WW 2009-08

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

The next strip will be an Soundwave centered piece.

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

Greetings,
Backbreaker.

WW 2009-07

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


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

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

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

Easter Surprise

Happy Easter to all !

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

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

Comic Review...

Transformers Spotlight: Drift

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artist: Casey Coller

(covers by Casey Coller and Guido Guidi)

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

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

Mildly recommended.

Comic Review...

Transformers: Maximum Dinobots #4

Writer: Simon Furman
Artists: Nick Roche and James Raiz

(covers by Nick Roche and Marcelo Matere)

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

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

Recommended.

Comic Review...

Transformers Spotlight:
Jazz

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

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

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

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

Recommended.

Comic Review...

Transformers: All Hail Megatron #9

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artists: Robert Deas and Emiliano Santalucia

(covers by Casey Coller and Trevor Hutchison)

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

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

Mildly recommended.

Hiatus until April 2009

...as the title implies I won't publish anything, Warlog or Otherwise until April 2009.
call it schedule hell......
-Johan

Comic Review...

Transformers: All Hail Megatron #8

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artist: Guido Guidi

(covers by Guido Guidi and Trevor Hutchison)

Summary: Flashback--Ratchet asks Sunstreaker how he is after being separated from Hunter. The other is unresponsive, lost in his own world. Now--Kup asks Ironhide what he was thinking, attacking Mirage like that. He tells him Mirage is not the traitor and tries to get through to him...They're interrupted as the Swarm has attacked their base and the others are outside fending them off. On Earth, Reflector destroys some humans while Starscream watches in disgust/fascination. He goes to the Insecticons and tells Bombshell he's sorry for Thundercracker's earlier behavior. He tells him they should talk (which means, a zany scheme to defeat Megatron is under way). Elsewhere, Perceptor and the others fight off the Swarm on the run. Perceptor shoots some explosives they'd rigged to slow the Swarm down. The Autobots reach a solitary bridge that when cut off will significantly slow down their pursuers. Perceptor is injured before he can destroy the bridge, leaving the others in a quandry. On Earth, Starscream tells someone off-panel that the time is now... On Cybertron, we learn Sunstreaker is willing to sacrifice himself to save the others. He tells Ironhide he is the traitor--he was willing to help Starscream take down Megatron, since Megs is such a monster. And he hates Earth and it's people (probably due to the Headmaster process). Just then, the Swarm shows up and attacks. Drift arrives and helps Ironhide get away while Sunstreaker sets off the explosives, destroying himself, the bridge and some of the Swarm. Later, Drift tells Ironhide that Sunstreaker couldn't have been the only spy--he simply couldn't have known all of the codes and such necessary. On Earth, Bombshell looks up at a machine. It contains Hunter O'Nion plugged into it!

Comments: Okay, I was wrong about Drift (which is good--that was too obvious anyway). Sunstreaker makes sense, all things considered. Even though he's technically dead, there were a million clones of him and Hunter is still alive, so... is he really dead? I wonder what Drift meant--was he referring to the element that Hunter represents or is there still another spy/somebody we haven't seen yet? I suspect the latter but we'll see... I also wonder if this was really all planned from the beginning or if they've been changing the story on the run. I'd initially heard this wasn't intended to be a mainstream continuity story but obviously it is. Was the initial idea different or was the story written and then altered later on to link up better with Furman's stuff? Not that it really matters, but... The art continues to be decent/good (this issue was all Guidi, thankfully. I hate it when more then one artist works on something, like with last issue).
Generally, I liked this issue and the story is improving immensely now that something is actually happening. Looking forward to next issue...

Recommended.

Comic Review...

Transformers: Maximum Dinobots #1

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Nick Roche

(covers by Nick Roche and Marcelo Matere)

Summary: The story catches us up on what has come before. Grimlock is stranded alone on Earth, his fellow Dinobots missing and his ship is damaged and unusable for the time being. He attempts to contact help--which will come, for a price. Meanwhile, Skywatch deploys the remaining "thunder lizard" units, believing the control problems they had with Grimlock and the Recordacons to be fixed now--little do they know Scorponok's minions have tricked them into playing right into their hands. Elsewhere, Sunstreaker and Hunter O'Nion have tracked down one Machination facility but come up empty. Sunstreaker is distraught that his real head is out there somewhere and under Scorponok's control. Hunter reassures him they'll find it and put things back to normal. Sunstreaker is repulsed by the idea of being a Headmaster while Hunter seems to be somewhat fascinated. Hot Rod tracks Scorponok to his base somehow but Scorponok knows he's there and is ready for him... Grimlock is attacked on a glacier (where his ship is) by a legion of multicolored Headmaster Sunstreakers. They attack his ship and he uses the distraction to take them on! Shortly after, one of them attaches a module to him and he is teleported away to Fallon, Nevada, where the other Dinobots are deployed to apprehend him.

Comments: One thing I can't fault Furman for here--stuff happens in this story, right off the bat. Compare this with the parallel series of All Hail Megatron, where the first five or so issues ran at a snail's pace (yeah, yeah. It works better in TPB format--so what? It should work as individual parts too). Thanks to AHM, we already know Sunstreaker is back to normal in the future which works against this story slightly. Roche's art is mostly pretty good--I don't care for his neo-Dinobot designs though. They just seem wrong to me. Once again, I'd just prefer the classic G1 designs and don't see why IDW must reinterpret everything (then ignore it in AHM anyway). The story is a good serial story so far. Furman is a classic style comic writer, doing an issue at a time of an overall arc, not this new-fangled crap of stretching out a threadbare story over multiple issues. I mean, it's not high art but it's entertaining and at least I didn't read this story and feel like I would've wasted my money buying it (I have a copy on the way too, so technically I did buy it).

Recommended.




***

(As previously stated, I've not seen this series in comic shops where I live, due to Diamond's screw-ups in sending adequate stock out. I do not have issue #2 but did luck out and find a sole issue of #3 at a comic store--finally).

Transformers: Maximum Dinobots #3

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Nick Roche

(covers by Nick Roche and Marcelo Matere)

Summary: Skywatch dispatches Shockwave to find the other units (the Dinobots and Recordacons respectively), intent on keeping him on a tight leash. He warns that he will still have more then enough time to cause lots of damage in the twenty four hours they've given him. The director of the operation and his subordinate look at each other worriedly. In Fallon, the Machination's clone Sunstreakers come to attack the Dinobots. The other Dinobots are tough and feel like Grimlock's abandoned them.... Swoop even starts to fly off. The Headmasters strike Grimlock then and eventually start wearing him down, prompting the other Dinobots to turn and aid him after all. Elsewhere, Scorponok watches along with the beaten Hot Rod... he tells him he wants to see all he's accomplished before he has Hot Rod put to death. Elsewhere again, Shockwave detects Soundwave's lifesigns and goes to investigate... the Dinobots are being hit with everything the Machination has at it's disposal. Just then, the Monsterbots show up and aid them. It turns out Grimlock called them for help--and they will help, in exchange for some price (which is not spelled out in the story). Elsewhere, Scorponok has tired of Hot Rod's insolence and orders him to be taken and executed. Once free of Scorponok, Hot Rod uses the last of his energy to take out his two Sunstreaker-clone sentries. He collapses and then Sunstreaker and Hunter arrive.

Comments: I've not read issue #2 so this is a bit jarring but it's not hard to figure out what happened in-between issues. The Dinobots fought, check. Hot Rod fought Scorponok and lost, check. This is very much a middle issue of the story with fights and plans and counter-plans... a typical Furman story, to be honest (which can be good or bad, depending on one's perspective). The art is consistently good (save for my complaints about how the Dinobots look). I do hope M.D. wraps itself up as much as possible and leads into the AHM-era without too much trouble (I know, I know. There's another series coming at some point to bridge the gap--but I meant wrap things up as much as reasonably possible, considering the overall continuity and such). I also forgot to mention that I like the multi-colored Sunstreaker clones--it helps distinguish them, of course, and may or may not be a Diaclone homage at the same time.
(I'm going a bit easy on this series because it was hard to find around here and I welcome another TF story fix in contrast to AHM, which I don't much care for).

Recommended.