Writer: Eric Holmes
Artist: Alex Milne (p. 1-11, 20-22); Marcelo Matere (P. 12-19)
(Cover art by Alex Milne and Marcelo Matere)
Summary: Megatron slays a warrior in the Kaon Gladiatorial fights. Legions cheer him on! Elsewhere, some forces take note of his prowess and began to plan vaguely... Meanwhile, the Autobots have become aware of the rising popularity of the fights and together with Sentinel Prime plan to hunt Megatron down and capture him. Several units go out to various locations looking for the next fight and one unlucky unit finds them but is picked off before they can report back, thanks to Soundwave and his Recordacons. Soundwave also makes himself known to Megatron, offering him armaments to further his cause. The lone Autobot survivor is interrogated by Soundwave then killed by Megatron because he called Megs a "psychopath".
Comments: Much like last issue, I didn't care that much for issue #2. The artwork is okay (no confusing panels this time around) but the story still bothers me. For one thing, Megatron is hesitant to finish off his opponent at first (who looks like the old Gobot, Cykill, btw). Then, when he's cheered on, he decides it's okay and kills him (I guess he can't think for himself and will do anything for others' admiration). This makes him seem weak and unlike the Megatron we all know and love. I also get the impression that Soundwave and his employer are out to start the Decepticons (or something similiar) without a good rationale as to why being presented in the story. Once again, Megatron is a victim of circumstances, unable to come up with his own ideas and take control of his own destiny. Fan-wank moment: Cykill being in the comic and Megatron removing his helmet--which is supposed to be his actual head covering). On the good side, I liked seeing Skyquake in the background during the issue--I think this is his first official comic appearance.
Final verdict: Pass.
***
Transformers Timelines #2
Writers: Story by Forest Lee, Peter Sinclair and Ben Yee (Forest Lee, script)
Artist: Alex Milne
(Cover by Alex Milne)
Summary: Ultra Magnus leads a team to Earth in pursuit of Bug Bite and his crew. On Earth, Bug Bite awaits Megatron's arrival in a few hours time... elsewhere, Optimus Prime carries a wounded Hot Rod and Jetfire follows him into Autobase. They catch Bumblebee up on their recent battle where Cliffjumper disappeared (see the club comic). Meanwhile, Grimlock gets a message from Springer to come meet him and he takes off, with Mirage in pursuit (unknown to him). At Bug Bite's ship, Starscream, Ramjet and Skywarp arrive and meet with him. They detect the cloaked Mirage immediately (which seems odd) and capture him. Nearby, Magnus and his crew watch and as Starscream goes to finish Mirage, Bug Bite shoots him and his warriors, stunning them long enough to implant them with Cerebro shells. He orders Starscream to take them to Megatron directly--Mirage can be a peace offering. Later, Bug Bite attacks Megatron and tries to take control of him as well... outside, Elita-One deals with Ravage so Magnus' team can invade the ship. Megatron fights off Bug Bite's mind control and before he can use his warriors to attack Megatron, the Autobots activate a jammer to render the other Cerebro Shells useless. The Autobots attack just then, many die and Megatron kills off Bug Bite. The Autobots escape and Megatron shakes his fist, vowing revenge... epilogue: Magnus and co. say goodbye to Optimus Prime and leave Earth orbit.
Comments: Well, like the last couple of club/convention comics, this one gets the job done storywise. It introduces the convention toys in a story, uses them and/or kills some off. Check. It's not the greatest TF story ever but a decent attempt. The artwork was fairly good for a change--imagine my surprise at having no Dan Khanna at all in this comic (I hate his sequential art, so good riddance!)
Final Verdict: Mildly Recommended.
(btw, I got a copy of the Convention version of the comic. However, there is also a regular comic shop edition as well--but I had trouble finding a copy when it apparently hit the store shelves).
***
Transformers Spotlight
Galvatron
Writer: Simon Furman
Artist: Guido Guidi
(Cover art by Alex Milne and Guido Guidi)
Summary: Some aliens study a spatial anomaly when suddenly they're attacked from something that emerges from the anomaly. It is Galvatron and he destroys the aliens completely. On Cybertron, Sideswipe, Hound and others are stationed there passing the time when Galvatron arrives and thinks back to the past... when he was part of the crew of a ship called the Ark and out in space exploring. They encountered the Anomaly/nothingness back then and Galvatron decides that rather then study it or let it stop them, he would take them inside it, to learn it's secrets. In the present, he kills Leadfoot and the other Autobots attack him. He manages to incapacitate them all--he was ordered to kill all of them but decides he will not bother. Later, he returns to the cave and tells the others he has succeeded--he has brought the body of Thunderwing!
Comments: Easily the best comic of the ones reviewed this time around. Finally, we get some answers--about what the cave from Nightbeat's story is as well as what happened to the original Ark and it's crew. Galvatron makes reference to serving a "He" but not specifically what that person is (hopefully not Unicron for a change). The art and story work very well here and I look forward to finding out more yet...
Final Verdict: Highly Recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment