Daddy Where’s the Sun Gone From the Sky? Why Did it Go Wrong, Why Did it Die? And All the Grown Ups Say “Sorry Kids, We Got No Reply”.
Issue 14: Aftermath Part 1/Megatron Origin Part 1/Beast Wars: The Ascending Part 1. 17th July 2008.
Now that’s what I call urban relocation!
For a comic where you suspect there’s a pretty good chance last week not being the conclusion to the alternate timeline story (and here, again, the recap is selling the idea it was all down to the Allspark), the new direction that kicks off the second year of the book’s life comes surprisingly fully formed.
Starting with the idea of having a specific New Readers Start Here issue with all fresh stories beginning together, an annual successful trick of 2000AD. Though perhaps it does miss a trick in not promoting itself as such on the cover, instead giving tag-line space to the promise of more Animated news, even though there isn’t any outside of the now traditional second side to the poster beyond a quick mention of the comic again.
Now that’s what I call urban relocation!
For a comic where you suspect there’s a pretty good chance last week not being the conclusion to the alternate timeline story (and here, again, the recap is selling the idea it was all down to the Allspark), the new direction that kicks off the second year of the book’s life comes surprisingly fully formed.
Starting with the idea of having a specific New Readers Start Here issue with all fresh stories beginning together, an annual successful trick of 2000AD. Though perhaps it does miss a trick in not promoting itself as such on the cover, instead giving tag-line space to the promise of more Animated news, even though there isn’t any outside of the now traditional second side to the poster beyond a quick mention of the comic again.
Nice hat Arcee.
The lead strip Aftermath starts us on something we’ve not really had before or since in Transformers before. A proper examination of the...well... aftermath of a mass Decepticon invasion. Often the consequences will be ignored, frequently with a handy time jump as happened after All Hail Megatron, resulting in the odd situation of the occasional bit of lip service being paid to the fallout whilst everything else in America looks pretty much as it did in the year of publication.
Here though, we start right after the fall of Megatron, with the Autobots looking down into the Allspark crater in Georgia. It’s not uncommon that, when confronted with human distrust and anger, for Optimus to be slightly naive and surprised, so it’s pleasing here that when the other Autobots (including a Strongarm who is well and truly a beefy boy, bigger than Ironhide, and an Arcee with yet another body design more closely based on the toy that makes her look like she’s wearing a beret) are cheerful about having won, he is more sanguine about the long term issues.
Which is apparent when he we cut to Rhode Island (where Hasbro is based, fancy that) as we see winning the war doesn’t win the battle, with Starscream starting a campaign to bomb and destroy any human attempt to repair their infrastructure.
In Washington, Tom Banachek (who has been on the Just For Men) is trying to be as upbeat as Prime’s troops about alliance and working together, but the Vice President is placing no faith in trusting robots who carried out what seemed to be a covert invasion, especially as the country still reels from the destruction wrought upon it.
Here though, we start right after the fall of Megatron, with the Autobots looking down into the Allspark crater in Georgia. It’s not uncommon that, when confronted with human distrust and anger, for Optimus to be slightly naive and surprised, so it’s pleasing here that when the other Autobots (including a Strongarm who is well and truly a beefy boy, bigger than Ironhide, and an Arcee with yet another body design more closely based on the toy that makes her look like she’s wearing a beret) are cheerful about having won, he is more sanguine about the long term issues.
Which is apparent when he we cut to Rhode Island (where Hasbro is based, fancy that) as we see winning the war doesn’t win the battle, with Starscream starting a campaign to bomb and destroy any human attempt to repair their infrastructure.
In Washington, Tom Banachek (who has been on the Just For Men) is trying to be as upbeat as Prime’s troops about alliance and working together, but the Vice President is placing no faith in trusting robots who carried out what seemed to be a covert invasion, especially as the country still reels from the destruction wrought upon it.
Me after seeing Bumblebee.
He’s not named here, but it is worth pointing out the unnamed soon to be President will go through as many faces as Arcee over the book, but here has a bit of the Jon Voight about him. He will also turn out to be called T.F. Allen. Though I don’t think anyone was ever sure if the T Fallen gag was intentional, and if it was whether it was meant to signify something that never came to pass when Revenge of the Fallen became a thing.
Where the comic really sets its store for this new direction is in a scene with Mikaela, now famous for her saving the world work, touring a Georgian hospital in a refugee shelter.
And again, a shanty town in America is very suggestive of how bad things are for the population.
The doctor handling the visit explains there’s an epidemic of people just falling ill and dying horribly for no reason. His theory is the Earth biosphere is a living creature and damage done to it affects everyone living within it.
This is of course, the much loved in the 80’s Gaea hypothesis, made famous by the TV version of Edge of Darkness. Whilst it’s not quite as hot a concept as it once was (perhaps surprisingly considering the way the world is going), it still works well as a dramatic metaphor for our destruction of the natural world and would have been, I suspect, the first exposure most of the kids reading this would have had to the idea.
There’s also a clear sign of the issues Autobot/Human relations face as the nice doctor who is perfectly friendly to Mikaela, instantly turns cold when Bumblebee appears. And if he’s got issues the NATO troops just arriving by boat most certainly will have bigger ones...
Where the comic really sets its store for this new direction is in a scene with Mikaela, now famous for her saving the world work, touring a Georgian hospital in a refugee shelter.
And again, a shanty town in America is very suggestive of how bad things are for the population.
The doctor handling the visit explains there’s an epidemic of people just falling ill and dying horribly for no reason. His theory is the Earth biosphere is a living creature and damage done to it affects everyone living within it.
This is of course, the much loved in the 80’s Gaea hypothesis, made famous by the TV version of Edge of Darkness. Whilst it’s not quite as hot a concept as it once was (perhaps surprisingly considering the way the world is going), it still works well as a dramatic metaphor for our destruction of the natural world and would have been, I suspect, the first exposure most of the kids reading this would have had to the idea.
There’s also a clear sign of the issues Autobot/Human relations face as the nice doctor who is perfectly friendly to Mikaela, instantly turns cold when Bumblebee appears. And if he’s got issues the NATO troops just arriving by boat most certainly will have bigger ones...
ho ho.
The extra page added from last issue means one can be given over to setting up a future storyline as Skyblast finds a tiny bit of Allspark left, which, as Prime is worried it may have been tainted by Megatron (maybe he’s read Matrix Quest?), is entrusted to Ratchet to keep safe. With the medic giving it a very funny look. Keep that in mind for down the road.
Back at the plot, we get a nice scene of Armorhide and Elita-One (now with a classic Arcee head), with Armorhide bored of the job and Elita bored of his moaning about the job. Indeed, the whole issue has little character beats for the Energon repaints that, though never going to give them huge depth, does round them out a bit more to help them feel more than filler.
Their banter is interrupted by a mass Decepticon attack on the shelter. Which is confusing to the Autobots as it serves no obvious tactical advantage, but they go in to help with an evacuation and to protect the ill patients who can’t be moved as well.
And one of the evacuees goes “It never ends”.
Let’s give a slow golf hand clap.
This is all what Starscream wants of course, as he delivers a lengthy speech to himself in his base about how the Autobots attempting to protect the “Bags of flesh and bone” will lead to their extermination.
Which is where I think the comic makes a slight mistake as it turns out Starscream has a mind control microchip on the back of the neck of the commanding officer of the military force outside the shelter, ensuring they go in with guns hot for anything metal. Human authorities being controlled to hate the Autobots somewhat removes the layers the story has successfully built up to this point in the relationship between the two sides.
But this is a very strong issue, low on action before the end, but full of good character work, interesting ideas and a strong portrayal of the damaged and scared Earth.
Cover artist on both previous issues and a couple of Marvel UK ones, Gary Erskine moves to interiors and generally does a strong job, feeling very like Staz in style. However, he is very reliant on just copying the character models wholesale. Most notably, there are two panels at each end of the issue with the Autobots standing in a line where they’re all doing the exact same very familiar from the promotional art poses in both.
Back at the plot, we get a nice scene of Armorhide and Elita-One (now with a classic Arcee head), with Armorhide bored of the job and Elita bored of his moaning about the job. Indeed, the whole issue has little character beats for the Energon repaints that, though never going to give them huge depth, does round them out a bit more to help them feel more than filler.
Their banter is interrupted by a mass Decepticon attack on the shelter. Which is confusing to the Autobots as it serves no obvious tactical advantage, but they go in to help with an evacuation and to protect the ill patients who can’t be moved as well.
And one of the evacuees goes “It never ends”.
Let’s give a slow golf hand clap.
This is all what Starscream wants of course, as he delivers a lengthy speech to himself in his base about how the Autobots attempting to protect the “Bags of flesh and bone” will lead to their extermination.
Which is where I think the comic makes a slight mistake as it turns out Starscream has a mind control microchip on the back of the neck of the commanding officer of the military force outside the shelter, ensuring they go in with guns hot for anything metal. Human authorities being controlled to hate the Autobots somewhat removes the layers the story has successfully built up to this point in the relationship between the two sides.
But this is a very strong issue, low on action before the end, but full of good character work, interesting ideas and a strong portrayal of the damaged and scared Earth.
Cover artist on both previous issues and a couple of Marvel UK ones, Gary Erskine moves to interiors and generally does a strong job, feeling very like Staz in style. However, he is very reliant on just copying the character models wholesale. Most notably, there are two panels at each end of the issue with the Autobots standing in a line where they’re all doing the exact same very familiar from the promotional art poses in both.
Bold reinvention of the franchise ahoy!
In something of a surprise, the second backup is not Reign of Starscream, despite the alternate timeline meaning nothing within it would be something for the UK stories to worry about. I don’t know if IDW were reluctant to provide something so new (I suspect UK sales on Transformers comics are always good for them) or if there was a desire to throw a bone to the older readers. Either way, the choice has been made to reprint their Generation One Megatron Origin four issue miniseries.
If you were going to go G1 and wanted four issues to match Beast Wars, this is pretty much the only choice IDW could have made, with it being a, well, origin story for the character it has the added bonus of not requiring any prior familiarity with this continuity.
Though even then, the introduction in place of the recap is very careful to point out how weird and totally unlike anything you’ve seen before this take on the characters is.
The story itself is one that has been rather overtaken by what happened in following years, where James Roberts went back in flashbacks to round out these events and what led Megatron to where we meet him here. Effectively giving us Actual Megatron Origin.
By itself though, there will be some odd things we see as we go along that don’t seem to quite add up (though without the context of the wider IDW comics, this won’t be such a problem for Titan). And in particular Megaton himself is going to feel strangely absent from a lot of his own story.
If you were going to go G1 and wanted four issues to match Beast Wars, this is pretty much the only choice IDW could have made, with it being a, well, origin story for the character it has the added bonus of not requiring any prior familiarity with this continuity.
Though even then, the introduction in place of the recap is very careful to point out how weird and totally unlike anything you’ve seen before this take on the characters is.
The story itself is one that has been rather overtaken by what happened in following years, where James Roberts went back in flashbacks to round out these events and what led Megatron to where we meet him here. Effectively giving us Actual Megatron Origin.
By itself though, there will be some odd things we see as we go along that don’t seem to quite add up (though without the context of the wider IDW comics, this won’t be such a problem for Titan). And in particular Megaton himself is going to feel strangely absent from a lot of his own story.
"You've got the touch..."
So before the war, a smug Senator Decimus is travelling to mining outpost C-12 to announce its closure. Working in the mine is Megatron, who along with his fellow workers attends a meeting where they’re told that they’re all unemployed now. One loud worker points out the mine is still profitable and so therefore this means automation, which gets him killed by an Autobot guard with a whack to the face when he gets too confrontational.
It’s unsurprising that writer Eric Holmes was Scottish, nor that fellow Brit James Roberts would come to focus on this period. Mining and politics have a very close, bitter history in the UK consciousness and this very much plays on Thatcherism as its leading metaphor. Which is a little more thoughtful and direct than was typical for the comics at the time, so this at least starts with something pretty novel.
Alex Milne is on art, and I must admit at this point I was not a fan, ironically for someone who will come to have several pieces of original work by him on the wall. I think the dark colouring and heavy inking doesn’t help his very detailed line work, but the strange standout here is the half page reveal of Megatron mining. Which is presumably meant to show him using a tool with such incredible force and stress to himself. But it instead looks like he’s singling karaoke with some serious emotion.
It’s unsurprising that writer Eric Holmes was Scottish, nor that fellow Brit James Roberts would come to focus on this period. Mining and politics have a very close, bitter history in the UK consciousness and this very much plays on Thatcherism as its leading metaphor. Which is a little more thoughtful and direct than was typical for the comics at the time, so this at least starts with something pretty novel.
Alex Milne is on art, and I must admit at this point I was not a fan, ironically for someone who will come to have several pieces of original work by him on the wall. I think the dark colouring and heavy inking doesn’t help his very detailed line work, but the strange standout here is the half page reveal of Megatron mining. Which is presumably meant to show him using a tool with such incredible force and stress to himself. But it instead looks like he’s singling karaoke with some serious emotion.
It's the star of Beast Wars!
Beast Wars continues as the third strip, with The Ascending being extremely infamous for some of its story choices that were suggested by Ben Yee and based on Botcon comics only Ben Yee has read. Things are about to get very confused.
Though here that helps the opening be presented as a mystery. Magmatron, unstuck in time since last issue and, even worse, doing ponderous Furman narration, is bumping back and forth through history and knows in the future Cybertron will descend into violence because of a mysterious green figure.
Who will pretty much remain a mystery if you haven’t read those Botcon comics.
He decides to go get help by haunting Roazorbeast, who is a bit depressed at help having not come from Cybertron. Still, there’s still Ravage’s team of Predacons to deal with, so an investigating Grimlock—more of him later—on patrol makes short work of Manterror and Retrax. Which at least ends this first part in a harmless place for the reader, if not the characters.
Though here that helps the opening be presented as a mystery. Magmatron, unstuck in time since last issue and, even worse, doing ponderous Furman narration, is bumping back and forth through history and knows in the future Cybertron will descend into violence because of a mysterious green figure.
Who will pretty much remain a mystery if you haven’t read those Botcon comics.
He decides to go get help by haunting Roazorbeast, who is a bit depressed at help having not come from Cybertron. Still, there’s still Ravage’s team of Predacons to deal with, so an investigating Grimlock—more of him later—on patrol makes short work of Manterror and Retrax. Which at least ends this first part in a harmless place for the reader, if not the characters.
those wacky Titans.
The free gift this month is a “Robot blaster” handy for blasting robots. The big news though is that we are now getting Beast Wars character profiles, taken from the infamous Sourcebook. So, do they start with one of the leads of the comic, Razorbeast or Magmatron? Maybe a beloved character from the TV show?
No, it’s Grimlock. Which as a choice has to be taking the piss. Still, at least I now know he turns into a “Mega-Raptor”.
There’s another non-Transformers competition as Warner Home Video gives readers a chance to win a Appleseed: Ex-Machina DVD and t-shirt. Top Gear itself throws more bones at older readers, with a competition for the Japanese Encore reissue of G1 Jazz and the second volume of the original Thundercats cartoon. Alongside that, Generations Cliffjumper looks positively modern.
Team Titan is a new feature, effectively the equivalent of the old Marvel Checklist, telling you what comics are out this month, with the focus being on Indiana Jones issue 4 (why does Harrison Ford, who gets away with it in the film, look like a confused old man in all the publicity pics?), though you’re encouraged to pick up Batman Legends in advance of The Dark Knight as well. Hey, remember when a new Joker was an exciting thing?
No, it’s Grimlock. Which as a choice has to be taking the piss. Still, at least I now know he turns into a “Mega-Raptor”.
There’s another non-Transformers competition as Warner Home Video gives readers a chance to win a Appleseed: Ex-Machina DVD and t-shirt. Top Gear itself throws more bones at older readers, with a competition for the Japanese Encore reissue of G1 Jazz and the second volume of the original Thundercats cartoon. Alongside that, Generations Cliffjumper looks positively modern.
Team Titan is a new feature, effectively the equivalent of the old Marvel Checklist, telling you what comics are out this month, with the focus being on Indiana Jones issue 4 (why does Harrison Ford, who gets away with it in the film, look like a confused old man in all the publicity pics?), though you’re encouraged to pick up Batman Legends in advance of The Dark Knight as well. Hey, remember when a new Joker was an exciting thing?
Bus Bot.
There’s also a four panel comic strip, Team Titan Talks!, that’s probably very funny if you worked at Titan in 2008 and which somehow took two people to write.
Starscreams has a lovely letter from Thomas Ditchfield, 9 from Warrington, about how he won a competition to promote recycling with his Transformers are, and this will now be portrayed proudly on the back of a local bus for a year.
Starscream approves as he’s a big fan of recycling. Recycling Autobots.
Next week, the big guns come out.
ISSUE 13
2008
COMMENT
KO-FI
Starscreams has a lovely letter from Thomas Ditchfield, 9 from Warrington, about how he won a competition to promote recycling with his Transformers are, and this will now be portrayed proudly on the back of a local bus for a year.
Starscream approves as he’s a big fan of recycling. Recycling Autobots.
Next week, the big guns come out.
ISSUE 13
2008
COMMENT
KO-FI
