Comic Review...

Transformers: All Hail Megatron #5

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artist: Guido Guidi and Casey Coller

(covers by Casey Coller and Trevor Hutchison)

Synopsis: Hot Rod recalls to the others how he and his team crashed on Cybertron. As he finishes, the rest of his team lead by Kup appear. On Earth, Sparkplug greets his son, Spike, and briefs him on a mission he's to undertake to somehow attack Megatron (the specifics are vague). Kup and Jazz briefly butt heads but Jazz shows him who da man (er, bot). He tells Kup he has something to show him... On Earth, Spike's team float down a river when Ratbat appears and apparently kills them all. Sparkplug is horrified that his son is dead... On Cybertron, Jazz shows Kup Optimus Prime's wounded body. He also tells Kup they have an Autobot traitor in their midst... we also discover that Megatron has stolen the Matrix from Prime! On Earth, Sparkplug laments the loss of his son. Elsewhere, in a river in New York, someone emerges from the depths (any guesses? :)


Comments: Another Autobot issue. Another mixed bag issue too... some parts of this were good--like when Springer challenges Jazz, who promptly kicks his butt! Hah! The human story actually got a tad bit more interesting--at least it's more personal when Sparkplug has to potentially sacrifice his son (even though I don't know why they had to be Sparkplug and Spike, when new characters could've taken the slots. It's not like we have to have them in every TF incarnation!) Megatron beat up Prime and stold his Matrix--how many times have they done this plot now? At least twice, for sure (remember the G2 comic? And Shockwave did it in the early Marvel ones too). Maybe Prime should store it in a vault or something? The Autobots have a traitor and there's this new character there called Drift (shown in Kup's group but not mentioned by name). Either it's the worst foreshadowing ever--or maybe he's intended to be a red herring? But I can see him being the traitor--the fans would be angry if it turned out to be Wheeljack (for example) so why not invent a new character then he can take the fall without any fans being too attached to him. Another plot thing here--the Autobots can interface with their ship's systems? Since when? It's a cool idea--and logical since they're machines too--but it seems to serve no real function here, other then being cool and science fiction-y. Kup sure recovered from his stretch on that planet where he was insane quickly, didn't he? (see Spotlight Kup). Despite some plot developments, this story still seems to be suffering from being stretched out too much for the content in it. This story, whatever it's ultimate conclusion, is clearly a six issue story (tops) and we're being forced to buy twelve issues instead so IDW can pad it out with unnecessary content.

I speculate that someone at IDW noticed Furman's comics weren't selling good enough and decided to use this story proposal as a springboard for a new direction/writer. What they failed to realize was that the readers are tired of long involved epic storylines not necessarily Furman himself. If I have to pay around $5 an issue (Canada) then I'd like something worth reading every month, not a "wait for it! We're getting there" piece of a puzzle. I like storylines too but I like them to go somewhere and IDW's stuff is just starting to annoy me. I want some real payoff, dammit!


Mildly recommended.

Comic Review...

Transformers Spotlight: Blurr

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artist: Casey Coller

(covers by Casey Coller, Trevor Hutchinson)

Synopsis: Blurr races against other Transformers and wins easily. His pit crew congratulate him and he heads to the Circle, a popular nightclub to celebrate. He is adored and worshipped by all because he is the best. He wants to race forever! An explosion destroys the race way and Blurr is told the racing is over. Blurr is incredulous but the explosion was an act of terrorism and it's too dangerous to leave the stadium open. Piston, one of Blurr's pit crew tells him he's going to join the Autobots because Cybertron is changing... Blurr finds that even the Circle is empty now. He goes to drink but is interrupted by Starscream who tries to recruit him to the Decepticons. Blurr drives somewhere and ends up right in the middle of a warzone. Ironhide drags him to safety where he finds Piston dead. The Decepticons have retreated and the Autobot commander, Optimus, tells him they (the Decepticons) are on their way to assassinate Zeta Prime. Optimus appeals to him to help them out--with his speed he can get to Zeta Prime and save him in time. Blurr decides to help them--he's found a new purpose in life.

Comments: An interesting one shot from McCarthy, the writer currently putting us through twelve issues of All Hail Megatron. Unlike that exercise in tedium, this story shows us he can write a simple satisfying story. Spotlight: Blurr is reasonably good. It does suffers from one flaw--Blurr's character has never been a egotistical jerk. In order for this tale to work, he has to be rewritten as one so that he can learn his lesson. Without it, the story wouldn't work... which is not to say I can't accept that change. Hey, maybe Blurr was a jerk way back when. Who knows? The cartoon and previous comics have never really given us much personality for him--beyond him being really, really fast. Another point of interest is that Blurr's been redesigned for this continuity--why that was necessary is anyone's guess. He already was a futuristic hovercar thing. Also, AHM has undone most of the redesigns anyway, so why this? Generally though, I thought it worked pretty well as a one-off spotlight issue. I only wish we could get a little bit more actual storytelling out of IDW instead of the far too many dragged out decompressed comic series they've been doing.

Recommended.

More MTMTE Goodies

More Transmasters More Than Meets The Eye:

Movie Real Gear Perceptor

From Transmasters Web Log

Movie Real Gear Power Up VT6

From Transmasters Web Log

Classics Astrotrain

From Transmasters Web Log

Classics Megatron

From Transmasters Web Log

Classics Mirage

From Transmasters Web Log

Classics Optimus Prime

From Transmasters Web Log

Classics Ramjet

From Transmasters Web Log

Classics Starscream

From Transmasters Web Log

Classics Ultra Magnus

From Transmasters Web Log

Well, that's about all I have for now. I goofed up on one of the TransBlunder spechs so I'll leave that group of 3 out until next time. I also want to have Classics Cliffjumper. So, I hope to shoot for a TM Mag entry for the end of this month that will include stuff for the holidays coming up too. Perhaps even move it to early December? Just a thought. Thanks.

Here's some stuff, hope you like

New Transmaster stuff:

Animated Safe Haloween

From Transmasters Web Log

Transmasters Animated Autobot MTMTE Template

From Transmasters Web Log

Transmasters Animated Decepticon MTMTE Template

From Transmasters Web Log

Movie Real Gear LongView MTMTE

From Transmasters Web Log

Movie Real Gear Meantime MTMTE

From Transmasters Web Log

Movie Real Gear Speed Dial 800 MTMTE

From Transmasters Web Log

Movie Real Gear Spy Shot 6 MTMTE

From Transmasters Web Log

Movie Real Gear Zoom Out 25x MTMTE

From Transmasters Web Log

Animated Pierre MTMTE

From Transmasters Web Log

Animated Scarab MTMTE

From Transmasters Web Log

Note: I actually came up with the idea of Scarab back in the Generation 2 days. But I felt that the idea of a Nemisis-Bee might not be one that most others wanted to see. I finally created this version because of all the Nemisis Primes we've seen recently and it just seemed like good fun. With the creation of the new Elite Guard Bumblebee I might even try to make a version of Scarab...only free time will tell. LOL.

Comic Review...

Transformers: All Hail Megatron #4

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artist: Guido Guidi

(covers by Trevor Hutchison and Guido Guidi)

Synopsis: The Decepticons have conquered Earth! Beaten it royally and made it their bitch! They are crushed, defeated and praying for relief. On Cybertron, the Autobots hide out where Ironhide and Prowl argue. Jazz stops Ironhide before he escalates a fist fight with Prowl... Ironhide leaves while Jazz and Prowl discuss their current predicament and how dire it truly is. Optimus is injured badly and every scrap of energon they have is being used to keep him alive. Somewhere nearby, Wheeljack and Bumblebee scout for energon. They realize someone is watching them so Wheeljack uses a signal system he rigged to signal reinforcements. Ironhide and Jazz have a character moment and then Ironhide heads out with Cliffjumper to go help Wheeljack and Bumblebee. Elsewhere, the humans hide in a burned out building and discuss survival. Sarah tells Bridge they need a leader and when he responds with pity she slaps him and tells him to be a man! On Cybertron, Ironhide and Cliffjumper ambush the mystery Transformer--who turns out to be Hot Rod! Hot Rod is glad to see them and says they must've received his message. The others will be pleased--they were shot down and now Ironhide and the others are here to rescue them! Ironhide and the other Autobots are shocked by this revelation.

Comments: Well, this was an interesting issue. Finally, we get to see what's going on with the Autobots. We get some good character moments--Ironhide is angry (at somebody), Jazz is keeping order and Prowl is Prowl. On Earth, the humans I don't know or really care about also get a little scene to shine in (just for once in a story when someone is slapped, I'd really love to see them smack the other person back). The art is also fairly nice... On the down side, though, we're still getting classic G1 designs in a world where everyone's supposed to be redesigned--yet Bumblebee retains his new look as does Ironhide (why are they special?) More importantly, it's still another issue where nothing really happens. We get hints someone betrayed the Autobots, allowing the Decepticons to win; hints that Jazz and Prowl are hiding something (possibly Prime's fate from the others but its not clear in the story). Apparently, the Decepticons have also conquered all of Earth somehow (even though all we've seen is them take Manhattan--or perhaps to show them take all of Earth would've required another thirty issues at the pace this series has been going?) I hate all of this new-fangled decompression in comics now. After four issues, I expect some real progression and we've gotten about two actual issues of content when you factor in the long drawn out fight scenes of the first three issues. The best issue of this series yet, which isn't really saying all that much.

Mildly recommended.


***
Not a Transformers comic per se, but given that it's Hasbro's other big action figure series and it's just starting up from IDW, I thought I'd give this a look here as well.


GIJOE #O

Writers: Chuck Dixon, Larry Hama, Mike Costa and Christos N. Gage
Artists: Robert Atkins, Tom Feister, Antonio Fuso

(covers by Robert Atkins and Chris Sotomayor, Jonboy Meyers)

Summary: This issue is composed of three short stories, each previewing one future GIJOE series from IDW. Chuck Dixon's story is called "One Word" and from the series GIJOE. Larry Hama's story is "In or Out" and previews GIJOE: Origins. The third is "Deep Cover" from GIJOE: Cobra by Mike Costa and Christos N. Gage.

One Word - The Joe team, lead by Duke, covertly attack a cargo ship in Istanbul. They take out the team stealthly but one enemy gets away and launches a Stinger missile at them. He misses but his strike destroys the ship's munitions and the ship with it. The Joes escape and interrogate a lone surviving enemy before he dies. Duke asks him for a lead on the supplier or the end user... the mercenary mumbles "Cobra" and then dies.

Comments: A good short story and a good start for a reboot series... I never read any of the Devil's Due comic (except the TF crossovers) but I know the prime title was a continuation of the Marvel series. I think it must've been quite a convoluted mess after a while. I much prefer starting at the beginning and going from there... don't care for the art style of this comic, though.

In or Out. Two men sit in a room. One is a wounded soldier and the other is a man in a military uniform. We learn the soldier was attacked in the Middle East and his convoy ruined by ambush. Rather then rolling over and dying, he got his gun and lead a counter attack. The military man offer him some posthumous medals and the soldier gets concerned that he's about to be shot. The military man--Hawk--tells him he's making him an offer but remains vague about just what he's offering. He assembles the gun and holds it up... the soldier thinks a moment then decides he's in. Hawk tells him his new name will be "Duke" and Duke asks him if he was going to shoot him if he opted out. Hawk gives him the gun and tells him "we're the good guys, Duke. Don't you ever forget that".

Comments: I liked this story overall although the art style isn't my cup of tea (it's distinctive, though. I have to give it credit for that). Not sure what to make of General Hawk's actions, though. I prefer the Hawk of old--his profile describes him as "somebody who would never ask his men to do something he himself wasn't prepared to do". It's a bit cliche but I like it. This new Hawk comes across as a bit more morally ambiguous. One last thing, it was clear who's story I was reading when I started it--dialogue like "...the hostiles hit your column with IEDS and then bracketed it with RPGS" and "They had intersecting fields of fire set up with 12.7 mike-mikes and a 40 mike-mike automatic GL". Nobody but Hama can write pseudo-military dialogue like that! :)

Deep Cover. A man walks down a street thinking about how he can't remember his name then thinks about all the covers he's had in the past few months. He meets with two former communists in a former Soviet country. He has delivered their shipment of Polonium-210 and now they've come to give him his reward. They whip out knives and go to kill him... He kills one and goes to take out the other but that man is shot by a sniper before he can. The newcomer introduces himself as a "friend" and the protagonist notes he has a back-up sniper on a building beyond them. The friend tells him to meet in a tavern tomorrow at a set location. He agrees, deciding that if the man wanted him dead then he'd already be dead. Later, he transmits a signal to the "bird's nest" and tells his superior (Hawk) that he's made contact with a new organization of some sort (Cobra, obviously). Hawk tells him he'll get more orders from his contact tomorrow and to maintain radio silence beyond that... Chuckles, as the protagonist calls himself, burns his U.S. passport and says "yo, Joe!"

Comments: Chuckles was always set-up as a double agent character but his appearances (in Marvel and the cartoon, at least) never really went with this idea. Glad to see someone's using it now... The story is okay for what it is and will likely launch pad to somewhere interesting in the series. I liked the art style in this story the best of the three--it's the most conventional but if it ain't broke, why fix it?

All three stories are pretty good. They're not revolutionary but they do what they set out to and entertain the reader. If you're a previous Joe fan, I say check it out and judge for yourself. Even if you aren't and you want something new to read, this title might be a good chance to see where IDW's Joe titles will be going.

Recommended.

TM Stuff

I know I haven't been very active in say...jeeze is it really a year again? Ouch. Well, I hope to improve soon on actually posting some materials. With this message are two images I had sketched out as an idea at first. Hope they look cool. I'd have posted more, but it looks like I did not scan most of the work that's been sitting around. Will try to do so tonight and post more when it's available. I've moved recently to Rancho Cordova, CA to be closer to work (gas and the time were killing me, not to mention I'm also attending University of Pheonix Online full time after my Bachelor's of Science-Information Systems/Visual Media).

Well here's at it:

Comic Review...

Transformers Spotlight: Sideswipe/Revelation, part 4

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: E.J. Su

(covers by E.J. Su and Nick Roche)


Synopsis: Sideswipe, Hound and their team attack two of the Dark Universe Transformers-- Straxus and Grindcore--on Earth. Hound and Fort Max secure the space bridge while Sideswipe charges fervantly into battle against their enemy. Elsewhere, the Pretenders are beamed aboard by the Technobots when their ship is destroyed. They are given their new Pretender shells and go out to confront Cyclonus. Jetfire jams control of Thunderwing, allowing the Autobots attacking him to reach his Nega-Core. Jhiaxus sends Bludgeon to take out Jetfire... Optimus Prime and Nemesis Prime fight and Optimus realizes his dark anti-matrix wants to pass to him--which is why Nemesis is so keen to kill him off. Nemesis rails and attack Optimus some more while Galvatron watches on from the shadows. On Earth, Fort Max, Hound and the others go through the space bridge to confront Monstructor (who is apparently attacking the Combaticons). Jhaixus can't use Bludgeon to finish off Jetfire as his mind is too preoccupied by trying to monitor everything all at once (I know the feeling!) Jetfire comments that his entire strategy is about to fall apart. The Autobots remove the Nega-cores and send them to the Dead Universe. Jhiaxus is stopped from acting when Arcee shows up and cuts his arm off. On Garrus-9, Galvatron shoots Nemesis Prime in the back, killing him. He falls into Optimus and the dark matrix goes into him instead, trying to assert its control. Galvatron tells him he can either sacrifice himself in the nearby solar pool or give the power over to him. Prime gives it to him and then grabs him and throws him into the solar pool, apparently destroying him in the process. The Nega-cores explode in the dead universe and close the rift behind the Pretenders just as they've finished escaping. On Gorlam Prime, Jhiaxus tries to escape but Hardhead (rising from the silver pool) stops him and Arcee finishes him off. In epilogue, Gorlam Prime has evolved into a Cybertron-like world, populated by new Transformers. Gorlam Prime is forgotten and they call the new world Cybertron! Jetfire laments the hard times that come and we see a hint that perhaps Galvatron survived...

Comments: The grand epic that opened IDW's Transformers has come to a close after three years. The artwork for this issue was painted frame by frame by E.J. Su and it looks fabulous. The story felt a bit rushed, though. Obviously, they shuffled off Revelation into the Spotlight series for some bizarre reason and this ending felt like we were lacking some details somewhere. What was the whole point of Gorlam Prime's evolution? I initially thought it had something to do with the Dead Universe but apparently not--and now Gorlam Prime is a new Cybertron? Huh? Will this be our new TFs home or just forgotten all together in the future? The anti-matrix energy Nemesis Prime has is not explained at all and even here felt like a cheap addition ("if Prime has a Matrix, this guy must have an evil matrix!" Um, okay...) For that matter, the Matrix has never been explained in IDW either so does it even exist (apparently it does) and, if so, what purpose does it serve here? This is an entirely new continuity so the writer shouldn't assume we all know what it does--he needs to make it clear. Doing anything less is just lazy writing. Also, this "Solar Pool" that Prime throws Galvatron into seemed rather conveniently placed there, didn't it? What the hell is that and why didn't they bother explaining it a little? That just bugged me a bit... Another serious problem with this whole story--we never do get what the Dead Universe is. Obviously, it's a "dead" universe but why is it dead? Why does it somehow support life or undead life/whatever the hell state those TFs existed in? Is it something related to Unicron (I hope not) or something else entirely? Is Furman trying to keep that unrevealed for some future story (and, if so, why? Can't anything ever just end--even in a serial comic series?) An okay resolution but it could've been better.

Mildly recommended.

Dutch B.O.T.S. video's online !

Finally, All 4 Youtube video's of the BOTS event dating 8th june 2008 are online.
I should mention that these are mostly in the dutch language but it does give an idea of how cool it was.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:
(featuring me at 01:40 timestamp in the jumpstarter challenge....)

Part 4:
(featuring me at 03:43 timestamp getting the prize for the jumpstarter challenge....)

Hope you like it,
Greetz Johan

Comic Review...

Transformers: All Hail Megatron #3

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artist: Guido Guidi

(covers by Guido Guidi and Trevor Hutchison)

Synopsis: Astrotrain attacks a subway station full of human survivors. Elsewhere, the humans discuss the situation and how the Decepticons have cut off Manhattan entirely, leaving it a great base to strike at Earth from. As well, how the Decepticons have easily decimated all the soldiers sent against them. Megatron watches the destruction around him and talks to Starscream, who has a heart to heart with him. Epilogue: Astrotrain attacks the fighter pilot as his train station assortment of humans flee for their lives.

Comments: An issue that almost has a story behind it. Almost. At least it's not a third issue with more fighting in it. We get a bit of character devel0pment in a nice scene between Megatron and Starscream. Megatron is also called a "sadistic, military genius" although I question whether his strategy in the story is really ingenius or not--why not just bombard the planet from orbit and be done with it? A decent story but not great... Next issue is supposd to see the return of the Autobots to the story (at long last!)

Mildly recommended.

Comic Review...

Transformers: All Hail Megatron #2

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artist: Guido Guidi

covers by Guido Guidi and Trevor Hutchison

Synopsis: The story starts off with a couple hosting a picnic at their home with several guests until a helicopter arrives to pick up the man--one Colonel Witwicky. He goes to the army base where's he informed that giant robots are attacking New York. Meanwhile, The Decepticons cause more chaos and mayhem. When confronted by army reinforcements, Soundwave uses Frenzy to drive them all mad with his powers and attack them. The entire force is wiped out. The Decepticons close off all the bridges and access to NY and use Devastator to attack the tunnels too.

Comments: Another near-pointless issue that serves only to introduce us to this new human character, Colonel Dan Witwicky. Otherwise, it's just more Decepticons vs. humans "action" which gets boring quick. There's a passing mention of the Machination which seems to confirm this is indeed the mainstream universe while still ignoring how everyone got into their current forms/returned from the dead, etc. Generally, a waste of time as stories go. Also, why is this story called "All Hail Megatron"? He hasn't really done anything to this point--certainly he's not the focus of the story. Perhaps they couldn't think of a better title? Maybe it'll get better as it goes?

Pass.



*****
Transformers Spotlight: Double Dealer/Revelation, part 3

Writer: Simon Furman
Artists: Dan Khanna, Frank Milkovich with Robert Atkins

covers by Nick Roche and EJ Su

Synopsis: Recent plot points are brought up, leading to the present where Dealer and Hot Rod discuss going to find the Magnificence (the thing from Spotlight: Hot Rod). The two travel back to Ki-Aleta where Hot Rod reminisces about the mission they were both on that went wrong and thinks how it still doesn't make any sense. Dealer reassures him that it wasn't his fault, etc and Hot Rod feels better. He leads Dealer to the Magnificence up on the peak where he hid it. Dealer tells him to ask it a question so he does--he asks it if Dealer betrayed them all those years ago. It replies "yes" so Hot Rod turns and shoots him just as Dealer is about to do the same. Dealer falls off the mountain to his demise. Meanwhile, Nemesis Prime comes to Garrus-9 where he and Optimus Prime confront one another. He uses some kind of Negative Energy he has to injure Optimus. He reaches out to finish the job... Hot Rod contacts Ultra Magnus and catches the other Autobots up to speed on just what is happening. Jetfire plans to try and override Thunderwing's mind control while Jhiaxus decides to utilize his reserve minion--Bludgeon--to help ensure his side wins.

Comments: A good issue and I was happy to see some resolution at this point. Hot Rod triumphs over Double Dealer and the Autobots finally get some definite answers. Of course, they'll have to lose the Magnificence or it will be too much of a deus ex machina every time they need intelligence in the story. I look forward to the final part.

Recommended.