Monday, September 27, 2010

Transformers #4 and 5

Photobucket
Photobucket
More than meets the eye! More bad art, more stupidity...


80 comments:

klunk said...

okay dream weave suck. but what about IDW. oh and read the Transformers: Exodus novel it is slagging awsome.

CMWaters said...

Wow...yeah...um, guys who drew these comics...Devastator, Superion and others like them are NOT THAT big. In fact, IIRC, one episode of the original series had Devastator climbing, King Kong style, up the Empire State building. They're NOT Godzilla sized.

Having never read this comic before I have to say this...why did it have to be the janitor to save him insted of someone that would make more sense...like Chip or Spike's future wife Carly?

I KINDA get why the faces of the Transformers are unexpressive, since they're robots...but it's fantasy with highly advanced tech. That can be an easy get around.

All in all, good review...this Pat Lee guy seems to have gone into Quesada territory from hatred from you. But all in all, good review.

And bonus bad-ass points for using "The Touch" in it. That song as well as "Live and Learn" from Sonic Adventure 2 (look it up, it's a good song even if you don't play Sonic games) are tied for two of my favorite songs ever.

Sam said...

Panel 1:
Woman: Sweetie, I think the babies crying. Well it should be at least, her face looks like it. There's not a robot attacking or something is there?

Man: Yeah, but don't worry. He's too ridiculously huge to move with any speed. Plus he's just kinda standing there3 with his mouth hanging open.

Panel 2:
Woman: Do you suppose we should head inside?

Man: NO! You will stay right here until I tell you to leave!

Woman: Let go of my arm!

Panel 3:
Man: See? That robot off-screen is holding the green robot back too. Nobody leaves!

Woman: I think that's just a cardboard cutout of an arm.

Man: How can you tell?

Woman: The complete lack of depth.


Also, there was a perfectly good reason for them to be on the roof. They were playing football!

SynjoDeonecros said...

Yay for you being a Beast-Era fan, won't comment on you liking Beast Machines other than agreement that Beast Wars was better (how much better I'm sure we'll differ on, though, so I'll just leave it at that).

Is it sad of me that my first attempt at drawing Transformers was trying to copy Pat Lee's version of Megatron? From a Wizard issue, at that? Thank god I moved away from that and am using that how-to book that Simon Furman and Guido Guidi (...wait, what? Yeah, real original name there, Guido) made.

Speaking of, though, I would love to see you tear apart a bad Transformers comic that Furman wrote, if only to see your reaction to his legendary "Furmanisms".

Man, what is up with small-time comic companies screwing over independent creators that work for them? Dreamworks, Archie (anyone who's kept track of Ken Penders' copyright lawsuit against them should know about the crap they've been doing to their work-for-hire), etc. Is there really no respect for the independents? No wonder the underground comic movement died out, and makes me wonder how the furry section of that movement continues to survive.

On the subject of the Dull Surprise, I will agree with you on the human characters that it's unacceptable, but I'm a little more willing to give a tiny caveat with the robots; after all, the Transformers are robots, and I don't think there was any adequate explanation for how their face can move if it's supposed to be metal (I've heard that it's either microplates that shift around or a malleable "fleshmetal" that acts like the T-1000, though I can't find any corroborating evidence for either explanation), and that doesn't even factor in the faceplates that some Transformers like Optimus Prime and Soundwave wear, or Transformers like Shockwave who have no face, so having them express any sort of open-mouthed expression could conceivably be difficult. Besides, except for the Beast Era and the ones based on Japanese anime (like Robots in Disguise), none of the Transformers series seem to get their facial expressions right.

KyleJCrb said...

Well, at least they're better than Transformers 2.

deuxhero said...

like LEGO bricks? No jab at shoddily made toys?

Barachiel said...

Okay, I'm going to stick my neck out here, and actually defend the Pat Lee artwork a bit.

While he is certainly a gigantic a-hole in real life, I actually rather liked his artwork on the DW Transformers title.

The facial expression thing, you're 100% right on, hands down. But aside from that, and the issues with Devastators proporitions, this guy is a *far cry* from Liefeld-level bad.

Aside from the panel with Prime's legs, his anatomical proportions are nowhere near as out of whack as Liefeld. His humans look good for the anime style they're drawn in, and detailing on both the machines and the backgrounds (though those were probably done by someone else, as you pointed out) were nice.

I'd hardly claim he's a "superstar" artist to rival Jim Lee or the Kuberts, but he cannot seriously be put in the same sub-basement as Liefeld and his cronies.

MechaManiac said...

Yay for dull surprise!

...though I am kind of at a loss that you didn't use "Ruined FOREVER!"

E. Wilson said...

Maybe the Transformers exist in four dimensions, and their constantly changing proportions are just due to our inability to perceive all aspects of them?

Or maybe I could draw a better comic with a crayon and a paper bag?

Talsin said...

Yay for beast wars! Grew up watching that show. Never saw much of beast machines though.

I wonder why the U.S. Military didn't bother installing a fail safe on Prime or something. I mean, they're sentient machines who's war have "always costs human lives" right?

ShadowWing Tronix said...

And now, folks, you understand our pain as Transfans.

Jessica said...

"I was too young for the cartoon when it first came out, I was a child of the 90s and thus into Beast Wars and Beast Machines"


get off my lawn ya whippersnapper! you young punks with your ipods and your power rangers! feh! kids today


hehehe great review though

Paladin said...

Excellent review!


Shame you crossed manga off your list of comic candidates, otherwise I'd be keeping my fingers crossed for a Transformers Kiss-Play review in the future.

Patrick said...

You know, that was probbaly the WHOLE Canadian military right there. Yes, we're that bad militarily right now.

As for some of the events... WOW. I haven't had this many "WTF!?" moments since i saw Spoony's Ultima 1 review.

Rushing Beat said...

Finally! Finally! Finally someone took apart that Pat Lee creep!

Linkara, you have my undying respect and admiration fore that.

Jyger85 said...

... ... ...Wow, the guy that runs DreamWave is a douche. I hate this guy, and I don't even frigging know him. I didn't even think I was capable of that. lol

Man, if not for Optimus' scene of awesomeness where he takes down Devastator, this comic would so deserve to burn. And by the way, I have to ask...Am I the only person that watched the animated movie that REALLY did not like "You've Got The Touch"?

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's some weird art.

They should've been called the Balloonformers instead.

George Wing said...

it's funny imagining that they go around constantly with the dull surprise look and all of their dialogue comes out weird. also they keep swallowing flies.
or in devastator's case, aeroplanes lol

Entertainer13 said...

Great to see my boys the Transformers on your show. Alas, it was one of their poorer showings...

zephyrcain said...

I hope no one gets the wrong idea, not all transformers comics are like that. IDW is doing some awesome stuff. All Hail Megatron was one of the best storylines I have ever read in any comic series. They don't just rehash what we know about the characters but show actual growth and change. Plus the art is just incredible. Trust me just pick up volume 2 and you'll see how devastator should look, a real prime versus megatron fight and actual facial expressions the whole way through. Ps. Great review btw, thanks Linkara

Jer Alford said...

Dreamwave's other claim to fame was doing all those anime ripoffs. Like Warlands was a rip of Record Of Lodoss War, and Dark Minds of Ghost In The Shell. Even though they had gotten the original Capcom comics, they couldn't even hold on to that. The only thing that came out of that was a halfway decent Megaman mini-series(good luck finding that graphic novel!). I kinda thought their original Transformers mini-series that Linkara talked about was okay, although it worked out better in the second series. Transformers: The War Within was pretty good, although they wrote it off as being a prequal to original 80s cartoon, which doesn't fit in at all. It would've been better as a "What If?" or "Elseworlds" title. But then again, just tap into the Transformers: Universe line for that kind of alternative universe garbage.

Eishtmo said...

HEY! That opening scene was just to show off your Tom Servro in his glass case.

You lucky bastard.

Anonymous said...

You should do some of the old Budiansky stuff (like Optimus Prime killing himself over a video game).

MalixDexide said...

Awesome review!

I'm not really a Transformers fan myself, but you're right, the body proportions of the characters are... odd.

BFE said...

I've out of the loop comics wise for a few years, especially when it comes to the indie companies. I hav enever heard of Dream Weave or this Lee guy.

But he sounds like a douche who should be in prison. THis is the kind of crap they nailed that Tyco guy for.

Unknown said...

You intentionally framed that opening shot so we could see Tom Servo and get all jealous, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?!

Zombie-Man said...

So officially Pat Lee is the worst thing that had happened to comics, even worse than Liefeld and Quesada together. . . I mean at least they don't steal money from their artists. . .

Falcovsleon20 said...

I have to at least give Dreamwave SOME credit for taking one of the most hated characters in Transformers lore, Kicker from Transformers Energon, and made him at least somewhat interesting.

You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you Linkara?

Unknown said...

Any chance you could review the cyberforce paperback, the one you showed the image of.

YetAnotherGeek said...

Maybe I'm just crazy, but I kinda like the art sometimes. The robots are really detailed, they resemble their G1 designs to a T, and the colors are bright and vibrant. Yes, proportions and the expressions are a bit of a problem, but still, it wasn't horrendously weak art.

Also, yeah, I agree with you on the Transformers things. Though I don't really remember Beast Wars or Beast Machines all that well; I grew up on Transformers: Armada. After that, eh...though, Transformers: Animated looks pretty cool.

The rest of the comic, yeah, it's pretty bad. And the gestalt robots really shouldn't have been THAT big.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for "The Touch" - Optimus Prime montage amidst the crappiness of these comics!

Long live Stan Bush! W00t!!

Vulkan said...

I actually watched "Transformers Animated" and I actually found it to be entertaining.

mightysamurai said...

Not to mention, any tank that fired its main gun from that close a range would completely destroy the gun barrel, almost certainly wreck the firing mechanism and disable the whole tank, and probably kill both the crew inside.

Anonymous said...

Barachiel, if you listened, Linkara explained how Pat Lee only drew the Robots, leaving the humans and backgrounds to other artists because he was above drawing anything but the main characters.

While I do love the Transformers (Child of the 80's here), and even did like some of the newer stuff, this has to be the absolutely worse rendering of the Transformers I have ever seen, and I am even including the Transformer's Animated stuff. Lets face it, the way he drew them in their non transformed forms would make the transformations impossible. The least he could have done was use the toys as a reference.

Jaebird said...

If I ever get the chance to meet you in person, I will give you a hearty high-five, from one Beast Wars fan to another =)

Also, I hope Pat Lee crashes his precious Porsche into a pile a sh*t. And by sh*t, I mean a truck delivering comics that he drew for.

ggbhtg said...

Hm. They should've used the Lazarus Experiment instead of the project.

jdude907 said...

I actually remember really loving this mini series when I was younger, althouigh there were one or two times where the art became too confusing for me. Now I kinda want to re-read it to see how well it holds up.

Brandon said...

I do agree dreamwave sucks....hands down. But IDW has been doing great work with the transformers and beast wars series,if you want my personal opinion i suggest your read the beast wars: The gathering omnibus .Not only does it make beast wars neo and beast wars become the same continuity but it also has indepth descriptions of most maximals and decepticons and a complete history of G1 G2 Beast wars and beast machines all in pages in the back of it.

Jeff said...

Note that the Scale of the characters has always never been consistent.

BumblebeeZ3 said...

I've been looking forward to this review since it was announced.
I suspected it was the Dreamwave comics, given the tweet about the Canadian military.
I really didn't realize how bad it was at the time, I was just excited for new Transformers comics.

Although Grimlock's heel turn really irked me. Sure he's always been a bit of an ass in the comics, but not an outright bad guy.

Bruce said...

On the Canadian Military that not that far fetched "Parliament said we could have fuel or shells but not both" (in the early 2000's oure Military was a joke)

Anonymous said...

Wow. Optimus's altmode looks terrible. Did Lee not realize that Prime was supposed to turn into an actual truck, rather than some weird wheeled vehicle that only looks vaguely truck-like?

The frikin' toys have better transformations than that.

WGP_Josh said...

Hey Lewis,

Great episode this week! Very informative and entertaining-I really enjoyed it a lot! No need to apologise because I at least found no nitpicking, just really detailed and thorough analysis of sequential art. Great job!

Can't say I was ever a Transformers fan though I did catch one or two episodes of the show every once in a while when it was on and I think I had a toy dinosaur one as a kid. Looked like a pretty cool deal though.

Great episode and fun review-Keep those cameras rolling!

Captain Rufus said...

Oh Transformers Animated is the second best Transformers show after Beast Wars.

Shame the DVDs are already out of print though.

Good review even if I didn't hate the DW comics much at all back when they came out. I thought they weren't too bad.

(Your points stand though.)

For GOOD TF comics the Generation 2 maxiseries was pretty great if you like brutal Robosnuff.

Last Stand of the Wreckers just rules, and some of the UK comics are pretty great, making Ultra Magnus the bad ass he never was in the Cartoons.

(Basically the various comics are why I am a fan of Ultra Magnus, G1 Scorponok, and Blaster. Their cartoon counterparts SUCKED. Their Marvel (and in UM's case IDW) versions RULED.)

I was 9-10 when G1 first appeared so I have basically grown up with and kept somewhat on top with Transformers ever since.

Almost every series or continuity has at least something worthwhile.

Then there are all those HAHA DIDNT THIS SUCK? moments, usually involving thinly veiled Gobots mockery...

Anonymous said...

I remember watching Beast Wars as a kid too. Children of the 90's, unite! :D

This was a great episode, and featured some of the worst attempts at foreshortening I've seen outside of DeviantArt. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to look up the Transformers theme songs and commence headbanging to so-cheesy-it's-awesome 80's power metal.

Nebosuke said...

So it looks like you don't have to be Michael Bay to screw up the Transformers.
So a couple questions as someone who only saw Beast Wars, some Beast Machines, and a few episodes of the original.
1) Is Grimlock's betrayal an in character thing? The few episodes I saw him in he didn't come off as very intelligent so I know little about his character.
2) Is Spike really this much of a dick? The only thing I remember about him from the cartoon was an episode where he somehow got turned into a Transformer and Megatron easily convinced him to become a Decepticon by convincing him it was the Autobots' fault he ended up that way.

Natasha Bennett said...

You can't mock Pat Lee! Didn't you know he trained at EXTREME Studios?

Andrew said...

I'm with you Louis, I was a bigger fan of Beast Wars than I was of the original Transformers cartoons. Though I was also big on Real Ghostbusters and Thundercats that's as far as I went on cartoons of the 80s. Movies of the 80s are a different story.

I actually went through the comics section at my local used book shop. Unfortunately all I could find were piles of old Image comics and you've probably got plenty of those to get through. I don't suppose you'd be interested in reviewing the recent Manhunter series? I read one issue, it was pretty bad and kind of bland but it was only the second so it might not reflect on the entire thing.

Anonymous said...

I was 2 by the time the original series and the first group of toys came out. I kinda grew up with these guys, but that was only really the TV shows and movies I didn't really get into the comics for them or the toys until relatively recently.

I've got the Beast Wars, the series reintroduced me after a gap of at least a few years, omnibus mentioned earlier and the War Within omnibus. I thought both were pretty good reads. Thankfully War Within didn't seem to follow Lee's mandated in house style* that closely, or it would have been a nightmare to go through.

Good review as usual. Though it kind of turns my stomach to think of how badly he handled the license and Dreamwave in general as a fellow Canadian, yes regretfully he's one of ours. Though I do take comfort in the fact that he seems to be living in Hong Kong these days.

*From what I've read on TFwiki.

Dierna said...

The only thing about Dreamwave I liked was the short lived TMNT series. Other then that, never read any other Dreamwave series.

As for Transformers. Im a G1 fan. But I do also like Beastwars. I thought Transformers Animated was pretty good near the end. Can't wait for Transformers Prime to start in October (even if it's CGI and the designs are based on the movies).

Unknown said...

I have to disagree....not with Linkara, but with many of the other posters here. Dreamwave didn't suck....Pat Lee sucked. He has sucked, does suck and will forever suck.

Of course, maybe that was just my first impression. My first experience with the Dreamwave Transformers series was the War Within. It had its troubles in the dialogue area, much like the ones reviewed. But all in all, it was, to me, an interesting glimpse into the history of the Transformers. Don Figueroa's artwork was also a thing to behold. Even has me toying with the idea of drawing Transformers again myself.

And yes, I'm one of those old guys who grew up watching the G1 tv series in the 80's. Doug forgive me if I get a little nostalgic. ^_^

Mountain King said...

Sorry I'm late to this one, There was a glitch and my comment didn't post.

I was surprised that you went into so much depth with Pat Lee's practices. Any one of his meny insults to creators is enough to demonstrate hes a scumbag, but you went out of your way with research and went into a depth that you didn't need to.

The trick to dreamwave was the amount of detail they threw into the work. While it was just a gimmick it worked on securing their contract with Hasbro and pulling in readers. While it might have been a captive audience, so to speek, it wasn't long before other artists surpassed Lee.
They knew words like anatomy, perspective, consistency and most of all tallent.

Great review of a mediocre comic and a disgusting business process.

Thomas
AKA Mountain King

Anonymous said...

you know, besides the sometimes goofy robot designs the artwork does not look THAT bad

Rock Boy said...

Megatron in that San Fran attack panel:
DECEPTICONS! GET DOWN WITH BAD SELF!

Great job Linkara, I laughed at the use of the Transformers transition.

And Dreamwave sounds like it was founded by Uwe Boll and M.C. Hammer.

SynjoDeonecros said...

"1) Is Grimlock's betrayal an in character thing? The few episodes I saw him in he didn't come off as very intelligent so I know little about his character."

Not really; the comic depictions of the Transformers can sometimes radically differ from their cartoon depictions (just look at the character growth and depth they gave Ravage in the comics compared to the cartoons), and Grimlock was one of them; he was more intelligent in the comics, and while he did have a huge superiority complex and leadership ambition that rivaled Starscream, he hates the Decepticons too much to join them, under any circumstance.

"2) Is Spike really this much of a dick? The only thing I remember about him from the cartoon was an episode where he somehow got turned into a Transformer and Megatron easily convinced him to become a Decepticon by convincing him it was the Autobots' fault he ended up that way."

Not to my knowledge. Not unless you count his Shattered Glass counterpart, which wasn't around at the time this comic was made.

SynjoDeonecros said...

To get off-topic for a little, where's the list for the next set of reviews?

Oracle said...

Yea, Beast Wars!
Well ya see, Linkara, the chain of command is the chain he beats them with until they understand who's in command.

That page where the action just didn't add up, agh. It's a comic, the one thing it should do is show a sequence of images that makes sense. Mind you, I'm not even sure I can follow what went on with the Lazarus Project.

The virus would seem to be that foil screensaver that descends over your desktop. Insidious!

All my love to Tom Servo.

areoborg said...

Let Tom Servo out of that case before he suffocates to death!

Frame 1
Man: "This roof is the best place to see the giant robot tearing up the city!"

Frame 2
Man: "Umm... maybe this wasn't the best idea."

Frame 3
Both: "Its mecha-Thing! We're saved!"

I know what really happened with the Oh My God thing... those three humans pulled the old "LOOK BEHIND YOU!" gag on all the transforms.

You missed out on a chance to use MST3K's Janitor Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X6ZSmioYc8

And finally, I think those cracks we saw were intended to be in the same style as the damaged transformers (specifically prime and Megatron) after their fight in the movie.

entropicdecay said...

Damn, I know Transformers scale is always out of whack, but I'm pretty sure Devastator and Superion aren't supposed to be that big.

And Spike hating all Transformers? I just don't buy it, not without some very well-written character development at least...

NGT said...

Is it bad of me that I was holding out for Kiss Players? I figure it's never going to happen, there's stuff that's far too close to pornographic, but it'd be amusing nonetheless.

Oh well, maybe we'll get a good ol' "BY DIEHARD'S CROTCH".

You know, I hate to say it, but...damn. The art? I know everybody craps on the art. But really, the art isn't totally awful. The guy can't draw basic proportions to save his life, but the colorist and the rest of the team are fucking geniuses. I think that's the worst thing about this; crappy basic artwork was ruining very skilled postwork.

(Hey, I got that Optimus was kicking in a door from the panel. What's your issue? :P)

The tank poking it is even more silly. Tanks are long-range fighters. Transformers...are not. Sure! Give up your range advantage! (Also, those are really crappy renditions of Canada's Leopard 1s. I mean, they're ALMOST recognizeable, but...)

Yeaaaaaah. Two keys. Two Man Rule. A nuclear attack can not be launched at any level if you can't get two people to agree on it. They even go so far at the key stage as to set the key slots far enough apart that you can't turn both yourself.

ShadowWing Tronix said...

"Is it sad of me that my first attempt at drawing Transformers was trying to copy Pat Lee's version of Megatron? From a Wizard issue, at that?"

Surprisingly, the Wizard image wasn't that bad. Why that didn't continue into the comics I'll never understand.

"Although Grimlock's heel turn really irked me. Sure he's always been a bit of an ass in the comics, but not an outright bad guy."

It's OK. He changed back without any lasting consequence in the next arc. Like every other time Grimlock has screwed up and gotten away with it, except Furman wasn't writing it that time.

Sijo said...

Ok, this is more like it. Nolan Ryan comics? Boring. Pat Lee Transformers comics? Deliciously awful! :D

I can't believe Lee got away with not paying his own employees... TWICE! 0.0 Too bad because if handled well, that franchise could've been a big thing for all of them.

Isn't it sad when you can tell what the story was going for, but the actual presentation (dialogue, art etc.) doesn't carry it out, as in these comics? I hate to be a fanboy and say "I could have done it better!" but...

And boy, doesn't Transformers music rock? Even today! :D

The Physicist said...

Yeah, Dreamwave kinda sucked, but the Transformers Vs. GI Joe stuff was kinda funny, and actually provided a reason for a special branch of the military to be needed in order to fight Cobra.

As long as we are on defunct indie publishers, are you ever going to do anything from Crossgen?

Hesster said...

Am I the only one that found Prime's "Rah rah I'm a soldier!" monologue to be TOTALLY out of character? Optimus Prime hates fighting. He fought because he HAD to, and always as a last resort. His Marvel bio back in the day compared him to Abraham Lincoln.

For you non-Transformers folks, personalitywise Prime is much closer to Superman than Batman.

VermillionBrain said...

Hah!

I suggested Dreamwave, especially the Transformers stuff!

I feel as all slightly vindicated random Internet commenters should: happy beyond all reason, a little deluded, and slightly aroused!

Wait, that last one might have been a bit much...

WHO CARES?!!?!! HE READ MY PICK!!! HAH HAH HAH!!!!

Oliver said...

Good review, Linkara! Great call on reminding people what a douche Pat Lee is and how much his take on a beloved franchise sucked.

Oh, but the stupidity pointed out in the review doesn't end here, folks!
For those that do care about this:
SPOILERS!

Grimlock stays with the Decepticons at the end of issue #6 of this mini-series. Guess what, at the start of Vol. 2, he's back with the Autobots. Why the change of heart? Don't know, don't care. Pat Lee obviously didn't care either.

So, Wheeljack stopped the virus but sacrificed himself in the process. It's not explicitly stated, but there's a strong implication that he died. Guess what? He obviously got better, because he's safe and sound in Vol. 2.

And let's not forget that immortal quote from Starscream in issue #3, when he's asked about what Megatron is planning. His reply:
"Who cares? You just know it's going to be evil. And evil is always fun".
Who the hell talks like that?! The 80s cartoon had better writing than this!

I'm sad that "The War Within" remained incomplete, but I'm certainly glad that this iteration of the Transformers didn't live very long.

Maverynthia said...

For anyone that DOES care. The reason that they could transform into tape players and guns is because they were spun off of the Microman series of toys whose whole line was about tiny humans from space hiding their vehicles and such via common household items... and guns.

Unknown said...

I'm so glad to see The Transformers under the IDW logo because those comics really did suck. I always wondered what had happened to Dream Wave and it's a bit surprising Pat Lee hasn't been arrested or sued by any of the artists by now. It's good to see you didn't pull any punches at the end in regards to the comic and, particularly, the artist, he definitely deserves it.

Yogurt said...

I am of the opinion that it is virtually impossible to accidentally make Optimus Prime look like anything other than the greatest superhero to ever come in robot form and transform into a truck.

No. It takes a special degree of skill in the art of fail and purposeful mangling of the character to make him look like a putz.

Truce Weston said...

this was one of your best reviews in a while! very cool!

So until Silent Hill: Seasame Street #1 is released, MAKE MINE LINKARA!

sirkenz17 said...

First of all, thanks CMWaters, now I'm imagining (not writing, I'm too lazy to do that) a Godzilla vs. Devastator story. The odd thing is, I think that it'd be a kickass fight (my money would be on Godzilla).

Second of all, I'm kind of surprised, Linkara, that you didn't insert a clip of Beast Wars where Optimus tells Megatron to shut up and punches him:

Megatron: Kill you? But we have so much to discuss.
Optimus Prime: Save it *WHAM!*

it reminds me of this exchange from the series finale of Beast Wars:

Megatron: Well, come on, let's have it. The usual 'destiny and honor' speech.
Optimus Primal: Speech this!

Pure gold, right there.

John said...

I honestly never really cared about the comics. I did read a few, but I never really cared. I like the franchise, its okay. I just lost interest in it as a whole after Sam went to Robot Heaven.

Neoatg said...

If people want to know a good place to read the dumb as hell Video game story where Optimus prime blows up over the detah of video game sprites. It's in IDW's "Transformers the best of Megatron"

It's the 1st story in the colection and god it's dumb

PockyMech said...

Dull surprise!! ( Ugh! And I thought New Avengers/ Transformers and the "Beast" were bad. Pat Lee is the type of trash Planet Junkion wouldn’t accept. )

Dude, everything u put into this review was Grade A+ Epic! Kudos to the awesome 1986 movie references, especially Stan Bush's "The Touch".

The only Transformers Marvel comic I read was a reprint of “Target 2006”. I was a fan of IDW's series till Simon Furman finished his run. It ended for me because I didn’t want to follow the new direction of the series with different writers. As for TV, “Beast Wars” and “Animated” are my favorites. Aside from the glorious 1986 feature, I don’t care about the movies. Btw, “War For Cybertron” was Awesome!!

Unknown said...

What was the website with the comic scans you found?

Anonymous said...

What was the site you mentioned had all the old transformers comics?

excuse my bad english

Anonymous said...

The characters never smile, you say? That doesn't worry me so much. Have you read much Uncanny X-Men lately?
The characters never stop smiling, and it is *creepy*!

- Mik

Michael Heide said...

I just thought of a theory that would explain the dull surprise expression of the robots, metal breaking like glass and torsos flying off the legs from a single blows:

Pat Lee treats the Transformers as plastic toys. Yes, in the continuity of the storyline, they're supposed to be metal and all, but basically, all he was doing was showing how two kids playing "Pew pew you're dead" with their toy robots would appear in the world they create.

I think Grant Morrison did a similar story with the Zoids franchise, but I have never read his actual issues.

DJ1107 said...

Ah the first mini-series of DW Transformers G1 such fond memories of the story arc. Shame the mid-issue ended up on this show but hey you more-or-less picked apart whats wrong with the art then the story itself. This makes me wonder on what you think of All Hail Megatron a maxi series about the Con's pretty much winning. The series is like Idenity Crisis when it comes to the fanbase one side likes it the other hates it. I happen to like it, but I highly dobt it'll end up on this show due to the fact that you have to be deep into the IDW G1 lore to understand whats wrong with it.

13th Doctor said...

This has got to be one of my favorite reviews. To avoid gushing, here is a quick list of my favorite tidbits:

-Playing "The Touch" during Optimus's BDH moment.
-Pointing out what an emo douchebag Spike is. Seriously, is asshole encoded in the Witwicky DNA?
- The added dialogue on the rooftop scene. :)
-Every single dull surprise joke.
-Pointing out that civilians in superhero comics are ungrateful, panicky jackasses who probably deserve what's coming to them.
-Everyone looking up to gaze at.......NOTHING.
-Your hatred of Pat Lee. It really is low not to pay what is owed. And he looks like a tool with that shirt.