Comic Review

Transformers Regeneration One #83

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


Summary:  The Wreckers are on Earth--and their fates rest in the hands of a human? A very particular human--Spike Witwicky, the Circuit Smasher! The AUTOBOTs learn what MEGATRON's been doing the past 20 years and OPTIMUS PRIME struggles to come to a decision about the future!



Comments:  We learn quickly about what's happened in the intervening twenty years on Earth. Megatron was accidentally reactivated and then laid waste to the planet, while using their nukes against them, reactivating a bunch of zombie Decepticons and taking out the remaining resistance (Fortress Maximus, the Neo Knights). Meanwhile, Optimus Prime loads up a force to go to Earth and get Megatron. We learn Bludgeon has a War World (G2, anybody?) and is in communication with Soundwave, who wants to retrieve the pieces of the ruined Thunderwing.
   I'm not sure why they're bothering to try and resurrect Thunderwing. He's dead and gone. Frankly, I didn't need every single character resurrected for no apparent reason. We also get a strong hint Shockwave is still alive and in Megatron's employ... so, is Galvatron the only one who stayed dead this time? (Or should we expect him to appear at some point too? :) I also wonder how on a revitalized Cybertron that Optimus Prime taking a strike force somewhere means that the entire planet will be unguarded against the Decepticons dastardly plan. Has he only got fourteen Autobots? It just seems like a bit of a stretch.
   I also wonder about why Optimus suddenly sees so much potential in Hot Rod (although I guess one could argue that there were aspects of it in the old series too). It feels a bit ham-fisted to me...does Optimus think he's going to die soon? Or perhaps retire somewhere and leave Hot Rod in charge? It could also just be set-up for Hot Rod leading the resistance against the Decepticons on Cybertron now that Optimus has left for Earth.
   Minor nitpicks aside, I've been mostly liking the series so far and can't wait to see where it goes from here. 

Verdict: Very Good.

Cover "A" by Andrew Wildman

Cover "B" by Guido Guidi

Retailer Incentive Cover by Geoff Senior

Comic Review

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #8

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


Summary:  DINOBOT MONTH! Guess who's back on Cybertron? SLAG, SLUDGE, SNARL, and SWOOP-and they're as mad as ever! IRONHIDE leads them deep into the Cybertronian wilderness searching for lost AUTOBOTS... but what they find might be the greatest danger of all!

 Comments: The description above says most of it. Ironhide leads the Dinobots into the Cybertronian wilderness to search for the missing Aerialbots. They're attacked by some sort of beast, which the Dinos take down. They continue further into the unknown. Ironhide has a suspicion Megatron might be out here somewhere and in the end, the Dinobots disappear, leaving him alone to find out what's happening. He is attacked by Swoop!  There's also a sub-plot about Bumblebee, Starscream and Metalhawk talking about holding elections to determine the future government of their world and the Decepticon remnant discuss their future.
   To be honest, I found the MTMTE story a bit more engaging this time around. RID, by contrast, had a set-up for something next issue and more maneuvering by the parties in the background. It was nice to see the Dinobots once again but they didn't anything all that exciting in my opinion and after all is said and done, we still don't know what's going on with them on what happened to the Aerialbots either. It was cool to see a brief appearance by Shockwave (who resembles his FOC look quite a lot).

Verdict: Average.

Cover "A" by Andrew Griffith

Cover "B" by Casey Coller

Retailer Incentive Cover by Marcelo Matere

Comic Review

Transformers: More Then Meets The Eye #8

Writer: James Roberts
Artist: Alex Milne
(covers by Alex Milne, Nick Roche and Marcelo Matere)

 Summary:  DINOBOT MONTH! Three years ago, Grimlock disappeared from his prison cell on Garrus 9. Where did he go? What happened to him? One thing's for certain: the leader of the Dinobots is back-and he's itching to settle some scores!

Comments:  Most of this story follows the scavengers (Krok, Flywheels, Spinister, Misfire, etc.) on Clemency. They are forced to fight the Decepticon Justice Division, feeling it's their only real option besides certain death. They reactivate Grimlock, who was in stasis aboard the ship the found). He puts up a strong but short-lived fight before the DJD knock him down. Flywheels gets killed and so does Krok (boo!) before Fulcrum unleashes a Cybernought drone from the nearby ship then tries to self-detonate himself (he becomes a bomb) but his power doesn't work (he was deactivated earlier when the others found him--but he didn't realize it as he was unconscious). Finally, the DJD detect Overlord's spark elsewhere (he's on the Lost Light, of course) and decide to leave and pursue him instead since he's a much higher priority target.
   A fairly good story overall. I think MTMTE works best when it's more focused on one or two story threads overall (unlike earlier issues where five things could be going on at once). It was also nice to see a story mostly centered on a group of Decepticons for a change. There was also a "B" story with a few scenes about Skids and Chromedome (also referencing the events of the MTMTE Annual, which was supposed to be out in August but was delayed until Sept. 12th, so the reference to it is lost on the reader). Also, we find out Grimlock is severely damaged mentally (he's described as being "practically brain dead"), which is why the Decepticons on the ship had abandoned him. Frankly, I think that sucks and it seems like Roberts didn't feel like trying to give him any real story time so he used this as an "out". I hope Grimlock gets repaired soon.

Verdict: Good.

Cover "A" by Alex Milne

Cover "B" by Nick Roche

Retailer Incentive Cover by Marcelo Matere

Transmasters Magazine, Summer 2012!

The latest, greatest edition of the Transmasters Magazine, Summer 2012, is out and ready to go (just in time for the Fall! Er...yeah :).

http://transmasters.angelfire.com/tmmag/issue15/index1.html


Read it and weep, pal! :D  Questions, comments, concerns are always welcome!

Thunder

Comic Review...

Transformers: Regeneration One #82


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

Summary: DINOBOT MONTH! And ex-Dinobot commander GRIMLOCK wishes it wasn't! His quest for a means to restore his ability to change modes takes him to Nebulos--a world off-limits to TRANSFORMERS, where a welcome that's more incendiary than warm awaits him. Plus, KUP and THE WRECKERS find themselves stranded, hunted and in a whole world of pain. Quite literally!

Comments: The story continues! Kup and the Wreckers struggle to survive on a ruined Earth against Megatron's forces while Grimlock goes to Nebulos in hopes of finding a new body that can transform once more. We learn Starscream is still alive (but apparently lobotomized) as is Ratchet. Still no sign of Shockwave or Galvatron yet (hopefully they'll turn up eventually in some fashion or the other).
   To be honest, I wasn't really expecting Furman to try and explain the fate of the lost Headmaster characters original heads in this story... I had assumed they'd been disassembled and built into the binary armor somehow. The original mini-series was vague on that detail so I guess this story turn can work too, but it really wasn't high on my list of concerns. I'm actually more interested in what the heck happened to Earth in the intervening twenty one years and wonder why none of the Autobots thought to try and monitor the world discreetly in any way.
   I do hope we get past the set-up stuff and into a good story shortly. Right now, it feels like we're catching up on forgotten story threads from the original comic (or perhaps that was the point all along? :)  It's fine to relive the forgotten stuff but I want to see him press forward into new territory too. G2 didn't get too caught up in irrelevance at the time and I hope Regeneration One doesn't wallow in it any longer then it needs to in order to get things going.

Verdict:  Very Good.

Cover "A" by Andrew Wildman

Cover "B" by Guido Guidi

Retailer Incentive Cover by Geoff Senior

Comic Review...

Transformers: More Then Meets The Eye #7

Writer: James Roberts
Artist: Alex Milne
(covers by Alex Milne and Nick Roche)

Summary: DECEPTICON MONTH! The war's over - but no-one told the DECEPTICON Justice Division! Meet the five deadliest DECEPTICONS in the galaxy. Their sole purpose: to hunt down and kill anyone who has ever disobeyed MEGATRON. Who's their next target?

Comments: This issue introduces the Decepticon Justice Division (or, more accurately, its principals). Five robots, each named after a city on Cybertron. Their leader is Tarn. A malicious character (with the face of the Decepticon sigil) who delights in his job of hunting down rogue Decepticons and administering "justice".
   Roberts continues his trait of introducing an obscure character then killing them off almost immediately after. Black Shadow is the victim this time around. I kind of wish he'd stop it--I'd rather they save such characters for a later date and story then waste them in a one-off cameo like this. I can see why they do it--better some appearance then potentially none and it helps add more depth to the story universe. But I'd rather they leave them in reserve for a more appropriate appearance later on. My two cents. 
   We learn Rung has survived his brush with death this issue--except that he's missing an important appendage (his head). Also, Red Alert confides in his fallen form that he's found Overlord aboard the ship and it's some kind of conspiracy the Decepticon is there (which is confirmed when someone covertly removes the data file he planted on Rung's body). It will be interesting to see what becomes of the whole Overlord sub-plot.
   There's also a sub-plot involving some lost Decepticons on a world, lead by Krok. They find a downed Decepticon ship at the story's end and a surprising passenger aboard. I think it's cool we finally will discover what happened to said character after his prolonged absence from the story.
   All in all, MTMTE is getting a bit better as it goes. The story's been a little bit more focused these last few issues and shows signs of a potential longer term point, which I've been hoping for.


Verdict:  Good.

Cover "A" by Alex Milne

Cover "B" by Nick Roche

Comic Review...

Transformers: Regeneration One #81

Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Andrew Wildman

(covers by Andrew Wildman, Guido Guidi, Geoff Senior, Dan Khanna)


Summary: The TRANSFORMERS comic that began it all—is back. With a vengeance! 21 years have passed since CYBERTRON was restored to its former glory, and finally there is peace. But, after millions of years of bitter civil war, can all ever truly be one? In a conflict this primal, this epic and far-reaching… There are always “Loose Ends”!

Comments: And so it begins... we're officially introduced to the Wreckers in the start of this issue (or reintroduced, depending on your perspective). Very quickly we discover some G2 characters--the G2 Decepticon jets take over a facility. Page 8, panel 1--Terradive and Afterburner's word balloons are either switched or somebody forgot which character was who. I thought it was cool we see the Deluxe Insecticons for the first time ever this issue (at least, in the US series anyway. Not sure about the UK stories). One of the Wreckers is also G2 Leadfoot. So, all in all, points for using a variety of characters in this.
   There is a brief mention of Unicron and I really, really hope he doesn't come back--ever. One of Furman's strengths was finding new and cool ways to move the story forward (the Swarm, Liege Maximo and Jhiaxus). We don't need to retread the same old ground constantly and I would much prefer something new and exciting as an overall villain in this. I was a little surprised by the story's ending but know we'll get some answers in the next issue most likely.
   The artwork is classic Andrew Wildman. You either love him or you don't. I feel it fits in fine with the original run. Some of the color choices were a bit interesting though--Ultra Magnus with a yellow visor just looks wrong to me. It needs to be blue or silver, imo. Hot Rod is also red now instead of fuscha (which strikes me as wrong even though it's technically right) and Soundwave is his proper blue (not purple) which I'm fine with. I got all three of the covers that were available here ("A", "B" and RI-A. The Khanna cover wasn't here--but I didn't care for it anyway). I think Wildman's cover is my favorite of the three. It looks cool and is story relevant. 
   I was impressed by the fact I read through the issue, reached the end and didn't think, "that's it?" to myself. There's enough plot and set-up for the future here that I was sufficiently satisfied and looking forward to more. I'm not saying it's the greatest TF comic ever or Simon Furman is some kind of genius for writing it but I found it sufficiently entertaining (like I did with his classic run). Whether or not Regeneration One will become part of the classic TF lore in time is uncertain. We don't have enough of it yet to really judge it as a whole and there's still the whole shock-of-the-new aspect to it. There needs to be some time for it to truly settle in and then we can look back and see if it still holds up against the older content or not. For now, I like what I see, so that's something at least.



Verdict:  Excellent/Highly recommended.

Cover "A" by Andrew Wildman

Cover "B" by Guido Guidi

Retailer Incentive Cover "A" by Geoff Senior

Comic Review...

Cover "A" by Andrew Griffith

Transformers: Robots In Disguise #7

Writer: John Barber
Artist: Brendan Cahill
(covers by Andrew Griffith and Casey Coller)

Summary: DECEPTICON MONTH! Fan-favorite character TURMOIL returns from the dead-but what does he want on CYBERTRON? The AUTOBOTS don't want another DECEPTICON on their planet and the DECEPTICONS don't want things to get any worse... but what Wheeljack discovers about the DECEPTICON warlord will change everything!


Comments: The Decepticon Turmoil, who is a fan-favorite character (apparently. I barely remembered him.) returns to Cybertron with his ship and crew, pursuing peace. But he'd previously been a terrifying tyrant and nobody quite trusts him, including the moderates (Metalhawk and Starscream) in the government. Wheeljack decides to covertly investigate Turmoil's ship and finds some bizarre alien technology inside it...
   I was quite surprised this issue didn't continue the story thread started last issue about Orion Pax and his allies as it seemed like a clear set-up for a continuation. Presumably that's still coming at some point... Anyway, it was a reasonably good story. It does have a flaw in that it doesn't make Turmoil's true intentions clear. He builds a dangerous time dilation weapon and then comes to Cybertron to make nice? It doesn't really add up. He must have had some other intention in-mind but we don't learn what that might be. I presume we will soon...  I also hope we get to see more of what the main body of Decepticons is up to (if anything). This story, like MTMTE, needs an overall point or theme for it to migrate toward.
   The drawing of Cybertron on page 2 is very weird looking. More like a funky asteroid then Cybertron...a bizarre stylistic choice in my opinion. Otherwise, the art is fairly good looking.

Verdict: Good/Recommended.

Cover "B" by Casey Coller

Comic Review...

Transformers: More Then Meets The Eye #6

Writer: James Roberts
Artist: Nick Roche
(covers by Alex Milne and Nick Roche)

Cover "B" by Nick Roche

Summary: MADNESS IN SPACE! A rescued Autobot loses his grip and it's up to Hot Rod's questing team to stop him-before the damage becomes irreparable! This is surely one of the most intense Transformers tales ever committed to paper!

Comments: This issue marks the return of Nick Roche to the art duties. Whether he's back for good or just for the issue, it was cool to see his art grace the title once again. I have the cover "B" (Nick's art) but until I examined it closely I thought the character on it was Thundercracker for some reason (the coloring, most likely) but it's actually Fortress Maximus. A good concept but maybe they could've done something to make it a bit more distinctive in some way (like a close-up with hands grasping about his head/top).
   This issue sees the fall-out of Fortress Maximus' trauma at the hands of Overlord on Garras 9 in the Wreckers mini-series. He puts on a brave face but not surprisingly isn't handling it all that well. A supporting character dies near the end of this issue and another one is severely wounded. We also get a startling revelation about a secret aboard The Lost Light (yet another one!) 
   Another issue where Roberts story is tighter then the initial stories for MTMTE. Not sure if this is because he's getting more focused or purposely sprawled a bit more on the earlier issues to help establish everyone. Either way, I've liked the last two issues better then the earlier ones due to this change. I do hope this doesn't turn into Wreckers 2 though... the drama is good but I don't need a reiteration of that story and the tone of this particular issue does indicate that direction as a distinct possibility for where the overall story could go.



Verdict: Good/Recommended.

Cover "A" by Alex Milne

Comic Review...

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #6

Writer: John Barber
Artist: Livio Ramondelli

(covers by Casey Coller and Livio Ramondelli)

Cover "A" by Casey Coller

Summary: ONCE HE WAS: OPTIMUS PRIME! The Autobot gave up his title-returned to his role as ORION PAX! But that doesn't mean the fight's over! A shattered planet leads Pax and a squad of fan favorite characters on the trail of the deadliest Decepticon of all... SHOCKWAVE!


Comments: Orion Pax meets up on a space station with Hardhead and is directed to the dead world of Arduria. Wheelie, Garnak and Hardhead all come along with him as does Hardhead's prisoner, Jhiaxus (who had been catatonic until this incident when he began to come alive again, in response to a mysterious signal originating from the dead world). They discover the dead beings on the world are Shockwave's handiwork and wonder exactly what he did here and how. They find Monstructor and some kind of rocket absorbing all the heat in the area... Monstructor awakens and attacks them and on the ship, Bludgeon appears, attacking Wheelie and Garnak. He rescues Jhiaxus and together with the Monster Pretenders, they escape aboard Bludgeon's ship. Hardhead extrapolates that they are on course for the planet Wheelie and Garnak had escaped from. Orion orders a pursuit course...
   It seems this story will involve some kind of treasure hunt after Shockwave's varied experiments he performed centuries ago. It might also possibly follow up on the Quintesson plot thread left behind some time ago in the Wheelie Spotlight issue. All in all, a good story set-up even if we don't yet know the endgame for it all. It's nice to see Orion/Optimus in action again and to know he hasn't been totally forgotten  in the story (now if somebody would just figure out where the heck Megatron is).
   Livio does the art this issue. It's mostly good--although his Monstructor is a bit hard to figure out who he is. (To be fair, though, Monstructor was never intepreted all that well in comic form. He seems like he might look a bit generic in combined form and that's what we get here. The color scheme in all of Livio's art is that murky painted look, which could be responsible for further distorting the appearance of the Monster Pretenders. They were quite bright as I recall but this style doesn't really allow for that).

Verdict: Good. 

Cover "B" by Livio Ramondelli