Comic Review...

Transformers Stormbringer #2

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Don Figueroa

(Covers by Don Figueroa)

Synopsis: Jetfire tells Bludgeon and his followers that he's insane! He can't control a reactivated Thunderwing! Bludgeon tells him he need not control it, merely guide it toward his purpose. The two have an exchange and Bludgeon reveals that he is trying to replicate Thunderwing's grafting process. Elsewhere, Optimus Prime recieves a distress call from the Calabi-Yau and decides something is wrong on Cybertron. He tells Searchlight to contact the Wreckers. Elsewhere, the Wreckers fight a major battle against the Decepticons... Springer, their leader, is contacted and told the Wreckers are needed on Cybertron. On Cybertron, Jetfire and Bludgeon verbily spar over reactivating Thunderwing. Bludgeon orders his minions to bring him to life and Jetfire tries valiantly to stop them but fails and is taken away. In hyperspace, Springer communicates with Optimus Prime over the comm and discuss the situation. Prime believes Thunderwing may be involved in things somehow. They agree to meet up near Lunar Two and Springer advises him to burn Cybertron, if it comes to that. Prime tells him he'll consider it and ends the communication. He thinks back to how Megatron told him the very same thing at the end of the original conflict and Prime resisted--telling him he'd fight Megatron every step of the way should he try to do that. Megatron tells him fine and walks away, but tells him this will be on his head should it come back to haunt them. On Cybertron's surface, we find Afterburner and Nosecone have survived the destruction of the Autobot ship. They evade some Centurion drones and continue seeking shelter. Finally, they collapse and are found by Centurions! On Nebulos, the Decepticon infiltration unit observes something closing fast on the planet. A ship arrives and converts into the reborn Thunderwing!


Comments: Another chapter of the story... I liked it even though not a lot really happens throughout the issue. Its clear now that Thunderwing saw the coming environmental catastrophe on Cybertron and used it somehow to upgrade his power greatly, becoming a Pretender in the process (although the shell is mostly irrelevant thus far in the story. Its merely a gimmick for him to be uber powerful). I like that aspect, to be honest, since the Pretenders are often dumped on as a gimmick. The art was good, as usual.

One minor complaint is the whole cover gimmick thing. IDW has cut down to only two or three covers per issue now (two, not counting the dealer incentive one). It seems like every comic shop I go to always has the cover I don't really want in-stock...in this case, I got the b/w wrap around cover. Its not a bad image, actually, but I hate the b/w part of it--I wish they'd put all of it on the front and in color. Also, I wouldn't have minded the other cover either but never even saw it here... What's the point in having two covers when the shop will order a small amount of one and the bulk of the other? Or maybe just one cover period? Sigh...




Recommended.

An Extremely late TransMasters Comic 3 is posted

Because I can't seem to log on right, I've been forced to post this on the Geocities site. It seems they've instituted some kind of hourly quota so if you can't get it all the first time please try to be patient and try again later.


TransMasters Comic Issue 3

It's shorter than before and I hope you'll forgive a couple of pages that looked wipped together. Thanks again to Backbreaker for his work. Maybe next issue I can actually get some more funny stuff in there. I want to wrap up the Cybertron story soon, probably in the next 2-3 issues of the mag and only 1 more of the comic?

I'll get right to work on the next issue of the Magazine and let's hope it comes out faster since it is already late. I've changed to an "It'll get out when it gets out schedule so we'll see."
Thanks for your patience.

Email Change

I am so sorry to all of you if you have been trying to get ahold of me lately. My ISP account died August 14th. (Though my computer crashed two days prior to that and I've been too busy with life and stuff lately.)

I really am going to finish the 3rd comic soon. Then I hope to get the magazine out ASAP on its heals. My job's been crazy and so has my car so I've had very little time lately to work on stuff. It seems like all my free time's gone now. I sure hope that things will settle down a bit in September and I can get everything else done. I've only been at this job just under 7 months and I've gone from grunt to Shift Lead and now might get to become trainer. It's moving too fast for me...not sure if I want to continue.

So, for right now I've changed to my Juno email account: peterphelps@juno.com and I hope to soon have some better ISP. We'll see.

Thank you for your patience, best wishes to you all.

Comic Review... (belated)

Transformers: Stormbringer #1

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Don Figueroa

(Covers by Don Figueroa)


Synopsis: Jetfire and the Technobots investigate Cybertron for energy readings and find something on the surface below. They go to the planet and find a ruined world full of storms and desolation. Scattershot asks Jetfire what it was like back when the "incident" happened and Jetfire recalls it (but they don't reveal what happened). Elsewhere, Optimus Prime ponders things when Searchlight interrupts him and tells him Prowl's group has sent him a message. Prime finds that Earth's Decepticons are moving faster then scheduled and tells Searchlight to monitor things and keep him updated. Prime thinks of some apocalyptic event and how it never ends (tm). Back on Cybertron, Jetfire recalls what happened back when Cybertron was decimated (but again, we only get vague hints). Suddenly, the Autobot team is attacked by invisible enemies and beaten. On their ship in orbit, Nosecone and Afterburner detect several missiles coming their way... they launch a distress buoy and are presumably destroyed along with the ship. Prime flash to a big battle and how Cybertron somehow stopped their great foe's advanced... epilogue: Jetfire awakens in a cavern beneath Cybertron's surface--there, he finds several warriors worshipping Thunderwing!

Comments: Another story set in the Universe of Infiltration/the IDW "Alpha" Universe (although that story bears little relevance here so far). I see a potentially interesting story in this mini-series but unfortunately the opening issue beats around the bush a little too much for my tastes. I like foreshadowing as much as anyone but this issue was a bit annoying. All we get is that:
A) Cybertron was decimated sometime in the past in this continuity.
B) The world is (apparently) slowly regenerating from said-catastrophe.
C) Somehow, Thunderwing is the cause of the original decimation. He was apparently some sort of unstoppable enemy that briefly united the Autobots and Decepticons and was thought to have been destroyed somehow in a final effort on Cybertron's part.
I just wish we could've gotten a little more--like a decent flashback instead of bits and pieces (mostly from Optimus' memory, apparently). Otherwise, the art was good (as usual) and the writing competent. I was worried that Simon Furman might not be able to find a way to sneak his trademark phrases into these new comics but I see that was a misplaced fear. This issue sees the appearance of "It never ends." Now, if he can just find some way to have someone say "It is over. Finished." (I think it must be in his contract to have these sentences continually sneak their way into every TF story he's ever written). A decent story in general. I just hope we get more into the meat of things next issue (and I really, seriously hope that Thunderwing isn't a minion of Unicron! I'm so tired of that old fallback--try something new already, somebody!)

feel the hate?

"Robo Rob" presents...

http://www.robohate.com

Which is, basically, a new TF zine he's doing. Apparently, it will be both webzine and physical zine sometimes too (see his website for more info).


Just thought I'd pass that along in case anyone's interested... :)

Password change

Due to someone posting as me about some sort of ebay scam, I've changed my password to the TransMasters Blog. Hopefully that will keep it from happening again anytime soon. I appologize to you all for being already over a month late with the TM comic #3...I'm working on it with every free moment my job allows right now. I have just 1 more page I want to complete. Issue 3 of the Magazine should then follow quickly on its footsteps with all things going well. (ie..my fingers don't fall off while I write and code it out.) I was able to attend the Sac Anime Con this year so I should have a good article about it and Niel Kaplan since he was there. If you're good bots and cons perhaps I'll get some video of his panel online somewhere for viewing.

Thanks for being patient.

Transformers Comic Review...

Transformers Infiltration #6

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: E.J. Su

(Covers by E.J. Su, Guido Guidi, Klaus Scherwinski and Nick Roche)


Synopsis: Starscream charges up on the new Energon they'd discovered while his troops worry about facing Megatron. Elsewhere, Ratchet gets the three humans to safety and thanks them for their help--its time for them to step back and let the others deal with matters. Wheeljack, Jazz, Prowl, Sunstreaker and Ironhide travel to the Decepticon's current base while Bumblebee is already there and keeping tabs on what's going on. Megatron materializes and yells Starscream's name. Starscream dispatches Astrotrain, Runamuck, Runabout and Thundercracker to take him on... however, Megatron warns them they risks their lives going against him so they promptly stand down. Starscream emerges, disgusted at his warriors cowardice and attacks Megatron. The two duel while the Autobot team arrives and save Bumblebee when Runabout notices his presence. Megatron finishes off Starscream, blasting a large hole through him and takes his warriors back inside the base. He is informed of the Autobots presence but all he says to them is the words "phase two" before retreating. The Autobot team retreat to their Ark base under Lake Michigan, unaware a covert team of humans is watching them as they do. Below, the strike team talk and Prowl says its time to call in Optimus Prime, unaware he has already arrived...

Comments: So Infiltration ends and we await the direct continuation in Escalation #1. I'm not sure why IDW is taking this type of strategy, where one story is a series and then the next story starts back at issue one again. I would think that would be more confusing to the casual reader then to just continue on with issue seven. Oh well... As for the story itself, it was both what I was expecting as the pay off and simultaneously a bit of a letdown. Starscream gets his butt kicked which was cool but we know he will survive his damage and come back to scheme another day. In considering the entire six issues, I think there could've been more story although this still wasn't a bad tale overall--at least some stuff happened (unlike back during the Dreamwave days when we could go an entire series and have nothing at all happen!) I liked the human characters, who weren't annoying, and hope they continue to be in the story despite the fans who hate humans. I liked some of the gradual revealing of many of the story aspects as well. The artwork was consistent and fairly good all around. I also don't think the story was anything truly revolutionary but at least it was entertaining... in the future, I hope we get more Transformer and human characterization as well as some unexpected story twists.

Highly recommended.

Transformers Comic Review...

Transformers: Evolutions #1
Hearts of Steel, part one

Writer: Chuck Dixon
Artist: Guido Guidi

(Covers by Guido Guidi)

Synopsis: The story begins with two Transformers fighting on a distant world while their world begins to suffer severe weather. As they fight, native flora and fauna begin to die, going extinct from the cold. Eventually, over time, a group of the mechanoids retreat to the subterranean depths of their world and shut down, awaiting a time when surface conditions improve and they can once again return. Centuries pass then millennia then epochs... finally, one is awaken by a hammering sound far above him. It turns out the Transformer is Bumblebee and he decides to investigate before awakening Optimus Prime and the others. He emerges on the surface to find a forest and realizes they've been there a long time. Below him, he finds men working on a rail track for a locomotive. A large man, John Henry Irons, drives rail spikes into the new metal. Elsewhere, Mark Twain, Jules Verne and a ship's Captain watch the sea looking for something... just then, a man named Mr. Muldoon arrives in a large submersible vessel he calls a "submarine". The men are astonished by Muldoon's invention until it abruptly sinks into the ocean. The wreckage sinks to the ocean's floor and uncovers another mechanoid (possibly Skywarp). Muldoon is on the ship now and says he sunk all his money into his invention--he'll return home broke. Twain tells him Verne is quite taken with his idea--perhaps he will be able to help in some way. Verne looks thoughtful and agrees. Irons and his coworkers eat dinner and discuss life unaware that they are being observed by Bumblebee and others of his kind. They discuss this new creature, man, and his inventions--non-living machines! Bumblebee tells him he believes they've been down there a long time. Prowl says they should go dormant again, await a time until humankind has advanced more technologically. Ratchet says they should allow Optimus to remain offline and Prowl agrees, saying they'll wait another hundred years or so. However, Bumblebee has different ideas and has already moved closer to investigate. He's nearly seen but quickly transforms, becoming a likeness of a locomotive. Irons and his associate are baffled by the fact this locomotive appeared out of nowhere and has no driver's cab. Elsewhere, Muldoon dines with one of his investors and tells him what became of his submarine. He can't even pay for dinner anymore and has to wash dishes for the investor (who owns the hotel they're at). Later on, Muldoon walks among the docks and thinks aloud about what a failure he is. He is confronted by an inanimate voice around him and then Shockwave reveals himself, telling him he is there to reshape the future of Earth.

Comments: The first issue of IDW's new "Elseworlds" style series, written by comic book legend Chuck Dixon. An interesting tale and a good start, I think. I was surprised to see that Cybertron and Earth are one and the same in this story but it was a good twist--this time, the Transformers can't go back to their homeworld--the humans world is their world. I like the bizarre mechanical beast versions of the TFs in this story. Like Beast Wars in a way but more mechanical and sharp--almost like a line of dino knock-off toys. One strike against this tale is the formulaic need to include historical figures to somehow validate the era. Did this tale really need John Henry Irons, Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens or Jules Verne? I think not... we could just as easily have had some generic figures and still have the story work. The art is good as usual, Guidi delivers the goods. I look forward to reading more of this tale and hope it goes some unusual and interesting directions for the duration.

Rating: Recommended.

Transformers Comic Review...

Transformers Infiltration #5

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: EJ Su


(Covers by EJ Su, Andrew Wildman, Guido Guidi and Nick Roche)


Synopsis: Bumblebee asks Ratchet if he's alright (he was run over by Blitzwing last issue). Ratchet gets up and the two watch as the Decepticons continue bombing their former base. Bumblebee says they have to get the humans out before the base becomes their tomb! Inside the base, Jimmy's gotten to the cable they came down while Hunter is still on his way. Hunter hopes Verity is safe, wherever she is. Verity, meanwhile, has found Megatron in another chamber. He looks at her and she at him. He seems to turn back to what he is doing and she gets a shot of him on her camera (not sure if he doesn't see her or if he does but doesn't consider her a threat). Then, the chamber starts falling in on them and she runs away. Jimmy gets to the surface and convinces Hunter to come up as well--in case Verity needs to get up there in a hurry, he won't slow her down. Elsewhere, Astrotrain switches on a drilling machine of some sort while Starscream waits impatiently. Astrotrain tells him there's much more yield of ore here--all they need to do is take it. Starscream is gleeful--he can't wait for his medicine. In Nebraska, the Autobots show up and get the humans out as the base begins to collapse in on itself. Verity comes back just in time and they save her from being buried along with it all. Above them, Skywarp and Blitzwing watch the base collapse with satisfaction and as they start to withdraw, Megatron bursts up out of the ground. He takes out Skywarp in one shot. Ratchet, Bumblebee and the humans stop as they realize he is there on Earth. Blitzwing attacks Megatron but is also quickly subdued by him. Megatron hisses "Starscream" and moves off. Ratchet tells Bumblebee to return to base and he'll transmit all their collected data to Prowl and the others. Afterward, Ratchet transmits to Prowl and Ironhide, telling them that it appears the Decepticons found some kind of new super Energon/unclassified ore and moved to the new base in order to get more of it. In doing so, they engaged "siege mode" which broke protocol and Ironhide comments that Megatron's here to put his house in order. The trouble is, there's no telling how powerful his infiltration unit is and the Autobots are stuck in the middle.

Comments: Another excellent issue of Infiltration with one more issue still remaining of this arc (before it turns into Escalation). The story and art are consistently good. This issue revealed precisely what Starscream was up to and why he was defying Megatron openly... the picture comes clearly into focus now. From what I've seen, Prime should come along next issue... One minor complaint--no Raiz cover this issue (which sucks! I was buying all his covers and really liked them). Instead, I went with Su's Megatron cover (which part one of a split cover with next issue's).

Highly Recommended.

Transformers Comic Review... (belated)

Transformers Beast Wars #4
The Gathering


Format: Limited Series (part four of four)

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Don Figueroa

(Covers by James Raiz, Guido Guidi, Nick Roche and Don Figueroa)


Synopsis: Grimlock and Magmatron fight it out while the Maximals prepare to try and signal Cybertron elsewhere. Magmatron bests Grimlock, who falls to the ground offline. He plans to send the unconscious Megatron back to the future when Razorbeast reveals himself and challenges him. Elsewhere, Wolfang, B'Boom and the others are found and attacked by Ravage and his Predacon force. Wolfang tells the others to get out of the cave and keep the Predacons busy while he completes sending the message off. Razorbeast uses his chronal armband to phase in and out of time sync around Magmatron and keep him off-balance. Meanwhile, Ravage's Predacons herd the Maximals together and plan to finish them off when a bunch of Maximal reinforcements show up in the nick of time and attack them. As Magmatron is busy, Optimus Minor steals the time transponder thingy off Megatron, effectively removing him from being able to return to the future with Magmatron. Razorbeast knocks Magmatron into the time machine platform and he is sent back to the future and Cybertron alone. Elsewhere, the surviving Predacons retreat and the various Maximals compare notes. The transwarp signal was successfully sent but they don't know if it got through or not--and even if it did, how long it will take for them to be found. Two weeks go by and Razorbeast thinks how he could've removed Megatron as a threat permanently but chose not to. Prowl tells him he did the right thing ultimately...

Comments: A satisfactory ending to this mini-series. Honestly, I kind of wish we could've had a more engaging story with more on the line. This story was okay and a good introduction to IDW's Beast Wars continuity but not terribly satisfying on its own. The characterization was enjoyable as was the wonderful artwork. I hope the inevitable future stories will make some more interesting plots as they come. (I bought the Guidi cover, btw).

This issue is mildly recommended.
This series on a whole is mildly recommended.