Has issue 2 come out locally yet?
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Has issue 2 come out locally yet?
it hits this week when ever your local comic shop gets them (late wednesday/thursday or friday)Quote:
Originally Posted by kup
It should be in Australian stores tonight.
I think the new release schedule is: MtMtE, Regen, RiD, week off.
Or maybe Regen is the first release of the month, doesn't get any earlier than the first!
It is out this week, but don't rush.
Issue 82 is disappointing. I'm trying to think of something good about it but it's hard. Some loose ends from the original series are touched on. One I expected (from the #83 cover preview), one I didn't.
I feel like if this comic had come out in 1992 (or 2002) I'd like it more, but compared to the other TFs comics on the market at the moment it's just not holding it's weight.
Spoilers follow
Last week in one issue of MTMTE, Roberts introduced 6 Decepticons and gave them all unique identifiable personality characteristics. In this comic Furman has the chance to introduce us properly to the Wreckers we glimpsed in #81 but didn't. What makes Sandstorm different to Leadfoot and Broadside or Roadbuster? Why should I care about these 'bots?
Worse, Furman resurrects the Decepticons Starscream deactivated in the Underbase Saga as 'zombies'. Ratbat, Octane, Razorclaw - any of whom were established in previous US and UK stories and could hold a story - are reduced to mindless drones. Why not just give Megatron an army of Vehicons and be done with it? Or better yet, block colour them in 80s colouring style since who they are/were no longer matters.
The story feels really drawn out over the two issues so far and the art bothers me a bit too. Nebulos and Earth barely look any different. Hopefully there's some explanation coming in the third issue, and the small cameo appearance might be the answer (I'd laugh if my old fanfic idea came to be). I found Trailbreaker (or should that be random black and red exposition-messenger-bot) out of place too in my mind.
I hope they stop drawing things out so slowly.
On a positive note to end, it does amuse me that Megatron has an Action Master vehicle to ride around on.
Just a shame it's not toy-accurate. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
I agree that this was a disappointment - for me, only Grimlock's storyline and Magnus's frustration were of interest. I don't care about anyone else, and that's terrible because twenty years ago, these incarnations of the Transformers meant everything to me. You're exactly right about More Than Meets The Eye #7 and again that sucks because those characters - Krok, Spinister, Crankcase, Flywheels and Misfire - are the exact 'fringe' Decepticons who Furman used to write so well. I think Wildfur would actually benefit from having Roberts as a proofreader to suggest small easter eggs and 'improvements'.
That said, the Wreckers being at the forefront of a comic called Transformers #82 was - deliberately or not - a nice bit of nostalgia. After all, this is an inverted story where Magnus stays on Cybertron while the Wreckers go to Earth. Although Trailbreaker should have been Hound so at least the Magnus scene could have been an explicitly ironic homage to UK #83:
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3040/magnus1.jpg
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/4439/magnus2.jpg
so far what all is saying is very true to the issue, it was a bland read, not enough focus on grimlocks plot, too much on earth, and for some reason the whole Circuit smasher thing frustrates me already....is he also going to be the key to grimlocks data slug he was watching...
the zombified decepticons makes sense but then doesnt at the same time...and what they have done to ratchet is not nice at all..i do think they need to fill in a few more holes in the past like what happened on earth galvatron for max etc etc..
and for dinobot month there really was not much about dinobots.
time will tell i hope. but MTMTE is still No#1 and RID#8 hits next week and then the MTMTE Annual somtime this month...
Just finished reading #82. I didn't mind it, it was decent but again not really much there to captivate. Afterwards I read half of MTMTE #7 and enjoyed that a lot more.
Aside from the art, it doesn't really feel like the old Marvel run either so I am not sure what to make of it.
Like #81, the story wasn't great, just ok but there are a some 'turn of events' that I don't like too much unless Furman is looking to do something interesting with them. The whole 'Earth is apocalyptically destroyed' angle rubs me the wrong way a bit and seems like if it narrows down possibilities of an interesting plot progression like Marvel G1 Transformers in the 21st century which I would have loved to see. We are now basically in 'Mad Max' world which is difficult to relate to (there isn't much) and fills uninspired and constrained.
We are now two issues down and we have more questions than answers without captivation in the narrative and that is not really good.
Still early days but I do fear that Furman has lost his edge as a writer. Nothing really creative or interesting about this, but it isn't broken like Costa's ongoing so there is still hope. Time will tell I guess.
I enjoyed this issue. Having the humans being unable to tell the difference between Autobots and Decepticons was interesting - reminiscent of earlier G1 issues, only in a post-apocalyptic setting. The "Lazarus" project seems pretty interesting. :) Circuit Smasher can't be that powerful... otherwise surely he'd have destroyed all the Decepti-Zombies by now (unless his powers have only recently manifested or something).
My gripe about this issue would be this:
+1 :rolleyes: Sure, Grimlock was pretty decent in this issue, I like how he was presented with a moral dilemma when attacked by Nebulans, but otherwise... okay. I dunno... when I hear "Dinobot Month" I think there's going to be Dinobots -- just like when Discovery Channel does Shark Week, you expect to see lots of sharks. But we just get to see Grimlock -- one Dinobot. Why not just call it Grimlock Month? :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharky
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ic_faith16.jpg
Agree that this issue was not to the standards of Roberts writing in MtMtE.
It feels like Furman is going to take half of his 20 issue run to setup and remind everyone of the loose ends from the US run, then finally address them in the last 10.
Issues 81 and 82 could have been pushed into one issue easily enough. I'm amazed there hasnt really been any fallout from 80.5 and that the focus really is only on the wreckers and now a few pages on grimmers.
It's not a bad issue, but is feeling more like AHM/Costa than the "-tion" stories.
I Jumped onto comixology last night and i noticed that they have not reduced the price for regeneration #81 like they always do with previous issues.. it has remained at the full digital price, i wonder if this will stay that way, which woud be a little disapointing...
i wonder when idw will introduce the free digital code with purchase like marvel and dc are doing now... they were talking about it almost 12 months or more ago..i do buy alot of comic from them so its about time we got fre digital codes!!
I received my copy last week, again courtesy of Sharky ;):), and I've got to say that I didn't mind it; I too think that there should've been more focus on Grimlock (Seeing as it is Dinobot Month after all :rolleyes:) but I was pretty happy with the pacing, maybe I've been spoilt by the TPBs but IMO if they were to cram too much into single issues then nothing would get covered properly. :o
Very much looking forward to the next issue, Ratchet's Head being jammed in that sled was awesome - With his perpetual look of agony & fright being of particular delight. :D
Sorry Hursty but I disagree. MTMTE issues cover a lot more in the same amount of pages and leave you satisfied after reading a single issue. The original Marvel issues used to do the same.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hursticon
It is still early days but if nothing really moves forward by the next issue then things will begin to go downwards. Frankly, I am not really enjoying the story Furman is telling so far, the whole Apocalyptically destroyed Earth rubs me the wrong way and so does 'zombie' Decepticons. There isn't much that is clever about the narrative at this point, I hope that changes.
That's cool man, as I mentioned - I think I've been spoilt by the Titan TPBs. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by kup
Admittedly I do wish there was more in the 1st 2 issues thus far but then, I'd also like them to be the length of each TPB (But that's obviously silly talk :p); I'm as newb as they come when the 'Comic World' is concerned, all I know is that I like art & I like Scifi about/involving Robits and these comics tick those boxes. :D
I finally read the issue, and agree there isn't a great deal happening. it's not a bad issue, it's just not addressing any of the points of interest the previous issues have come up with and thus feels lackluster.
There are all sorts of interesting questions waiting to be answered, such as what happened to earth? what became of some of the Nucleon revived Autobots, where is Bludgeon hiding out etc, but no real movement this issue.
I did kind of like the idea of the Lazarus project, its kind of picking up on an obscure plot point of what became of the Headmasters original heads, though why aliens would name their project after a figure from an Earth bible story is beyond me.
It also seems like Scorponok could be back (in some form), hmm I hope Furman's just not going to bring everyone back or this is just going to get silly. In that regard I didn't actually mind the zombie cons as it allowed us to see some old cameos without the full "Lazarus treatment".
I guess we should be thankfull Furman wrote an issue for Dinobot month without letting Grimlock steal the whole show. :D
Just picked up the latest issue... it answers some more questions (but still not all). So we now know:
+ What happened to Earth
+ Where Bludgeon and his crew are
+ What happened to Thunderwing
The issue also reveals the true identity of Circuit Smasher, which I totally did _not_ see coming! :eek: Nice surprise there! The only slightly sad thing about this issue is that it does very conclusive rule G2 out of continuity with this series (aww, I was hoping they'd include it or leave it ambiguous... yeah, I know Furman did say from the outset that he was going to ignore G2. :()
Loved the reveals regarding Fort Max and Circuit Smasher, I too was not expecting that story.
I like that everything just seems to be falling in place for the Decepticons right now by luck rather than any overarching grand scheme...
Art is very good, both humans and robots look right and are scaled well.
This issue was better than the previous ones, I like that they explained what happened on earth, and also referenced the Underbase saga from old marvel continuity, as probably the first major bot massacre of the US series it makes sense that it's effects are so far reaching.
I did see Circuit Smashers identity coming, (It's always Spike damnit). I was hoping it would be Buster or Ethan Zachary. :D
Did everyone notice those Neo Knight like silhouettes in one for the flashback panels?
One thing though since when did GB Blackrock become a such a whizz at science? Sure he was always a genius business man, but now he's gone all Tony Stark/ Proffesor X. I guess that's what the apocalypse does to some people.
Spoilahs ahead yo
Blackrock sure did look a lot like Tony Stark -- at least he did to me when I was a kid. :p I'm sure one wouldn't go investing and developing so much high tech if he wasn't reasonably cluey about it. <shrug>
As for Hippie-Spike over Buster or Ethan (or Charlie Fong :p), I guess it's because he's the one human on the planet who has Nebulan Bio Engineering in him. It's interesting how they've also explained how binary bonding involved permanent cybernetic implants; because in the original G1 comics - to me at least - it felt more vague... more like "binary bonding" meant putting on a cool exo-suit that let you transform and binary bond with a Transformer -- but otherwise you were just a regular human. And I thought that prolonged exposure to the technology allowed users to form a psychic link with their TF partners which was amplified by the tech. But being cyborgs does make sense, and explains why Sparkplug spiraled into anger and depression after seeing what they'd done to Spike (as well as the ordeal that Buster had been through).
I am pretty sure that it was clearly defined in Marvel that binary bonding involved a lot more than putting on a fancy suit ;)
I enjoyed this issue a lot more because it is now putting in a more solid foundation for a story with better links to the original Marvel run. It feels more defined as a continuation now by having GB Blackrock, acknowledging the Neo-Knights (including Circuit Breaker within legal capacity) but most importantly, former big events like the Underbase Saga.
The best thing though is that now the story has gained focus and and it's moving along with good traction. Although I am not a fan of the 'Post-Apocalypse' Earth angle, the explanation in the story was good enough to allow me to accept it and enjoy the story for what it is.
After this issue, Re-Generations has certainly picked up for me. I still have some issues with the story but issue 83 has engaged me enough to anticipate the next issue.
Got the issue today (along with the missing Captain Atom comic I've been moaning about). The only problem is that they should have called Spike the Circuit Buster as a shout-out to his brother. ;)
I'm not impressed by the Underbase Decepticons casualties being in the Ark. Scorponok and Prime had a truce to collect their fallen after the defeat of Starscream.
The only one that makes sense to be aboard the Ark is Ratbat, I can imagine Optimus Prime keeping his body for Ratbat's own safety.
It could perhaps have been forgiven if only Ratbat's former troops were aboard the Ark. Scorponok picking up his troops from Nebulos rather than the regular Earth bound 'cons. But that's just the Terrorocons, who are among the revived army. And he definitely picked up Soundwave (and had him repaired) so why would he not have collected the others?
I always imagined that the Underbase Cons were still in storage in the New Jersey base. Why couldn't Megatron have just gone there to get them instead of Furman placing them aboard the Ark?
Surely Grimlock would have been a bit more careful about reviving the robots with Nucleon if there was an entire army of Decepticons in some of those pods.
I like loose ends being tied off, I did this in my fanfic, so it's annoying that it's not a nice and tidy bow.
They also seem to be setting up a mystery about how Megatron was able to control the Ark. Did the humans never see Ratchet being carted around by Megatron?
And Spike is described as an "old, old ally" of the Autobots by Topspin. An Autobot who's a couple of million years old calls someone known 20 years ago as an "old, old ally"?
There's just so many things about this series that bug me unfortunately.
But I love the Geoff Senior covers. I have to pay more for each issue, but love them.
Yes indeed. The exact quote is "Joints are replaced, bones are reinforced, armor plates attached until hours later the operation is complete!"Quote:
Originally Posted by kup
Unlike the other Headmasters, we don't know exactly what was done to Spike between US #38 (when he just had the helmet) and #39 when he was fully armoured and bonded, but we do know that once he had removed himself from the armour, he could then pretty much instantaneously put those "armor plates" back on, and take them off again, as in #51.
I completely agree with Paulbot about the Senior covers - they're brilliant, and I thought the colouring of #83's made it even better.
While I too would have preferred to have the Zombiecons originate from Scorponoks old base, I can't really say it was a big issue for me, I'm glad that they even referenced the Underbase Saga given it's age. Also for all we know when the Decepticons gathered their casualties they may well have just gathered the ones they had the resources to restore and left the rest for dead (they were never the sentimental type). Perhaps the Autobots were forced to clean up the Deception bodies to keep them out of human hands. I would hope their resurrection is not a result of Grimlocks doing though, I don't think they were in the pods like Megatron and the Autobots, I think the Deceptions were in the Arks morgue much like Thundercracker, Skywarp and co after Omega Supreme trashed them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
Of course I could be way of, but that's just why it didn't bug me so much. I personally think the missing key to the puzzle is Shockwave, why wasn't he among the zombie cons? I can't imagine Megatron in his current state being lenient on him for his past transgressions, and he was knowledgeable enough of the Ark's systems to rebuild it. So maybe he's the Ark's new computer? Just my wild theories though.
It gets to me because I'm the sort of (obsessive) fan that has spent 20 years thinking about the loose ends after #80 (and G2#12). :)
The Autobots repaired their prisoners (such as Omega's victims) and kept them in life support too (according to Furman's UK #83). In fairness though they might have kept the Decepticon army in a different section of the Ark, and with or without Ratchet, the Autobots were struggling to repair their own troops.
Like I said in an earlier post, nameless, personality less disposable armies might cut it in TF:Prime, but it's a waste of the characters here. It also bugs me that, why not just have the Decepticons not be zombies but just loyal to Megatron? Or kept under control by fear of the mad powerful (Nucleon-powered?) nutbag, but maybe that's getting a bit too close to LSOTW.
I don't think Shockwave's absence is accidental. The answer to Leadfoot's "how did Megatron do all this" is likely a combination of Ratchet and Shockwave. The Classicverse comics had Shockwave's head in a box. Maybe that'll happen again? Or maybe Galvatron and Megatron did actually kill Shockwave when they turned on him before the Ark crashed. Furman never followed up on Shockwave in the G2 comics either.
While I understand and agree about the faceless armies thing,I do actually think in this case just having the Underbase casualty cons resurrected good as new, would be both a little boring and for me undermine the potency of their loss in the original comic series. I must say comic book resurrections have become one of my own personal pet hates. If every single character from the original run is back good as new then, well where's the drama? As any future casualties can presumably can just be brought back to life at a moments notice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
So far aside from Megs, Grimlock, Trailbreaker and presumably Prowl have been the only Nucelon revived Transformers shown, it is hinted that there may have been bad side effects for some of the others. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, but I certainly hope so as the perfect miracle cure is a lame plot device, the Last Autobot's mass resurrection was bad enough, but at least he's gone now.
Sometimes they just need to let some characters stay dead.
Which reminds me there are or were still a bunch of deactivated Autobots in the Ark when it crashed, wonder what happened to them?
So this was an obvious setup issue.
Some good scenes for the Wreckers and some foreshadowing with Spike. Nothing surprising or unexpected occurred, but it was a nice enjoyable read.
Art is a mixed bag, the lines seem decent, this as a black and white comic would be very pretty, but the colours vary from bleak and unitonal to a bright plastic sheen, without ever nailing the gritty damaged look I think there are going for.
I've not liked this series much, but I did think #84 was the best issue so far. I still think there were problems but the pace was better. Issues 81 to 85 will probably end up reading better as a trade collection.
Judging from Starscream's actions, these zombies may not be quite as mindless as Megatron thinks... hmm...
Writing this as I read and get interrupted by the missus. Spoiler alert. Cbf doing the spoiler free stuf, it dulls the conversation and really those who read this thread are the ones who read it anyway!
So, very annoyed at the skipping around from location to location, I just want the fight between Megs and Prime as well as the secondary Autobot vs. Decepticon zombies fight. I don't care about the battle for the Ark, and I certainly do not give a flying rats about Hot Rod (at this moment in time). I know that both will tie in later and probably directly to the Prime Megs fight.
Now to keep reading, Springer is headless, Kup rusting...
...And that is one short read compared to recent MtMtE and RiD issues, but a good read. Nothing you wouldn't expect, including the return of an old "friend". Kup is Kup, and Furman closes the loops he left on Earth, by effectively making it a redundant and now useless to the story, allowing the focus to return to Cybertron and Nebulos. Only Decepticon left standing may be Screamer.
As for the strands still running, we know have a new (old) con ready to screw up the Cybertronian Con's plans, Hot Rod wasting everyone's time and Maximum Dinobots take 2 ready to begin. Only 15 issues to go!
What is this crack in time? Is it caused by a certain someone's trip back from 2005?
It's poetic that it was Kup - basically the inverse of Hod Rod's role in Prime and Megs' fight in Transformers: The Movie.
Awesome last page - that's the storyline I want to read.
I really wish Josh Burcham was colouring this whole series (and not just the awesome Geoff Senior alternate covers that are costing me [and Paulbot, I believe] a lot of money to collect). I hate John Paul Bove's colouring - it's too 21st century and literal and doesn't communicate well in terms of different settings. I would rather have Nel Yomtov back than Bove.
i love the senior covers and have been picking them up also!! alot of the IDW "RI" recently have been good, better then the black and white or design sketch covers they were spitting out...Quote:
Originally Posted by Sky Shadow
I just hope it is different enough from Maximum Dinobots, that is the vibe I get (and the same author)Quote:
Originally Posted by Sky Shadow
Haven't actually seen any RI covers, which is a good thing for my wallet!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sky Shadow
Ultimately I'm going to enjoy looking at these comics, because of the Senior covers, but I'm not going to be reading them over and over. As the wrap up to the first "arc" I'm still feeling overall disappointed in the series. Maybe if the colouring was a bit more restrained as Sky Shadow suggests it would work a bit better. Substituting backgrounds for shaded colouring doesn't help. The Transformers are fighting in an apocalyptic Washington DC? Um, yeah's there's a bit of a broken white building (maybe a house) and a road. There's no scale, no sense of place. It might as well be the danger room Kup was training in back in #81.
Using the holographic "Auntie" from one of the most obscure of the UK comic's strips (disregarding annuals etc) was a poor call too I think. I know this book is aimed at die-hards but that's a step maybe too die-hard? Or maybe it just irritates because generally this series is based on the US comic only and other UK stories are otherwise ignored (despite the main reason to care about characters in this story like Springer and Broadside).
One thing I didn't appreciate until the second reading, was that Starscream was the only Transformer to know that Megatron and Ratchet were linked mentally, having witnessed that firsthand. All Kup, and the other Autobots, would know was that Fixit had to save both of them to keep them alive when did the operation, but the more metaphysical bond wasn't revealed until the Autobots were all off the Ark. As readers we've known it for over 20 years but it would be an unknown fact at play in the story to everyone else.
I agree about the oversaturation of colours. This comic would probably look better in black and white. :/
I quite liked it. We die-hards almost never get stories aimed at us, and I'm glad this attempts to do so. Even then, it's still fairly superficial. Cos even people who are ignorant of G1 are till told that AUNTIE is the name of the Ark's computer... and that's all you really need to know. I know what you mean though about picking and choosing which parts of UK continuity to ignore and which to not ignore -- and that inconsistency certainly does bug me too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
Fixit did say that while he would be able to physically separate their bodies, he would not be able to separate their minds. And Kup and others gave Prime that disapproving look when he still chose to give Fixit permission to separate them. So Kup did have fore knowledge that Ratchet and Megatron wouldn't have been psychically separated.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
I'm really surprised at the dislike for JPB's colouring.
He's an incredibly skilled colourist, and I think he's doing a pretty good job, and that he's long overdue for steady work with IDW TF.
He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, though. Picking a colouring style to suit the masses is just an impossible task for this project. I've seen his 'proto' work where he was experimenting to find something that worked, and I think he's pulled it together well.
He's trying to give people a mix of what they remember, what they think they remember, and something to differentiate it from regular projects.
My issue with the colouring is the way it's working to make up for flaws in the drawings (such as filling in the blanks of backgrounds or trying to add depth to figures who are rather flat).
It's not a matter of memory, though - we can pull out our old comics and look at them. Nel Yomtov was widely held to be a terrible colourist, but I still like his work and would prefer it if this comic had some good block colouring rather than horrific digital smudges in the background of every single panel. The Guidi covers have great colouring. The Senior covers have great colouring. The Wildman covers and interiors are horribly pale - there's no chiaroscuro, it's just blah. I hate looking at Bove's colouring. It's counterintuitive to the whole project.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cat
#86 is on Shelves i dont mind it i am finding myself not really enjoying it as much as i thought is that because of MTMTE? however i found the clean up operation on earth somewhat un Autobot Like....
And i still think it is the worst ending to ratchets story!!
Agreed with all of the above. It is a very short read compared to the other two monthlies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharky
The ending for Megatron and Ratchet was not good enough really, and Prime deciding to stay as he is and not get patched up is idiocy. Not sure I like where the Starscream stuff is going either.
For the non Earth stuff is was all setup for the next mini arc. Soundwave made it through too easily and perfectly, he's too clever by half at the moment. Scoroponks stuff was watered down to a quick, "oh look I can do this now because I am so S-m-a-r-t! OH ramifications of my smartness!
Not a bad issue, but not as good a read as it's stablemates.