Comic Review...

Transformers: Robots In Disguise #12

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


Summary:  THE RETURN! He's back and CYBERTRON will never be the same. Everything BUMBLEBEE and his AUTOBOTS have built teeters at the edge of collapse - and STARSCREAM has to make the choice his whole life has been leading to.


Comments:  Megatron is back! Tremble in fear! Our story begins as Megatron returns to civilization, where is greeted with a near-death when the Autobots mercilessly attack him. The Decepticons plead on his behalf so he gets thrown in a cell. And...that's it. Then there's a riot as the Decepticons survivors won't take it anymore and start to cause violence. Fortunately, Prowl is there--to arrest them. Lethal style, if need be.
   I don't really see the point in hyping up Megatron's return. He doesn't even do anything! What a waste of time! And then we get more of Prowl manipulating events behind the scenes so he can take down those evil Decepticons and maintain order. Twelve issues of Prowl arresting people and/or having them killed. Enough already! Try something new. Move the damn story along already! Prowl is acting like Hitler in this comic, seeming to want to annihilate the Decepticons completely so the Autobots can have peace and order on their world. If there's some actual point to it all, then I wish Barber would get on with it already. At this point in the series, it's just becoming repetitive (also, this is really ruining Prowl as a character for me. Yes, he's logical and strategic but this comic's turned him into the Autobot version of Shockwave).


Verdict:  Average. Needs to more the story along.

Cover "A" by Andrew Griffith

Comic Review...

Transformers Spotlight: Orion Pax

Writer: James Roberts
Artists: Steve Kurth (pencils), Juan Castro (ink)
(covers by Steve Kurth, Livio Ramondelli, Clayton Crane)


Summary:  BEFORE OPTIMUS PRIME—there was Orion Pax! Four million years ago, the future leader of the AUTOBOTS disappeared into the Cybertronian wilderness to save a friend. What happened next would take him to the very brink—and have startling repercussions on the current comics!


Comments:  Orion Pax gets a new body, temporarily, that resembles his G1 cartoon form and goes on a mission to rescue Ratchet from the Decepticons. He also gets strapped to a rocket and then escapes it before it hits Iacon and detonates. The end.
   I have to admit I have no idea what the point of this comic was. I get the impression it forms a larger story along with the forthcoming Thundercracker and Megatron spotlights. On its own, though, it's a largely irrelevant and unsatisfying. Like other Roberts comics, Rung gets a cameo and we also see Pax chumming around with Zeta Prime (the villain of Autocracy from earlier this year). Alphatrion also helps him out in the field. 
   The art by newcomer Steve Kurth is fairly good and tells the story visually quite well. It didn't blow my mind or anything but it's functional and that's all that really matters.

   My problem is that there's little characterization, heart or point to the tale. Roberts, of late, seems fixated on explaining all of Cybertron's prewar and early war history. He does it without any real story relevance in the bigger sense, though, and that ultimately makes it uninteresting. So what if Orion Pax did this or that? Did it ultimately affect him as a character? Did it make him the Autobot he is today? Does it relate to the greater story of More Then Meets The Eye? If not, why should the reader really care?


Verdict: Pass. A waste of time and money.

Cover "B" by Livio Ramondelli

Comic Review...

Transformers: Regeneration One #86

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Andrew Wildman
(covers by Andrew Wildman, Guido Guidi, Geoff Senior)


Summary:  DARK REIGN! The fallout from the devastation on Earth ripples outwards, all the way to Nebulos, where GRIMLOCK faces his own darkest demons and a fateful choice that may cost him his very Spark. The dark reign of SCORPONOK begins here, and nothing will ever be the same again! 

Comments:  To be honest, when this series was announced I had zero interest in what happened to the Headmasters' original heads on Nebulos (I had assumed they'd been disassembled and turned into the binary armor the Nebulans used). I am pleased to say I was wrong--the whole Scorponok sub-plot is beginning to take center stage now and I'm eager to find out what happens next. Now that the "Loose Ends" arc is over I want to get on to the meat of the story and this is clearly part of it. Will Grimlock change sides or is he playing Scorponok? Is Scorpy smart enough to know it? 
   And what is going on with the other Decepticons and Thunderwing's remains? (We find now that they possess some residual Matrix energy. Does that mean new Decepticon warriors? Or is something more sinister in store for our heroes).
   Bring on the next issue IDW!


Verdict:  Excellent.

Cover "A" by Andrew Wildman

 

Cover "B" by Guido Guidi

Retailer Incentive cover by Geoff Senior

 

Comic Review...

Transformers: Regeneration One #85 

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Andrew Wildman
(covers by Andrew Wildman, Guido Guidi, Geoff Senior)



Summary:  ONE WILL FALL! As the first Regeneration One arc concludes, two Transformers legends clash-for the last time! This one’s so packed with triumph, tragedy and everything in between, we can’t say much more. If you’re a fan of titanic, all-out action, this is the one for you. If you’re of a sensitive disposition-look away now!



Comments:  This issue saw the resolution of the Earth storyline and I was kind of glad it got wrapped up with the finality it did. Unfortunately two of the covers really blew an important plot point but oh well. There was really only so many ways this could've wrapped up anyway.
   I didn't really feel like I needed to have Megatron, Ratchet and the Ark's fate revisited in this continuation since the original series did a fairly good job of wrapping it off. Still, Furman did a fairly good job of squeezing some mileage out of it all despite it. I also still wonder if we'll ever see Shockwave again or if he's going to get shorted from the series (it seems like everyone else made it when the ship crashed).
   The story is still entertaining overall. Unlike the other two titles, I don't feel so much like they're taking a threadbare concept and stretching it out far too much. It doesn't quite match up with the story compaction the old comic had but enough still happens to make it feel like each issue is reasonably satisfying on its own merits. The art is also still fairly good overall.

Verdict:  Excellent.  

Cover "A" by Andrew Wildman

Cover "B" by Guido Guidi

 
 

Retailer Incentive cover by Geoff Senior

It's time!

At long last, Transmasters Magazine, Fall 2012 edition is up and ready! Comments and feedback are always welcome! :)


http://transmasters.angelfire.com/tmmag/issue16/index1.html

(Due to time constraints, I had to forgo doing a TF video game review of the Prime video game this time around. I also ran out of time to get the next part of Crimson Destiny done up. Both will definitely be in the next issue however).


- Thunder

Transmasters Magazine Fall issue submission call!

The Fall 2012 Issue of Transmasters Magazine is in the works! Submissions (art, stories, articles, etc.) are always welcome. I hope to have the issue ready by about November 15th (roughly). As always, submissions can be sent to tkphoton at hotmail.com

Comic Review...

Transformers: Regeneration One #84

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Andrew Wildman
(covers by Andrew Wildman, Guido Guidi and Geoff Senior)


Summary: LAST STAND! Things go from bad to worse as MEGATRON tightens his remorseless grip on planet Earth. Can the Wreckers save Kup? Can they reach the Ark in time? The odds have never been more stacked against them. But you know what they say: 'when all hope is gone...' And what exactly is up with Starscream?

Comments:  The Wreckers execute their two-pronged plan. Springer, Sandstorm and Whirl provide the distraction and try to reach Kup while the others aid the Humans in their attempt to get to the Ark and shut its defenses down. Elsewhere, Hot Rod has a vision and worries about the future to come. Blurr rushes in and tells him Soundwave has attacked and is after Thunderwing's remains! Springer is shot down Starscream (who is not as zombified as he seems. A part of his brain is trying desperately to get through the inhibitor Megatron put on him). He manages to communicate to Springer that he should "kill Ratchet". Optimus and his Autobots show up then and confront Megatron.
   It's obvious that Megatron and Ratchet still share their psychic bond. If one dies, the other one likely will as well. I'm thinking this will happen next issue (I guess we'll see). A decent issue so far and it seems like stuff is actually happening (still waiting to see when they pick up the Grimlock thread again). This issue was better in some respects in that it wasn't setting up quite as much as it was moving stuff along instead.
  
Verdict:  Good.

Cover "A" by Andrew Wildman

Cover "B" by Guido Guidi

RI Cover by Geoff Senior

Comic Review...

Cover "A" by Alex Milne

Transformers: More Then Meets The Eye #9

Writer: James Roberts
Artist: Alex Milne

(covers by Alex Milne and Nick Roche)


Summary:  SHADOWPLAY begins here! One AUTOBOT connects the crew of the Lost Light with pre-war CYBERTRON and the rise of the DECEPTICONs. His name? OPTIMUS PRIME. The past and the present collide as Rewind begins telling his crew mates the most shocking story of all!

Comments:  Basically, a flashback story that the crew of the Lost Light tell in an attempt to get Rung's cerebral circuitry functional again (he has a head once more). The story involves a younger Orion Pax discovering a drugged out Drift (before he was Drift) and taking him to Ratchet. Later, Ratchet and Pax go to speak to his Senator friend. Meanwhile, Prowl and Chromedome investigate the death of a Senator. In the present, Red Alert's headless body (is he dead?) is retrieved and Rodimus believes it the work of Cyclonus.
   The bulk of this issue is the flashback. Unfortunately, we don't really learn all that much about where it's going, just set-up for the next issue. Also, we don't know why Rodimus expects Cyclonus of being behind Red Alert's apparent demise. Is he truly to blame or is it somebody else entirely?

Verdict: Average. Needed a bit more to be truly entertaining.

Comic Review...

Transformers: Robots In Disguise Annual 2012

Writer: John Barber
Artist: Brendan Cahill
(covers by Tim Seeley and Andrew Griffith)



Summary:  CRASHING DOWN! The mysterious Metrotitan from last month's More Than Meets the Eye Annual arrives on CYBERTRON-smashing into the ruins of the legendary Crystal City! Starscream and Prowl begin a battle of wills over the fate of this behemoth-and the outcome will shock you!

Comments:  The Metrotitan from the MTMTE Annual arrives on Cybertron, materializing beneath its surface, where the remains of Crystal City are. Much of the issue is a flashback, explaining Nova Prime's involvement with the rising of the Crystal City centuries before. How he tried to manipulate Omega Supreme and how Omega showed Dai Atlas the Metrotitan and allowed them (Dai Atlas and his followers) to use it to travel to a new world and start anew.
   Barber, as usual, does a great job weaving his and Roberts stories into a coherent tale as well as adding in older IDW elements such as Nova Prime, Omega Supreme and the Drift origin stuff. I think it was kind of unfortunate that the Metrotitan blows up in the end but the revelation about Starscream does set up some interesting things for the future.
   The old school Marvel style flashback art/coloring was a neat gimmick. The other Annual used it slightly but this one did it much more extensively and it invoked memories of the first Marvel mini-series.



Verdict:  Good.

Cover "A by Tim Seeley

Comic Review...

Transformers: More Then Meets The Eye Annual 2012

Writer: James Roberts
Artists: Jimbo Salgado, Emil Cabaltierra and Guido Guidi
(covers by Tim Seely and Alex Milne)


Summary:  THE ORIGIN OF THE KNIGHTS OF CYBERTRON! Rodimus and the crew of the Lost Light finally reach Crystal City, home to the mysterious Circle of Light. But what they find waiting for them is going to change everything-and not necessarily for the better!


Comments:  It's a long and involved tale but a couple of the highlights of this story were the crew of the Lost Light finding a Metrotitan underneath Crystal City (colored, naturally, like the Metrotitan toy from Japan). I also appreciated Roberts doing something different and trying a new origin for Primus and the Transformers. That was the sort of thing I'd initially been hoping for when Furman first started doing TF comics for IDW. Take an old concept and try some new spins on them. For a long time, too many of the various writers struck to the established canon and I'm glad he took a chance and went in a new direction here (I also noticed he kind of glossed over whether or not Unicron exists in this continuity).
   I'd not heard of Salgado or Cabaltierra before but their art seemed fairly competent to me. I hadn't really noticed the retro coloring style in the flashback until the RID counterpart used it more extensively (then it became much more obvious).

   A fairly good story overall.


Verdict:  Good.

Cover "A" by Tim Seely