Oh Say Can You See, by the Dawn’s Early Light.
Issue 9: Twilight’s Last Gleaming: Part 1/Movie Prequel Part 8/Beast Wars: The Gathering Part 8.
It’s showtime!
The cover (by Gary Erskine) is rather a good indication of what we can expect from the first big storyline of the Titan comic. On the one hand, it’s something we’ve seen before, being the latest tribute to Are all Dead, the iconic Marvel cover.
On the other, it’s by far the best such tribute as it’s not a straight copy, but shakes things up a bit and brings something new and fresh to the familiar with Megatron in the iconic pose and “Decepticons Rule OK” instead of the usual words.
Compared to Reign of Starscream doing a cover that was a literal copy of the original, and it’s even more striking.
This effectively sums up the new direction in a nutshell. Furman wanted to do something that could avoid all sequel contradiction issues, and so hit upon an old favourite, the dark timeline where the baddies won. As we saw back in Rhythms of Darkness!, and there’s a lot of basic ideas recycled from that here. Indeed, I was rather surprised to revisit my 2008 review of this issue and see I was rather down on it for that.
But there’s one big difference here. For all the editorial tries to make it seem like an altered timeline, this arc (originally intended as just five issues) will not connect to the “Real” film continuity at any point. There’s no effort to change history back, no people from our dimension crossing over, not even the equivalent of a Hook, Line and Sinker turning up. It’s entirely its own free to do whatever it wants, thing.
Which possibly makes the biggest influence on it the two part Enterprise story set entirely in the Mirror Universe that is often held up as the best of that series because it’s basically a two episode escape from the mediocre awfulness of the rest of the run.
It’s showtime!
The cover (by Gary Erskine) is rather a good indication of what we can expect from the first big storyline of the Titan comic. On the one hand, it’s something we’ve seen before, being the latest tribute to Are all Dead, the iconic Marvel cover.
On the other, it’s by far the best such tribute as it’s not a straight copy, but shakes things up a bit and brings something new and fresh to the familiar with Megatron in the iconic pose and “Decepticons Rule OK” instead of the usual words.
Compared to Reign of Starscream doing a cover that was a literal copy of the original, and it’s even more striking.
This effectively sums up the new direction in a nutshell. Furman wanted to do something that could avoid all sequel contradiction issues, and so hit upon an old favourite, the dark timeline where the baddies won. As we saw back in Rhythms of Darkness!, and there’s a lot of basic ideas recycled from that here. Indeed, I was rather surprised to revisit my 2008 review of this issue and see I was rather down on it for that.
But there’s one big difference here. For all the editorial tries to make it seem like an altered timeline, this arc (originally intended as just five issues) will not connect to the “Real” film continuity at any point. There’s no effort to change history back, no people from our dimension crossing over, not even the equivalent of a Hook, Line and Sinker turning up. It’s entirely its own free to do whatever it wants, thing.
Which possibly makes the biggest influence on it the two part Enterprise story set entirely in the Mirror Universe that is often held up as the best of that series because it’s basically a two episode escape from the mediocre awfulness of the rest of the run.
Shia Who?
As a title, Twilight’s Last Gleaming feels like something to run away from very fast, being incredibly pretentious. But the opening is immediately striking as we run through a series of panels covering the “Happy” ending of the actual film, with a voice-over trying to imagine what that might have been like, before we cut to Bumblebee driving through a desolate and ruined city, with a massive Decepticon tower looming over the wreckage.
The immediate surprise after what we discussed in the opening last week is that the voice-over comes from Mikaela. Furman had free reign here and chooses to make the female lead of the film the focus rather than Sam. Indeed, she gets the traditional male action film lead emotional journey of having a fridged partner, as she overrides Bumblebee’s insistence that she stay behind (even though it will turn out the plan needs a human) because she wants revenge for Sam’s death.
Furman’s reputation for not being able to write female characters is a millstone he has created for himself due to his terrible handling of Arcee, the female character he has written the most despite hating them. But, as said, his human females tend to be much better and it’s nice he’s realised who the real lead of the film was and has given them a front and centre role.
The immediate surprise after what we discussed in the opening last week is that the voice-over comes from Mikaela. Furman had free reign here and chooses to make the female lead of the film the focus rather than Sam. Indeed, she gets the traditional male action film lead emotional journey of having a fridged partner, as she overrides Bumblebee’s insistence that she stay behind (even though it will turn out the plan needs a human) because she wants revenge for Sam’s death.
Furman’s reputation for not being able to write female characters is a millstone he has created for himself due to his terrible handling of Arcee, the female character he has written the most despite hating them. But, as said, his human females tend to be much better and it’s nice he’s realised who the real lead of the film was and has given them a front and centre role.
Two female Autobots!
And yes, Bumblebee is talking. The film seems to have basically happened the same as we know it up till the last few seconds of the Mission City battle, with Sam failing to destroy the Allspark. And so, because ‘Bee looked fixed at the end of the film, that carries over here as we all sort of assumed it would for the sequels. And as we’ll see later in the issue, this works so much better than the attempts to do his vocal gimmick in a non-verbal medium.
After the bold opening, the rest of the issue cuts between Bumblebee and Mikaela carrying out their infiltration of the Decepticon base to find him and cutaways to two different locations setting up things for the rest of the story.
The first of these sees the very much alive and awake Megatron lording it up in his throne room, delivering exposition about how the Allspark is now ready to turn Earth into a new Cybertron and he’s set to forcibly respond to the remaining free nations’ threat of nuclear retaliation. Which is the first of several areas this story will wind up feeling an influence on All Hail Megatron.
The real notable thing here in retrospect though is that the computer game/toy only character of Dropkick is treated by TFWiki as if they’re the same character as Bumblebee movie Dropkick and no. Just no.
Meanwhile, on the moon (a secret group of hidden Transformers on the moon? There’s an idea that will never catch on), the Autobot resistance of repainted Unicron Trilogy toys are ready to join the fray, but only once they get the OK from Bumblebee as their presence can’t be revealed till he is found. Which makes the fact they’re being watched by Scorponok and their every word is being relayed to the Decepticon base on Earth a problem.
After the bold opening, the rest of the issue cuts between Bumblebee and Mikaela carrying out their infiltration of the Decepticon base to find him and cutaways to two different locations setting up things for the rest of the story.
The first of these sees the very much alive and awake Megatron lording it up in his throne room, delivering exposition about how the Allspark is now ready to turn Earth into a new Cybertron and he’s set to forcibly respond to the remaining free nations’ threat of nuclear retaliation. Which is the first of several areas this story will wind up feeling an influence on All Hail Megatron.
The real notable thing here in retrospect though is that the computer game/toy only character of Dropkick is treated by TFWiki as if they’re the same character as Bumblebee movie Dropkick and no. Just no.
Meanwhile, on the moon (a secret group of hidden Transformers on the moon? There’s an idea that will never catch on), the Autobot resistance of repainted Unicron Trilogy toys are ready to join the fray, but only once they get the OK from Bumblebee as their presence can’t be revealed till he is found. Which makes the fact they’re being watched by Scorponok and their every word is being relayed to the Decepticon base on Earth a problem.
I mean, honestly, That's Dropkick from offa Bumblebee. Really.
Notably though, both Arcee and Elita-One (each a repaint of the same Energon Arcee toy, boy are their designs going to be in flux over the next few months, but here it’s actually Elita who looks more like G1 Arcee) are present, giving us a 100% increase in the number of female Autobots who have featured in a Furman Transformers story to date. And, as noted last week, them being current toys the book is required to promote means there’s none of the usual issues around his writing of Arcee (who, in keeping with her role in the Prequel, is in charge here) and both will be treated in the same just sort of there way as the other repaint toys.
The A-plot is where the action is though, as Bumblebee takes down Swindle (apparently he is only worthy of one guard. What constitutes a drone and what a distinct character is one of those things that will get hard to follow as the Movieverse goes on) whilst Mikaela works some tec nerd stuff on a (human scale, so lucky ‘Bee didn’t talk her out of coming) computer.
Which feels a bit outside her established skill set (I guess Maggie didn’t get to be featured as that character has already been consigned to the dustbin of Transformers human supporting cast), but she’s wearing big green shades and a catsuit like she’s in The Matrix and therefore must be a super hacker.
After beating these defences and making their way into the target area where he is being kept, they find their only hope of defeating Megatron, Optimus Prime...
Frozen in ice! Which is a fantastic dark twisted bit of irony on Megatron’s part that actually makes sense of the decision not to just kill him. Putting Prime through the same cold torture he went through is exactly the sort of thing he’d do.
The A-plot is where the action is though, as Bumblebee takes down Swindle (apparently he is only worthy of one guard. What constitutes a drone and what a distinct character is one of those things that will get hard to follow as the Movieverse goes on) whilst Mikaela works some tec nerd stuff on a (human scale, so lucky ‘Bee didn’t talk her out of coming) computer.
Which feels a bit outside her established skill set (I guess Maggie didn’t get to be featured as that character has already been consigned to the dustbin of Transformers human supporting cast), but she’s wearing big green shades and a catsuit like she’s in The Matrix and therefore must be a super hacker.
After beating these defences and making their way into the target area where he is being kept, they find their only hope of defeating Megatron, Optimus Prime...
Frozen in ice! Which is a fantastic dark twisted bit of irony on Megatron’s part that actually makes sense of the decision not to just kill him. Putting Prime through the same cold torture he went through is exactly the sort of thing he’d do.
Netflix and chill.
This ending (not quite the cliff-hanger as we end on Megatron discovering they’re there and deciding to take care of things himself) is of course hugely indebted to Buster finding Prime just a head at the end of The New Order, but, again, it does just enough different to not feel a rehash.
Art is by Simon Williams, who does an outstanding job, even if he’s not especially happy with his more humanized Megatron (but as I’ve said, all the artists employ different tricks to get around the difficulty of rendering expensive detailed CGI models in pencil). The action is well done and dynamic and everything feels appropriately moody. As with the Prequel it’s clear they don’t have the rights to the likenesses of the actors, but he draws Mikaela in a way that isn’t Megan Fox, but still feels like the character. Almost what she’d look like if there had been a Saturday morning cartoon based on the films.
Special props must also be given to colourist Kris Carter, who slipped in a billboard for Blackrock Industries on the first page. A far more fun gag than the inevitable G1 Prime cab seen amongst the wreckage.
Overall, it’s a slow start that’s very careful in its world building, but that’s understandable considering this is going to be the longest UK story I’ve covered in years. It has the chance to breath and takes full advantage of it. There may be a bit of awkward exposition, but this is otherwise a pretty bold comic that does genuinely feel like the title changing gear and preparing for something special.
Which it will be, this era, despite not being reprinted in America, is the iconic standout of the series. The one that got discussed in Ask Vector Prime and toy homages at Botcon. This is where things get interesting.
Art is by Simon Williams, who does an outstanding job, even if he’s not especially happy with his more humanized Megatron (but as I’ve said, all the artists employ different tricks to get around the difficulty of rendering expensive detailed CGI models in pencil). The action is well done and dynamic and everything feels appropriately moody. As with the Prequel it’s clear they don’t have the rights to the likenesses of the actors, but he draws Mikaela in a way that isn’t Megan Fox, but still feels like the character. Almost what she’d look like if there had been a Saturday morning cartoon based on the films.
Special props must also be given to colourist Kris Carter, who slipped in a billboard for Blackrock Industries on the first page. A far more fun gag than the inevitable G1 Prime cab seen amongst the wreckage.
Overall, it’s a slow start that’s very careful in its world building, but that’s understandable considering this is going to be the longest UK story I’ve covered in years. It has the chance to breath and takes full advantage of it. There may be a bit of awkward exposition, but this is otherwise a pretty bold comic that does genuinely feel like the title changing gear and preparing for something special.
Which it will be, this era, despite not being reprinted in America, is the iconic standout of the series. The one that got discussed in Ask Vector Prime and toy homages at Botcon. This is where things get interesting.
I tell you what, I wish I'd spotted that Shwiggle thing before picking an image to scan.
Which is more than can be said for the backups this month. The plot of part 8 of the Prequel is in theory about a very straight-laced Simmons setting a trap for Bumblebee using a fake Allspark signature, whilst ‘Bee drives about (spotting a VW Beetle ho ho) and the Decepticons arrive on Mars, looking for some violence.
What stands out though is the attempts to avoid paying out money for the use of other people’s intellectual property. First up, Furman and Ryall try to copy the film’s Bumblebee speaking through soundbites idea, but have to slightly change the lyrics of the songs so as not to have to licence them. “And I haven’t found what I’m looking for” for example. Which is mildly annoying.
The best/worst though is Bumblebee doing an online search for “Extraterrestrial sightings” (that somehow brings up Captain Witwicky. So much for the cover up), and uses famous search engine Shwiggle to do it. Which is represented by a photo of the contemporary Google homepage, with a new but similar logo slapped on it and every instance of “Google” changed to “Shwiggle” (“Shwiggle search” “I’m feeling Schwiggly”) in Photoshop. In a different font. It’s amazingly bad. There surely must be a middle ground between being a product placement whore and distracting attempts at non-copyright infringement.
Plus, in the film the idea of Transformers using the internet to do things like sign up to EBay is funny because you don’t see it. On page, it becomes the wrong kind of silly.
What stands out though is the attempts to avoid paying out money for the use of other people’s intellectual property. First up, Furman and Ryall try to copy the film’s Bumblebee speaking through soundbites idea, but have to slightly change the lyrics of the songs so as not to have to licence them. “And I haven’t found what I’m looking for” for example. Which is mildly annoying.
The best/worst though is Bumblebee doing an online search for “Extraterrestrial sightings” (that somehow brings up Captain Witwicky. So much for the cover up), and uses famous search engine Shwiggle to do it. Which is represented by a photo of the contemporary Google homepage, with a new but similar logo slapped on it and every instance of “Google” changed to “Shwiggle” (“Shwiggle search” “I’m feeling Schwiggly”) in Photoshop. In a different font. It’s amazingly bad. There surely must be a middle ground between being a product placement whore and distracting attempts at non-copyright infringement.
Plus, in the film the idea of Transformers using the internet to do things like sign up to EBay is funny because you don’t see it. On page, it becomes the wrong kind of silly.
Look at those arms!
Beast Wars sees Razorbeast try to stop Magmatron taking Megatron back to their own time whilst Ravage leads a team hunting for the Maximals.
The big thing however is the (original end to issue 3) cliff-hanger of Razorbeast needing a distraction as he prepares to take out the time machine, and it being provided by Grimlock.
Not a “Character who happens to have the same name as the G1 character” Grimlock, but actual G1 Grimlock. As shown by him introducing himself with “Me Grimlock”. For some reason one stasis pod aboard the ship not only didn’t have a protoform in it, but he completely retains his sense of self-identity.
And also has really, stupidly buff arms.
This is really where the wheels come off as I don’t think anyone, even people who were keen for every single Beast Wars toy to feature (the Grimlock was a Dinobot repaint, naturally) were hoping for a featured role for him that—even though it’s going to be more an extended cameo, will still see him get more page time than all the TV characters.
The big thing however is the (original end to issue 3) cliff-hanger of Razorbeast needing a distraction as he prepares to take out the time machine, and it being provided by Grimlock.
Not a “Character who happens to have the same name as the G1 character” Grimlock, but actual G1 Grimlock. As shown by him introducing himself with “Me Grimlock”. For some reason one stasis pod aboard the ship not only didn’t have a protoform in it, but he completely retains his sense of self-identity.
And also has really, stupidly buff arms.
This is really where the wheels come off as I don’t think anyone, even people who were keen for every single Beast Wars toy to feature (the Grimlock was a Dinobot repaint, naturally) were hoping for a featured role for him that—even though it’s going to be more an extended cameo, will still see him get more page time than all the TV characters.
The explanation.
The free gift this month is a pack of playing cards stuck in a Transformers pack, and the poster is again different from the poster, missing the graffiti. As there’s a lot of dead space on the poster, the homage to the Marvel cover may have been added to fill it out.
The editorial (Apocalypse Now!) gives a paragraph over to explaining the set up and implying history has been changed, but it’s still fairly brief and gives the reader a lot of credit to put things together themselves.
Character Profile looks at Scorponok and fills out the idea that he pretends to be stupid so as to lure people into a false sense of security.
How to Draw... Starscream shakes up the format by showing you how to draw a comic page of the character transforming in flight. I would say it might be a mistake to introduce this with a character you haven’t been taught how to draw by themselves was a mistake, but as the feature has been useless up till now, it makes very little difference and at least the guide to layouts and composition are more helpful.
The editorial (Apocalypse Now!) gives a paragraph over to explaining the set up and implying history has been changed, but it’s still fairly brief and gives the reader a lot of credit to put things together themselves.
Character Profile looks at Scorponok and fills out the idea that he pretends to be stupid so as to lure people into a false sense of security.
How to Draw... Starscream shakes up the format by showing you how to draw a comic page of the character transforming in flight. I would say it might be a mistake to introduce this with a character you haven’t been taught how to draw by themselves was a mistake, but as the feature has been useless up till now, it makes very little difference and at least the guide to layouts and composition are more helpful.
The innocent days of Trump Towers.
Top Gear is largely devoted to the Top Trumps set and guidebook, with the competition questions for both being based around Lennox, showing a bigger interest in him than the comic has given so far. You can also win the sweatbands given away last issue if you missed it.
Star Screams shows the younger fans can enjoy the older stuff as Thomas Li of Bushey wants to know if the second film will feature the 80’s characters (Starscream assures him the follow up will be a more faithful documentary about how he went on to conquer the Earth after Megatron failed) and 11 year old George Lawlor from Leeds sends in a drawing of G1 Starscream. Which gets the host nostalgic about the good old days of being an F-15, even if he enjoys fighting the F-22 more.
Next week, Starscream gets to show off those fighting skills and things get Animated.
ISSUE 8
2008
COMMENT
KO-FI
Star Screams shows the younger fans can enjoy the older stuff as Thomas Li of Bushey wants to know if the second film will feature the 80’s characters (Starscream assures him the follow up will be a more faithful documentary about how he went on to conquer the Earth after Megatron failed) and 11 year old George Lawlor from Leeds sends in a drawing of G1 Starscream. Which gets the host nostalgic about the good old days of being an F-15, even if he enjoys fighting the F-22 more.
Next week, Starscream gets to show off those fighting skills and things get Animated.
ISSUE 8
2008
COMMENT
KO-FI
