Monday, September 10, 2012

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


Sunday, September 09, 2012

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































Saturday, September 01, 2012

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