Transformers Movie Prequel #1 Review (SPOILERS)

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 4:26 am

Read it.

Did a good job as an introductory setup issue, BUT....the word to describe this issue is "confined".

What I mean by that is I feel both Ryall and Don were confined in showcasing the best of what they are about.

Artwise, Don was confined by the ridiculously complex nature of these new Transformers. Is there any artist that can take these guys and pose them when they are so freaking complicated in their structure? Don did as good a job as possible with them. Kudos to him for that, but I can only imagine he was pulling his hair out over this. I can't imagine the headache it must have been to make these bots look consistent from one panel to the next. And I don't think Megatron "hands" will ever sit right with me.

Storywise, I thought Chris did a nice job. But again, he was confined by the upcoming movie in where he can go and what he can do with this series. I feel this will not allow us to see Chris, who obviously has talent, at his best. For example, Bumblebee at the end can't talk because his vocal processor is damaged. I mean, these bots are so advanced, but they can't repair a voice processor? Obviously, the sole reason for this is because (unfortunately for all TF fans), Bumblebee is likely going to be mute for the movie. That is a depressing revelation to me. And Chris had to go with it because that's what we're going to get. See what I mean by confined?

Chris, I enjoyed your debut. But I hope that in the future, we get to see you write without being confined. A oneshot maybe?

Overall, a "B-" issue. Probably as good as an introductory issue can get given the limitations placed before it.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 3:09 pm

Ryall is a good writer, no doubt. Just go check out Zombies vs. Robots, his writing debut, I believe, with Ashley Wood on art.

This book hopefully is much like the main movie, in that everything seems to work fine, fit together, and give off an aura of "transformerness", except for the fact that there are these monsterous weird things posing as Transformers. Although there was ONE thing I did like, design wise: Arcee's asymmetrical "hat".

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 5:20 pm

Eh, I read it while I was on the crapper this morning.

It was okay. It's a fairly decent Transformers story with a whole load of wtf thrown in for good measure.

I'm still not excited.

sprunkner · Post by **sprunkner** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:07 am

Yeah, I felt like it was a nice generic intro to the whole sitch.

Also, because of Bumblebee's starring role, I must say that I was just partial to the whole thing.

The Last Autobot · Post by **The Last Autobot** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 5:45 am

Who died/survive of BBs squad? *Arcee is a given I think.

At least 3 of them bought it from what I saw

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 5:24 pm

I couldn't tell who was who. The TFs hardly ever referred to each other by name. The Infiltration comics didn't need the roll call at the start of every issue, but this one definitely did for me.

I was amused at Megatron being referred to as a Lord High Protector in the same panel that made him look like one seriously evil son of a bitch.

Figueroa delivered big time. All his recent output (Beast Wars/Stormbringer/Movie Prequel) has a definite style and mood of it's own.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 5:44 pm

Hmm, i struggled a bit with this too be honest - i found the art quite hard to follow in places, the compex designs along with the dark tones made it a bugger to read in places, but may just be me - BB charging Megs for example was a bit of a non event.

Some of teh B & W stuff was great mind.

And those designs are bum for conveying emotion.

Story was,er, fine i guess, liked the position BB was put in, but i can't help but question the logic of firing the All Spark into space and then suddenly realising that Megs will just set off to find it - seems like an obvious outcome.

I was hoping thsi might gee me up for the movie but too be honest that's not the case - but i don't blame the creative team.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:24 pm

For clarification, I read it in a TFW2005 thread some weeks before:

-The guy on BB's team whom the Cons torture and kill is Inferno, the ambulance repaint of Ratchet.

-The red Shockwave-headed

con is Swindle, he too will have a deluxe toy (transforms into a sportscar)

-His on-eyed buddy

is a yet unnamed deluxe con who transforms into a Swat car and is like Barricade in bot mode.

-The also one-eyed

(you see a pattern there, hmmm?) drones too will have a toy, called Thrust... Btw, those things at least had some plane kibble on them, I could see they transform into jets.

That guy at the end in front of BB saying 'he saved us all' is Ratchet, btw.

All in all, enjoyable, but I too cannot see these cyborgs as TFs. And BB versus Megatron still seems... weird.

sprunkner · Post by **sprunkner** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 9:43 pm

Fig is definitely getting better and better. But did anyone notice how he used some of the poses from "Stormbringer?" Compare prequel page 12, panel 2, to S-B 1, page 20, panel 1.

Hot Shot · Post by **Hot Shot** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:33 am

I skimmed it at the comic shop. I hate the movie designs and I can't imagine the headache Don had while trying to remember where each limb was. Don and Ryall did the best they could to work with the designs and story, and for that I give them credit for effort. I just can't get over what happened to Arcee.

Post by **Best First** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:56 pm

it thought Arcee survived?

but to be honest was not sure.

which probably furthers my general lack of enthusiasm.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 3:16 pm

She did survive, she was talking about how BB saved them with Ratchet on the last pages.

Yeah, Arcee looks... odd.

The toy might still be good but it will 100% sure need a new head...