Comic Review: Transformers Prime Beast Hunters #3

                You’re going to have to bear with me for a few weeks as the funds are getting tighter than normal around here.  I’m going to have to stick to reviewing comics that I would normally have bought anyway as no comic shops in the area seem willing to pony up a $4 floppy every week in exchange for some free publicity.  Seriously, if you want to see more in depth reviews of different books, just call up the comic shops in the Syracuse area and tell them to loosen up a bit.  That being said, the next few months we’re going to see a lot of Transformers reviews as that is the bulk of my purchases now.  We start it off with the one book that I have yet to review, Transformers Prime Beast Hunters.

Cover:

                All of the covers to this series are produced by Ken Christiansen and they all have a certain feel to them like they are right out of the Transformers Prime television show.  Obviously this is a huge plus as the comic touts its connection to the show from the get-go.  None of the covers to the comics (this one included) seem to have much in common with the story being told, almost as if they gave Christiansen a bunch of characters and told him to go nuts and they would fit the covers in wherever. As far as covers not pertaining to the story go, these are incredibly solid though.  This current cover features three of the Dinobots surrounded by Decepticons that are masked by shadows.  You can tell that they are Decepticons because of the symbol on their chest as well as the fact that they are glowing purple (the popular Decepticon color-scheme). 

                While the lack of holding lines on the artwork itself can lead to some muddled moments in terms of the artwork blending together, there is enough variation using light to make the characters separate ever so slightly from the background.  The movement within the three figures on the cover shows a great design sense as your eye moves fluidly throughout the image.  One would think that with the way that the characters are colored, combined with the blocky nature of Transformers in general that it would be a bit more difficult to achieve that kind of movement but Christiansen does it easily.

8/10 – I have to give it a knock for being a bit generic, but it has its own narrative qualities and a phenomenal design sense. 

Story:

                The general story of this series is that the Dinobots are left on Cybertron after everyone else leaves (which you can see the lead up to in the video game, Transformers War for Cybertron and the aftermath in the Transformers Prime television show) and they are not only trying to hold society together, but also to find out more about themselves as they have been subjected to numerous experiments at the hands of the Decepticon Shockwave.  The first two issues were more along the lines of keeping the peace on Cybertron while this issue starts to deal more with the basic origin of the Dinobots themselves.  While I am intrigued as to where the story will go, there is not much to this issue itself and it turns out to be a pretty quick read. 

Storytellers Mike Johnson and Mairghread Scott (and specifically Mike Johnson who actually wrote the issue) may have something bigger that this is leading up to, but after the last two issues that had a lot going on and felt like they really lived up to the Transformers moniker on the cover in terms of quality, seem to fall a bit flat here.  The big reveal at the end, where Grimlock and Swoop are fighting against actual dinosaurs is probably a bit of fanservice as who doesn’t want to se Grimlock fight an actual T-Rex, but it raises more questions than answers in terms of carbon-based life forms and their ability to exist on Cybertron.  Considering the fact that this brawl happened at the end of the issue, I will give Johnson an issue to work out the details of atmosphere, time (as the Dinobots have been in operation in their current iteration for a little while in the comic universe, so how did the dinosaurs survive, much less know how and when to break out at this convenient moment) and overall luck as Grimlock and Swoop just happen to be patrolling near Shockwave’s lab that spawned the Dinobots.

                Again, I will give Johnson the benefit of the doubt that after the dust settles we will start to receive answers to these questions and that everything won’t seem as “convenient” as it is presented here.  Other than that, the dialogue is good, with the interaction between Grimlock and Swoop staying true to their character and really playing up their own distinct “roles” within the Dinobots.

6/10 – The quality dips a bit in this issue, especially after the very well done first two, but it does set up a lot of questions to add to the mythos and keep us coming back for more.  I just wish it took longer than ten minutes to read.

Art:

                Agustin Padilla provides the art here and while it is miles away from the art we see in other Transformers comics nowadays, it is still very good.  The ability to consistently draw these characters in all their glory, both in robot and their “alt” modes cannot be understated, and while the Dinobots don’t turn into vehicles (which would be the bane of my existence) drawing the robotic dinosaurs is no easy task either.  Padilla handles this admirably and adds his own bit of flair in making the art darker and grittier than his counterparts in the other titles. 

                While Padilla does draw everything well, robots and actual dinosaurs alike, my main problem is the utilization of space on the page.  There are many times where Padilla will leave a lot of space around the figures, almost as if he is expecting a lot of dialogue to be added and he was making room for it.  When that dialogue is not added it just looks like poor pacing on his part as the panel could have usually been shrunk while others were expanded.  Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a background in nearly every panel, so even though there is a big space, it is not necessarily devoid of something, however looking at a large metal wall that has no bearing on the story is not really useful in any way.  I am not sure if this is the fault of Padilla or Johnson, the writer just not filing the space (I don’t know the scripting method used so can’t make that determination with any certainty).

7/10 – The art is a nice change of pace from the clean lines and open figures of most of the other Transformers titles.  Padilla does a great job of breaking up the different surfaces with a variety of textures as well. 

Overall: 8/10 – While this isn’t the best issue in the series, if you have even a passing interest in the franchise or the Dinobots, you should be reading this series.  It’s easy to see how Transformers stories have been told for nearly thirty years now.

Comic Review – Transformers Monstrosity #1

                Like a good little drone I will usually plunk my hard earned money down for at least one issue of any Transformers comic that IDW releases.  This is not purely a nostalgia-based purchase (for that you can look no further than DC’s Masters of the Universe line) as these are some of the best comics on the stand today.  The writing is generally spot-on in terms of not only adhering to the particular “voice” I remember these characters having in my youth, but the art is also some of the best in the business.  To be able to take such complex forms and make them not only readable but fluid within a comic book setting is not an easy thing.  Hell I can’t even do it in a pinup, I have no idea how some of these artists do it for an entire book.

                That being said, let’s look at the latest mini-series to drop in the Transformers line.  Monstrosity actually started out as a webcomic (much like its predecessor Autocracy – which I still have to pick up) and is being collected for print.  While the ethics of this are probably fairly dubious at best (you can’t tell me that the “talent” is being paid for the digital, print, and eventual trade paperback versions of the story – or, you can I just won’t believe you) it’s interesting to see how the transition is made from digital to print.

This says issue 3 but it's actually the third cover of issue one of the print comic.

Cover:

                It wouldn’t be an IDW book without multiple covers.  This one has three standard covers all by interior artist Livio Ramondelli.  I picked the one that was on top of the pile when I went shopping for it, which was the cover showcasing the dinobots (or as they are called here: the dynobots).  I flipped through the stack just to see the other covers and was happy with my choice.  Covers A and B feature Megatron and Scorponok, respectively and while they are well done, I have a soft spot for the dinobots.  The cover itself shows a pretty standard dinobot pose that is rendered in the standard Ramondelli way. 

                While I enjoy the subject matter, the execution leaves a little to be desired.  The one major flaw in Ramondelli’s work as a whole is that because of the lack of outlines, everything tends to blend together.  This is the main flaw here, and the background having a yellowish tint to it is a poor choice given the yellow on the ‘bots themselves.  Beyond that, the actual figures look off in terms of the perspective on their individual pieces, especially Swoop in the back and Sludge on the left side.  I realize that with so many different pieces that make up your standard Transformer, it is hard to keep everything in order to the point of perfection when it comes to perspective, yet there are too many instances in this cover that just look…off. 

6/10 – It looks like a lot of time was spent on Grimlock because he is in the foreground with less and less being spent on each of the characters as they get further into the distance.  While that makes sense to a point, the foundation should still be there.

Story:

                The execution of the story and how it was transferred from just a set of episodes to one coherent comic book was of interest to me.  Obviously there is an overarching story going through it, but how the writing team of Chris Metzen and Flint Dille was going to synch up each installment and make it cohesive was of great interest to me.  Would this feel like a comic book or just a series of collected pages? 

                The good thing is that there is a lot going on here, and I mean a lot.  We are following at least four major storylines that will undoubtedly intersect sooner rather than later.  This obviously helps when it comes to the individual episodes and would create a natural transition point from the start of each page.  However in a collected format, that could lead to almost a schizophrenic feel, which is what I would hope to avoid if I was the writer.  At first, the transition is not that big of a deal, especially since we are being exposed to many different characters, settings and conflicts.  It’s almost expected to have many jump cuts in that section.  However, once the action slows down a bit in terms of introductions, one would expect to have a little more time with the characters where everything can be fleshed out a bit more.  While Metzen and Dille do a great job of living within the confines of their media while still moving the story along, it is jarring to be someplace new with pretty much every turn of the page. 

                One of the main requirements for producing a Transformers comic is being able to work with a huge cast.  Even if you were to focus on a small, recognizable group of Transformers, all of the bit players would have a distinct voice and would be recognizable to someone, so you would have to try and adhere to that voice.  This is one thing that Metzen and Dille do incredibly well.  They could use the excuse that this takes place right after the war and before the original cartoon that many people use as the basis for the characters as an excuse to alter the personalities of the characters, but they don’t (at least not yet).  The only characters that seem different are the dinobots, but I’m not sure if that’s not because they have some kind of ulterior motive (but I’m sure that will be revealed). 

7/10 – While the transfer from digital to print is not as seamless as I would like it to be, it’s a good story and this issue provides a great framework for the rest of the series.  With so many moving pieces it will be interesting to see how they all fit together. 

Art:

                Any complaints about Ramondelli’s cover art can also be transferred to his interiors.  That being said, Ramondelli does an exceptional job of switching up the color palette to reflect not only the specific group featured in each particular scene, but also the mood in each scene.  This is something that Ramondelli has always excelled at in his Transformers artwork.  The main problem is a decided lack of clarity in his work based upon the lack of outlines and the color palette that he chooses.  This may not be as big of an issue when the comics are digitally presented, but when printed they look like a collection of blobs broken up by word balloons in many instances.  Where the images are legible, they more often than not, look more like paper cut-outs than three dimensional objects.  It’s almost as if removing the outlines had the opposite effect on the artwork. 

                Ramondelli does a decent job of providing action and storytelling where legible.  The characters are almost instantly recognizable and their form stays consistent throughout the entirety of the issue.  Ramondelli does a great job of mixing up camera angles and not letting the storytelling become stagnant and boring.  He prominently features both close-ups and full body shots with great regularity. 

6/10 – There are some very good things here.  The pages are well constructed, and possibly in the original platform they were very legible.  Here, not as much.

Overall: 7/10 – The story is great and the art is good enough for me to continue with this limited series.  I would suggest checking it out if you are already a fan of the Transformers, or if you are intrigued about dinobots or the terrorcons.

Comic Review - Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots #1

            Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots is being marketed as a four part mini-series that bridges the gap from the Fall of Cybertron videogame (a review can be found here) and the Transformers Prime television show that recently wrapped up its second season (and that Goose is madly in love with).  It, like all other Transformers comics is an IDW publication and is written by Mike Johnson and Mairghread Scott, with art by Agustin Padilla.

Cover:

            There was only one cover available for this title, unless you count retailer incentives which is hard to do in such a small market like Syracuse (not to mention the fact that most retailers keep those covers and sell them for elevated prices after the fact).  The regular cover by Ken Christiansen is the best of the bunch anyway.  The Dinobots are in the costumes and color schemes that coincide with their video game characters, as well as a heightened level of detail that is much more interesting than their initial, cartoon designs.  Unfortunately the Dinobots mostly consist of a red, yellow and grey color scheme, which tends to get muddled when you put a group of them together.  This lack of separation leads to a bit of a mess, especially as it is a painted cover and therefore devoid of lineart.  The painted quality is nice, don’t get me wrong, and Christiansen is great at what he does, but I have to think that a holding line or two would have helped the characters separate a bit.  The overall design of the cover is well done, and the character placement in the image is spot on in terms of who should be where (Grimlock is the central figure, Sludge and Snarl are the base while Slag-who is called Slug in this-is Grimlock’s right hand.  Swoop hangs over them taking up the rear.  The symbolism, whether intentional or not, is not lost on this fan.

7/10 – I like it, but the central part of the cover is just a jumbled grey mess that could use some deeper shadows or holding lines.

Story:

            I love that the mythos of the video game is being expanded upon as it was a captivating story to begin with.  Combine that with the appeal of the Dinobots and you would have a sure hit on your hands. 

            I like the idea of having Grimlock be a sort of “narrator” for this as he is the leader of the group profiled in the book.  The problem I have is that he is inherently an unintelligent sounding character, which is only partially used in the story itself.  It is wildly inconsistent, not only from his narration to his actual speech, but also within the word balloons themselves.  I am fine with changing up his speech pattern a bit to make him sound unintelligent, it would fit his character, but it has to be done across the board to be successful. 

            Another discrepancy I noticed was that, in the videogame that this was supposed to follow, Sludge is nowhere to be found, and is assumed to be deceased.  To the best of my knowledge (and it’s been a while since I played so I apologize if I am incorrect) he never returned; so why is he here now?  Sure, it’s possible that that will be explained by the end of issue four, but such a big change should probably be addressed right away.  I understand that you want to have the whole Dinobot crew together for a book that focuses on them, I get it, but the fact that he was assumed dead prior to this is not addressed at all.

            I also don’t like the fact that they had to change Slag’s name to Slug because a group somewhere found it to be a racially insensitive term.  First of all, it’s too close to Sludge in terms of the way it sounds; second, it was created in the mid-eighties and was just recently revised.  Shouldn’t things like this be grandfathered in to our public lexicon, especially since (according to dictionary.com) it is a British derogatory term for an abusive woman?  That’s right, we are apparently rewriting childhood memories to avoid offending the abusers!  

            Sorry, got off on a bit of a tangent there.

5/10 – The writing could have done with a little more backstory and a little less “show me three pages of Grimlock fighting something.  If I wanted mindless fight scenes with no real value or backstory I would have invested my time in Avengers vs. X-Men over the summer.

Art:

            I have just started drawing Transformers for Goose, a lot; and I can tell you that it is no easy feat.  I am drawing mine for a five year old, mind you and not for pay, so I can only imagine the kind of internal pressure that Padilla must feel to get things right.  That being said, he does an admirable job with the Transformers themselves, they all look great.  Where he fails to measure up is through the storytelling itself.  While I am not sure if he is designing the contents of the panels himself or whether he has direction from the writers (the old Marvel vs. DC style) I am often perplexed by the page layouts.  Much of it feels like bad pacing on the part of the writers but I am not 100% sure who’s fault it is.

            Another thing that bothers me is the fact that a lot of the panels in the book focus too much on just lineups of characters.  This gets very static and boring after awhile.  While this may be passable normally, because this is a bridge between an incredibly well done videogame and an equally impressive cartoon, the flaws are magnified.

I get that we are in the midst of introducing characters here, but why not change up the panel designs a bit, especially since the color schemes on the Dinobots are all so similar. 

For all the negative things I have said about Padilla's art, I love the layout of this page.  It pulls your eye through in a masterful way.

Not sure why these two panels needed a full page, especially the big panel that is just the face of Ultra Magnus.  Seems like a lot of wasted space to me.

 

This two page spread just makes no sense to me.  Regardless of the differing corners on the panel borders, it doesn't do enough to tell me that that is a flashback or dream sequence, and I don't understand where they are, and what the spiky things signify. 

5/10 – For a “fight book” the art is okay and the characters are incredibly well done (especially considering the increase in detail that drawing the video game characters entails), but the overall lack of storytelling ability shown by Padilla hurts the final output.

Overall:  5/10 – The premise was great but the book fails to deliver (for now at least).  There is obviously still time for it to redeem itself, and hopefully Padilla becomes more comfortable with drawing the characters and can focus on good storytelling, but I rarely hold out hope for a series that starts out flat like this.  Luckily it is only four issues and won’t be a huge money sink by the time it’s done.

Videogame Review – Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

            Goose loves Transformers.  I mean, borderline obsession.  When asked what he wanted to be for Halloween, he only had one response, “Optimus Prime”.  So guess who gets to dress up as Transformers this year?  That’s right, all three of us.  I’ll show you pictures later.  What we are really here for is to review what might be his favorite game of all time: Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

            First things first, this is a sequel.  The first game, War for Cybertron came out awhile back and was a pretty good game, even though it mostly felt like Gears of War with robots.  I know that you could play as different Transformers in the various campaigns that they provided you with, but everything was a little too similar for my taste in that game to really make it stand out.  In Fall of Cybertron you do not have the choice of which character you get to be in each mission.  However each mission allows you to be someone else, oftentimes making the transition without going to a load screen, basically prompting you to push a button to complete the transition.  The best part is that each character has their own skill set that makes them not only unique from the other playable characters, but keeps the game itself fresh.

            You need that, trust me, because the game is basically go through and shoot stuff, blow stuff up and keep walking/flying/driving until you reach your goal.  There are little diversions along the way, and exploring rewards you with audio recordings that flesh out the story or blueprints so that you can purchase weapon upgrades in the game.  Those are pretty cool add-ons, but nowhere near necessary to enjoy the game. 

            The graphics themselves are beautiful, and the storyline is actually really good.  The action is fairly well paced, especially in the sections that put you in one of the brawler-esqe characters, and the difficulty is pretty high.  I started on the “normal” setting but knocked it down to “easy” about halfway through to finish quicker, besides, Goose wasn’t watching the game to see me die, he actually wanted to see the robots.

            And there are robots aplenty my friend.  Autobot or Decepticon, it doesn't matter who you favor because they are all there.  Some as playable characters like Optimus, Jazz and Cliffjumper, or in support roles like Ratchet and Warpath, they are all there.  Actually, in the end there is a great montage where you get to play as little cameos of multiple characters, both good and bad.  In the end you get to choose whether you want to be Optimus or his nemesis Megatron for the final battle.  I am not sure what the Megatron ending was as Goose wouldn't dare to let me play as anyone but Optimus if given the chance, but the Optimus ending was pretty generic so I have a feeling there was not much difference. 

            Oh, you want to know the best part about the game though?  Fucking Dinobots.  Seriously.  How cool is that!?  You only get to play as Grimlock, and it comes quite a ways into the game, so the anticipation is ramped up, but that’s all you need.  The rest of the Dinobots are there in supportive roles, except for Sludge, who was apparently killed by the Decepticons.  Grimlock does not actually carry a gun, and is slow and lumbering in nature, but he is fun to play as, as you get to slice things up with your sword and stomp on the much smaller Decepticons.  Oh, wait, did I also forget to mention that he turns into a fucking Tyrannosaurus!?  The best part is getting Grimlock all raged up and transforming into a T-Rex.  There is an actual cut-scene for this transformation, unlike the other transformations.  The cut-scene is incredible and shows exactly how Grimlock transforms.  The love and care for the property itself shows through in moments like this, so kudos to High Moon studios for not only creating a great game, but one that does a hell of a job making the Transformers themselves accurate representations of the robots we knew and loved in our youth. 

            While the game is good, the two-player mode is only available on Xbox live (with no actual co-op mode available like we saw in the first game), which I do not have, so that is a bummer, and the game itself seemed a bit on the short side.  I definitely would have played it for longer, and will probably go back and play it again for the Goose in the future, but it could have been a tad longer, with more of the quick-change robot sequences like in the last part.  If you like the Transformers franchise or you have a kid that does, get this game. 

Seriously.

Fucking Dinobots.