Monday, August 29, 2011

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

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

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

Sunday, August 21, 2011

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

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

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

Friday, August 12, 2011

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

Saturday, August 06, 2011

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