Maximum Dinobots #2 Review (SPOILERS)

Post by **snarl** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:19 pm

Very good.

I'll type more later.

Great little cliffhanger at the end.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 3:41 pm

My comic shop didn't get it.

stranger · Post by **stranger** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:46 pm

Yaya wrote:My comic shop didn't get it.

I'm having this problem too. My nearest shop says that no-one is buying transformers (and me being apparently the only person doing so means dropping AHM didn't help). Other places will order specially, but otherwise it's not worth their while.

Not good.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:30 pm

stranger wrote:
Yaya wrote:My comic shop didn't get it.
I'm having this problem too. My nearest shop says that no-one is buying transformers (and me being apparently the only person doing so means dropping AHM didn't help). Other places will order specially, but otherwise it's not worth their while.

Not good.

My guy claimed it didn't come out this week. I called two others, and they said the same thing.

I think maybe parts of the country got it, others did not.

How did snarlzzzzzzzz get a copy of one?

One of the guys said, after being asked whether it came out this week, "I don't know for sure, but if it did, we didn't order any."

Not good.

Mr_Tigg · Post by **Mr_Tigg** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:33 pm

I didn't see any max dinos 1 in forbidden planet in london last month (which usually gets everything). I found it strange considering all the other tf monthlies were available. Not really sure what's going on.

Manchester Devil · Post by **Manchester Devil** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:00 pm

Same here.

For some reason, I'm getting the impression IDW doesn't want anyone to read Maximum Dinobots in case it embarasses McCarthy's oh so great storyline.

stranger · Post by **stranger** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:04 pm

Mr_Tigg - is that Shaftsbury Avenue Forbidden Planet? They were going to be my next stop. If they don't have it, I'll be reduced to ebay I guess, or maybe just wait for trade on Amazon.

I'm not saying this just to put another dig in on AHM (even though I do enjoy that pass-time) but picking up issues was never ever a problem before the whole Revelations moving to spotlights, AHM disaster.

Mr_Tigg · Post by **Mr_Tigg** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:42 pm

Stranger Wrote:
Mr_Tigg - is that Shaftsbury Avenue Forbidden Planet? They were going to be my next stop. If they don't have it, I'll be reduced to ebay I guess, or maybe just wait for trade on Amazon.

I'm not saying this just to put another dig in on AHM (even though I do enjoy that pass-time) but picking up issues was never ever a problem before the whole Revelations moving to spotlights, AHM disaster.

Yeh it is indeed. I work 5 mins away so I tend to drop by pretty often for a gander. I was referring to Max. Dinos issue 1, I haven't been since issue 2 was released so no idea if they have that. However, I couldn't find MD1 there, which doesn't bode well for MD2.

Ironically there are stacks of AHM on the shelves - I'm pretty convinced it's not selling as well as IDW claim.

If there aren't any issues in Forbidden Planet, try Orbital Comics/Orbital Manga - I know they stock tf comics as well. You can get the address here:

http://www.orbitalcomics.com/index.php#MapInformation

Post by **snarl** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:37 pm

FP have ****** TF comics off I think. Didn't have Max Dinos 1 or 2.

They still have a few Animated and older AHM issues, but they're a load of old **** so they'll probably be there till they bag em up and flog em for a quid.

I got it from Comicana, which is about 2 mins from FP. they had at least 1 left.

Location:

http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/directory/1375/3039.php

Anyway, I left this sucker and The Boys at work having read it on the tube from Tottenham Court Road to Bond St.

Bollocks.

Post by **Best First** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 9:06 am

Avalon Comics on Lavender Hill (which is 7 minutes walk from my front door - result) now only get TF comics in if you pre-order.

Their reasoning is that they get no passingf trade for TFs, which they put down to the fact its so hard to follow from a casual reader perspective. On top of this IDW titles are more expensive so having them sit on the shelves is worse for the shops finances.

Much as Snarlos relates above they have a load of older TF stuff that they can't seem to shift.

Post by **snarl** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 9:31 am

Thing about FP is that they're still do a roaring trade in TF toys.

They've lovingly jacked up the prices for all the classics due to the GBP getting ****** up the wazoo by the Yankee dollar and the Euro - wankers.

Mr_Tigg · Post by **Mr_Tigg** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 9:03 pm

So I went to Forbidden Planet at lunch, and indeed they did have several copies of MD2. I did my usual cheeky thing and read the issues in store (don’t by monthlies, naughty I know, but I’ve always collected trades).

First I read AHM (my review of which is in the relevant thread) then MD2.
What can I say? Excellent issue. Thoroughly enjoyed the exchanges between the Dinobots, particularly the insights into why they are a team. It contrasts starkly with the dialogue in AHM, which felt forced and awkward on occasions.

The artwork is superb, with Roche’s redesigns looking immense. Especially love Slag’s ‘Flame vents’ on his back. The fight between the Dynobots was pure and utter carnage. Really got a sense of scale and awe as they rampaged through the suburban town, tearing the scenery apart in the process. Strange that this one scene had more destruction in it then all of devastation, and also totally showed up the initial New York Conquest in AHM that lacked any vague sense of awe or tension during the battle.

I was particularly touched by Grimlock’s interaction with the human as well. I guess he’s a soft touch after all. Agent Red looks much better drawn up by Roche than Marcelo, and the cliff-hanger at the end was well...let’s say I cannot to see how this plays out!!!!

The one weakness of the issue was Scorpinok, whose motives were slightly unconvincing. He wants to control the earth? So what? According to AHM, the earth was useless against TFs anyway! Not much of a planet to control if you ask me. Also didn’t buy his reasons for relinquishing his mind control over the other dynobots.

Overall though A-. Top stuff by Furman.

Post by **Best First** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:57 pm

Wow - that was a significant step uop from last issue for me. Great stuff. Grimlock basically telling the Dinobots off after standing his ground against the rest of them was superb.

Liked the final page an awful lot and Joshua Red is coming across well.

Also notable that there is some emphasis on containment - i wonder if this is deliberatly aligned to the ignorance at the start of AHM or more just intended to show Skywatch's power and a bit of a happy coinicidence?

Agree the weak link in the chain is Scorp's motives and there was some oddness about the scene where Hotrod seemed to actually discourage Scorpy from telling him more about his plan.

More thoughts when i am not doing boring paperwork...

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:17 pm

Oh my goodness.

I've been away from TF comics for a bit after the nasty taste AHM left in my mouth (don't chew your comics, kids) but picked up MD#1 and #2 yesterday from Orbital - they're very helpful in there, though I understand the shop is moving as of next month.

This is what I'm talking about. Everyone's hit their stride perfectly on this one. I actually shouted out loud when I got to the last page, startling the missus. Absolutely first rate from beginning to end, but my particular favourite bit was when Grimlock talked down Slag and the others - the whole "we were never a team" speech was glorious.

With Monsterbots and Shockwave in the mix, this can only get better.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:58 pm

Just picked up issue 1 and 2.

really enjoyed this, no fannying about, good solid bits of plot, perhaps with the exception of Skorpys motives, they do somewhat add up mind u... Not sure about his size tho, hes bloody huge!

ANyhows, Grimlock is superb, this is how u write for him, hes a brute with a brain!

awesome!

Sunyavadin · Post by **Sunyavadin** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:53 pm

Up here in Newcastle Travelling Man has all the TF lines in, don't think AHM's selling too well though. 24 hours after any other TF title comes out it's usually sold out, not so for AHM.

Good thing I have max dinos on my standing order.

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:21 am

Only retailer incentive covers left at FP when I picked this up, but stacks of AHMs. Hoping that's a reliable sign.

Superb issue. The Grimlock and Slag exchange is a little 'potted history' but it works in the scene because Grimlock is genuinely trying to jog Slag's memory in order to make his point. The battle scenes really drive home how practical Roche's redesigns on the Dinobots are - it always irked me that Snarl's head looked like it should have no range of movement whatsoever and yet warped and stretched to accomodate his expression. No more! The damage on Hot Rod is also far more credible than any of the scritchy-scratchings we've seen on the TFs in AHM so far. It was only on my second read I noticed that a good chunk of his jaw casing is knocked off on page 2. That's worthy of a wince.

On the less positive side, a little nonplussed that it's looking, at this stage, like Snarl, Sludge and Swoop will be little more than "the other Dinobots" and Skorpy does need to become something more than a bonecrushing Blofeld. Why, exactly, does he need Hot Rod alive again?

One significant flaw, as far as I can tell - Sunstreaker and Hunter are heading to Dallas because that's where Sunstreaker's head is, right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that exactly where they started in Devastation #6? If not, how did they know where to go?

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:17 pm

Metal Vendetta wrote:With Monsterbots

That makes sense. I was wracking my brain.

Isn't one of them in Garrus 9, though?

arkonseal · Post by **arkonseal** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:45 am

Jack Cade wrote:Only retailer incentive covers left at FP when I picked this up, but stacks of AHMs. Hoping that's a reliable sign.

Superb issue. The Grimlock and Slag exchange is a little 'potted history' but it works in the scene because Grimlock is genuinely trying to jog Slag's memory in order to make his point. The battle scenes really drive home how practical Roche's redesigns on the Dinobots are - it always irked me that Snarl's head looked like it should have no range of movement whatsoever and yet warped and stretched to accomodate his expression. No more! The damage on Hot Rod is also far more credible than any of the scritchy-scratchings we've seen on the TFs in AHM so far. It was only on my second read I noticed that a good chunk of his jaw casing is knocked off on page 2. That's worthy of a wince.

On the less positive side, a little nonplussed that it's looking, at this stage, like Snarl, Sludge and Swoop will be little more than "the other Dinobots" and Skorpy does need to become something more than a bonecrushing Blofeld. Why, exactly, does he need Hot Rod alive again?

One significant flaw, as far as I can tell - Sunstreaker and Hunter are heading to Dallas because that's where Sunstreaker's head is, right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that exactly where they started in Devastation #6? If not, how did they know where to go?

Just to play devil's advocate, the extra AHMs could also mean that the shop is ordering more, couldn't it?

For Hunter and Sunstreaker, they're heading to Dallas because his head is "likely" to be there, not certain - information they got from the flash drive that they found in #1. I just flipped through Devastation, and the Machination HQ at that time are in Tampa, Florida, so that's where they escape from. No errors there!

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:27 am

Brendocon wrote:That makes sense. I was wracking my brain.

Isn't one of them in Garrus 9, though?

I can overlook that - Bludgeon was in Garrus 9, apparently stripped to the spark core, and Jhiaxus somehow freed and rebuilt him by remote control. As I recall, Repugnus was in the "cell" next door (or at least not far away) so it's feasible he could have escaped during those events. Also, Spotlight: Arcee showed that Max isn't above freeing prisoners if the situation demands it. Hopefully there will be a line of dialogue down the line that explains how he got free, but it's early days yet.

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:05 pm

arkonseal wrote:Just to play devil's advocate, the extra AHMs could also mean that the shop is ordering more, couldn't it?

For Hunter and Sunstreaker, they're heading to Dallas because his head is "likely" to be there, not certain - information they got from the flash drive that they found in #1. I just flipped through Devastation, and the Machination HQ at that time are in Tampa, Florida, so that's where they escape from. No errors there!

Agree that could be a reason for the extra AHMs. Just hoping that's not the case. Hoping the Great British public are sending the right message via their wallets!

Still not understanding this Sunstreaker thing. He escapes, in Dev#6, from the place where his head is. Granted, he initially wants to make a quick getaway. But once he's at a safe distance, he knows, surely, that his head is back at the place he's just left. I assumed from issue 1 that the Machination had upped camp, or else Hunter and Sunstreaker had learnt through some means that his head had been moved, but now comes the revelation in issue 2 that, yes, it is right where you left it!

Unless Dallas isn't where they were originally? I can't remember.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:17 pm

Yeah, the Machination stuff in Devastation was in Tampa. So "Scorponok relocated en masse, after the breakout, taking the head with him" basically covers it.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:24 am

Brendocon wrote:Yeah, the Machination stuff in Devastation was in Tampa. So "Scorponok relocated en masse, after the breakout, taking the head with him" basically covers it.

That's where we saw Hot Rod meet Dealer, right? All that was left was one squashed Sunstreaker clone?

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:59 pm

Still haven't received a copy. Strange.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:04 pm

Metal Vendetta wrote:
Brendocon wrote:Yeah, the Machination stuff in Devastation was in Tampa. So "Scorponok relocated en masse, after the breakout, taking the head with him" basically covers it.
That's where we saw Hot Rod meet Dealer, right? All that was left was one squashed Sunstreaker clone?

Yepyepyep.

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:45 pm

I get it now, this Sunstreaker business.

Manchester Devil · Post by **Manchester Devil** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:20 pm

Finally got my mitts on a copy of issue 2 and my LCS told me Maximum Dinobots sold like hot cakes.

Loved the interaction between the Dynobots - especially with Grimlock saving the human by picking up the entire carriage, Sunstraker and Hunter and even Scorponok's camp Bond villian act. Can't wait to see Shockwave come back online.

Its certainly more intriging than AHM, but we already know that.

Sunyavadin · Post by **Sunyavadin** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:40 pm

I'm REALLY liking this story, it's maybe sliding a little too much into the old-school "giant robots throwing each other into buildings in a small town for the hell of it" territory that we got in the old Marvel stuff, but the story is most fdefinitely there to keep us interested. Unlike AHM.

Post by **Denyer** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:53 pm

"Someone help! I'm cookin' in mah own diner!"

Bit late, had time for a quick skim when I got it, then things got hectic, then I got distracted...

Which isn't at all fair to the issue, which was excellent and highly enjoyable. Love how dynamic Nick's action scenes are, and the homage to Target: 2006's Galvatron/Magnus truck explosion was frotteuristic icing on the cake. Scorponok's dialogue going a touch British, ditto. It's all very busy without being unclear, and a far cry from the pacing of either the -Ations or AHM... almost as if Furman's thought "y'know what, f*ck it, retro and exposition it is." Can't say that's disappointing in any way, shape or form -- modern comics often seem too slow to me, and the Spotlights have been the most outright fun items in the line-up.

Throw in Shockwave, the promise of Monsterbots and in particular a character I've been looking to have panel time (in which he gets to be more than a cypher) since reading the bio as a kid, and I'm really, really looking forward to issues 3 through 5.

Hot Shot · Post by **Hot Shot** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:29 pm

Manchester Devil wrote:Same here.

For some reason, I'm getting the impression IDW doesn't want anyone to read Maximum Dinobots in case it embarasses McCarthy's oh so great storyline.

I get the impression IDW is purposely printing fewer issues to make sure Maximum Dinobots sells less than AHM.

I wonder how possible it would be without being noticed.