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Synopsis
An uneasy peace between Optimus Prime and the newly arrived Junkions is threatened by Soundwave’s discovery within their massive ship…
and by everyone's digs at him
Story
First of all, I apologise for the lateness in this review. There is a life outside of this screen, and it is getting messy and busier by the day. Still, duties are duties, and I thank you for not giving me flak for dropping this a week later. And I hope you picked it up, because there is plenty to talk about in this third issue of Optimus Prime.
Jetfire is excellent
We reach the third issue, the central one in the first arc of this new book at the hands of John 'Continuity' Barber, and we check-in almost directly with Thundercracker's work-away-from-work as deals start taking place with The Crown Jewel of The IDW Universe - apparently - and some more backstories get filled in, via Marissa Faireborn.
also, he adds a heart to Buster's bowl
The other major storylines, however, are even more intriguing, with Soundwave's inner monologue proving the caption commentaries this issue, as we dive back into his first encounter with Orion Pax, as they were very much (but maybe not) on the opposite sides of the beginning of history - compared to where they both are now. For however long.
NO TENSION AT ALL
That, while taking the current plot forward as well, as we find out what happened to Cosmos, the cassette-birds, and the whole idea of the Decepticon commune in spaaaace, in Barber's probing of the Junkions' intentions on Earth. Plus. in much better characterisation that previous works by the same author - we re-visit Jazz' character concept of understanding Earth culture, Jetfire's early motives, Prowl's Prowlness - and lots and lots of Thundercracker.
Art
I really do like Kei Zama's work, if that hadn't been clear in the previous posts about this series, and I believe we get to see a different side of her art in this issue: more humans, more organic cast, more humour to work with alongside the political intrigue of both past and present. And I'm satisfied we what we find - though there is always a touch of the sinister in the inks.
Thundercracker: loves dogs and hawaiian shirts
You want a darker tone to your stories? You want police/cop drama set in the past? You want political intrigue and chess-playing in the past and the present? Get Josh Burcham to add colours to Zama's linework: it plays with the heavy inks beautifully, it doesn't sacrifice diversity in the palette, and it delivers a great looking book.
And his RIRFIB's colours are showing
Likewise, the lettering is an incredibly nice touch on top of what the art and dialogue already carry, as Tom B. Long's caption are never intrusive but still always there for new and old readers alike (the added snark in them is a bonus). The covers are a full IDW TF roster too, with Zama and Burcham on main, but Andrew Griffith and Josh Perez (thumbnail), Joana Lafuente, and Casey Coller all deliver some truly exquisite variants.
Thoughts Spoilerish ahead
The series is working very well, as looking at the reviews so far will have suggested, and what we find in issue #3 is a slower pace than the previous two, maybe not needed, maybe necessary, definitely present. That does not slow down the book's build, at all, but it will give a distended - and humorous at several points - read compared to the other book out this week, and compared to recent TAAO issues - so they work well in parallel at that, nicely scheduled IDW. (Totally not a dig at IDW's scheduling spoiling TAAO.)
Confirmed: Jem, Holograms, Misfits part of Shared Universe
There is plenty of humour too, as we see some of Barber's early RID work shine back through, and we get a very good look at Zama's style all round, as more organics, more beastformers, more humans, more facial expressions join the cast and the fray for the issue. As I said, the speed of the plot may have taken a slight slower route, but there is plenty to enjoy nonetheless.
Along with the images we have seen in the past week, Vietnam-based YouTube user Danh Le (the same source as the images) has shared two clips featuring the Premier edition deluxes Bumblebee, Berserker and Barricade from the upcoming Transformers: The Last Knight live-action movie toyline! You can check them both out below with some commentary from Danh, and join the discussion in the Energon Pub.
Madeus Prime has pointed us in the direction of another review, this time for the upcoming wave 2 Combiner Force Crash Combiner Skyhammer! Skyhammer is the fusion of Skysledge and Stormhammer in typical Crash Combiner fashion, and appears to be a pretty good figure with solid colors and a good looking combined mode. The figures themselves will be available soon at retail so keep your eyes peeled for this latest Crash Combiner set!
Seibertronian Madeus Prime has pointed us in the direction of a pair of new reviews for the upcoming wave 4 of Titans Return, this time in the form of the 2 new Titan Masters: Repugnus and Shuffler! Repugnus is a new mold with a beast mode based on his original monster-bug mode. He also turns into some sort of bug-blaster as well as a little hover-bug-jet thing. His Titan Master's head mode is beautifully done to look like his original head and his Titan Master's robot mode even has paint on the face!
Shuffler is a new mold as well based on a Master Warrior figure of the same name from The Headmasters. This figure has no paint on the Titan Master itself, but does have a beautiful head mode based on the original toy. The vehicle is a little mammoth type animal that becomes a tank for Shuffler to ride and a giant, fat blaster.
Check out the reviews below, and let us know what you think in the comments section!
Synopsis
THE REVOLUTION MAY BE OVER--but the future is just beginning! Ripped from the pages of the hottest crossover of the year, the REVOLUTION team of John Barber and Fico Ossio continue the action! KUP is a CYBERTRONIAN literally older than the universe; ACTION MAN is the ultimate special agent trying to live up to an impossible legacy; MAYDAY is a G.I. JOE leader trying to rescue her first command; and BLACKROCK is a CYBERTRONIAN that thinks he’s a human. It takes the mind-bending clash of ROM versus MAJOR BLUDD and the OKTOBER GUARD to bring this unlikely team together... and the secret they learn threatens to unravel the entire universe.
Or just that.
Story
Whatever your thoughts on the IDW Hasbro franchise crossover event, Revolution did happen, and we have now entered the phase titled Reconstruction (but not really). The multiple universes now coexist, and a new book in particular emerged from the rubble: Revolutionaries #1.
featuring ALIENS (apparently)!
John Barber takes the helm of this new venture, which feeds off some of the tracks set in pre-Revolution Transformers comics - and the start of the issue clearly shows that, by having its timeline show more TF lore than any other book so far - alongside otherwise series-less Action Man/Ian Noble, and the full return of GI Joe (in some way or another).
..and ROM the Space Knight!
Blackrock does mostly steal the spotlight, as we have come to know him in his early days, and after his discovery of his Cybertronian origins - no sass was lost in the transition, no ego was too bruised to recover - and he seems to be working mostly for himself once more; even after the events just happened, the various human factions are not particularly keen to collaborate.
Definitely not EDC. Nuh-uh
Then enter Kup, and his partnership with young Action Man operative Ian Noble - if GB is the sass, the duo are the other side of the chemistry that keeps the book together. There are witty exchanges, playing on established TF concepts but not too heavily given the new audience, and the story does not bode badly at all for the future of the ongoing.
Art
My apprehensions about the art, especially when it had to do with non-human characters in the Revolution books, seem to have faded a little here, as Fico Ossio brings out some strong work even in Kup and ROM's designs - though Blackrock's features can still throw me a little off at times.
Though there are some ..moments
Similarly, Sebastien Cheng's colours still have that glossy finish that works really well as an eye-catching piece of art, but can get in the way of fully enjoying - and potentially understanding - the more crowded scenes. I do feel, however, that it works perfectly in sync with the lineart, and there are no problems in the issue itself!
Is that black unfinished? I like it!
Tom B. Long has his hands full with the art, too, as had happened before - and the task of keeping who's who clear in a book as busy as this is not an easy one, but he does manage to make it the least cluttered as possible. As for the covers, there are a slew of them, from Tradd Moore/Felipe Sobreiro's main, via TF veterans Andrew Griffith/Thomas Teyowisonte Deer and Sara Pitre Durocher's variants (thumbnailed), plus the usual Paul Pope/Kindzierski, Sonny Liew, then Tone Rodriguez/Jordi scuin and Ossio and Cheng's own take - and the retailer exclusive Jed Dougherty/Jason Millet variant, too. Phew.
Thoughts Spoilerish ahead
I can't shake the feeling that his book is what Revolution could have been/wanted to be, had it not been dumped into one event, one book, one giant mess of clashing factions within a core story (heavily pivoting on Transformers... and ROM the Space Knight): a monster of the week format with overarching mythology; likeably unlikeable characters; hints and nods to the various fandoms, global scope and scale of casts and settings - though with one major issue...
Other than this guy's soulpatch
...more traditional GI Joe fans may not like this new incarnation of their team. And that is fine, obviously, but I'd be interested to hear the opinion of readers with feet more in that than the robot pool of things to confirm my suspicion. Not the redesigns, or retakes on the characters, but how the new dynamics work, and who they're pitted against in the series as a whole. That said, I enjoyed the read, and would suggest giving the book a try!
The final review for the upcoming wave 4 of Titans Return has been released! Youtuber Chefatron has reviewed the deluxe class Krok figure, who is a repaint of Skullsmasher with a new titan master, Gatorface. Krok, along with the rest of his wave, should be hitting general retain within the next month or so. So check out the review and let us know if you intend to buy this new version of the beloved Action Master with a gator for a weapon in the comments section below!
Seibertronian chuckdawg1999 has provided us with 2 of his latest reviews for Robots in Disguise figures, this time in the form of Activator Combiners Strongarm with Trickout and Bumblebee with Stuntwing! These figures operate using Dark of the Moon era Stealth Force, with the vehicle mode exploding into battle mode, just this time the gimmick is minicon activated. These figures have also started to show up at retail as well. Check out Chuck's reviews below!
This set is an interesting package. Drawing upon elements once found in MASK, Strongarm is a simplified transformer that springs up into a monster truck type vehicle. Trickout, Strongarms companion, is a fun little truck that serves its purpose. Most collectors will pass on this set, but kids will love it and it makes a fun desk toy.
Bumblebee and Stuntwing make a nice little pair in the Combiner Force sub-line of RID. Bumblebee's transformation is less involved than Strongarm's although, the activated vehicle mode isn't as fun. Stuntwing is a fun little minicon and makes a great blaster.
Fellow Seibertronian Cyberpath has a splendid pictorial review for us of the recently released Takara Transformers Legends LG39 Brainstorm. He compares it to the previous Takara Brainstorm release and we see here how giving the old one's guns to new Brainstorm works out. Enjoy!
LG39 Brainstorm -- Takara's final Autobot Headmaster of the original group. Shipped one month after the last batch and arrived almost at the same time.
Brainstorm looks fantastic! The proportion of the body; the contrast of the colours--!
I've already had a Brainstorm that I liked (LG09) but ordered this one too just because of scale & compatibility; I wasn't enthusiastic about it but it turned out great!
The face sculpt is really well done -- detailed and crisp. But he doesn't look like the Brainstorm that I know as he's got a mouth. There's space between his jaw and "helmet" so I might try to somehow fashion a faceplate for him that would tab there.
Hey this kind of works, no?
Yet another Autobot Headmaster that's supposed to have twin-guns but doesn't. Instead he was packed with the generic gun that Chromedome came with. He can however wield LG09's guns! The colour is not exactly the same, but it works.
I was glad to find out that you can transform him without removing the nosecone, but you can remove it if you want a less prominent back.
The articulation is very good, he's even got waist rotation that's not related to transformation; so far only the Decepticons have had it.
He's got the exact same thighs as Chromedome and the shin-transformation is similar.
The transformation is cool and impressive, love the fin storage, the way the back-rest changes into his abs; the windshield, it's all pretty great for a deluxe.
And the jet mode is just as nice as the robot! Though I'm surprised there is no peg hole for a stand.
Brainstorm's drone buddy is a little more interesting than Chromedome's. And it's got this motorbike type mode.
Didn't think I'd have a Headmaster, much less all of them (and two Brainstorms!) but here we are..
Seibertronian ReinaHW has sent us the next batch of reviews from Chefatron consisting of upcoming wave 4 Titans Return figures. We previously reported the reviews for the leader class figure Sky Shadow, the voyager class Broadside, the deluxes Perceptor and Kup, and the legends Brawn. Today's reviews cover 2 more of the deluxe figures, Quake and the highly anticipated Topspin, as well as the other new legends figure Roadburn AKA Chase, leaving us with Krok as the only figure left to be reviewed. You can check out the reviews below, and let us know what you think in the comments section!
Seibertronian RAR has provided us with more reviews today, this time in the form of a pair of repaints along with a new legion class figure: Blurr! Warrior Alpine Strike Drift is a repaint of the warrior class figure in an homage to the IDW character of the same name. Skywarp is a repaint of the Warrior Starscream mold, looking very nice in his black and purple. And rounding out the crew is legion class Blurr, an all new mold and a potential piece of a Robots in Disguise/Rescue Bots toy crossover.
You can check out the reviews below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!
Alpine Strike Drift Review :
Warrior Skywarp review :
Legion Blurr Review :
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