HAPPY HOLIDAYS, ONE AND ALL!!! :)
Best wishes in the New Year!
Thunder
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
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 ....
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
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!
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!
Friday, December 09, 2011
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.
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 |
Monday, November 28, 2011
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?)
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.
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 |
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
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
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
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
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 4.1Conclusion: 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...
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Comic Review...
 |
| Cover "A" by Livio Ramondelli |
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.
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