Comic Review...

Transformers #24

Writer: Mike Costa and James Roberts (story); Mike Costa (script)
Artist: Livio Ramondelli
(covers by Livio Ramondelli)

Summary:  CHAOS: PART 1! The long-awaited event that will have TRANSFORMERS fans talking for years and lasting repercussions on the lives of our heroes and villains gets off to a mega-start! The Autobots land on Cybertron to discover Galvatron's plan is already in effect-but what is it? What could he possibly want on a dead planet?!

Comments:  Basically, this issue is one long fight scene. The Decepticons conquer some kind of Autobot base in the opening, where Cloudburst and Downshift apparently die (why are all these obscure characters highlighted in these stories so they can die three seconds later? I know, death is melodramatic in storytelling--but not if we don't even get to know the characters and get to care about them at all. I'd rather it be generic characters unless the death has some real meaning behind it).
     The rest of the issue, the Autobots arrive on Cybertron and confront Galvatron. He starts to explain himself when Hot Rod interrupts then we go straight into the fighting. This is another one of those examples of storytelling where the whole conflict can be resolved in ten seconds if only someone communicates what their intent is but conveniently doesn't so the plot can be moved in the direction the writer wants it to go (i.e. lazy writing). Drift believes there might be some greater threat--why doesn't anyone else on the Autobot side though?
    The art is by Livio Ramondelli. The man is a master of that painted art style and his covers are superb. Having said that, some of the interior art is a bit murky due to the style and combining that with Don Figueroa's pointless IDW re-designs, it makes some of characters hard to identify. There's a white robot with a blue dot on his chest (I think it's Jetfire. Nobody refers to him by name in the story though). I really wish they'd dump these new TF designs and go back to the classic style--nobody liked EJ Su's re-designs (apparently) so they go and get Figueroa to make them look even more complicated and now all the other artists are trying to emulate his designs. 
    Also, Ramondelli's art makes it seem like all of Galvatron's minions are Sweeps but that contradicts the Heart of Darkness mini-series where most of his army clearly were not Sweeps (yes, it's a visual continuity thing but shouldn't that matter in a visual medium like a comic?)
    I'd prefer they keep Ramondelli for cover art duties and leave the interior art to Alex Milne or Nick Roche (but they'll likely milk it for all it's worth instead). On the plus side, all three of Ramondelli's covers (one is a Retailer Incentive) for this issue are beautiful. 


Verdict:  Mediocre.

Cover "B" by Livio Ramondelli

Comic Review...

Transformers #23

Writer: James Roberts
Artist: Alex Milne
(covers by Alex Milne)

Summary: CHAOS Prelude! Last issue, you discovered the first ever meeting between Optimus Prime and Megatron. And if the surprises there weren't enough-you won't believe what happens just hours later! Optimus Prime recounts the fascinating end of their introduction as he decides the fate of the jailed Megatron. This one's a keeper, folks! Now let the CHAOS BEGIN!


Comments: The sequel to the previous issue, this follows Orion Pax/Optimus Prime's story after the  last issue with Megatron's pre-war tale. We learn that even Optimus discovered that Cybertronian society was corrupt and made a show of his beliefs, becoming the first Autobot (technically). I liked the Megatron issue slightly better but the Prime story was a good look at his early personality then and his strong sense of justice. The present scenes are about his deciding what to do with Megatron and whether or not he can still make decisions with the presence of the Matrix (but it seemed like the past story was the primary part of it). Roberts has done an excellent job in only two issues of making the comic worth reading and he deserves kudos for that. 

Verdict: Recommended.

Cover "A" by Alex Milne

Transformers: Prime Episode #23

Teletoon in Canada is ahead of the Hub now for new episodes of Prime. The trend continues today with ep. 23!  Check it out on Youtube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zMSHP3MvwM


(This is not my doing, I'm merely passing along the information to get the word out. :)


-  Thunder

TM Mag Summer edition!

The Summer 2011 edition of the Transmasters Magazine is now up on the website!

Check it out here:
 http://transmasters.angelfire.com/tmmag/issue11/index1.html

A special thanks to our contributors for this issue. We couldn't have done it without you! :)

(A note about my Opening Shots comic: Yes, it is there this time around. I had hoped to finish it off but ran short on time so I only have six pages up. I hope to get the remaining pages done soon-ish and I will post a message when they're done.)


Comments are always welcome! Praise, criticism, suggestions--let us know how you feel!

Thunder

Summer TM Mag deadline!

An update on the Summer Issue of Transmasters Magazine: The deadline for submissions (art, stories, articles, etc.) will be Monday August 15th. If anybody's got anything for it, feel free to email it to me: tkphoton at hotmail.com (also, if anybody needs more time, let me know. I can always push it back a bit if needed).

Thunder

Summer time!

The Summer Issue of Transmasters Magazine is in the works! Submissions (art, stories, articles, etc.) are always welcome. I don't yet have a submissions deadline in mind but I hope to have the issue ready in a week or so (I still have a comic to draw and that will take some work).  As always, submissions can be sent to tkphoton at hotmail.com

Thunder

Comic Review...

Transformers #22

Writer: James Roberts
Artist: Alex Milne
(covers by Alex Milne)

Summary:  'Chaos' really gets under way! Megatron: firebrand, tyrant, psychopath... prisoner? The Decepticons leader had the Autobots at his mercy-and then surrendered. Optimus Prime tries to find out why in a story that spans four million years and features a cast of thousands. Events in this issue will forever change the way you look at the Transformers Universe...

Comments: This was a bit of a departure considering the previous issues. While the Autobots are en route to Cybertron we stop and take the time to examine the dynamic between Optimus Prime and Megatron, even flashing back to the post-Megatron Origin era and seeing Megatron while he was still an idealist. In that sense, the story does a better job then the actual Origin comic ever did in explaining his transition from sorta-decent guy to tyrant (the mini-series failed for me on that level and yet Roberts managed to do it in one issue here). Overall, this issue was a serious improvement over just about anything Mike Costa has done (or at least since his initial issues, anyway). There actually seemed to be a point, for one thing (which is always good when you're telling a story). I'm still not sure, though, after all of it was said and done precisely why Megatron surrendered (other then lazy writing to begin with on Costa's part). Did he want to do some penance for his crimes? To remind Optimus that he helped in a way to make him who he was and he must carry some of the blame? (I think I just answered my own question. :)  One minor quibble--during the Prime/Megatron conversation we see a flashback in a couple of frames where Megatron is trapped in his gun mode. But since this continuity started off with him being a tank that makes no sense (unless he was a gun for some time, then became a tank then a gun again--mirroring real life, actually :).


Verdict: Recommended. 













(Cover "A" by Alex Milne)

Savcon 2012 TF Convention!

(Information courtesy Robo_Rob).

http://savcon.net/

Starting in the Summer of 2012 Savannah, Georgia will be added to the
list of ever growing Unofficial Transformer Conventions.
This Con, SavCon, to be exact, will be the first in Savannah's
history. Savannah is known for its rich civil war history, landmark
buildings and event attractions such as the famous St. Patrick's Day
Parade and music & movie festivals that draws thousands to the area,
it seems fitting that such a convention should take place here, and
every year.
This is a fan run convention and the best possible team has been put
in place so you enjoy your experience to the fullest, As always your
input is very important to us to continue to make this the best
possible experience. I encourage everyone to submit ideas to us on our
forums and if it's possible... It will happen!

--
robo_rob
www.tfradio.net

Comic Review...

(Cover "B" by Guido Guidi)


Transformers #21

Writer: Mike Costa
Artists: Guido Guidi and Brendan Cahill
(covers by Marcelo Matere and Guido Guidi)

Summary: TRANSFORMERS goes bi-weekly! Two stories for the price of one, kicking off the 'CHAOS' event!! In part one, Rodimus makes his triumphant return to Earth, and sets off the major events that will spin off into CHAOS. And in part two, Prowl begins his investigation... of Spike. This storyline will change TRANSFORMERS forever!


Comments: And so it begins... or the prologue to Chaos does anyway. Whatever. Part one takes the tact of setting this up like some legendary or prophetic story. Using captions to explain Hot Rod's legendary return to Earth and how after returning the Matrix to Optimus, he would forever be known as Rodiums, etc. The whole gimmick feels cheesy to me honestly. Part two is Prowl staying behind on Earth with some Autobots to apparently investigate Spike's actions behind their backs (i.e. killing Scrapper back in issue #8). I don't really understand the logic behind this--Spike can't kill a Decepticon in cold blood but it's okay for Jazz to incinerate a human a couple of issues ago seemingly without consequence (it seemed like a perfect "crap hits the fan" moment and they totally brushed it off and forgot about it!)  Anyway, this issue sets up the "final" storylines for Cybertron and Earth (after which, what happens? The comic ends? A reboot? I dunno). So far, I'm not that impressed by what I see and the thought of having to buy this bi-weekly seriously puts me off).

Verdict: Average.

***

Transformers: Heart of Darkness #4 (of 4) 

Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Ulises Farinas
(covers by Ulises Farinas, Casey Coller and Livio Ramondelli)

Summary: THE ROAD TO 'CHAOS' ENDS HERE! With his army assembled, Galvatron is ready to take the Heart of Darkness back to Cybertron. But first, he must now face down the ultimate threat, a force of unimaginable power and overwhelming darkness. Will Galvatron stand strong or will he bend to the will of inescapable evil? HoD leads directly into 'CHAOS'-the first-ever TRANSFORMERS event book from IDW!

Comments: For the most part I liked this series (terrible art aside). However, like most all of IDW's mini-series, it doesn't really end conclusively but instead leads into the main title to be resolved. I prefer the old school, where mini-series actually told a story and had a point in existing in the first place (the Drift mini wasn't that great but at least it followed that formula properly).  I still wonder about the titular Heart of Darkness. It was introduced during Simon Furman's run and seemed at the time to be a anti-matrix/dark matrix. In this mini-series, it has become a force of good apparently and is leading Galvatron to try and stop D-Void from coming into our Universe. I was expecting some kind of story twist--that Galvatron was actually doing D-Void's bidding unknowingly but the mini at least doesn't end on any such note. So, we have this "evil" power source trying to stop the evil from coming here? Why? Is D-Void going to be beaten and then we find the HoD is Unicron's soul or something? Or is that twist I predicted still coming? It just seems strange that the HoD suddenly is good natured and wants to stop evil for no apparent reason. I wish that would be explained...

Verdict: Average.

(Cover "C" by Livio Ramondelli)

Music Review...

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (score)

Composer: Steve Jablonsky


 Available on iTunes for $9.99 (there was supposed to be a physical release originally too. However, the entry on Amazon and other websites is gone now so I'm not clear if that's coming later or this will be an exclusively digital release).






Track Listing:

1. Dark Side of the Moon
2. Sentinel Prime
3. Lost Signal
4. In Time You'll See
5. Impress Me
6. We Were Gods Once
7. Battle
8. There Is No Plan
9. We All Work for the Decepticons
10. The Fight Will Be Your Own
11. Shockwave's Revenge
12. No Prisoners, Only Trophies
13. The World Needs You Now
14. It's Our Fight
15. I'm Just the Messenger
16. I Promise
17. Our Final Hope

Total Running Time:  59:47


I recently purchased the instrumental soundtrack to the recent live action Transformers movie and decided to share my thoughts. Then I realized there were about the same as my review to the original 2007 score Jablonsky did so I mostly re-posted that here.

In case you don't keep up with this stuff, there are two TF soundtracks to the recent movie. The first one is full of pop/rock songs that are in the movie/inspired by the movie. This is the other one with strictly instrumental music on it (and this is a digital release as previously noted while the other version is also out on CD).

In short, the music is grand and orchestral. It befits an epic storyline full of action and excitement. As with Jablonsky's previous efforts, the music doesn't really stand out in my mind. It's not bad by any means--certainly, it's sufficient for any modern action epic. But it doesn't capture my imagination the way some soundtracks of the past have. The original TF movie soundtrack by Vin Dicola is far more distinctive as are soundtracks like James Horner's beautiful Star Trek scores, John William's Star Wars music and Chris Franke's Babylon 5 compositions.  Interestingly, this time around I caught a couple of tracks that sound as if they were borrowing elements from The Dark Knight ("We Were Gods Once" is an example as is "We All Work for the Decepticons"). It's also possible they just both share a few common elements and I'm hearing stuff that isn't there--but that's a bad commentary on the sameness of so many soundtracks these days.

All and all, a good effort. Not outstanding but still a solid release and worth checking out if you like instrumental soundtracks.