I got the first issue a few days ago. It's interesting, despite the fact that I'm not particularly familiar with the IDW G1 universe.
I really liked the designs for the Dinobots' beast modes.
Also, is it just me, or is Grimlock like Wolverine?
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I got the first issue a few days ago. It's interesting, despite the fact that I'm not particularly familiar with the IDW G1 universe.
I really liked the designs for the Dinobots' beast modes.
Also, is it just me, or is Grimlock like Wolverine?
How is Grimlock like Wolverine? If you mean in terms of being an anti-hero then it's nothing new - Grimlock's always been an anti-hero since G1, especially in the Marvel Comics.
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/tr...im_me_king.jpghttp://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/tr..._vs_demons.jpghttp://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/tr...wlg1exodus.jpghttp://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/tr...Earthforce.jpg
And in G2...
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/tr...wlg2muzzle.jpghttp://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/tr...px-Biggrim.jpg
And Beast Wars...
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/tr...ockConvoys.JPG
...basically, Grimlock's always been like that. :)
Wolverine always acted as if he prefered to be a loner or work alone. Grimlock on the other hand is not a loner type character as he prefers the Dinobots as company and is very loyal to them.
He is a Team player (even if just his own team) while Wolverine likes to pretend he is a loner (even though most of the time he is not).
I should have made myself clearer. :o
In my mind, this Grimlock's being like Wolverine in that...oh wait, never mind. I was going to say "he's a badass who gets whole comic series devoted to himself" but that's, like, all Grimlocks. :p
I read somewhere once that Wolverine has appeared on more comic book and magazine covers than any other X-Men character - so he seems to be a big favourite amongst authors and fans. Grimlock would definitely be a fan favourite and Simon Furman himself has openly admitted that he is his favourite Transformer and that he does enjoy writing about Grimlock. :)
Does anybody want to buy a bunch of Sunstreakers to repaint as Machination Headmasters?
So good to get a continuation of something I have read for the past 3 years.
And nice to get something that is easy to read, and has a decent script as opposed to the AHM stuff.
There has obviously been a little time jump post Revelations, but unlike AHM, it doesn't really matter, it's just a natural pick up of where we left off from Spotlight Grimlock and Devastation.
Roche's art is different from what he has given us thus far, but it's still good, his work on Hunter is not great, but who cares about the squishies right? However his Dynobots/Thunder Lizards are fantastic and the colours are perfect for the series thus far.
Bring on #2, which from the 5 page preview looks to be a good blend of story and violence! :D
Yeah I am liking Maximum Dinobots so far. For me, the first issue alone is superior to the first 3 issues of AHM!
I am also glad that its place in continuity with the previous stories is solid unlike AHM.
Maybe if I found a loose lot for cheap... they'd probably be junkers though. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by FFN
Loved #1, and Nick is gonna be doing some trouser shattering in #2 - the preview looks awesome. Hot Rod is totally pwned!
Looking at the earlier Grimlock spotlight I did notice that Grimlock's design had changed, but I liked that they threw in a line to explain it (by him reflecting that he had only been able to make cosmetic changes to his form).
got the first issue yesterday
wasn't very impressed, but i know they need to do the whole backstory thing for new readers.
I also dont like how the IDW universe is going far into the future with AHM and then back to the past with Maximum Deenobots and then all over the place with the Spotlight issues
and then for new readers, you must hunt down all the spotlight issues that tie in with Minimum Dynobots, seems a bit silly to Roller
Spoiler warning
Spoiler warning
And whats with Hunter?
I thought he would be inside Sunstreakers vehicle mode, maybe part of the car, it sounds like he is missing-the hologram says something like that
IDW Headmasters don't disconnect from their bodies when transforming. They stay in head mode while the body is in vehicle mode, and so Hunter needs to be projected as a holoavatar.
Sunstreaker's real head is missing, Machination took it away. In Devastation 4-5, Sunstreaker was so desperate to escape the Machination that he shunted nearly all of his consciousness into Hunter without telling him.
The merging of the two consciousness between Dante and Scorponok appears to have occured far more rapidly than it did in G1 between Zarak and Scorpie. It'll be interesting to see if this merger occurs with Hunter and Sunstreaker as we've never seen a true mind-meld like that between an Autobot and his binary bonded parter since Optimus Prime and Hi-Q... and even then, let's face it, it was pretty much Optimus Prime's personality that took over. Hi-Q's consciousness was effectively smothered when he was merged with Prime. Fortress Maximus and Spike had a symbiotic mental bond, but both consciousnesses remained independent of each other (moreso for Spike though). Hunter and Sunstreaker could become the first proper mind merge between an Autobot and his bonded partner! Hrmmm...
I assume it's because the Machination Sunstreakers are like Transtectors - sparkless bodies. No idea what happened to Sunstreaker's real body, as it would contain his spark casing.
I SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY doubt they'll have Sunstreaker and Hunter truly merge now. Hail and Farewell was Simon Furman's glimpse into his future storylines (at the time he didn't know All Hail Megatron had already canceled his plans), and we saw Hunter and Sunstreaker merged together, in that Hunter's family are now Sunstreaker's family.
Considering the stuff Furman had to drop, I think we'll see the Hunter plotline over-FINISHED by the end of Maximum Dinobots so Sunstreaker can go hang out with Sideswipe in AHM :rolleyes:
IDW doesn't like complex storylines anymore.
I think Hunter only merged with the head suit, much like Dante has with Scorponoks head, I think that if needed, Hunter could leave the head suit as well.
But the clones technically are not Autobots... :p
I think if we call the Sunstreaker clones "the Streakers" it would benefit us all, if we dare call them "the Clones" we may get the ire of the Star Wars fans! :D
I think Hunter combined with the original Sunstreaker body too, but I am also unsure if that was the case or not. I don't think the machination would have harmed Sunstreaker too much in their capture of him, can't damage the merchandise.
Didn't Hunter find the disembodied Sunstreaker head though, so why didnt they try and take it then???
Less than Transtectors - Transtectors are still living Transformers, but their consciousnesses are not online.Quote:
Originally Posted by FFN
Henceforth we shall call them: DI-A-CLONNNNNNNEs! ;) :DQuote:
Originally Posted by i_amtrunks
That depends on the continuity or time period of said continuity.
For example, in Headmasters the transtector was completely lifeless as they were 'driven' by the heads which were the true consciousness. The Transtectors basically served a purpose similar to big mech suits as the populace from the Master planet were micromaster in size.
When we reach Masterforce, that's when the 'dormant consciousness' thing in transtectors begins to apply.
Yeah true, I was thinking of Masterforce. :p
Sunstreaker's original body is not seen again after Escalation issue 1. In Devastation 2, Hunter encountered his real head, who begged the human to put him out of his misery lest he bring more harm to the Autobots.
Hunter asked to become a Headmaster, Sunstreaker warned him the process would hurt. Afterwards, Sunstreaker's real head was slack-jawed and non-responsive. At roughly the same time, the Sunstreaker clones fighting Hot Rod suddenly lose control and are easily defeated.
(My interpretation is Sunstreaker put nearly all of his conciousness into Hunter so he could get the hell out of there.)
Sunstreaker's reflexes take over when they are discovered, and they steal one of the many fabricated Sunstreaker bodies to make their escape. It should be noted that when Hunter transforms, he turns into Sunstreaker's normal head, not the more mechanical-looking red-eyed Machination head. Obviously this was done so you could easily tell who was the real Sunstreaker.
Not as good as I’d hoped but still very serviceable by issue #2’s end.
The biggest flaw in my mind about Maximum Dinobots that is really hurting my enjoyment of it comes from the art side. I cannot stand the new designs for the Dinobots or if you’d prefer “Dynobots”. It’s just plain fugly with the exception of Grimlock’s robot mode. All of the alt modes of the Dinobots and the robot modes are just such a major departure from G1. If you look at the other Autobots/Decepticons, most of them are modernised versions of their G1 selves. Their key features are preserved such as their chests, arms and armour. These Dinobots lose way too much of that in alt mode and robot mode for me to even identify them. Swoop has massive beady eyes and the others are just not even close. I’m all for new but this reinterpretation steers just too far from their original look for me to get completely into the book.
That issue aside, the rest of the first two issues are very decent. #1 is the mixed bag. It doesn’t get off the ground running but catches us up to speed with where Furman left off. Even though I read both issues consecutively, #1 still reads particularly slow.
On the art side of things, Nick Roche is an artist that is strange to me. I like him at times whereas others I just want to cry. This time, he’s going for a less sketchy style and more solid buff version and I really don’t mind his art. His art though did get extremely messy in that fight between Grimlock and the Dinobots in #2. I could barely follow the fight.
On the writing side of things, I can’t help but feel that Furman’s been helped by having only one basket to play in. When he had multiple limited series and the spotlights, he tried to hard and left things all over the place, making it way too hard to follow even to the committed. But he’s nicely settled into this and I really prefer it over his last Revelations and Devastation arcs for that reason. Everything that needs to happen, happens inside this comic. I liked how he’s given us that affection that Grimlock has for the Dinobots. It made the confrontation more dramatic yet gave Scorponok an opportunity to up the ante by actually letting the Dinobots stand off with their commander without having to orchestrate it all
I particularly love the way Grimlock talks about their past. It gives us a sense of history to the Dinobots which we really haven’t had before, about their bonds and so on. The way Grimlock uses it to undermine Slag though shows how torn he is as on one hand he is holding onto those memories yet on the other side he’s maintaining a steely exterior. All the while, in the background, there’s the tension of just when Scorponok will flick the switch again and turn the Dinobots into his mindless beasts again.
Meanwhile the Hunter/Sunstreaker duo are okay but what I found to be really annoying was Sunstreaker apologising to Hunter for making how much he didn’t like sharing a body with Hunter. Sunstreaker has always struck me as pretty obnoxious and stern. It just didn’t feel right to me especially given his earlier appearance in the Infiltration series.
Who are the guys on the ship? I suspect it’s the Predacons which makes me quite expectant. This would be a tussle of the titans for sure.
Some of my beef with the plot though is there is no fight between Hot Rod and Scorponok. Scorponok goes from the end of #1 to the start of #2 to just kicking Hot Rod’s butt. Its way too jarring a transition to me and I can’t help but feel that a writer as longstanding as Furman could drop the ball like that.
The Decepticons are still on Earth. This irks me b/c its just on the edge of my mind but #1 brings that back to the fore. I can’t help but question then how and when will this plot get resolved? I suspect we might not even see them given that AHM is in progress. And that to me makes it hard to enjoy as I feel with AHM, we’ve moved passed that and forgotten about a convoluted past but now its still there and unresolved. With AHM its quite easy to ignore b/c I can feel its standalone but here this is where it really hurts b/c it is Furman’s story and I just can’t see Megatron seeing Grimlock and turning a blind eye. I think this might be resolved after AHM is concluded in Furman’s next mini but this might continue to hurt my enjoyment if its constantly in the background.
I thought that apart from Grimlock, none of the other characters have had much spotlight. Maybe Scorponok but the others to this date haven’t had that much of an impact or chance to shine. To me, it could almost be written as “Grimlock: the limited series”. That's particularly poor for a writer whose supposed to have had so much experience. Scorponok hardly built on any of his previous appearances while Hot Rod seemed to regress backwards and could've really been Autobot01 for all anybody cares. Pathetically poor use of characters to date. Hopefully we’ll get more as the purple one makes his return, the Predacons might even show up and so on.
Great Moments
- Is that the Predacons?
- The opening sequence of the Dinobots on Cybertron – the Dinobots as they should look
- Grimlock rising from the ice to effortlessly crush the Hunstreakers.
- The Hunstreaker Armadas - it almost makes me want to go out there and grab a few of them to form another Armada!
- Grimlock and the Dinobots mouth off against one another
Cringe Moments
- Hunter/Sunstreaker conversations - can they be anymore lame?
- The introduction of the other 4 Dinobots in #1, just fugly. It was supposed to be impressive but the messy art and the fugly Dinobots = hate material
- Hot Rod gets beaten to pulp. This fight never even started... poorly written. It reeked of "Oh look, I am Scorponok and I'm so great so I can effortlessly slap u around". No tension built up around it, just happened.
- The US military guys are pretty darned incompetent. In AHM at least, they show some backbone.
Of the two covers, I could only stomach Nick Roche’s one for #1. Loved the way the viciousness and anger of Grimlock comes to the fore. For #2, I went the other way and preferred the other artists cover. The close up looks quite full of energy and life.
In all, it’s a decent start and could score higher. #1 I’d give 6/10 b/c its just too slow before it even starts to motor along. I’m constantly bugged in #2 by the fugly alt and robot modes of the rest of the Dinobots and that to me is huge downer on a series that rests on the G1 Dinobots being fan favourites so that’s why I’d give #2 a 6.5/10. Both would be higher perhaps if it wasn’t for the designs which is immensely disappointing as I really wanted to like this a lot more but keep finding myself too often, too easily being pulled out of the story by the fugliness of those reinterpretations.
I've read a suggestion it's not the Predacons (like I thought too) but actually spoiler! the Monsterbots! ... I didn't go back to look at the comic again yet though but it makes sense.
can i ask what maximum dynobots is ment to be about?
It continues from the events of Revelations and Spotlight: Shockwave but seems to be before AHM.
I have to agree with you on those points. The Dinobot designs are tragic, what are these Animated Dinobots V2??? The Same with the massive continuity holes forming in the IDW universe, they started of as tiny black holes and then grew and grew, soo I fear the whole universe will collapse in on itself and be sucked into.. um the dead universe I guess. I really wish they had run this before AHM, or cut of AHM as a seperate universe my enjoyment of both books is signficantly dampened by this continuity schisim.
As for Furmans writting personaly I much prefer the galxy spanning multiple thread stories of the previous years, felt like there was always something to grab my intereset granted It got a bit out of control but it had nice epic feeling.
Really? I liked that it started with Hotrod all messed up, it instantly grabbed my attention and propelled me back into the story. Also I feel thats what should happen when one goes up against somone as mighty as Scorponok and I'm happy to let my immagination fill in the blanks. Besides any fight with Hotrod is an anticlimax because we know Hotrod survives.Quote:
Some of my beef with the plot though is there is no fight between Hot Rod and Scorponok. Scorponok goes from the end of #1 to the start of #2 to just kicking Hot Rod’s butt. Its way too jarring a transition to me and I can’t help but feel that a writer as longstanding as Furman could drop the ball like that.
Overall though it's pretty average so far, this may be the 25th Anniversary of the Transfomers but IDW's books are not currently grabbing me.
Maximum Dinobots is set immediately after Spotlight: Grimlock, and occurs concurrently with Revelation. This is all set one year before AHM allegedly occurs.
If this is their conversation in issue 1, then I believe you've read it wrong. Sunstreaker was being snarky.
And I love Nick Roche. He's a talented artist and writer.
I got #2 yesterday. I mainly spent the time reading it mentally screaming about how awesome and kickass it was.
Although I like the Dinobot's designs, especially since they appear to be able to really transform and not be all cheaty like BW Dinobot's animation model, I'm not liking Swoop. It's like Animated Swoop had a retard baby. HE DOES NOT FIT.
Thinking of which, I think the main reason that the Dinobots look so different in comparison with the other characters is that they've had to change more to keep up with the march of science in regards to how dinosaurs looked. Cars and trucks have generally kept a same shape-dinosaurs haven't. Also, their origin as scanning extinct animals means that they HAD to look like real dinosaurs and not stylised mecha-dinosaurs like in G1.
Ahhh~ I've bought and read these :D
I came in really late in the game for TF comics - by the time I started reading til ...I think... most of devastation was out!
I was intrigued by the whole headmaster thing - which I really like (thanks to me growing up on the japanese cartoons) - so I was really happy to see the continuation here :D So yeah - enjoying the series, and I like that it's going to be played out fully(ish) here :)
yes? :D Anyone have them for sale cheap? :D
Actually their Headmaster concept is much more like what we saw in the Anglophone continuity rather than Japanese continuity. *nods* (^_^)Quote:
Originally Posted by lcz128
Perhaps you guys could grab some Universe Sunstreakers at a sale or something. *shrug*Quote:
Originally Posted by lcz218
More done in two issues of Max Dino's than in 6 of AHM. And best of all, it fits with what preceded it.
I am most interested in Hot Rod at this point, and how he connects with Kup and company while Sunstreaker seems to be back with the main Autobot force, I'm not sure whether to expect to make sense and tie into AHM, or if it's just going to be another unexplained mistake between AHM and the main storyline...