Revisitation 129: Meg and Kimia.

9/6/2023

First up this week, I guested on the Robots in Your Eyes Podast, talking two episodes of the G1 cartoon, which was a blast and can be listened to HERE.

Back in the world of comics (and at the time of writing, news has just started to break about the successor to IDW being Skybound, more on that in the weeks to come), offers the had of friendship and Cyclonus offers the hand of death as I look at Chaos Part 1!

2 Comments

Post Mordor

11/6/2023 05:24:52 pm

Livio Ramondelli's art can be very hit or miss, but considering that this was his debut in drawing interiors for IDW Transformers, I'll give it credit for being a style that was totally unique from anything we've seen before. I get that some folks who got sick of his art being used so heavily later on dismissed him as one of those artists who only gets work because he meets deadlines, but he reminds me of Humberto Ramos or Mark Bagley: when they REALLY try, it shows. Their artwork can be incredibly dynamic and filled with energy. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but at least it's nowhere near as awful as whatever we got from Heart of Darkness.

Yes, his facial expressions are pretty bad, and it's unfortunately something that he never improves upon. It also doesn't help that he's using the Figueroa face designs in this issue. His proportions can be very off-putting and his characters look very...blocky. I'm not sure if it's because of his very thin linework, but something about it makes his characters look stiff. Then there's the coloring, which definitely improves later on but for this issue is a nightmare. Ignoring the bright red lights, some parts of this issue look too blurry and others feel like staring at a lens flare, and some scenes are too dark to make out any details whatsoever. It's super nauseating to look back on this one, especially when I first got introduced to his work in Autocracy, which is a huge improvement.

But it's like you said, he's a good artist when used correctly. His greatest strength is drawing outer space, because my God it is beautiful to look at his work when the setting is in space. The stars, the blue void, it's all just masterful to look at.

This issue's story has a more relaxed pace after the intense nature of the last two issues, which I liked. It was a much-needed catch of breath from Chaos Theory, even if that doesn't say much about Costa's writing. Speaking of that, this issue strangely overlooks some previous events/character interactions from earlier in this run. Did Galvatron just forget that he already asked Prime and the other 'bots to join him before, or is he just feeling extra nice and giving them another chance? Did the other 'bots just returned to hating on Sunstreaker again, or is Cliffjumper just a jerk? There's also the question of what happened to Galvatron's troops from the end of Heart of Darkness. I believe that gets explained later on, but in this case I wouldn't be surprised if it was another oversight by editorial or even purposeful neglect by Costa as you suggested.

Overall, a bit of a lackluster standalone issue, but one that's meant to set up the final stages. Not really much to discuss about besides the art.

Llama God

12/6/2023 08:30:44 am

"Broadly harmless" is a very good way of describing this issue. Whilst it doesn't sink to the depths of some of Costa's more infamous works, it's also not particularly noteable, either. Certainly in my head there's Chaos Theory, then a big fight, then the new ongoings. So whatever happens in the next few issues is, once again, going to be a surprise to me.

As setups go, it certainly is one. Although I will say it doesn't feel like the culmination of Costa's stories - but then that's mostly because his work has lurched from one focus to the next without any real sense of build up or conclusion. The main thing keeping me going was the the hope that this would maybe resolve Furman's original -ations storylines. Oh poor, naive me...

As to the art, I'm certainly in the camp of being a fan of Ramondelli's - and not just because of his blue, blue eyes... But you also make good points, in that whilst I'm a fan of his painterly style, it does work best when applied to the right story. In future stories he'll be employed most often when doing stories about the distant past, or about space weirdness, and his style works really well for that. Especially as it'll work in a nice contrast to the work of the other regulars that we'll see in those series.

So yes, not an awful issue this, but also not one to be remembered. Given that Costa himself seems to not remember any of the other issues, that seems quite fitting...

Revisitation 129: Meg and Kimia.

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