Comic Review...

Cover "A" by Viktor Deak

Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime (previously solicited as Transformers #32 and Transformers #125 respectively)

Writers: James Roberts and John Barber
Artist: Nick Roche
 (covers by Viktor Deak and Nick Roche)

Summary:  Celebrating 125 issues of IDW's Transformers! After Chaos, Optimus Prime's fate was shrouded in mystery. Was he truly gone or could there be a way he had emerged unscathed? Now, Optimus sits in contemplation, in a place he does not recognize as home. And with the cost of the battle finally taking its brutal toll, does Optimus Prime even have the will to carry on? CHAOS changed everything, and Transformers #125 sets a new direction for the Autobot leader...

Comments:  This issue has gone through some changes. First it was issue #32/#125 and then it was a "stand alone" story. Clearly, the issue continues on from the Costa series though (it even has a "previously..." section on the inside cover).
    Anyway, this issue follows on from #31, showing what happened to Optimus Prime after he unleashed the Matrix on D-Void. In short, he survived. At first, he wasn't sure where he was but it turns out he's still on Cybertron and we're quickly caught up on what's going on. Megatron has vanished... Galvatron is apparently dead as are the TFs that he re-animated with the Heart of Darkness. The Decepticons survive and are quickly locked up while many ships of lost Cybertronians return home over time, forcing the Autobots to try and manage matters as best they can. Also, the Matrix has reignited their dead world and its natural energy resources somehow. On this new world, Prime no longer knows where he fits in and ultimately decides to leave, renaming himself "Orion Pax" as he was once called. Elsewhere, Bumblebee and his Autobots decide to try and administer the planet and all its new problems as best they can while Hot Rod/Rodimus decides to lead an expedition to the far side of the Galaxy in pursuit of the lost legendary Knights of Cybertron.
    As you may have guessed, this is all set-up for the two new Transformers comics debuting from IDW in January. Robots in Disguise will be set on Cybertron while following Bumblebee and company. More Then Meets the Eye is set in space and follows Rodimus. I'm not sure if these two new stories will be ballsy attempts that reinvigorate the franchise or more storytelling that ultimately falls flat (Costa seemed brilliant in his first few issues but couldn't sustain it).
    The issue itself is okay. The story is decent but not especially memorable... As I've said, much of it is a prologue for the two new series and has to address certain plot points to set those up. The remainder is about Optimus finding out where he is and deciding he no longer has any place on a peaceful world. Another issue I have with the forthcoming comics: the writers always seem to want to write Transformers without Optimus Prime involved (since he gets so much spotlight generally). This always seem to not work out very well so it will be interesting to see whether or not the new team can make it work without him in the long run.
    The art is by Nick Roche and, frankly, it's kind of weird looking. Many of the characters are spindly, for lack of a better term (particularly Rodimus. His design is so different looking from the norm now anyway. Add this style and he's just about unrecognizable. Metalhawk and a few others also have the spindly look about them too). I also think this issue's art was shrunk after the fact--the captions are smaller looking then normal and every frame has a box around it (I think it was drawn with full page bleed in mind but someone changed their mind late in the process). As you can imagine, shrinking the art affects it too so its weirdness might not be Roche's fault but a result of the change.

Verdict: Average.

warlog xmas 2011 issue

it's that time of year again.....
7 pages, 8 mb
download here: http://www.filesonic.nl/file/bo9lIWC/

and enjoy !

Johan

annual xmas card is here: http://warlogthecomic.deviantart.com/#/d4k1vhv

Holiday Greetings...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, ONE AND ALL!!! :)



Best wishes in the New Year!


Thunder

Titan Transformers UK issue 4.3, Januari 2012

"Cold as Ice."

Titan Transformers UK issue 4.3, Januari 2012.





Script: Robin Etherington
Art: Jeremy Tiongson
Lettering: ComicCraft

I recieved this comic by post yesterday and I will waste no more time!

Page 01:
Free gifts:
- Transformers Prime Disk Blaster. Cool gun! I'm almost tempted to open the package and play with it.
Cover features PRIME promo art of Bumblebee and Arcee
Page 02-03: Index Page.
Page 04-05: there's a Bulkhead Profile, a photo mash up puzzle.
Page 06: Titan Magazines xmas offer advert
Page 07-10: Part one of the the strip begins.

"Ice Breaker"
Scripting by Etherington and art by Tiongson, Agent Fowler enlists/asks the Autobots
to help him return a stolen nuclear powered ship, stolen by Megatron and Starscream, somewhere near the South Pole. Meanwhile, Bulkhead and Arcee join the kids for some xmas fun.

Page 11: Star Wars The Clone Wars Magazine advert
Page 12-13: Part 3 of the PRIME episode guide, reviewing Darkness rising part 3. Also a micro quiz:
Page 14: Nerf Blaster competition.
Page 15: Ice Age Mammoth dvd and Spooky X-ray Model kits Competitions.
Page 16: one page Kre-o Transformers comic.
Page 17-20: Posters of Prime and Bumblebee
Page 21: Another puzzle page. 'spot the difference' and 'crack the code'
Page 22: Simpsons comic advert
Page 23-26: Part 2 of the strip!
Page 27-29: The letterpages, hosted by Megamouth Megatron (PRIME version) with a little help from Arcee (also PRIME version).
Page 30-31: Raf's Codebreaker, decipher the code and help Raf locate Jack, who is lost in New York.
Page 32: Miko's Wordsearch puzzle.
Page 33: Next issue blurb which looks like a Starscream cover.
Page 34: Dark of the Moon dvd/blueray advert
Page 35: Prime puzzle, put the missing pieces of the photo in place.
Page 36: On this page are so-called Bot and Con baubles to cut out and hang in your xmas tree, features Bumblebee, Prime, Bulkhead, Megatron Starscream and Soundwave.

and finally......drumroll:


a Merry Megatron Mask ! to cut out and wear to scare your parents into oblivion!








Conclusion: I really liked Megatron Mask, sadly I did not care as much about the strip as I wanted to.

score: 6.5 out of 10

-Johan



...next time... the Transformers UK 2012 Annual ....

Titan Transformers UK issue 4.2, December 2011.

"Don't mention the war."

Titan Transformers UK issue 4.2, December 2011.

Script: Robin Etherington
Art: Horacio Domingues
Colour: Perayra Nestor
Lettering: ComicCraft

Allright, this review's a bit late but beter late than never, right ?

I recieved this comic by post sometime last november and I will get right into it!

Free gifts:
- Transformers Prime missile launcher. Yay!(sarcasm) another foam missile to be launched from a squeeze activating plastic tube variation, but then again I am not the main demographic and I can imagine the kids loving this. I received by mistake another copy of issue 4.1 and gave it to my nephews and they were both very happy with it.

This is a Transformers Prime comic.
Want proof?
A full cover featuring PRIME promo art of Megatron with a firery background

The Index page isn't really that exciting.....so I'll skip that !

On Page 04, we get an introduction to the PRIME human characters, a missing piece puzzle and on Page 07 the the strip begins.

"War Story"
Scripting by Etherington and surprisingly strong art by Domingues, Sari is badgering Prime for a juicy tale about Megatron, prevebly of him going postal or ape as she calls it. It's not quite what she gets.

The strip is interrupted on Page 11 by a psp ad and part 2 of the PRIME episode guide, reviewing Darkness rising part 2. Also a micro quiz:
1 Who becomes a zombie robot ?
-Bulkhead
-Cliffjumper
-Arcee
2 Which Autobot smashes a piece of Ratchet's equipment ?
-Optimus
-Megatron
-Bulkhead
3 Who blows up the energon mine ?
-Starscream
-Megatron
-Optimus
Thankfully, the answers are on the same page ;) followed on the next page by a 'game of the goose' style board game and, I have to say, an excellent TFPrime Megatron poster.

Page 18 has a competition to win the Dark of the Moon dvd and page 19 has a Kre-o transformers competition

Again followed by 2 competitions to win, the Transformers UK 2012 Annual and Mars-The Ultimate adventure book !

Another puzzle on Page 22 but Page 23 is part 2 of the strip! Prime reveals that Megatron's actions had him so distracted that Megatron manages to rescue his squad and detonate a bomb with repercussions for Optimus Prime.

followed by the letterpages, hosted by Megamouth Megatron (PRIME version) with a little help from Arcee (also PRIME version).

Starscream's wordsearch is on Page 30 with next issue and kre-o ads on Pages 31 and 32

Conclusion: I really liked the strip, unexpected character development for Megatron which I think is rarely seen in a kids comic.

score: 7 out of 10

-Johan

...next time...the Xmas issue....got it today, review soon!

Comic Review...

Transformers #31


Writer: Mike Costa
Artist: Casey Coller
(covers by Casey Coller and Rik Alvarez)


Summary:  Chaos is over. The future holds many mysteries, but the past can never be forgotten. As Ironhide looks back at what was, he comes to realize that it may hold the key to what lies ahead. A new peace has settled, and a new time has come for the Autobots, for the Decepticons for Cybertron.

Comments:  This issue is set fifteen million years after the Great War(s) and features an all-new generation of Transformers (who have multiple modes apparently). Ironhide is the last holdout of his time (and also Alphatrion, who looks young and chipper). He speaks mostly to three young robots (and later to an audience) reminiscing about the past and all the war he experienced. These new robots have it so good since they've never experienced war and never will, yet everyone is always so fascinated by the past and the wars of long ago.
    It's a decent enough story (I can't help thinking a better writer could've done more with it though). We get a lot of splash pages of events from IDW (the Furman era, AHM era and so on). The story implies Megatron is still alive somewhere out there (Ironhide feels it but evidently he has not been seen in quite some time) and Optimus Prime was lost too. It ends on a note with Ironhide intending to retell the younger TFs about the defeat of Megatron...  We also get some good observations from Alphatrion about how life is change (I think that was the best part of this tale actually).
    Minor nitpicks: This issue has youth Transformers as well as old Ironhide (while Alphatrion apparently upgrades himself regularly). I realize what they were going for here but I find an "old" Transformer (at least in the physical sense) is absurd--especially when he's standing right next to another robot who is way older but looks new off the assembly line (thanks presumably to regular updating). When are TF writers going to grasp the concept that the robots aren't metal humans? Sigh...
    Casey Coller provides the artwork this issue and he is one of my favorite IDW artists (his work is consistently good). I opted for the Ironhide cover as the alternative was the Megatron toy/model cover, which  is a little bit bland looking (they should've done a background of some sort for these photo covers instead of just the toy on a white background). One thing about this issue I really liked: the neo Autobots are all wearing G2 Autobot symbols (a nice little touch).

Verdict: Average. 

Cover "B" by Casey Coller

Comic Review...

Transformers #30

Writers: Mike Costa and James Roberts (story), Mike Costa (script)
Artist: Livio Ramondelli
(Covers by Livio Ramondelli)

Summary:  Chaos, part 4, brings events to a devastating head: Megatron confronts his most formidable opponent yet! The Autobots scramble to keep out of the way of the Decepti-god's unstoppable rampage and Optimus Prime faces off against Galvatron, in a battle where the fate of the whole planet rests on the outcome! CHAOS concludes here and TRANSFORMERS will never be the same again!

Comments:  Between the two recent storylines, this has been the one I've found more interesting of the two (which is not to be construed as praise though). In this issue, we pick up the Arcee and Hardhead (I had thought he was dead!) thread where they rescue the survivors of Kimia plot and have them all set course to join the main story on Cybertron (which they later do). They also casually drop in the idea that Galvatron's being duped by D-Void via the Heart of Darkness. This very quickly becomes fact (there's no prior hints in any of the story that this is the case--which would've been nice. Even some subtle foreshadowing completely escaped Costa's grasp). On Cybertron, Megatron continues to battle the dark Decepti-beast thingy while the Autobots cower. In the core, Optimus Prime and Hot Rod confront Galvatron and his cronies but they are too late! Galvatron has just used the Heart of Darkness on Cybetron's core! Prime uses the Matrix and saves them all (Galvatron disintegrates but not before realizing something is wrong. He did the right thing! Arghh!) The story ends with Optimus Prime alone somewhere quite blue (the remains of the Dead Universe? Cybertron? It's unclear). As I said, there was no hint at all that Galvatron was being duped by D-Void/Heart of Darkness (although I had suspected as much some time ago). Showing hints of that before the very ending might have been nice--even a suggestion something might be amiss would've been intriguing to the reader. Instead it's just dumped at the end as a fact, which it apparently is. A more interesting take might've been to have had the Heart be part of D-Void (a terrible name, btw) but corrupted somehow by a sense of heroism (like how the Matrix had a taint of evil to it in the old Marvel series). A straight interpretation of the story was boring, frankly. They could've developed this story more--even used the space they wasted on the Prowl/Earth segments to flesh it out further and actually make people care. As it was, it felt somewhat superficial and ultimately irrelevant. (Since "The Death of Optimus Prime" is coming up, perhaps he was trapped in the Dead Universe--or something--as a result of the ending? But even that is pointless since he dies all the time and never stays that way for long).
   The art is more of Ramondelli's murkiness. It makes a dull story pretty in the technical sense but hard to decipher what's going on half the time. Art in a comic should easily convey the story and its natural progression. When a reader can't figure out what a panel is supposed to represent, it fails to do its job (to be fair, a large number of modern comic artists have this problem though).

Verdict: Average. I'm glad this story is over! I wonder what they'll do for the two remaining issues--a lot of pontificating by the characters over the fall-out? (Is the sky blue?)

Cover "A" by Livio Ramondelli

Comic Review...

Transformers #29

Writer: Mike Costa
Artist: Brendan Cahill
(Covers by Brendan Cahill and Marcelo Matere)

Summary:  The Last Story On Earth ends here! When Prowl makes a breakthrough in his investigation, he assumes that he has the answers to all his questions until a shadowy adversary brings some shocking revelations to the Autobot's attention. Could this be the end of the human/Autobot truce? Mike Costa and Brendan Cahill bring this tale to its unexpected conclusion!


Comments:  This issue was a prime example of what I've hated about this comic series. We start off the story with Spike admitting he killed Scrapper and telling the Autobots they should be thanking him (exactly what I've been saying about this story's non-premise all along!) Then the Autobots and Skywatch go attack a human named Ben Simpson (no idea who he is) but apparently he's a facsimile (like in the old IDW Furman stories). Swindle is controlling him somehow, apparently, and we learn ultimately that he sold Skywatch's robot-busting tech to Spike (apparently this is supposed to reaffirm Spike's "seat-of-his-pants", wreck-loose mentality. It also shows us how stupid the humans are since nobody has the brains to reverse-engineer any of the tech on their own. Although, considering how advanced TF tech is supposed to be, maybe that's a good thing.) Anyway, Spike escapes before they can confront him further and meanwhile, Jazz goes and blows up a base with Skywatch's tech presumably in it. This was a boring, contrived story that had no ultimate relevance to anything (beyond wrapping up the Earth leg of this series, anyway). I wasn't engaged by any of it and wondered the entire time why they were even bothering. Also, it seems like Costa pulled a lot of stuff out of the thin air to try and give it a conspiracy-like feel. Either none of the elements he materialized here really existed until now or he used elements from before that were so slight I don't recall any of them enough to be amazed at his story composition now (who were half of the human characters that appear in this story, anyway? I have no idea).
   The art was passable although not really great. Brendan Cahill's art is decent but hardly spectacular either. I still hate all the pointless neo-G1 designs everyone has.

Verdict:  Pass. A confusing, contrived ending to a story that didn't need to be told in the first place.

Cover "B" by Brendan Cahill

Transmasters Mag Fall edition!

The latest issue of Transmasters Magazine, the Fall '11 issue, is now online! You can check it out here:

http://transmasters.angelfire.com/tmmag/issue12/index1.html


A couple of quick notes:
-  I literally just got TF:P Arcee today so the review was done up very fast. My camera is not the greatest but hopefully the pictures will at least give you an idea of the toy.

- Unrequited was also done up quickly. I didn't have a lot of time to refine it but I think it pretty much works as it is.

As always, comments and feedback are welcome.
- Thunder

TFUK Titan comic review: issue 4.1

...bringing in the new order...?

Titan Transformers UK issue 4.1, November 2011.







Script: Robin Etherington
Art: Jeremy Tiongson

I recieved this comic by post on wednesday november 2th and is a restart of the comic, now focusing on PRIME instead of Dark of the Moon...or is it ?



Free gifts:

- which is a yellow Dark of the Moon themed 'Requiem blaster' including 3 autobot 'discs'.
- a Revenge of the Fallen Autobot movie mask (sadly not my size....)
- a nifty Transformers PRIME sticker sheet.




I'd say this is a transition issue with half Dark of the Moon and half Prime.

Another full cover featuring PRIME promo art of Optimus Prime

What also is remarkable is that the code invented by Decepticon Soundwave as read in 3.4 seems to be cracked by Raf in 4.1

We get a nice introduction to the PRIME autobot team, some puzzles and then the strip.

"The safe and the failsafe"



Strong scripting by etherington and equally strong art by Tiongson, formerly known as artist on Duel Masters (and ...?) delivering some manga influenced, detailed art. A breath of fresh air after the apparant "rush"that was last issue.


The strip is shortly interrupted by part 1 of the PRIME episode guide, reviewing Darkness rising part 1. I think there will be multiple episode reviews in future issues in order to keep up.

And then we get to the dual side of the comic, The Dark of the Moon pull out section, that incidentally, I don't want to pull out because I'd like to keep this magazine in one piece ;)
-Megatron and Optimus VS Sentinel profiles
-Awesome Dark of the Moon Shockwave poster !
-starscreams puzzles, maze, comparison pictures.

Back to the strip!
After the strip come 2 competitions (Nerfgun and Kre-o Transformers)
followed by the letterpages, hosted by Megamouth Megatron (PRIME version) with a little help from Arcee (also PRIME version).

What also is remarkable is that the code invented by Decepticon Soundwave as read in 3.4 seems to be cracked by Raf in 4.1


Conclusion: Definite improvement over last issue! Too bad Dark of the Moon seems to be fased out, I really liked that film even if Skids and Mudflap were nowhere to be seen....

-Johan

...till next time...

Comic Review...

Cover "A" by Livio Ramondelli

Transformers #28

Writer: Mike Costa and James Roberts (story); Mike Costa (script)
Artist: Livio Ramondelli
(covers by Livio Ramondelli)


Summary:  CHAOS part 3 rocks Cybertron as the return of an unlikely Decepticon faces off against Sunstreaker who is looking for a little redemption--Megatron suits up for what might very well be his final battle--and you are introduced to something we had to call--the DeceptiGOD! 'Chaos' goes insane!



Comments:  The battle for Cybertron continues! We still don't learn precisely what's going on in this issue and we get more fighting on Cybertron but somehow I didn't mind this issue quite as much. It felt like the plot was moving along at least a bit.
    We have a prologue with some Autobot refugees in an escape pod (are they from Kimia? Or somewhere else?) who are rescued by Arcee (apparently she finally crawled out of that hole on Gorlam Prime). The prologue's significance, if any, is not revealed in the rest of the story (perhaps it's just an attempt to account for everyone?)  The rest of the issue is about the battle on Cybertron. The Decepticons from Earth come to Cybertron via a space bridge transponder Megatron had on his body (according to a theory by Jetfire anyway. The reinforcements say nothing otherwise). Again, I think they're there to tie up that plot thread more then anything else. The Decepticons stop moving eventually, start spouting binary code and all come together (along with the Sweeps and "Galvatron's army"--which has been visually absent in the art but apparently still exist) to form a giant monster (called "DeceptiGod" in the solicitation). It attacks the Autobots, who try to fight it off. Elsewhere, Galvatron tells Optimus Prime that only the Heart of Darkness can destroy the planet's core and save the Universe. He races off to do that... Optimus is contacted by Cliffjumper--who's communicator is taken by Megatron (he did not merge with the rest of the Decepticons). Prime tells him to hold off the monster, if he can, in order to save the planet. Megatron says he will do his best... Optimus goes after Galvatron.
    The art is still murky as hell, making some panels had to decipher while others look not too bad.
    The story, as I said, is decent and advances somewhat over the previous couple of issues on Cybertron. I wonder why the Decepticons are affected by the darkness/whatever-it-is but not Megatron or the Autobots. One thing that would greatly improve this story is if they would drop a few hints about what is really going on. We got a set-up in the Heart of Darkness mini-series but since then Costa (and Roberts) have played it too close to the chest. I understand we're coming to a big story revelation shortly but dropping a few hints here and there would help pique curiosity and so far we've gotten nothing at all. It is my hope next issue of Chaos actually gets to the pay-off but we'll see...

Verdict:  Average.

Transmasters Mag Fall edition!

The Fall Issue of Transmasters Magazine is in the works! Submissions (art, stories, articles, etc.) are always welcome. The deadline for submissions this time around will be November 15th. As always, submissions can be sent to tkphoton at hotmail.com

Comic Review...

Cover B by Brendan Cahill

Transformers #27

Writer: Mike Costa
Artist: Brendan Cahill
(covers by Brendan Cahill and Marcelo Matere) 


Summmary: 'The Last Story On Earth' continues with shocking revelations into what the humans have done to Cybertronians and what they plan to do! Alliances between the two races are on the brink-can Jazz, an Autobot who killed a human, possibly bring both sides back before utter destruction occurs? Here's a hint: Not bloody likely!


Comments: This issue sees art by Brendan Cahill, which is easier to follow in some respects then Ramondelli's is. I wouldn't say he's my favorite artist either though (give me Roche, Guidi or Matere any day).
    So, Prowl survives a sneak attack thanks to Streetwise and they discover it was Brawl who attacked them. They incapacitate him and return to base. We also pick up another story thread about a woman who worked for Skywatch but betrayed them by ratting out that they were working with the Autobots in secret. Later, Prowl grabs her and tries to interrogate her to find out about who killed Scrapper. She hints at Spike and then he comes in and confronts them directly. Yes, he admits to killing Scrapper!  To be honest, I'm not even sure who this woman is (maybe I missed whatever story she was in? I skipped a few issues when they went to North Korea and fought the Decepticons). If she was in the second story arc, this is a long time later to come back to her since likely all but the diehard readers have forgotten who the hell she is. Or if she wasn't in that story, her part was so small I paid her no attention. Either way, this was a plot twist out of the blue...
    Finally, we get to the important part--Spike killed Scrapper and admits to it! The only thing is, who cares? In the issue (TF #9) where Spike committed his "crime", we learn Scrapper's actions caused human deaths so it's not like he went out and summarily executed an innocent party. Also, in case Prowl has forgotten, Scrapper is a Decepticon--his sworn enemy! At least if Spike had killed Bluestreak or something this story might make sense but as it is he did everyone a favor. This story highlights my disdain for this current series--it focuses on issues I just don't care about in a Transformers comic. I don't want more of the same per se, but I would rather the comic pull back and focus more on the bigger picture (like Furman's stuff used to) and less on touchy-feely characterization (or, at least, not so much on it all the time). Costa's approach works so much better for the GIJOE: Cobra comic (in part, because there are other comics in the same continuity being written about other things) but not so much here with only one title.

Verdict: Mediocre. 

Comic Review...

Transformers #26

Writer: Mike Costa and James Roberts (story); Mike Costa (script)
Artist: Livio Ramondelli
(covers by Livio Ramondelli)



Summary:  'CHAOS' rages on! A hole is punched through to the core of Cybertron itself-but what for? Where's Galvatron?! And why is Megatron, deep in the Autobot base and stuck in his cell, laughing? It all spells one thing-TROUBLE with a capital 'Crush the Heroes!' CHAOS part 2, in which things go from bad, to holy-hell-how-are-we-gonna-get-out-of-this-alive!!!


Comments:  The Autobots fly up to attack Kimia (the big space gun/space station thing the Autobots used to control until the start of last issue). Rodimus commands the space battle while Optimus Prime and the others attack Galvatron on the surface (after Wheelie tries to snipe him and fails). The space gun fires and begins destroying a spot on Cybertron's surface... finally, two of the Technobots (who are still on Kimia) blow it up and destroy it, averting the threat and whatever Galvatron had planned to do. We still don't find out whatever Galvatron is up to, of course. Meanwhile, Megatron breaks out of prison in Omega Supreme and inadvertently comes to Cliffjumper and Wheelie's aid.
    I still dislike Ramondelli's interior art and it's still too murky for my tastes. I also dislike this someone draws one issue, somebody else draws the next, the first artist does the third issue, etc. stuff. Why can't they get one guy to do a full run instead?
    The story itself is okay. Mostly a long battle with some minor movements along the way. After all this time, we still don't know exactly what Galvatron plans to do to stop D-Void and we still have the Autobots not even attempting to look at the bigger picture for purposes of moving the plot along. Granted, Prime says he senses something happening via the Matrix near the end of the story but we don't know what and his reaction is to go stop Galvatron rather then endeavor to truly find out what (I may be nitpicking a tad here but it feels like the Autobots are being short sighted for plot convenience). I also wonder why if the Autobots had Kimia in the first place why they didn't use it to swing the balance of power in the war their way (I hate it when super weapon stuff like this shows up for a story and no one bothers to consider the larger picture).

Verdict: Average.

Cover A by Livio Ramondelli

TFUK Titan comic review: issue 3.4

...it's been a while.....

Titan Transformers UK issue 3.4, October 2011.

Script: Robin Etherington
Art: Dario Brizuela


I recieved this comic by post on monday september 19th. I glanced over my free gift, which is a red 'disc shooter watch' including 1 autobot 'disc'.

On the cover, is a really just stock footage/film promotion of Vector Prime, mostly hidden behind all the ads for puzzles and the like.

The index is still pretty much the same and the art used for this seems like john McCrea's art showing the movie characters shown in the animated style.

A nice lowdown on Ironhide detailing his abilities and bio.

the strip:
At first, I was a little taken aback by the drop in quality seen here, the art looks like a cross between Geoff Senior and Charlie Adlard to me. What's wrong with that you ask ? well nothing really once you get used to it. let me explain: This is the first UK comic I've seen in some while since my move to the new house so I had Jon Davis-Hunt in mind when first seeing the strip. His art is more detailed than Mr Brizuela's art. like I said I got used to it.

the story is very simple but entertaining with the humans first being angry with all Transformers, later waking up to who their real friends are. This strip is split over two sections.

Inbetween we have the Sideswipe armoury section zooming in on wingsuits as seen in the movie, Ratchet's word search which is a puzzle, a Starscream and a Sideswipe Poster, another Ratchet puzzle-now a maze.

A competion to win Dark of the moon figures, 2012 annual(i'd like that), dangermouse dvd collection and a diary of a wimpy kid dvd.

Finishing off are 2 more puzzles, this time hosted by Starscream(match parts to certain transformer) and Bumblebee(word puzzle)

The letterpage(MEGA MOUTH)featuring Megatron gueststar: Sideswipe) containing some reader art and 1 letter.

on the last page is a preview for next issue hinting that it will be a Transformers PRIME issue, my guess is that it will switch from the Dark of the Moon subtitle to the Prime subtitle.

That's it.


Conclusion: For a comic i'd like it to have more art like it had in earlier/earliest issues but I guess it's more like a magazine. Still liked it though.

-Johan

cover doesn't seem to be uploading.....

Comic Review...

Transformers #25

Writer: Mike Costa
Artist: Brendan Cahill

(covers by Marcelo Matere and Brendan Cahill)


Summary:  'The Last Story on Earth' part 1 of 3! While there is much 'CHAOS' on Cybertron, there's no less bedlam here on Earth as our remaining Autobots investigate the accusation that Spike, their trusted human ally, murdered a TRANSFORMER in cold oil(?) Now it's up to our heroes to find the truth and decide the fate of human/Cybertronian relations for years to come! Prowl and Jazz take center stage!

Comments:  Another Costa issue. I pretty much forgot half of the story after reading it (a typical reaction to his stuff). I'm sure he believed there was a real story left to tell on Earth but I for one don't see it. Okay, most of Megatron's Decepticons are still there but beyond that who cares about Spike's actions in killing a Constructicon? This is likely an attempt to reset the status quo for the two new series coming next year. Let us hope those series are more exciting and better written then this one, which has largely been dull and plodding. Anyway, this issue is a lot of talking between the Earth Autobots then Prowl and Streetwise covertly save Spike from an assassination attempt by Breakdown, more talking and a cliffhanger with Prowl. The ending was decent but the rest of the issue was dull. The art was adequate but that's all I can really say about it. It was clearer then last issue's murk but not particularly great.


Verdict:  Mediocre.

Cover "B" by Brendan Cahill

Comic Review...

Transformers #24

Writer: Mike Costa and James Roberts (story); Mike Costa (script)
Artist: Livio Ramondelli
(covers by Livio Ramondelli)

Summary:  CHAOS: PART 1! The long-awaited event that will have TRANSFORMERS fans talking for years and lasting repercussions on the lives of our heroes and villains gets off to a mega-start! The Autobots land on Cybertron to discover Galvatron's plan is already in effect-but what is it? What could he possibly want on a dead planet?!

Comments:  Basically, this issue is one long fight scene. The Decepticons conquer some kind of Autobot base in the opening, where Cloudburst and Downshift apparently die (why are all these obscure characters highlighted in these stories so they can die three seconds later? I know, death is melodramatic in storytelling--but not if we don't even get to know the characters and get to care about them at all. I'd rather it be generic characters unless the death has some real meaning behind it).
     The rest of the issue, the Autobots arrive on Cybertron and confront Galvatron. He starts to explain himself when Hot Rod interrupts then we go straight into the fighting. This is another one of those examples of storytelling where the whole conflict can be resolved in ten seconds if only someone communicates what their intent is but conveniently doesn't so the plot can be moved in the direction the writer wants it to go (i.e. lazy writing). Drift believes there might be some greater threat--why doesn't anyone else on the Autobot side though?
    The art is by Livio Ramondelli. The man is a master of that painted art style and his covers are superb. Having said that, some of the interior art is a bit murky due to the style and combining that with Don Figueroa's pointless IDW re-designs, it makes some of characters hard to identify. There's a white robot with a blue dot on his chest (I think it's Jetfire. Nobody refers to him by name in the story though). I really wish they'd dump these new TF designs and go back to the classic style--nobody liked EJ Su's re-designs (apparently) so they go and get Figueroa to make them look even more complicated and now all the other artists are trying to emulate his designs. 
    Also, Ramondelli's art makes it seem like all of Galvatron's minions are Sweeps but that contradicts the Heart of Darkness mini-series where most of his army clearly were not Sweeps (yes, it's a visual continuity thing but shouldn't that matter in a visual medium like a comic?)
    I'd prefer they keep Ramondelli for cover art duties and leave the interior art to Alex Milne or Nick Roche (but they'll likely milk it for all it's worth instead). On the plus side, all three of Ramondelli's covers (one is a Retailer Incentive) for this issue are beautiful. 


Verdict:  Mediocre.

Cover "B" by Livio Ramondelli

Comic Review...

Transformers #23

Writer: James Roberts
Artist: Alex Milne
(covers by Alex Milne)

Summary: CHAOS Prelude! Last issue, you discovered the first ever meeting between Optimus Prime and Megatron. And if the surprises there weren't enough-you won't believe what happens just hours later! Optimus Prime recounts the fascinating end of their introduction as he decides the fate of the jailed Megatron. This one's a keeper, folks! Now let the CHAOS BEGIN!


Comments: The sequel to the previous issue, this follows Orion Pax/Optimus Prime's story after the  last issue with Megatron's pre-war tale. We learn that even Optimus discovered that Cybertronian society was corrupt and made a show of his beliefs, becoming the first Autobot (technically). I liked the Megatron issue slightly better but the Prime story was a good look at his early personality then and his strong sense of justice. The present scenes are about his deciding what to do with Megatron and whether or not he can still make decisions with the presence of the Matrix (but it seemed like the past story was the primary part of it). Roberts has done an excellent job in only two issues of making the comic worth reading and he deserves kudos for that. 

Verdict: Recommended.

Cover "A" by Alex Milne

Transformers: Prime Episode #23

Teletoon in Canada is ahead of the Hub now for new episodes of Prime. The trend continues today with ep. 23!  Check it out on Youtube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zMSHP3MvwM


(This is not my doing, I'm merely passing along the information to get the word out. :)


-  Thunder

TM Mag Summer edition!

The Summer 2011 edition of the Transmasters Magazine is now up on the website!

Check it out here:
 http://transmasters.angelfire.com/tmmag/issue11/index1.html

A special thanks to our contributors for this issue. We couldn't have done it without you! :)

(A note about my Opening Shots comic: Yes, it is there this time around. I had hoped to finish it off but ran short on time so I only have six pages up. I hope to get the remaining pages done soon-ish and I will post a message when they're done.)


Comments are always welcome! Praise, criticism, suggestions--let us know how you feel!

Thunder

Summer TM Mag deadline!

An update on the Summer Issue of Transmasters Magazine: The deadline for submissions (art, stories, articles, etc.) will be Monday August 15th. If anybody's got anything for it, feel free to email it to me: tkphoton at hotmail.com (also, if anybody needs more time, let me know. I can always push it back a bit if needed).

Thunder

Summer time!

The Summer Issue of Transmasters Magazine is in the works! Submissions (art, stories, articles, etc.) are always welcome. I don't yet have a submissions deadline in mind but I hope to have the issue ready in a week or so (I still have a comic to draw and that will take some work).  As always, submissions can be sent to tkphoton at hotmail.com

Thunder

Comic Review...

Transformers #22

Writer: James Roberts
Artist: Alex Milne
(covers by Alex Milne)

Summary:  'Chaos' really gets under way! Megatron: firebrand, tyrant, psychopath... prisoner? The Decepticons leader had the Autobots at his mercy-and then surrendered. Optimus Prime tries to find out why in a story that spans four million years and features a cast of thousands. Events in this issue will forever change the way you look at the Transformers Universe...

Comments: This was a bit of a departure considering the previous issues. While the Autobots are en route to Cybertron we stop and take the time to examine the dynamic between Optimus Prime and Megatron, even flashing back to the post-Megatron Origin era and seeing Megatron while he was still an idealist. In that sense, the story does a better job then the actual Origin comic ever did in explaining his transition from sorta-decent guy to tyrant (the mini-series failed for me on that level and yet Roberts managed to do it in one issue here). Overall, this issue was a serious improvement over just about anything Mike Costa has done (or at least since his initial issues, anyway). There actually seemed to be a point, for one thing (which is always good when you're telling a story). I'm still not sure, though, after all of it was said and done precisely why Megatron surrendered (other then lazy writing to begin with on Costa's part). Did he want to do some penance for his crimes? To remind Optimus that he helped in a way to make him who he was and he must carry some of the blame? (I think I just answered my own question. :)  One minor quibble--during the Prime/Megatron conversation we see a flashback in a couple of frames where Megatron is trapped in his gun mode. But since this continuity started off with him being a tank that makes no sense (unless he was a gun for some time, then became a tank then a gun again--mirroring real life, actually :).


Verdict: Recommended. 













(Cover "A" by Alex Milne)

Savcon 2012 TF Convention!

(Information courtesy Robo_Rob).

http://savcon.net/

Starting in the Summer of 2012 Savannah, Georgia will be added to the
list of ever growing Unofficial Transformer Conventions.
This Con, SavCon, to be exact, will be the first in Savannah's
history. Savannah is known for its rich civil war history, landmark
buildings and event attractions such as the famous St. Patrick's Day
Parade and music & movie festivals that draws thousands to the area,
it seems fitting that such a convention should take place here, and
every year.
This is a fan run convention and the best possible team has been put
in place so you enjoy your experience to the fullest, As always your
input is very important to us to continue to make this the best
possible experience. I encourage everyone to submit ideas to us on our
forums and if it's possible... It will happen!

--
robo_rob
www.tfradio.net

Comic Review...

(Cover "B" by Guido Guidi)


Transformers #21

Writer: Mike Costa
Artists: Guido Guidi and Brendan Cahill
(covers by Marcelo Matere and Guido Guidi)

Summary: TRANSFORMERS goes bi-weekly! Two stories for the price of one, kicking off the 'CHAOS' event!! In part one, Rodimus makes his triumphant return to Earth, and sets off the major events that will spin off into CHAOS. And in part two, Prowl begins his investigation... of Spike. This storyline will change TRANSFORMERS forever!


Comments: And so it begins... or the prologue to Chaos does anyway. Whatever. Part one takes the tact of setting this up like some legendary or prophetic story. Using captions to explain Hot Rod's legendary return to Earth and how after returning the Matrix to Optimus, he would forever be known as Rodiums, etc. The whole gimmick feels cheesy to me honestly. Part two is Prowl staying behind on Earth with some Autobots to apparently investigate Spike's actions behind their backs (i.e. killing Scrapper back in issue #8). I don't really understand the logic behind this--Spike can't kill a Decepticon in cold blood but it's okay for Jazz to incinerate a human a couple of issues ago seemingly without consequence (it seemed like a perfect "crap hits the fan" moment and they totally brushed it off and forgot about it!)  Anyway, this issue sets up the "final" storylines for Cybertron and Earth (after which, what happens? The comic ends? A reboot? I dunno). So far, I'm not that impressed by what I see and the thought of having to buy this bi-weekly seriously puts me off).

Verdict: Average.

***

Transformers: Heart of Darkness #4 (of 4) 

Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Ulises Farinas
(covers by Ulises Farinas, Casey Coller and Livio Ramondelli)

Summary: THE ROAD TO 'CHAOS' ENDS HERE! With his army assembled, Galvatron is ready to take the Heart of Darkness back to Cybertron. But first, he must now face down the ultimate threat, a force of unimaginable power and overwhelming darkness. Will Galvatron stand strong or will he bend to the will of inescapable evil? HoD leads directly into 'CHAOS'-the first-ever TRANSFORMERS event book from IDW!

Comments: For the most part I liked this series (terrible art aside). However, like most all of IDW's mini-series, it doesn't really end conclusively but instead leads into the main title to be resolved. I prefer the old school, where mini-series actually told a story and had a point in existing in the first place (the Drift mini wasn't that great but at least it followed that formula properly).  I still wonder about the titular Heart of Darkness. It was introduced during Simon Furman's run and seemed at the time to be a anti-matrix/dark matrix. In this mini-series, it has become a force of good apparently and is leading Galvatron to try and stop D-Void from coming into our Universe. I was expecting some kind of story twist--that Galvatron was actually doing D-Void's bidding unknowingly but the mini at least doesn't end on any such note. So, we have this "evil" power source trying to stop the evil from coming here? Why? Is D-Void going to be beaten and then we find the HoD is Unicron's soul or something? Or is that twist I predicted still coming? It just seems strange that the HoD suddenly is good natured and wants to stop evil for no apparent reason. I wish that would be explained...

Verdict: Average.

(Cover "C" by Livio Ramondelli)

Music Review...

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (score)

Composer: Steve Jablonsky


 Available on iTunes for $9.99 (there was supposed to be a physical release originally too. However, the entry on Amazon and other websites is gone now so I'm not clear if that's coming later or this will be an exclusively digital release).






Track Listing:

1. Dark Side of the Moon
2. Sentinel Prime
3. Lost Signal
4. In Time You'll See
5. Impress Me
6. We Were Gods Once
7. Battle
8. There Is No Plan
9. We All Work for the Decepticons
10. The Fight Will Be Your Own
11. Shockwave's Revenge
12. No Prisoners, Only Trophies
13. The World Needs You Now
14. It's Our Fight
15. I'm Just the Messenger
16. I Promise
17. Our Final Hope

Total Running Time:  59:47


I recently purchased the instrumental soundtrack to the recent live action Transformers movie and decided to share my thoughts. Then I realized there were about the same as my review to the original 2007 score Jablonsky did so I mostly re-posted that here.

In case you don't keep up with this stuff, there are two TF soundtracks to the recent movie. The first one is full of pop/rock songs that are in the movie/inspired by the movie. This is the other one with strictly instrumental music on it (and this is a digital release as previously noted while the other version is also out on CD).

In short, the music is grand and orchestral. It befits an epic storyline full of action and excitement. As with Jablonsky's previous efforts, the music doesn't really stand out in my mind. It's not bad by any means--certainly, it's sufficient for any modern action epic. But it doesn't capture my imagination the way some soundtracks of the past have. The original TF movie soundtrack by Vin Dicola is far more distinctive as are soundtracks like James Horner's beautiful Star Trek scores, John William's Star Wars music and Chris Franke's Babylon 5 compositions.  Interestingly, this time around I caught a couple of tracks that sound as if they were borrowing elements from The Dark Knight ("We Were Gods Once" is an example as is "We All Work for the Decepticons"). It's also possible they just both share a few common elements and I'm hearing stuff that isn't there--but that's a bad commentary on the sameness of so many soundtracks these days.

All and all, a good effort. Not outstanding but still a solid release and worth checking out if you like instrumental soundtracks.

Comic Review...

Transformers #19

 Writer: Mike Costa
Artist: Guido Guidi

(covers by Marcelo Matere and Guido Guidi)

Summary:  'CHAOS' PRELUDE! The situation on Earth continues to deteriorate while we shift focus to outer space where RODIMUS was last seen dead! A classic character returns as the things heat up and we begin our descent into 'CHAOS'-THE YEAR'S BIGGEST TRANSFORMERS EVENT! Don't miss 'SPACE OPERA, Part 1!'


Comments: In some ways it was nice to find Hot Rod again and see what he was up to. Having said that, though, the story was pretty by-the-numbers. No real surprises or twists to see. Mostly, it seems Costa was trying to tie up loose ends by bringing Wheelie back (which wasn't really a loose end in my mind). Also, they use the Matrix to power the ship, which makes no sense to me. (I like Guido's cover quite a bit).

Verdict: Average.

(cover "B" by Guido Guidi)


***
Transformers #20

Writer: Mike Costa
Artist: Guido Guidi

(covers by Marcelo Matere and Guido Guidi)

Summary:  Through a series of misunderstandings, Rodimus and his two strange new partners arrive on a planet we haven't visited in a long time, and meet a few other 'bots everyone thought were lost forever. Those are a lot of vague words, because this issue has a TON of surprises. Check them out in SPACE OPERA Part 2  

Comments:  Basically, Hot Rod, Wheelie and their new alien friend go to Cybertron and encounter Ironhide and Sunstreaker. While there, they discover Galvatron is there too. What is he up to? We never find out (maybe they should've waited until Heart of Darkness #4 is out. This seems like it was released a little too soon). At any rate, the Autobots escape and head for Earth. It was nice to see Galvatron drawn well again after the terrible HoD art.

Verdict:  Average.

(Cover "A" by Marcelo Matere)

***

Transformers: Heart of Darkness #3 (of 4)

Writers:  Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist:  Ulises Farinas
(covers by Ulises Farinas and Casey Coller)

Summary:  'CHAOS' PRELUDE! We learn new truths about the TRANSFORMERS' ancient history-truths that may lead to their ruin. GAVATRON and company gather arms and recruit major forces. With a raving lunatic leading the DECEPTICON forces-absolute destruction is sure to follow. HoD leads directly into 'CHAOS'-the first-ever TRANSFORMERS event book from IDW!

Comments:  Despite his terrible Transformers art, Farinas alien fishermen here (in the first three or so pages) aren't half bad looking.  I can't quite understand why that is yet his TFs look consistently awful. As for the story, it continues on with Galvatron recruiting more and more previously dead TFs (of which there are a convenient graveyard around a planet he's gone to). One continuity error here: Galvatron resurrects one of the "lost ancient Headmasters" even though they were only invented a couple of years ago in Furman's run (not that continuity seems to matter to anyone at IDW). Also, we find the return of Nemesis Prime at the end of the issue. What does he want? Is he friend or foe? (And why doesn't anyone in this damn story ever actually die?)


Verdict: Average.

(Cover "B" by Casey Coller)

It's here! It's now!

The Spring Issue of Transmasters Magazine is finally up and ready to go!

Check it out here:

http://transmasters.angelfire.com/tmmag/issue10/index1.html


Thanks to all who contributed this issue! :)

(I didn't have time to do my Opening Shots comic this time around and I also abandoned another comic strip I'd planned to do since I was sick on the weekend when I planned to draw it up. Both will be in next issue though.

Questions? Comments? Let me know! :)

Thunder

Fixed!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the Transmasters Magazine, issue #4 link has been fixed on the site. It had previously linked to a "Freeservers" website but the issue was apparently erased from there (fortunately I backed it up while it was still live. I had a feeling something like that might happen).

The new link is here:
http://transmasters.angelfire.com/tmmag/issue4/index.html

UPDATE: TM Comic, issue #4 link has also been fixed.


http://transmasters.angelfire.com/tmcomic/issue4/index.html

Thunder

Impressions BOTS NL Transformers convention

So I went here with my wife, and since I was too lazy too shoot pictures (actually my phone was near death from using the navigation function) here's a couple pics and movies others made.

pics:
AutobotJazz4's album (Niels Berndsen)

NTF-Archive

Videos:
Yigal

C.O.N.S.

enjoy ! and oh yeah you can find me on these pictures recieving my lottery prize, ROTF Skids !
picture 1

picture 2

-Greetz johan

source: main BOTS website

Spring Time!

The Spring Issue of Transmasters Magazine is in the works! Submissions (art, stories, articles, etc.) are always welcome. The submissions deadline for the Spring issue is May 30th. Send any submissions to me at: tkphoton at hotmail.com


Thunder

Warlog Weekly 2011-05

Warlog continues !

Today is the fight between Soundwave and Hotrider ! Having infiltrated the decepticon base, Hotrider is in trouble now Soundwave has found him !



This will be the last entry for may as I am now starting work on a Powercore combiner story featuring Skids and Mudflap for Transmasters fan Magazine.

Warlog Weekly returns june 2011 !
See you soon and Enjoy !

-Johan/Backbreaker

comments are welcome.

Warlog Weekly 2011-04

Warlog continues!



While Kasmun meets the mysterious Backslip, Let's see how the Autobots are doing....

Comments are very welcome.

for those who missed the other stories, I am compiling the old ones into one file. Coming soon.

-UNB

NEXT WEEK: Mayhem !

Spring has arrived!

The Spring Issue of Transmasters Magazine is in the works! I hope to have it ready sometime later this month (May). Submissions (art, stories, articles, etc.) are always welcome (the deadline for submissions will be announced at a later date).

Thunder

Tales of the Destara: The Light Odyssey...

If anybody's interested, I have a few extra copies of "The Light Odyssey" laying around. I will send whoever wants one a copy for free. If you're interested, feel free to email me (tkphoton at hotmail dot com) and let me know. Obviously, I would need an address to send it to.
If anyone takes me up on this offer, you can do two things in return:
1) "Like" the Facebook page for "Tales of the Destara: The Light Odyssey". (Assuming you liked it, of course, and you're on FB).
2) If you like it, please feel to pass the word along to any friends you might think would want to read it.
Also, I always appreciate feedback on my stories, so feel free to let me know what you thought of it.

What is The Light Odyssey? If I had to describe the plot in one sentence, I would say it's like Transformers meets Star Wars.

Comic Review...

Transformers: Heart of Darkness #2 (of 4)

Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artist: Ulises Farinas

(Covers by Ulises Farinas and Casey Coller)


Summary: Galvatron is on the move! With the mystery surrounding Gorlam Prime still unsolved, Cyclonus and Scourge are tasked with helping raise an army! But an army to do what?! Find out as the ROAD TO 'CHAOS' finds its first travelers!


Comments: Ugh! My eyes! The art--it's so bad! Wherever did they find this guy? Thankfully I got the Casey Coller cover this time around but it's too bad he couldn't have done the interiors too. Ulises Farinas should never have been let near a professional comic book with his terrible lack of skill. As to the story... it's actually not bad. Galvatron finds some answers to the main mystery of the story--namely, where did the inhabitants of Gorlam Prime go. This stands in stark contrast to many other recent TF comics where they go four issues and essentially nothing happens. We know the Dead Universe is the enemy and it is awakening. It goes by the moniker "D-Void" (which is kind of silly sounding. I suspect it will eventually go by the name "Unicron"). I suspect the Dark Universe will be revealed as Unicron and, indeed, it is a logical outcome here. The Dark Universe is devoid of life and alive, seeking to devour cybernetic life energy... it only makes sense and if the writers decide to make it something else, it seems like both a wasted opportunity and a bit redundant (especially if Unicron shows up some other time later on to have two nearly identical villains). A decent story and I look forward to issue three.

Verdict: Recommended.


(Cover "B" by Casey Coller)

Warlog Weekly 2011-03

Warlog continues!

Ratbat returns with a surprise announcement.



Comments are very welcome.

for those who missed the other stories, I am compiling the old ones into one file. Coming soon.

-UNB

NEXT WEEK: Who or What is the mentor ? It will have to wait because next week promises ACTION as it's Soundwave VS Hotrider !

Comic Review...

Transformers #18


Writer: Mike Costa
Artist: Alex Milne

(cover art by Nick Roche and Marcelo Matere)


Summary: The Autobots have been beaten down, backed into a corner, and harried into making a huge mistake. But the biggest blow has yet to fall, as Prime sets out to face Megatron one-on-one in the final chapter of REVENGE OF THE DECEPTICONS. Nobody dies... but somebody's gonna wish they had.


Comments: From reading the solicitation synopsis above, one would assume this issue is mind blowingly awesome. That would be wrong. It's not a terrible issue per se but, frankly, not a lot really happens. After last issue's dramatic ending I had hoped for a real follow-up. Instead, the whole Jazz thing is all but ignored and Optimus goes storming off to fight Megatron. Megatron beats him but then surrenders himself--he wants to watch the chaos that is coming. Optimus is given suspicions that his human allies might not be as copesetic as they pretend... The Prime/Megatron battle is dull and the rest of the issue is set-up for future things (at least, I think it is. Costa doesn't seem to understand how to write comics very well. If you're going to set up a story element then pay it off! Don't set it up and ignore it because you suddenly had some other whim to pursue).

Verdict: Mediocre.



(Cover "B" by Marcelo Matere)

Warlog Weekly 2011-02

Warlog continues!
Larry(Kasmun) was left alone last week so Ratbat could deal with an Autobot threat.
Let's see how he copes.



Comments are very welcome.

for those who missed the other stories, I am compiling the old ones into one file.

-UNB

enjoy, until next week !

Warlog Weekly 2011-01

NOT AN APRIL FOOLS PRANK !

Warlog Weekly is back.

The story of Kasmun continues with more conflict and intrige.


for the previous installments of the story i refer to:

part 01(Transmasters comic 4, sadly currently not available)
part 02(Transmasters comic 5)
part 03(Warlog weekly 2009 series)


or the previous post which is a small audio file

View or download image here

enjoy. untill next week.

-Backbreaker.
comments are welcome.

W.A.C. - I am called Kasmun audio version

----edit. alternate location-----

(currently file under experiment)

Warlog Audio Comics presents:


I am called Kasmun.

Duration 3:43
Size: 8.5 Mb
Quality: 320 kbs

description: This is an audio version of the preview story "I am called Kasmun", to listen to on your Ipod or whatever. This is my first production, I may do more in future. Warlog Weekly will be back on April 1st, 2011 with the continuation.

Comments are welcome !!!

Download here or view the newsitem

Comic Review...

Transformers: Heart of Darkness #1


Writer: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artist: Ulises Farinas

(Covers by Ulises Farinas and Casey Coller)


Comic Summary: GALVATRON. Last seen, he was leading a team of Decepticons through space. Clearly, he has a purpose, an agenda, and a vendetta. But how it will play out and to what end has been shrouded in mystery. That mystery is about to be revealed!


Comments: Wow! That is some really bad art! Going off Cover "A" I would've thought the art was good but the more I saw of Ulises Farinas art the more I hated it. Many of his panels look cartoony (at best) and just terrible at worst. I cite the pics of Galvatron looking shocked as an example as well as the art of Arcee near the end. Yuck! Were all the good artists busy with other stuff or what? (I know, I know. My own art isn't spectacular--but I actually had to pay money for this and I expect better from a professional comic). The story is decent but with some inconsistencies from the Furman stories it follows off. For example, Gorlam Prime was not a techno-organic world nearly identical to Cybertron. Furman's story stated it was an organic world in a state of some kind of evolutionary flux, changing from organic to techno-organic. It was not already there and thriving as this story states. The story also says Galvatron was "dead" for years before re-emerging but that can't be right either. The previous stories stated that the Dark Universe TFs (except Galvatron) could only exist outside that realm for small amounts of time before dying in this one (so how could Cyclonus and Scourge now exist for so long in a decomposing state?) I don't know if the writers messed up the details by accident or intentionally as some kind of retcon but I don't like it. Without knowing their intent, it feels lazy to me. Going off Furman's stuff, I'm thinking the Anti-Matrix/Heart of Darkness was possibly the soul of Unicron, brought from a Universe he'd already devoured into this one (likewise, the Matrix is likely the soul of Primus). I also think these new guys might be leaning in that direction as well. I guess we'll find out in time... I also don't like Galvatron's new tank mode--I much preferred his cannon form (is the tank an attempt to make it jibe with the Universe toy?) All in all, a decent tale with terrible art.

Verdict: Mildly recommended.



(Cover "B" by Casey Coller)

Comic Review...

(WARNING: The following review contains story spoilers for the issue's ending).


Transformers #17

Writer: Mike Costa
Artist: Alex Milne

(Covers by Marcelo Matere and Nick Roche)


Summary: Megatron's plan enters its second stage as the Autobots continue to fall under attack from heavily armed humans. Elsewhere, Starscream attempts to initiate a plan of his own with an old ally. Costa and Milne aren't bringing everyone out of this issue in one piece as the REVENGE OF THE DECEPTICONS continues!


Comments: We start the story with Optimus and company finally being accounted for after missing for a couple of issues (they were shot down). Anyway, it's mentioned in passing that Megatron either shot them down or ordered it. He sends them a message and we find he has the Autobots from last issue as hostages. What makes no sense is that when last issue ended, it seemed like he'd left after having taunted them so I guess he turned around for some reason and captured them all anyway. The rest of the story makes sense otherwise and ends on an attempt at drama. Jazz does what any of the Autobots would've realistically done and kills a human when he sees it threatening fellow Autobots with a Megatron gun (unless we're supposed to assume they're all retarded or something. Why wouldn't they defend themselves rather then allow humans to kill them?) What he didn't realize is that the others had all but talked the man down (oops!) I look forward to seeing this resolved. Hopefully Prime will stick up for Jazz and not just have him be lead off and disassembled or killed.

Verdict: Recommended.


(Cover "A" by Marcelo Matere)

Andrew Wildman Graphic Novel...

Andrew Wildman, the well known Marvel G1 comic artist is working on a self-created Graphic Novel. He's taking preorder donations so that the project can happen. Check it out here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/horizon


(the project's Facebook page is here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Horizon/205112842835102?sk=wall


I think this is cool and have already donated $20 to it. Why not? :)

Thunder

Opening Shots, part two...

It's done finally. Newly added to the TM Winter Magazine, is Opening Shots, Part Two:

http://transmasters.angelfire.com/tmmag/issue9/os_page7.html


This continues the first part from the Summer 10 issue, which is available here:

http://transmasters.angelfire.com/tmmag/issue7/openingshots.html


Eventually, the story will be finished in part three or four (I have 22 pages plotted out). Part two was a bit rushed art-wise but I hope people like it (I also hope people can read the text okay. I might need to fix some of it?) Comments are welcome (hint, hint).

- Thunder

TransMasters Magazine, Winter 2011 Edition!

At long last, the next exciting installment of the TransMasters Magazine is ready! You can check it out here:

http://transmasters.angelfire.com/tmmag/issue9/index1.html


Comments are welcome! Also, contributions for future issues are also always welcome!


(One note: Opening Shots, part two is running behind schedule and not quite ready yet. I hope to have it done in a few more days but I didn't want to hold the issue back any longer as it was intended for February and is in danger of growing stale. When part two is done and up, I'll post an update and let everybody know).

Also, Peter Phelps had originally done up a Valentine's Day pic for the issue but since things took longer then planned, I didn't include it (since it would be dated now). The pic in question was also on his Facebook page though, if anyone's curious what it looked like.

- Thunder

Comic Review...

Transformers #16

Writer: Mike Costa
Artist: Alex Milne

(covers by Marcelo Matere and Nick Roche)

Summary: MEGATRON's plan enters its second stage as the AUTOBOTS continue to fall under attack from heavily armed humans. Elsewhere, STARSCREAM attempts to initiate a plan of his own with an old ally. Costa and Figueroa aren't bringing everyone out of this issue in one piece as the 'Revenge of the Decepticons' continues!


Comments: For once, I can honestly say I liked this issue. It wasn't earth shattering or anything but I found it sufficiently entertaining. Also, Milne's art was pretty good... I do wonder why Megatron revealed himself so early on in his scheme--I had assumed he'd want to stay behind the scenes for a while and pull strings (of course, he hasn't left Ultra Magnus and the others by the end of the issue so perhaps there's more to reveal next issue?) Also, I find it interesting that now that Megatron's back in charge again, now Starscream decides to act--against him. He had control of the Decepticons all that time and did nothing. Does he need Megatron as his muse or something? I would rather see Starscream act as a competent leader for once (just for the purposes of character development, if nothing else). All things considered, though, this wasn't a bad issue. Hoping more will be revealed next issue...

Verdict: Average.


(Cover "B" by Nick Roche)