(MAR-2013) Generation 2 Era Comics - Comments and reviews

[Trent]

I am a huge fan of the G2 comic. It stands as my favourite printed TF media and probably running a close second out of all media behind Beast Wars. I love that it was only ever slated as 12 issues, so Furman had to pack a lot of action into it and he did. Grimlocks reputation as a hard arse really shone through in this series, as well as just how tough Megatron is. The other point worth mentioning is the kill count and violence in this series. Alot of well known characters meet their end, some quite gruesomely. And while it does seem excessive, it, combined with the oversize guns with huge ammo clips, dark story line and excellent art really make this series a standout. (For me, at least)

[Sharky]

G2 i enjoyed as well, i remeber coming across Issue 5 in the newsagent and a week later finding the issue one foil cover and the slogan across the top of it, this is not your fathers autobot... i imagined the series to be a grown up version and it was and i enjoyed it for that reason. it took me alomst 12 months to track down the missing issues (and GI Joe ones)as well as making sure i picked up the new monthly issues.

i guess it is a shame it didnt continue more then the issues it had but it makes for great reading,

i hope IDW give it a hard cover treatment or something

[KalEl]

Another comic topic I unfortunately can't contribute to... YET

[BigTransformerTrev]

I LOVED the G2 comic. I had missed out on pretty much all of G1 as I was a kid with little pocket money and no ready access to comics. I remember walking into a comic store in Bendigo asa teenager and seeing issue 4 with the Dinobots on the cover and had a little moment of joy! I then went and got the previous 3 issues and collected the rest. Still have them

I thought they were really good, though I found Hot Spot committing suicide very confronting, and I had missed out on a bit of the backstory since I knew nothing of the Transformers/GI Joe crossover comics (a mate gave them to me only a couple of years ago, picked them up from a friend selling off his collection for like a buck each!). But the Autobot/Decepticon team up to fight the new Generation of Transformers - awesome! And I loved the issue where Optimus and Megs are travelling around in a Starscream posessed Warworld - still one of my fav comics ever. It's a shame that they changed artsists every issue or two because some were great and some were shite!

But overall, a great comic series, and one I may have enjoyed being continued more than Regeneration One.

[Shirokaze]

Another comic topic I unfortunately can't contribute to... YET

Same here. I'm still dragging my heels through the G1 comics.

[GoktimusPrime]

Aaah, back when Transformers comics cost $1~2 per issue.

I quite like the G2 comics, despite the odd plot/continuity holes between G1 and G2 (e.g. what happened to the Action Masters?) and Manny Galan's rather cringeworthy artwork (though Yaniger and particularly Senior's art were good). I think it's unfortunate that Furman sells himself short by looking down on his work with G2 and having chosen to ignore it completely in the ReGeneration One series. I'd really like to see someone either fill in the G1-G2 gap, or continue on from where G2 finished... cos it finished on such an exciting cliffhanger! Ooooh, look at the Liege Maximo! What a bad-arse! ... or so we imagine, since we never get to see him in action! And I'd also really like to see a story bridge G2 with Beast Wars -- the journey of how the Matrix-Cleansed-Swarm became the Vok... so many unanswered questions!

[Iriorne]

I started on the G2 comics when I came across issue 8 of the G2 comic in a newsagent way back when. I think it was my first ever comic, actually. I then got issue 10 and, luckily, issue 12 which wrapped everything up.

I loved those comics and read them till their covers fell off. It was great seeing some of my toys in the comics and I love some of the characterisations, particularly Grimlock as a smart tactical commander rather than a belligerent/comedic oaf.

The story made a surprising amount of sense, given the huge gaps in my reading. I read the re-released collections a little while ago and I think I was just lucky to pick up the right issues so nothing crucial got missed out. The first half of the run is definitely weaker - there's a lot of time dedicated to tying up threads from the Marvel G1 run and the GI Joe crossover, which wouldn't have meant anything to me back then (and still not much now!). The series really comes into it's own with the fight against the Swarm in the second half. I loved the idea of Autobots and Decepticons having to form an alliance and overcoming their differing ideologies to fight a common enemy in the Swarm and Jhiaxus' army.

It's quite a dark story with big guns and gratuitous character deaths, many of which meant little to me at the time, given the limited toys and tv episodes. In that way I suppose it mirrors real conflicts in which people die senselessly. It made the fight seem a lot more frantic and real when any character could meet their end on the next page.

Technically, I think the detail on the speech bubbles was really clever. Autobots had square blocks on the edges while Decepticons had triangles. Dinobots had trapezoids as they were never fully aligned with the Autobot ideals and cause. Some of the characters even changed from triangles to squares as their allegiance shifted over the course of the story.

I think the second half is worth a read. Not having read the G1 or GI Joe comics when I was young, I'm still not sold on the first half. The art style is a far cry from modern comics with a limited colour palette and heavy lines, but I think it fits in well with the tone of the story. It's shame it had its run cut short as I think there were some interesting stories left to tell.