スターゲート戦役 (Stargate Battles)

Contains spoilers

I'm nearly done reading volume #1 and here are some random thoughts:

+ The story seems to be set in a universe that's quite similar to the G1 cartoon universe, but clearly not the same - cos if it were then wouldn't the existence of the Decepticon space bridge, not to mention relatively easy space-travel with guys like Omega Supreme and Astrotrain, kinda negate the awe surrounding Trigger? The relationship between humans and Transformers also seems unconventional to what we're used to seeing in the cartoon too... there were never anti-Autobot protestors other than when they were framed in Megatron's Master Plan (and the protestors are really anti-Transformers, although they present themselves as being anti-Autobot; they see the Autobots as an equal threat as the Decepticons since they are waging their war on Earth wreaking untold amounts of collateral damage - something that didn't exist or was never addressed in the cartoon).

+ I find the relations between Autobots and humans quite interesting. It reminds me of the G1 comics where most humans are wary and fearful of all Transformers; although unlike the comics it seems that humans here _are_ fully aware that there are two different factions of Transformers at war with each other. They seem aware that the Autobots are - at least in theory - the more noble side, although in their eyes they're ultimately equally as dangerous as the Decepticons. But evidently the relationship between Autobots and humans have changed since first contact (where we saw widespread public celebration heralding the start of Autobot-human relations) and the completion of Trigger (where we see organised protests and widespread resentment against the Autobots' presence on Earth). I also liked how the Decepticons attempted to exploit human greed; it's true that there are people who would do anything with the promise of power. Megatron here reminds me of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings, and the exploited human (Trov) reminds me of Saruman... loyally serving his master believing that he will gain power, but in reality the master does not share power and ultimately betrays the servant (Sauron abandons Saruman and Megatron slays Trov).

+ The C-X thing seemed pretty lame at first, but then became cooler when we saw lots of them atop Trigger. At first I was rooting for them and glad to see humans fighting alongside Autobots with human-controlled mecha - and then when they turned against the Autobots (for reasons that surprised me; I thought Professor Adle was up to something) I was like, "Whoa okay, that's cool." :)

+ The appearance of Ghost Starscream was a surprise and seeing him recruit living Starscream was interesting. The way that Energon-powered-up Ghost Starscream merged himself and living Starscream with Trigger, transforming it into their new body was very reminiscent of when Starscream did the same thing with Warworld in G2! ;) If living Starscream survives this, I think relations between him and Megatron will never be the same again since Ghost Starscream has already told him that Galvatron will kill him in the future (and Megatron has admitted that this would be something that he'd do!).

+ I like the way that Makoto and the other humans imprisoned by Trigger Starscream found a way to "fight back." ;)

Overall an interesting read and a refreshingly more adult story which I've never seen before in a Transformers manga (they're otherwise very kiddy), and especially from Tsushima Naoto who previously worked on the Henkei! Henkei! catalogue manga. Some of his expressions are kinda kiddyish (particularly on Bumblebee), but overall I really like his art.

One thing I did not like was how Tsushima made Frenzy a freakin' Rumble clone as he was in the G1 cartoon - and being a black and white manga he didn't even shade them differently to differentiate them; they look exactly the same and it's only due to verbal expositions that we know which is which. *sigh* For all the criticism I throw at Shane McCarthy, one thing I that I think he did _right_ was to portray Frenzy as Frenzy; using his sonic abilities (as originally stated in his G1 tech specs!), instead of being an Earthquake generating Rumble clone.