THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

TRANSFORMERS TITLES FROM TITAN BOOKS / MAGAZINES

Revenge of the Fallen #3 [UK]: Learning Curve
Reviewed by Inflatable Dalek

More enjoyable fluff, but after three issues it’s starting to wear a bit thin. The Skidflap (see what I did?) getting information to Prime plot is being dragged out beyond its natural life with some extremely forced contrivances to stop them just telling him. Other than that, not much really happens. Grindor and Soundwave are both fairly forgettable and from the position of having seen the film, trying to create mystery out of what the Decepticons want isn’t working.

However, Ironhide is tremendous fun (even if he’s a little too forgiving at the end) and the art continues to impress. We just need things to kick into gear fairly soon.

Though not referred to as such directly, the soldiers the Autobots are hanging out with have NEST logos on their base floor. Just the thing for a top-secret organisation. Sergeant Dundee is probably representing the Australian contingent of NESTS international make up.

Optimus Prime is off somewhere, presumably with more NEST soldiers/Autobots (including Lennox?) on one of the Decepticon hunting missions mentioned in Revenge of the Fallen as having occurred between movies. This is of course a plot device to stop the Twin’s passing on information Prime doesn’t learn about until the events of the film proper, as indeed is the twosomes refusal to tell anyone but Prime. That doesn’t go in goofs as it’s fairly in character for them.

Las Vegas was the location of the final battle in early scripts of the 2007 film (and novelisation) before becoming Mission City.

The derelict car is most likely a Seeker who’s too far-gone for revival. What information he had in his “memory tree”, if any, has yet to be revealed.

The reprinting of All Hail Megatron seems to have settled into fourteen pages an issue, meaning we parts of different issues passed off as the same instalment for the first time since #17.

As well as the extras and gifts mentioned below, we get an extra four page pull out section that’s both larger than the main magazine and full of cut out masks and door knocker thingies.

The Auto Assembly Convention (where several of the comic’s regulars were guests) gets a bit of promotion.


The NEST graphics have the Decepticon logo in purple ala most other versions of the franchise, but the live action films have both sides using grey logos [Did the graphics designer who came up with the funky NEST logo did them a deal on revamping their computer displays as well?]

If Soundwave wants the memory tree retrieved secretly why not send someone a bit less conspicuous than a giant helicopter robot? Like, say, Ravage?

Grindor is a different colour from both his toy and film looks. Though as the film character isn’t named on screen (and I’m not entirely sure if they put a Blackout repaint in the film because of the toy or did the toy because they reused the CGI model in the film…), the chopper may be the new F-15 with dozens of variants about the place.

They’re reprinting All Hail Megatron.

[The next issue box claiming next month is Transformers 25th birthday is neither a goof or tardy. Remember, the franchise came to the UK later than America, with the Marvel comic not launching till September 1984].


A Disc Shooting Watch! The pull out section has little cut out stand up figures you can fire the discs at.

The Fallen Character Profile;
More than Meets the Eye quiz page;
All Hail Megatron poster (with a page of the comic on one side, normally that’d be a goof…);
Competition for a Robotech showing Jetfire…err… the VH1 Valkyrie;
Mode Mix Up!, who turns into what quiz;
Competition for a tour on London in a Camero (be warned, the small print makes it clear the car may not look anything like Bumblebee);
Competition for a crapload of toys;
Sideswipe’s Arsenal explains how a rail gun works;
Top Gear covers Ghostbusters on Blu-Ray, the Gargoylz books and armed forces toys (competitions for all);
Law and Disorder features a drawing of Animated Megatron by a 35 year old. Awwww. Includes Starscream’s Stars.

?>