Comic review: Transformers '84 #0

[Paulbot]

Transformers '84 #0 REVIEW

The format:
This special one-off comics has been released to commemorate the first issue of Transformers from Marvel Comics 35 years. In the format of other comic book #0 issues it's set before the main story of the book begins revealing something new and adding extra information to the origins.

The story:
Simon Furman has written a story that not also ties into the first Marvel US story but also the first Marvel UK story (The Man of Iron story, the only one that got a run in the US). The story ties in well to the former, using some of the same scenes. The latter not as much but it still works.

He throws in a bunch of characters that were released during the original run but never used in the comics (and of those most weren't even used in his UK). The classic G1 characters don't have a lot to do but their appearances work (except one, see spoilers below).

Overall the story reveals an untold secret from the launch of the Ark and answers the question did anyone ever try to find the Ark? It doesn't lead anywhere though. It's self contained and the plot if a bit light on. I had some expectation that this might be trying to set up the potential for a limited series but there's no sign of that.

The art:
Guido Guidi has been producing "retro-G1" art for a while for special projects, such as covers for Regeneration One and a few pages in the Japanese Generations books. This time he gets to do a whole issue in the style and it's wonderful. It has with spot-on renderings of the cartoon models with an inking style that looks very much like the early issues.

This is supported by John-Paul Bove's colours, he uses the old school techniques so we can see the colouring dots and sticks to the Nel Yomtov colour schemes. Tom B Long's lettering uses the square speech bubbles and sparking corners. All around it feels like something from a generation ago.



The spoilers:

The connecting point between the two timelines in the story is the narrator's identity: it's Punch and once you see that it's not hard to tell the story is going to be about secrets and double-crossing. Turns out though that Punch's duplicity isn't the only one in play.

There's a dark secret behind the launch of the Ark: Optimus Prime was using it as a trap for Megatron. He always intended to crash it in order to wipe out the most prominent Decepticons along with their leader. If this feels out of character to you than I'm not surprised, but it gets worse. Prime included quote "so many of [his] finest warriors" aboard the Ark because he felt Megatron would have seen the trap otherwise. And this is where I just don't buy it. I can see Optimus Prime killing himself to stop his enemies but to purposefully use his warriors as expendable bait? He didn't even ask his warriors if they'd sacrifice themselves, only Punch was in on it.

When Powermaster Prime came back Furman seemed quite keen on the idea that he felt guilt for crashing the Ark into Earth, but it was always in terms of bringing their war to our planet. That he was actually feeling guilty for trying to kill Ratchet, Bumblebee, Prowl, Ironhide, Jazz, Grimlock etc (and successfully killing some of the unnamed Autobots seen among the crew) doesn't add anything to the original stories. It just makes me wonder does Furman hate Marvel Comic's Optimus Prime? His depiction of him in Regeneration One was not much better. It seems to be a shock ending for the sake of having a dark secret and the rest of the story would have worked as well without it.

[griffin]

For some reason I thought this was a series or mini-series(set before Issue 1)... but it's only a single issue, which probably won't end up in any IDW compilation, so I'll have to track it down now.
I wonder if it would be too recent for it to be added to the UK Comic Collection.

[i_amtrunks]

I agree with everything Paulbot said, it was just mediocre, not a must read, nothing revelatory or clever really. Fun, silly, irrelevant, with some awesome G1 styed art, but that is about it.

[Paulbot]

I've been thinking of starting a thread for the Secrets and Lies limited series but maybe tapping it on here and renaming the thread is a better option.

Because many of my complaints about #0 issue carry over to the limited series.

The art is very retro-nice, somewhat too accurate to the colouring and the cartoon models (better than most G1 comic artists were able to do). Some very nice covers, would love to get that one of the Dinobots by Geoff Senior but have been buying digitally - pandenmic!

Story spoilers for Secrets and Lies #1-4 ahead

The story is terrible. It's pointless, drawn out and the Punch/Counterpunch gimmick from the #0 is revisited to no gain.

It provides origins for things that never need an origin (Why do Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet work for Lord Straxus? Well why wouldn't they!) and creates new continuity issues in the process.

The "oh so clever" footnotes at the end of each issue just compounds things. For one example are we supposed to believe Regeneration One wasn't a complete story because there was no origin for the Wreckers? Or the correction in issue 4 to a footnote in issue 3 that was completely incorrect.

It's the kind of prequel I hate - where they creator feel a need to explain things that didn't an explanation.

The big driver to tell this story seems to have been to explain why the Ark repaired the Dinobot to turn into dinosaurs but didn't make the other Transformers turn into humans in 1984. If that inconsistency has been bugging you for 35 years well now there's an explanation and a terrible one. It could be solved with a couple of lines of dialog and moved on from. He's also told this story again anyway with the Spotlight: Shockwave comic that had no Savage Land. At least that was just one issue. Go read that instead.

(My no prize answer: the Ark's sensors didn't detect any mechanical life 4,000,000 years ago so it went for the organics instead. in 1984 it found the planet now was full of machines and prioritised them as higher life forms just as it says in Transformers #1!)


There's one idea in here I like, that Tracks wings in car mode are a legacy of his wing cybertron mode - but zombie Tracks being in this series is another WTH thing. Regeneration One had all those zombie Decepticons too, maybe that's his new thing.



TL/DR - get this for the art, the story answers questions no was asking

[griffin]

That sounds disappointing... but as you have recommended, I was mostly planning to get this for the art, and not expect the story to be anything worth remembering or considering official, even though it is canon within the original comic series... like Regeneration comic, which I liked more for the art, and still see the original comic series being just 84 issues (80 regular issues and the 4 part Headmasters comic). The rest by Marvel, or IDW, to me are alternate universes diverging off the main 84 issue universe.