Hopefully, if there are no problems with this host I'll get the mags and comics all placed there soon. But for now here is:
http://transmasters.batcave.net/02/index.html
Issue 2 of the comic. Very late and I appologize.
Hope you like it.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Monday, April 24, 2006
Transformers Comic Review... (slightly belated)
Transformers Infiltration #4
Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: EJ Su
(Covers by James Raiz, EJ Su, Andrew Wildman and Guido Guidi)
Synopsis: The issue starts with a flashback to Verity's youth, a scant three years ago and a social worker who psycho-analyses her. Cut to now, and Verity is the first being lowered down into a dark pit where the Decepticon base is. Above, Hunter and Jimmy watch then follow after her. The three set up a flare and then go off in three different directions, searching for evidence of the Decepticons ultimate plan--each has a hand scanner to pick up data for Ratchet to analyze later. Elsewhere a mysterious group, the Machination, speak of the recent loss of their operative (from issue one) and how he left them a homing beacon to follow in the event of his death...a new operative, Drake, is called in to pick up where he left off. Back at the former Decepticon base, the humans continue investigating and Verity finds a dead human body in a tube of some kind. She freaks out for a moment but then composes herself and acts like nothing is wrong (because she's such a tough cookie and all). Outside, Ratchet and Bumblebee are attacked by Skywarp and Blitzwing just then. Ratchet deduces they're there to destroy the base and tells the humans to get out ASAP. The two men are agreeable but Verity finds one more area she wants to check out first. Bumblebee takes on Skywarp and manages to damage him. Ratchet attacks Blitzwing but he retaliates and apparently incapacitates Ratchet. Inside the base, Verity has found another room and hears someone talking... the speaker is present in the room--it is Megatron!
Comments: Although my synopsis doesn't really cover it, Verity's toughness is a recurrent theme throughout the issue. It starts with the social worker who says she thinks Verity's toughness is all an act. We see this is true when Verity finds the body and freaks out. Afterward, when she finds Megatron, the look on her face betrays her true fear. I applaud Furman actually trying to make an attempt to develop some of the humans in the story--it's been too long since someone made the effort (Dreamwave just had people in their stories but didn't seem to really care about them). I do hope we get a lot more character development--both on the human and TF sides of things. The art continues to be very good (if you like that style anyway). I have a feeling that Decepticon hologram avatars have infiltrated Earth's government/business structure. The conversation with the Machination has only one guy speaking and all the other "humans" are silent. Are these people truly humans or holograms? (I may be reading too much into this, though. Perhaps they are human and Furman just had no lines for them?) I loved that Bumblebee took on Skywarp and emerged victorious (or apparently victorious). It's about time B.B. got to do something useful instead of just getting captured or something... I also like Megatron's new half G1/half War Within appearance. It will be interesting to see exactly what he changes into (I'm guessing a tank of some sort).
Distribution continues to be a bit of a problem where I live. I only found one copy of the comic when it came out and that was the Guidi cover, which I didn't like at all... I finally hunted down the Raiz cover (best of the bunch, as usual) at another shop. I don't think shops are ordering enough of these comics and that's not a good sign.
Highly Recommended.
Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: EJ Su
(Covers by James Raiz, EJ Su, Andrew Wildman and Guido Guidi)
Synopsis: The issue starts with a flashback to Verity's youth, a scant three years ago and a social worker who psycho-analyses her. Cut to now, and Verity is the first being lowered down into a dark pit where the Decepticon base is. Above, Hunter and Jimmy watch then follow after her. The three set up a flare and then go off in three different directions, searching for evidence of the Decepticons ultimate plan--each has a hand scanner to pick up data for Ratchet to analyze later. Elsewhere a mysterious group, the Machination, speak of the recent loss of their operative (from issue one) and how he left them a homing beacon to follow in the event of his death...a new operative, Drake, is called in to pick up where he left off. Back at the former Decepticon base, the humans continue investigating and Verity finds a dead human body in a tube of some kind. She freaks out for a moment but then composes herself and acts like nothing is wrong (because she's such a tough cookie and all). Outside, Ratchet and Bumblebee are attacked by Skywarp and Blitzwing just then. Ratchet deduces they're there to destroy the base and tells the humans to get out ASAP. The two men are agreeable but Verity finds one more area she wants to check out first. Bumblebee takes on Skywarp and manages to damage him. Ratchet attacks Blitzwing but he retaliates and apparently incapacitates Ratchet. Inside the base, Verity has found another room and hears someone talking... the speaker is present in the room--it is Megatron!
Comments: Although my synopsis doesn't really cover it, Verity's toughness is a recurrent theme throughout the issue. It starts with the social worker who says she thinks Verity's toughness is all an act. We see this is true when Verity finds the body and freaks out. Afterward, when she finds Megatron, the look on her face betrays her true fear. I applaud Furman actually trying to make an attempt to develop some of the humans in the story--it's been too long since someone made the effort (Dreamwave just had people in their stories but didn't seem to really care about them). I do hope we get a lot more character development--both on the human and TF sides of things. The art continues to be very good (if you like that style anyway). I have a feeling that Decepticon hologram avatars have infiltrated Earth's government/business structure. The conversation with the Machination has only one guy speaking and all the other "humans" are silent. Are these people truly humans or holograms? (I may be reading too much into this, though. Perhaps they are human and Furman just had no lines for them?) I loved that Bumblebee took on Skywarp and emerged victorious (or apparently victorious). It's about time B.B. got to do something useful instead of just getting captured or something... I also like Megatron's new half G1/half War Within appearance. It will be interesting to see exactly what he changes into (I'm guessing a tank of some sort).
Distribution continues to be a bit of a problem where I live. I only found one copy of the comic when it came out and that was the Guidi cover, which I didn't like at all... I finally hunted down the Raiz cover (best of the bunch, as usual) at another shop. I don't think shops are ordering enough of these comics and that's not a good sign.
Highly Recommended.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Comics And Mag up again
For right now both the past issues of the Comic and The Magazine are both online again. The host I wanted has decided to do an upgrade to their server (2 days after I made the account there) and so another delay. So, I'm moving these to my fortunecity account for now:
Comic:
Issue 1/2
Issue 1
Magazine:
Issue 1
Issue 2 of the comic is real close to being done....really. I know I promised to get it done this weekend...but it was cut shorter than I thought by a 12 hr shift. I'm coloring as fast as I can.
Thanks.
Comic:
Issue 1/2
Issue 1
Magazine:
Issue 1
Issue 2 of the comic is real close to being done....really. I know I promised to get it done this weekend...but it was cut shorter than I thought by a 12 hr shift. I'm coloring as fast as I can.
Thanks.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Happy Easter !!!!!!!
Hi everybody !
I just wanted to say Happy Easter!!! Pleasant holidays and lookout for those eggs. you may never know what's inside them ..... :)
greetings from Johan Piest.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Transformers Comic Review...
Transformers Beast Wars #3
The Gathering
Format: Limited Series (part three of four)
Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Don Figueroa
(Covers by James Raiz, Guido Guidi, Nick Roche and Don Figueroa)
Synopsis: Razorbeast and his team enter the Ark, moving right past Optimal Optimus, Cheetor and Rhinox without their noticing (Razorbeast and co. are still out of time phase). Elsewhere, Transquito leads a team into a swamp to locate some more reactivated protoforms. There, they are attacked by the BW Mutants (Soundwave, Icebird and Poison Bite) and Icebird warns them off. The survivors flee (Retrax and Transquito are apparently killed and Powerpinch is injured--apparently left to fend for himself). Elsewhere, Magmatron resurrects Ravage (in Tripredacus Agent's form). Back to Razorbeast and his team on the Ark who find equipment he figures they can use to activate the transwarp signal booster to work long enough to signal Cybertron. Snarl has activated a Maximal probe and observes Magmatron's Predacons moving toward Megatron's base. Magmatron and his warriors attack Megatron and subdue him then take him out of time-phase with them (before Inferno and Quickstrike come to the rescue). Razorbeast tells his men that Magmatron means to bring Megatron back with him to Cybertron to make the Tripredacus Council happy--this can work to distract them while he lays the groudwork for his coup. He orders Bonecrusher and Snarl back to base with the equipment they took while he and Optimus Minor go to try and stop Magmatron from leaving this time period. To their east, Ravage orders five Predacons at his command to search out Razorbeast's encampment and report it's location back to him--he'll do the rest. At the encampment, Ramulus, Wolfang and B'Boom wait and worry, unaware of the lurking danger. Magmatron and his team put Megatron in place, readying him for the journey back to Cybertron while Razorbeast and Optimus Minor watch them from a hiding place. Razorbeast plans to do something and tells him they'll need a distraction... just then, an intruder encroaches on Magamtron and the
group--it's Grimlock!
Comments: Whew! I was worried for a moment there that Furman might not get his favorite Transformer of all time snuck into the story somehow but it seems I was worried for naught. Here's Grimlock! The way this guy talks, he certainly seems like the classic G1 character (although whether he is or not is uncertain until next issue). Otherwise, I have to say I love Wolfang's face/head design! It, like Razorbeast's head, is really distinctive looking (and cool!) This issue was interesting and lots happened in it but I do worry that this mini-series won't resolve much ultimately. We all know Megatron can't go back to Cybertron (and certainly won't) so there's no real drama there. I also get the feeling Furman was setting up some future tale with the Mutants (or just accounting for them--but that seems like a waste of time to me). I do hope the Mutants get a future tale--their one comic tale so far (in the Botcon Wreckers comic) was terrible--they got killed in one issue, relegated to death off-camera and never got to actually do anything! Er, yeah... anyway. As to the main story... will Magmatron ultimately be defeated? And, if so, what will the follow-up comics do with the Beast Wars? Or will we have to suffer the "you beat me--THIS time!" scenario and look forward to multiple attempts on his part to undermine the timeline.
All in all, a good issue...
(My comic shop had only two copies left. One of the Figueroa cover and one of the Guidi cover--I went with the Guidi one. I liked it slightly better).
Mildly Recommended.
The Gathering
Format: Limited Series (part three of four)
Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Don Figueroa
(Covers by James Raiz, Guido Guidi, Nick Roche and Don Figueroa)
Synopsis: Razorbeast and his team enter the Ark, moving right past Optimal Optimus, Cheetor and Rhinox without their noticing (Razorbeast and co. are still out of time phase). Elsewhere, Transquito leads a team into a swamp to locate some more reactivated protoforms. There, they are attacked by the BW Mutants (Soundwave, Icebird and Poison Bite) and Icebird warns them off. The survivors flee (Retrax and Transquito are apparently killed and Powerpinch is injured--apparently left to fend for himself). Elsewhere, Magmatron resurrects Ravage (in Tripredacus Agent's form). Back to Razorbeast and his team on the Ark who find equipment he figures they can use to activate the transwarp signal booster to work long enough to signal Cybertron. Snarl has activated a Maximal probe and observes Magmatron's Predacons moving toward Megatron's base. Magmatron and his warriors attack Megatron and subdue him then take him out of time-phase with them (before Inferno and Quickstrike come to the rescue). Razorbeast tells his men that Magmatron means to bring Megatron back with him to Cybertron to make the Tripredacus Council happy--this can work to distract them while he lays the groudwork for his coup. He orders Bonecrusher and Snarl back to base with the equipment they took while he and Optimus Minor go to try and stop Magmatron from leaving this time period. To their east, Ravage orders five Predacons at his command to search out Razorbeast's encampment and report it's location back to him--he'll do the rest. At the encampment, Ramulus, Wolfang and B'Boom wait and worry, unaware of the lurking danger. Magmatron and his team put Megatron in place, readying him for the journey back to Cybertron while Razorbeast and Optimus Minor watch them from a hiding place. Razorbeast plans to do something and tells him they'll need a distraction... just then, an intruder encroaches on Magamtron and the
group--it's Grimlock!
Comments: Whew! I was worried for a moment there that Furman might not get his favorite Transformer of all time snuck into the story somehow but it seems I was worried for naught. Here's Grimlock! The way this guy talks, he certainly seems like the classic G1 character (although whether he is or not is uncertain until next issue). Otherwise, I have to say I love Wolfang's face/head design! It, like Razorbeast's head, is really distinctive looking (and cool!) This issue was interesting and lots happened in it but I do worry that this mini-series won't resolve much ultimately. We all know Megatron can't go back to Cybertron (and certainly won't) so there's no real drama there. I also get the feeling Furman was setting up some future tale with the Mutants (or just accounting for them--but that seems like a waste of time to me). I do hope the Mutants get a future tale--their one comic tale so far (in the Botcon Wreckers comic) was terrible--they got killed in one issue, relegated to death off-camera and never got to actually do anything! Er, yeah... anyway. As to the main story... will Magmatron ultimately be defeated? And, if so, what will the follow-up comics do with the Beast Wars? Or will we have to suffer the "you beat me--THIS time!" scenario and look forward to multiple attempts on his part to undermine the timeline.
All in all, a good issue...
(My comic shop had only two copies left. One of the Figueroa cover and one of the Guidi cover--I went with the Guidi one. I liked it slightly better).
Mildly Recommended.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
TransMasters Comic
I appologize to you all for the lateness of issue 2. I've been busier than normal with most free time ending up in my car. Don't worry, I will get it completed hopefully within the week. I've set up a new web host so I also hope to bring both the mag and comics back into view by all. Tekcities hasn't been up more than they've been down so we're switching off from that account. The new issue will feature some great work by Johan "Backbreaker" Piest as well as loads more of my crazy stuff.
Thanks for your patience.
Thanks for your patience.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Transformers Comic Review...
Amazing Fantasy #19
"Death's Head 3.0 - Unnatural Selection" (Part four of five)
Format: Ongoing (multi-issue story arc)
Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Shannon Gallant
(Cover Art by Lucio Parrillo)
Synopsis: The story starts off with Ray Hidalgo rushing to hide in a church. He starts to do something with a welding torch when Death's Head bursts in on him. The rest of the story flashes back six hours where Agent Braccia is concerned that he hasn't checked in with her. She asks his colleague, Ms. Breski, about him but she doesn't seem too concerned since they're all busy with the upcoming treaty. Elsewhere, Ray has used AIM's computer to figure out exactly what Goddard is up to and tries to send an email to warn someone about it. Goddard has shut down the comm systems that reach out of the base however, so he sends it somewhere else. Breski shows up then and tells him his mother is ill...he saves what he's found to disk and rushes off with her. Later on, we learn his mother has been dead for years and Agent Braccia had used Breski to get him out of there, fearing he was in trouble. He tells her he knows everything and she tells him to meet her at the Madrid safehouse for extraction. Elsewhere, Hub Controller Avi Flint (the guy in charge of AIM's eurobase) recieves Ray's email and reads it. He goes with others down to confront Goddard. She surprises them however when she emerges from her high tech iron lung and tells them her nanotech has regenerated her to the point she no longer needs it. She kills them... Elsewhere, Hidalgo's car is attacked by Death's Head and he escapes from it's flaming wreckage while his driver/bodyguard tries futilely to stop DH. Hidalgo steals an old mo-ped and makes some distance on Death's Head, but the android shoots his bike, forcing him to flee as best he can on foot, injured. Agent Braccia and GEIST show up at the church Hidalgo took refuge in and find they're too late--he's already dead!
Comments: The action really heated up in this part, which was something I appreciated since the first three parts were all set-up. Hidalgo's dead. It looks like I was right about that happening in my last review (he wasn't essential to the story). The art this time was by someone new (James Raiz did the first three parts) and I didn't like their style as much--it wasn't terrible per se, but different from the other parts (I hate it when they switch artists in a short enclosed story like this). The new artist is less for details in the frames then Raiz was and it's annoying. Otherwise, the story was pretty interesting and I look forward to the finale in part five. Will Death's Head go through with the assassination? Will Goddard get what she wants or what's coming to her? I suspect DH will be able to overcome his programming in time... also, Hidalgo was doing something with a welding torch--I have a feeling this may play into events in part five (something that happened which hasn't been revealed as of yet).
Recommended.
Transformers Comic Review...
Transformers Generations #1
Writer: Bob Budiansky
Artist: William Johnson, Kyle Baker
(New Covers: Ashley Wood, Nick Roche)
Synopsis: This is the premiere issue of Generations, a "new" comic that reprints the classic Marvel comics in a new edition with new covers. This first one reprints Issue #7 of the original Marvel U.S. comic, titled Warrior School! If you need a memory refresher, the story chronicles Ratchet as he ponders what to do now that all the other Autobots are incapacitated while Shockwave and his Decepticons are roaming free, large and in charge. Ratchet returns to the Ark to assess the situation for himself where he encounters Megatron. The Decepticon plans to eliminate him but Ratchet realizes he has lost control of the Decepticons to Shockwave and convinces him to let him go so that he can go find the Dinobots and reactivate them--they can take out Shockwave. Megatron decides to do just that...
Comments: A nice walk down memory lane... of all the TF comics that have gone before, I loved the Marvel series (odd bad issue not withstanding) so this is kinda neat. Of course, we all had access to the TPB collections of the original comics in recent years so anyone that really wanted them likely got them already. Still, this series introduces new readers to the classic stories for cheap (which is always a plus). It's a shame they couldn't start at the beginning and go in order, but since some of the earlier issues involves stuff like Spiderman showing up, they couldn't print that (since Hasbro owns the TFs and stories but not Marvel's stuff). On that note, how come they can reprint this issue when it clearly mentions The Savage Land (i.e. a Marvel thing)? Or did they figure Marvel wouldn't notice/care? (maybe they didn't even notice the reference themselves?) Next issue jumps ahead to reprint issue #13 of the Marvel comic--the one where Megatron is damaged and found by a two-bit thug that uses him for his own agenda.
A typo found in this issue: Ratchet tells Megatron (on page 20) "Help you... defend Shockwave!" Obviously, he meant "Defeat Shockwave". I never caught that until now, but I'm pretty sure it's a mistake from the original comic (IDW just scanned and reprinted this as far as I know).
All in all, you'd only need this comic if you haven't already seen the original comic. If you own either the original or TPB version, skip it (unless you want the nice new cover art--I got Ashley Wood's painted cover. I liked Nick's cover too, but didn't want to spend money on two copies).
Writer: Bob Budiansky
Artist: William Johnson, Kyle Baker
(New Covers: Ashley Wood, Nick Roche)
Synopsis: This is the premiere issue of Generations, a "new" comic that reprints the classic Marvel comics in a new edition with new covers. This first one reprints Issue #7 of the original Marvel U.S. comic, titled Warrior School! If you need a memory refresher, the story chronicles Ratchet as he ponders what to do now that all the other Autobots are incapacitated while Shockwave and his Decepticons are roaming free, large and in charge. Ratchet returns to the Ark to assess the situation for himself where he encounters Megatron. The Decepticon plans to eliminate him but Ratchet realizes he has lost control of the Decepticons to Shockwave and convinces him to let him go so that he can go find the Dinobots and reactivate them--they can take out Shockwave. Megatron decides to do just that...
Comments: A nice walk down memory lane... of all the TF comics that have gone before, I loved the Marvel series (odd bad issue not withstanding) so this is kinda neat. Of course, we all had access to the TPB collections of the original comics in recent years so anyone that really wanted them likely got them already. Still, this series introduces new readers to the classic stories for cheap (which is always a plus). It's a shame they couldn't start at the beginning and go in order, but since some of the earlier issues involves stuff like Spiderman showing up, they couldn't print that (since Hasbro owns the TFs and stories but not Marvel's stuff). On that note, how come they can reprint this issue when it clearly mentions The Savage Land (i.e. a Marvel thing)? Or did they figure Marvel wouldn't notice/care? (maybe they didn't even notice the reference themselves?) Next issue jumps ahead to reprint issue #13 of the Marvel comic--the one where Megatron is damaged and found by a two-bit thug that uses him for his own agenda.
A typo found in this issue: Ratchet tells Megatron (on page 20) "Help you... defend Shockwave!" Obviously, he meant "Defeat Shockwave". I never caught that until now, but I'm pretty sure it's a mistake from the original comic (IDW just scanned and reprinted this as far as I know).
All in all, you'd only need this comic if you haven't already seen the original comic. If you own either the original or TPB version, skip it (unless you want the nice new cover art--I got Ashley Wood's painted cover. I liked Nick's cover too, but didn't want to spend money on two copies).
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Transformers Comic Review...
Transformers Beast Wars #2
The Gathering
Format: Limited Series (part two of four)
Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Don Figueroa
(Cover A by Don Figueroa, Cover B by Nick Roche, Cover C by Guido Guidi, Cover D by James Raiz)
Synopsis: On prehistoric Earth, Magmatron organizes his troops, both old and new (apparently some of the stasis pods were turned into new Predacons, after all). He tells them they must hunt down Razorbeast and his comrades before returning to Cybertron in the future. Drill Bit asks him where they should begin and Magmatron says there is only one place they could be going--Razorbeast will certainly try to contact Cybertron and warn them of what's going on. Elsewhere, Razorbeast and his five new comrades rush to the site of where Ravage's ship crashed (they hope to recover a transwarp signal amplifier). Both groups get to the ship and fight it out. Razorbeast gets the upper hand on Magmatron and buries him under rock while Optimus Minor and Snarl retreive the amplifier from Drill Bit. The Maximals discover the amplifier is broken but Razorbeast tells them he might be able to fix it with the proper tools. Bonecrusher asks where on Earth they can find the right equipment to fix it and Razorbeast tells them everything they need can be found on the Ark. Elsewhere, Magmatron and his Predacons discover that while Ravage was destroyed, his spark survived...
Comments: Another part of the story... this issue answers the question I had last issue of whether or not all the protoforms became Maximals or not (not. Some are Maximals while most are Predacons). Some interesting characterizations and potential plot directions emerge this issue. It will be interesting to see how things play out--I'd love it if, for a change, the Preds succeed in getting back to Cybertron with their new reinforcements and a follow-up series with a new civil war (but I seriously doubt it will go that way. More then likely, the good guys will win this one). Good art this issue (as with last time).
Mildly Recommended.
The Gathering
Format: Limited Series (part two of four)
Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Don Figueroa
(Cover A by Don Figueroa, Cover B by Nick Roche, Cover C by Guido Guidi, Cover D by James Raiz)
Synopsis: On prehistoric Earth, Magmatron organizes his troops, both old and new (apparently some of the stasis pods were turned into new Predacons, after all). He tells them they must hunt down Razorbeast and his comrades before returning to Cybertron in the future. Drill Bit asks him where they should begin and Magmatron says there is only one place they could be going--Razorbeast will certainly try to contact Cybertron and warn them of what's going on. Elsewhere, Razorbeast and his five new comrades rush to the site of where Ravage's ship crashed (they hope to recover a transwarp signal amplifier). Both groups get to the ship and fight it out. Razorbeast gets the upper hand on Magmatron and buries him under rock while Optimus Minor and Snarl retreive the amplifier from Drill Bit. The Maximals discover the amplifier is broken but Razorbeast tells them he might be able to fix it with the proper tools. Bonecrusher asks where on Earth they can find the right equipment to fix it and Razorbeast tells them everything they need can be found on the Ark. Elsewhere, Magmatron and his Predacons discover that while Ravage was destroyed, his spark survived...
Comments: Another part of the story... this issue answers the question I had last issue of whether or not all the protoforms became Maximals or not (not. Some are Maximals while most are Predacons). Some interesting characterizations and potential plot directions emerge this issue. It will be interesting to see how things play out--I'd love it if, for a change, the Preds succeed in getting back to Cybertron with their new reinforcements and a follow-up series with a new civil war (but I seriously doubt it will go that way. More then likely, the good guys will win this one). Good art this issue (as with last time).
Mildly Recommended.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Transformers Comic Review...
Transformers Infiltration #3
Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: EJ Su
(Covers by James Raiz, EJ Su, Andrew Wildman and Guido Guidi)
Synopsis: The Autobots watch their new human guests on a monitor as Verity yells at the camera in their holding room and threatens to erase the data on the PDA she's carrying unless they're set free. Ratchet and Prowl argue over what's to come next--Ratchet insists that the Decepticons are going to act openly soon and Prowl is more interested in how Ratchet disobeyed orders, endangering the humans and alerting them to the Autobots presence. Prowl tells him to get that data from Verity and wanders off. Ratchet appeals to Ironhide then goes to the humans. He downloads the information from the PDA and finds several pictures of an abandoned Decepticon base in Nebraska--which is odd since Autobot intel had indicated the Decepticons were situated in Oregon. Meanwhile, Skywarp and Blitzwing go about the country, destroying evidence left behind from earlier--the trailer the dead man (who'd been carrying the PDA originally) was living in, the bus he rode on, the garage that Jimmy Pink owned, etc. Also, Ironhide decides to send a message directly to Optimus Prime, alerting him about what's going on (Prowl had decided not to alert Prime but Ironhide appears to feel otherwise). The humans convince Ratchet to take them to Nebraska so they can help him gather evidence that the Decepticons are moving into "seige mode". Ratchet is reluctant to take them but realizes they can probably get inside easier then he can and Bumblebee agrees. He decides to tag along with Ratchet and the humans. Elsewhere, Starscream orders Skywarp and Blitzwing to destroy the last piece of evidence--the Nebraska installation!
Comments: Like the first few issues, this comic continues the overall story and keeps things interesting. I speculate that Starscream was trying to start a coupe against Megatron, which is why there are two Decepticon bases (one was official, the other secret). His conspirators got sloppy, the humans noticed them and now they're trying to eliminate the evidence at all cost so Megatron doesn't find out what's afoot (notice how the first Decepticons we see are Runamuck and Runabout? Two of Starscream's conspirators from the original US comic!) I guess time will tell if I'm right or not...
The story is well written and the characterization is abundant even though there's not as much action (I prefer this type of approach, though). Pages two and three have an old school group shot with everyone's name in word balloon beside them--it's silly in a way, but like something Marvel would've done (silly, since the inside cover has their names anyway--assuming a reader is new and doesn't already know who everyone is).
The art is consistent with previous issues. For some odd reason, Su chose to inverse Bumblebee's chest design (the windows are on his back now). He still becomes a classic Volkswagen Beetle, though, which is weird (shouldn't he be the newer model?) Starscream also has a more sleek design, although I think I like it. Also, Bumblebee's driver hologram is a young attractive woman (I only mention this because it's neat that we get to see more "drivers" and that the Autobots didn't all make them men).
Highly Recommended.
Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: EJ Su
(Covers by James Raiz, EJ Su, Andrew Wildman and Guido Guidi)
Synopsis: The Autobots watch their new human guests on a monitor as Verity yells at the camera in their holding room and threatens to erase the data on the PDA she's carrying unless they're set free. Ratchet and Prowl argue over what's to come next--Ratchet insists that the Decepticons are going to act openly soon and Prowl is more interested in how Ratchet disobeyed orders, endangering the humans and alerting them to the Autobots presence. Prowl tells him to get that data from Verity and wanders off. Ratchet appeals to Ironhide then goes to the humans. He downloads the information from the PDA and finds several pictures of an abandoned Decepticon base in Nebraska--which is odd since Autobot intel had indicated the Decepticons were situated in Oregon. Meanwhile, Skywarp and Blitzwing go about the country, destroying evidence left behind from earlier--the trailer the dead man (who'd been carrying the PDA originally) was living in, the bus he rode on, the garage that Jimmy Pink owned, etc. Also, Ironhide decides to send a message directly to Optimus Prime, alerting him about what's going on (Prowl had decided not to alert Prime but Ironhide appears to feel otherwise). The humans convince Ratchet to take them to Nebraska so they can help him gather evidence that the Decepticons are moving into "seige mode". Ratchet is reluctant to take them but realizes they can probably get inside easier then he can and Bumblebee agrees. He decides to tag along with Ratchet and the humans. Elsewhere, Starscream orders Skywarp and Blitzwing to destroy the last piece of evidence--the Nebraska installation!
Comments: Like the first few issues, this comic continues the overall story and keeps things interesting. I speculate that Starscream was trying to start a coupe against Megatron, which is why there are two Decepticon bases (one was official, the other secret). His conspirators got sloppy, the humans noticed them and now they're trying to eliminate the evidence at all cost so Megatron doesn't find out what's afoot (notice how the first Decepticons we see are Runamuck and Runabout? Two of Starscream's conspirators from the original US comic!) I guess time will tell if I'm right or not...
The story is well written and the characterization is abundant even though there's not as much action (I prefer this type of approach, though). Pages two and three have an old school group shot with everyone's name in word balloon beside them--it's silly in a way, but like something Marvel would've done (silly, since the inside cover has their names anyway--assuming a reader is new and doesn't already know who everyone is).
The art is consistent with previous issues. For some odd reason, Su chose to inverse Bumblebee's chest design (the windows are on his back now). He still becomes a classic Volkswagen Beetle, though, which is weird (shouldn't he be the newer model?) Starscream also has a more sleek design, although I think I like it. Also, Bumblebee's driver hologram is a young attractive woman (I only mention this because it's neat that we get to see more "drivers" and that the Autobots didn't all make them men).
Highly Recommended.
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