TFARCHIVE FORUMS

The two latest issues will go in this thread within the next day! First up, the complete mind up that is 15:




Transformers Prime Issue 15: Poster Special.


Note: This comic has no comic in it. Zip, zadda, zilch, nadda. An extremely clever satire of the state of the UK comics industry, or some sort of existential Schrödinger’s cat experiment? You decide.


Notes:

Oh blimey. This isn’t the first ever Transformers poster comic- the most obvious antecedent being the one Marvel UK put out for the 1986 film- but previous versions were one off specials rather than a part of the regular comic. It’s worth noting that whilst the poster is pimped out on the cover there’s nothing to say to the casual buyer that there isn’t a regular issue inside the bag.

The poster itself is an A1 sized CGI portrait of the season one Autobots and Decepticons facing off against each other.

The date’s from Raf’s Notes are taken from the original American airdates of the episodes in question.

The "Man Bites Dog!" headline on Front Line is likely a reference to the similar one on the newspaper of the same name featured in Marvel UK issue #288.

This is the last quarterly issue, from 16 it goes back to being bi-monthly.

Goofs:

Well, it’s basically impossible for a poster to have any mistakes on it. Unless you want to count the entire concept as one.

Fantastic Free Gift!:

A battle blaster and space Frisbee thing.

Extras:
The other side of the poster includes:
Raf’s Notes, extracts from his diary covering the events of the first two seasons;
The Transfiles, covering a profile for Megatron;
Transformers: Primer!, basic facts about the Transformers;
Front Line!, faux government newspaper covering the destruction of the Autobot base at the end of season 2 and the (real life) tour of the country the film Optimus Prime prop took during summer 2013.

Review:

Well, that’s an odd-un isn’t it? It’s fairly clear at this stage Titan is just making time with Prime (which, like Animated hasn’t really set the UK alight) until the next film comes along with its guarantee of better sales. Considering that issue 16 will use a comic that was originally made for issue 11 the best part of a year before means they don’t even have the excuse of not having the budget to produce any new material (and at this stage, wouldn’t cheap IDW reprints be better?).

At £3.99 for a poster and a few quickly knocked out facts, any kids picking this up would have been perfectly entitled to feel more than a bit ripped off. A nasty, cynical issue that frankly makes me hope Titan don’t manage to hold onto the licence for the next Michael Bay produced licence to print money.


[Zero cubes]

Transformers Prime Issue 16: Fury From the Deep.

Script: Chris Cooper.
Art: Dario Brizuela.
Lettering: Comicraft.

Synopsis:

On holiday from both school and fighting Decepticons the three human allies of the Autobots are in a dinner listening to the story of a crazy old homeless man, talking about how his ship, the Mary Jane, was sunk ten years ago by a giant monster. Though none of them really believe his tale, they decide to use it as an excuse for a day at the beach and have Bumblebee take them down to Devil’s Cove just on the off-chance there’s a new Decepticon threat in the water.

Once there they take a trip out in a dingy, but the relaxing time they’d been hoping for is interrupted when the monster does turn out to be real and drags them beneath the sea. Bumblebee jumps in to fight the beast whilst the humans are washed into an underwater cave full of abandoned ships and the body of a dead Decepticon.

Raf uses the Autobot Archive to identify the body as that of Snap Trap, leader of a combiner team called the Seacons. The monster outside is the gestalt form of the other five team members, Piranacon, now mad without the controlling influence of their leader. Jack finds some old World War II mines, and primes them to blow an exit out of the cave system. This happens just in time to not only create an exit but disable Piranacon as he was about to dissect Bumblebee for parts. The Autobot then saves the drowning humans, who then decide to just have a staycation next time.

Characters Featured: Jack, Raf, Miko, Bumblebee, Piranacon [Seemingly Killed], Snap Trap [Corpse].

Notes:

Holy crap, they found room for a poster and a comic this issue. The international paper shortage must have ended.

Ahem.

The first issue to return to a bi-monthly schedule, the comic strip was originally promoted as being in issue 11, why there was such an extremely lengthy delay in it seeing the light of day (especially when they were clearly struggling for content last issue) is a bit of a mystery.

Piranacon and Snap Trap are direct tips of the hat to the G1 characters, with the visuals being fairly closely based on the originals. It’s hard to be sure if the Prime version being a six man team that Snap Trap doesn’t form the head of was an intentional change or just Cooper working off vague memories of a childhood favourite.

The story itself is presumably named for the Patrick Troughton Doctor Who story (Cooper having done some Who work).

Next issue promises to be a Beast Hunters themed relaunch.

Goofs:

When they’re washed into the cave, it doesn’t occur to the kids to just swim out the way they came. They then decide to follow the airflow for a surface exit, which seems fair enough. But then Jack decides to use some 70 year old mines to blow a hole in the side of the cave... into the ocean. Even ignoring the problem of how he knows how to arm World War II (or indeed, any) mines, this nearly drowns everyone. Way to go Jack.

Fantastic Free Gift!:

The cover promises “2 Awesome Mystery Gifts!”, suggesting a random selection of whatever old gifts they still have stock left of. My copy had a Spin Shooter and Disc Bomber.

Extras:

Beast Hunters Sneak Peak!, teasing the events of the third season;
Front Line!, promotes Transformers 4 (“It’s happening!”) and the remainder of the Prime movie truck tour;
All About Ultra Magnus, profiles the Wreckers leader;
Competition for Transformers Prime: Season One Decepticons Unleashed DVD’s and Beast Hunters Voyager toys;
Kre-O Transformers Conundrums!, quiz page based around the little chaps;
A poster of Optimus and Ratchet;
Bumblebee’s Beach Bonanza!, watery themed quizzes;
Soundwave’s Stumpers!, quiz page;
Mega Mouth (which seems to contain a cheeky reference to the legendary Beast Within! comic);
X Marks the ‘Bot!, find Bumblebee’s coordinates by decrypting the code!

Review:

Well, anything has to be better than nothing, but after the shameless cheap cack of the last issue it was always going to be hard to come into this with an open mind. However, the decision to do a comic without a comic was presumably one that had nothing to do with the writer and artist here, so I’m going to try and be fair and even handed here (even though my official advice to anyone who hasn’t been daft enough to agree to review the entire series is avoid it like the plague because Titan as a company don’t deserve the money after issue 15). So ignoring the behind the scenes problems, how does the comic work as a comic?

The answer is: OK. It rattles along quickly enough, there’s some fun to be had with the gleefully shameless incorporation of the G1 Seacons and the art is fine.

On the other hand though, the stuff with the mines is deeply stupid and for some reason the narration is insanely over done, places where the art perfectly conveys what’s going on still feel the need to put in redundant exposition, creating the feeling of a comic aimed much younger than usual. All in all, adequate but forgettable.

[2.5 out of five].