More than Meets the Eye Ongoing #2, Out 02/15/12 Options

[Bass X0]

Another good issue. It's really refreshing to have a comic (not just a Transformers comic) full of dialogue on every page. Costa was terrible with decompression, but I got this the same week as Uncanny X-Men, and there was a noticeable lack of dialogue there too. Really nice.

If I had to find a negative, I'd say that the story definitely seemed dialed down after how much of a (literal) bang the last issue ended with. Everyone gets recovered easily and the ship is on its way in 22 pages, no Quintessa or Junk-style stop here. The only losses appear to be two generics never mentioned before. Sure, it's only issue #2, so probably not the best time to start a crisis yet, but this really is still another introductory issue, giving more introduction for guys like Cyclonus, Whirl, Tailgate and Skids.

Here's my attempt to identify all the guys in Rodimus' crew from the big page spread:

1st row: Cyclonus, Blaster, Mainframe, Inferno, Grapple?, Cosmos, Smokescreen?,
2nd row: Hound?, Sunstreaker, Gears, Ratchet, Huffer, Brawn, Springer-colored guy, Powerglide
3rd row: Rung, Skids, Chromedome, Rewind, Tailgate, Swerve, Pointblank?, Jhiaxus-colored guy
4th row: Trailbreaker, Drift, Rodimus, Ultra Magnus

Ultra Magnus is carrying Pipes, Sureshot and Rollout on his body in truck form on the first page. And that's probably Hoist pulling Cyclonus up.

I'm not sure if Hoist would be flattered or insulted at everybody calling him the "springer-colored guy" xD

Here's little a rundown of who's who [going in a backwards "S" kind of fashion, starting from the upper left]

Cyclonus, Blaster, Mainframe, Inferno, Grapple, Cosmos, Smokescreen, Powerglide, Hoist, Brawn, Huffer, Ratchet, Gears, Sunstreaker, Hound, Rung, Skids, Chromedome, Rewind, Tailgate, Swerve, Pointblank, random bot, Magnus, Rodimus, Drift, Trailbreaker

So yeah, you guys are pretty dead on!

You remember Bluster in Stormbringer don't you? The rule is if a character appears in the background and doesn't do anything, then it may not really be who we think it is.

[God Fire Convoy]

Different scenario really

Bluster was the artist just inserting a random char in the bkg, in mtmte every character is on purpose (specifically asked for in the script, in this case) so hopefully no more fudge ups

James is very particular about this kinda stuff (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-waspy.gif)

[Rosicrucian]

It's kind of funny. James puts everyone in on purpose, Milne is notorious for dicking around with easter egg cameos. How that gets reconciled will be interesting.

[Magnus]

Oh my God, this is the best series. I cant get over how great it is. Where have you been all my life?

[BB Shockwave]

Different scenario really

Bluster was the artist just inserting a random char in the bkg, in mtmte every character is on purpose (specifically asked for in the script, in this case) so hopefully no more fudge ups

James is very particular about this kinda stuff (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-waspy.gif)

And indeed, we even learned the name of that new character (Animus). And now Pipes has got a speaking role too (first time since "Underworld")

This post has been edited by BB Shockwave: Apr 23 2012, 04:31 AM

[ZacWilliam1]

Finally have a name for the "1984" bots! The concept art sketch of their design in the MTMTE tpb is up as one of the Preview Pages on Amazon.com.

Apparently they are "Legislators." Soooo... Given what we learn about the Autobot code in the latest issue... That might be kinda meaningful...


-ZacWilliam, of course it could also tie into another TF race that tends to function on a "court" system and has their name start with a Q, but more likely it's related to the Code, I'd guess...

This post has been edited by ZacWilliam1: Jun 12 2012, 09:34 PM

[Primer Prime]

Are the bonus materials shown on amazon ALL of the book's bonus material? I'm just curious. I plan on eventually buying Volume 1 eventually either way, but I prefer to wait until there's something else I want so that I can get free shipping on my amazon order.

[Jackpot]

Apparently they are "Legislators." Soooo... Given what we learn about the Autobot code in the latest issue... That might be kinda meaningful...


-ZacWilliam, of course it could also tie into another TF race that tends to function on a "court" system and has their name start with a Q, but more likely it's related to the Code, I'd guess...

Huh. Not a name I would've expected. I'm kind of partial to the Quint possibility, but it's such an odd descriptor no matter who's behind them. Legislators MAKE laws, and these guys seem more like enforcers than anything. Though I'd love to see the kind of bills they would draft (another "H.R. 1984"?!).

Looking at the other preview pages, the behind-the-scenes writeup has some interesting stuff in it. I'd always thought that Skids crashing on this random planet right after the Lost Light arrived was quite a coincidence, and indeed the original plan made more sense: Skids was going to land on Cybertron in issue #1. I wonder if Roberts will adjust Skids's backstory to account for the new circumstances.