Comic Review...

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #6

Writer: John Barber
Artist: Livio Ramondelli

(covers by Casey Coller and Livio Ramondelli)

Cover "A" by Casey Coller

Summary: ONCE HE WAS: OPTIMUS PRIME! The Autobot gave up his title-returned to his role as ORION PAX! But that doesn't mean the fight's over! A shattered planet leads Pax and a squad of fan favorite characters on the trail of the deadliest Decepticon of all... SHOCKWAVE!


Comments: Orion Pax meets up on a space station with Hardhead and is directed to the dead world of Arduria. Wheelie, Garnak and Hardhead all come along with him as does Hardhead's prisoner, Jhiaxus (who had been catatonic until this incident when he began to come alive again, in response to a mysterious signal originating from the dead world). They discover the dead beings on the world are Shockwave's handiwork and wonder exactly what he did here and how. They find Monstructor and some kind of rocket absorbing all the heat in the area... Monstructor awakens and attacks them and on the ship, Bludgeon appears, attacking Wheelie and Garnak. He rescues Jhiaxus and together with the Monster Pretenders, they escape aboard Bludgeon's ship. Hardhead extrapolates that they are on course for the planet Wheelie and Garnak had escaped from. Orion orders a pursuit course...
   It seems this story will involve some kind of treasure hunt after Shockwave's varied experiments he performed centuries ago. It might also possibly follow up on the Quintesson plot thread left behind some time ago in the Wheelie Spotlight issue. All in all, a good story set-up even if we don't yet know the endgame for it all. It's nice to see Orion/Optimus in action again and to know he hasn't been totally forgotten  in the story (now if somebody would just figure out where the heck Megatron is).
   Livio does the art this issue. It's mostly good--although his Monstructor is a bit hard to figure out who he is. (To be fair, though, Monstructor was never intepreted all that well in comic form. He seems like he might look a bit generic in combined form and that's what we get here. The color scheme in all of Livio's art is that murky painted look, which could be responsible for further distorting the appearance of the Monster Pretenders. They were quite bright as I recall but this style doesn't really allow for that).

Verdict: Good. 

Cover "B" by Livio Ramondelli

Comic Review...

Cover "A" by Andrew Griffith

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #5

Writer: John Barber
Artist: Andrew Griffith
(covers by Andrew Griffith and Casey Coller)

Summary: TORN APART FROM WITHIN! Tensions reach a breaking point-a new arrival on Cybertron tips the scales and violence erupts! Will Bumblebee be able to stop his own allies? Plus: Ironhide reveals a secret that will redefine the future of the Transformers!

Comments: Sky Byte (of RID fame, ironically) is introduced as a returning neutral in this story. his inclusion in this story works pretty well, all things considered. During the course of the story while trying to convince him to see the merit of this new world, Ironhide accidentally gets Sky Byte put in a precarious situation. Fortunately for him, he steps in for his new comrade as well when he is almost indicted for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 
   Barber also casually mentions how all of Galvatron's resurrected minions "started looking all alike after a while" which smooths over an art continuity issue that had previously bugged me about Heart of Darkness/Chaos (points to Barber). I have to say I appreciate his eye for these little details and actual attempts to correct these indiscrepancies, rather then his predecessor's blatant disregard for them. Hiring John Barber as Group Editor has already paid for itself.
   Perhaps most important about this issue is the resolution of a major plot point since the first issue: the fate of the Decepticons and their second class state among Cybertron's citizens. I also have to give Barber points for going somewhere with his story here and not just letting it sit forever because he can't/won't do something with it.

Verdict: Very Good.

Comic Review...

Transformers: More Then Meets the Eye #5

Writer: James Roberts
Artist: Alex Milne
(covers by Alex Milne and Nick Roche)


Summary: TERROR BEYOND THE STARS! The dark secret at the heart of Delphi is revealed as Ratchet's world starts to fall apart. Time is running out for the Autobot's Chief Medical Officer and his band of followers, who must confront an enemy that literally cannot be reckoned with. Warning: not everyone will make it out alive!

Comments: This was part two of the story about Delphi and the Cosmic Rust and I enjoyed it more then the first part. It just felt more... coherent somehow. More focused on the "A" story and less on the other various plots Roberts likes to throw in there. We learn how the virus got its start, who started it and why. Ratchet is the hero of the piece as well, which is always a plus. We also get to see the holo-avatars used once again.
   The art is competent as always. Milne does some fine work here...

Cover "A" by Alex Milne

Verdict:  Very Good.

Comic Review...

Transformers: Autocracy #11 and #12

Writers: Chris Metzen and Flint Dille
Artist: Livio Ramondelli

#11 cover by Livio Ramondelli

Summary:  (#11) With CYBERTRON in the hands of the DECEPTICONS, it's up to OPTIMUS PRIME and his small band of heroes to take control. But if he wants to free a world-- PRIME will need someone to rally the people!
(#12)  Its time for the endgame! OPTIMUS PRIME comes face-to-face with MEGATRON and the fate of their world hangs in the balance! Nothing will be the same after this EXTRA-LENGTH conclusion!

Comments:  Issue #11 was a bit of a breather, with Optimus Prime rallying the troops to his banner while issue #12 wrapped everything up neatly, chronicling the final battle between the Autobots and Decepticons (well, "final" in the context of the story anyway). Issue #12 also pays homage to the final battle between Prime and Megatron from TF:TM. I'm not sure if that's cheesy or brilliant (the very definition of an in-story homage, is it not? :)
   The story wraps up on a positive note and doesn't really offer any surprises. Having said that, it's a solid tale overall and managed to hit all the right story points so I can't really complain. No, it didn't astound me but it didn't disappoint either so there's something to be said for that.

#12 cover by Livio Ramondelli

   Livio Ramondelli's art was well suited for this series and his cover images, as always, seem to be one of his strong points. The internal art was also much improved from his time on Chaos in the older TF ongoing series. I didn't have any problems figuring out what was going on anywhere this time around.

Verdict: (Issues# 11 and #12): Excellent.
(Series overall): Excellent.












The entire series is available via digital download on www.comixology.com. If you don't want to go the digital route, the series will be released in TPB form in July. 

Titan Transformers UK issue 4.8, May 2012.

Titan Transformers UK issue 4.8, May 2012.



"15 minutes of fame"

Hi all !
first an explanation.
The last entry I did was on FRIDAY, APRIL 06, 2012(search for it) dealing with Titan Transformers UK issue 4.7 and normally I would do the next one about one month later but it took a little time to get the next issue until one day I saw: Heyyy the new issue ! 4.9 ! hey ? What was the last one I got ?
After a speedy check I found out that I never received issue 4.8. So, I emailed the good and helpfull folks at Titan and they have a good service I must say, however they weren't able to supply me with a replacement issue. As compensation they kindly extended my subscription by one issue. As I said, Excellent service !
But I still did not have the issue.
On to the interwebs! Luckily there is Ebay and steveh974 provided me with the issue. I thank him for the issue!

Now let's go to the Issue!

Page 00: cover consist of PRIME art of well...Optimus Prime! Free toy is a "Ballistic Blaster!" finally a proper weapon !
Page 02-03: Index Page.
Page 04-05: The Wheeljack Lowdown Profile Page.
Page 06: Titan Magazines -get 2 transformers with subscription- offer advert.
Page 07-10: Part one of the the strip begins.

"The Mind Trap!"
Script: Chris Cooper Art: Horacio Domingues Colours: Nestor Pereya Lettering: Comicraft

Optimus is trapped by Knock Out and his mind switched to a human body! Meanwhile Knock Out orders the Vehicons to throw his body in the crusher and Optimus attempts to make contact with the human host mind and starts to fight back ! .....to be continued on page 22



Page 11: StarWars Clone Wars Magazine advert
Page 12-13: Part 8 of the PRIME episode guide, reviewing Con Job. Also a micro quiz.
Page 14-15: EPIC TRANSFORMERS QUIZ! some questions I didn't even know!
Page 16-17: Prime Poster featuring Ratchet and Bulkhead, according to the tfwiki by Augusto Barranco and Jose Lopez. Originally the cover of IDW Publishing's Transformers: Prime #2.
Page 18: Mind Trap MAZE.
Page 19: Back issue order page.
Page 20-21:Starscream's Stumpers Puzzle page.
Page 22: Win Transformers BotShots figures competition.

Page 23-26: Part 2 of the strip!

The Autobots Join the fight to try and save Optimus's body not knowing that his mind was transferred to the human Lin-Che. Bulkhead and Arcee are overpowered and Lin-Che decides that the only chance is to force a mindreverse. He succeeds and Optimus kicks Knock Out's butt! After the battle Optimus drives Lin -Che home to his family.

Page 27-29: The letterpages, hosted by Megamouth Megatron(HAIL!) (PRIME version) with a little help from Arcee (also PRIME version) With a letter from ME !.

Page 26: Starscream's Stumpers! Arms Race. Match Weapon to description.
Page 27: Spot the difference and Fighting talk
Page 30: Ratchet's Joke Page !
Page 31: Next issue blurb which looks like an Bumblebee centric cover.
Page 32: Titan Hot Wheels magazine -advert
Conclusion:
Good Comic strip scriptwise, art a lillte below standard but simple and fun! Getting your letter printed is Very very cool!

score: 8.5 out of 10 (allright you've caught me, because of the letter.... ;) )