Deas and Emiliano Santalucia

(covers by Casey Coller and Trevor Hutchison)

Summary: The human survivors are assembled in a old department store and discuss things. There, they encounter Spike who explains why he's there--to obtain a prototype weapon and use it against Megatron. He needs their help--they know the city and the Decepticons movements. On Cybertron, Ironhide tries to apologize to Mirage but he understandably tells him off. Ratchet tells Kup everyone is up to full specs now but morale is non-existent. On Earth, Spike gets the prototype weapon. Outside Rumble attacks them and Spike leads him away on a motorcycle... he gets the drop on Spike but one of the other rebels shoots Rumble in the face then, taking him out. On Cybertron, the Autobots whine some more about their fates... On Earth, Soundwave retrieves the fallen Rumble. On Cybertron, Sideswipe whines some more and wonders what it's all been for, etc. Optimus Prime shows up then and rallies the troops, telling them they have to keep fighting no matter what, etc. On Earth, Spike contacts his father and finds out that the other nations are intent on nuking New York, no matter what he does.

Comments: There were different artists on this issue and their art was not so great... I would've preferred the entire series to have one artist. Failing that, at least good stand-in artists if Guidi is unavailable. I think modern comic companies generally put too much emphasis on art and not enough on story. Still, a notable change in style and/or poor art can really ruin a good story too (see many of the later Marvel G.I.JOE comics, for an example). Aside from that, not a lot really happened this issue after three issues of progress. Yeah, Optimus is back (somehow) and we saw more of Spike finally but otherwise, it was just more filler. More Autobot whining, more humans deliberating, etc. For the entire story, repairing Prime was impossible--now it's not? Huh? I wonder if they'll bother explaining that one or not... Also, this issue highlights a legitimate problem with G1 based Transformers stories--how the Autobots can't function without Optimus Prime to guide them. All they all idiots? Sheep with no minds of their own? It always seem to come back to Prime getting injured/dead and the Autobots being lost without him. Surely someone can pick up the slack. Otherwise, their side would have inevitably lost the war some time ago the minute the Decepticons figured out that all it took was killing Optimus off.
It really is time someone quietly abandoned the whole "Optimus is our everything, we are lost without him" thing and tried something new already.

Mildly recommended.