Out Wedsneday February 18, 2009.

If you don't find this at your LCS' shelves, don't bug IDW - bug Diamond.

decent issue. big battle brings the team back together, plus the monsterbots are revealed as who grimlock contacted to help. don't quite understand what hot rod did to get away from the two headmasters. and i definitely wasn't a big fan of how quickly swoop changed his attitude. just seemed like too fast of a turnaround

oh, and HIGHLIGHT to view:
SOUNDWAVE!!!!!

oh, and i liked how cover b had an "e" slightly placed over the "o" in fallon

Hot Rod used a type of flame attack; I believe he did something similar while in alt mode at one point in the IDW comics, but I don't have my trades on hand to check.

My shop didn't have either comics , but I didn't expect it because the Midtown Comics list doesn't have them.

But others obviously got it, I'm confused.

Rather disappointed this month. It seems like we just went through this last time, with Slag blaming Grimlock for Spotlight: Shockwave. Now it's Swoop's turn, and it just doesn't feel different enough to justify making it the theme for the issue. Take that out, and 90% of the issue becomes irrelevant.

I did like seeing Shockwave back in action, though, for virtually the first time since IDW began. His utter contempt for Skywatch was palpable, and almost funny. Picking up the Soundwave story arc is interesting, too, and I wonder how much of that will be completed here, and how much will be dealt with later on in the AHM Coda.

i'm betting we'll see soundwave and shockwave teaming up. they'll probably have a hand in knocking down the machination

Scorponok's speech to Hot Rod about the level of his awe was really, really great I thought.

I liked the issue a lot.

I do like how Furman's simultaneously addressing a bit of each Dinobot's personality, and the looming issue of what he did to them (Which has been affecting him since the flashbacks in his Spotlight, and remained in his mind) by having each of them react to his decision to win against Shockwave at any cost. It's very realistic that they'd have their doubts; at the same time, it makes sense that either because of team loyalty or practicality in a bad situation (Or both), that they'd stick together in a crisis. I can see the pattern continuing with Snarl and Sludge; at least, I hope it does.

I'd never really before considered the idea that the Monsterbots and Dinobots could be parallel groups in a way (Rule-bending, beasts), and even in competition. Neat concept.

Nice that he's seeking out Soundwave. Ideally, I'd like to see a Soundwave/Blaster showdown in AHM Coda, by Furman and Santalucia. Perfect place to address that grudge match, which doesn't really need a full issue. Tape vs. tape carnage and so forth. And then someone reacting, "DARN THAT SOUNDWAVE! YAWWWWWWWN". Well, maybe not the last bit.

Sorry, can I ask a favour.

If anyone is a member of the IDW board, could they possibly ask DanielW, or someone else, to email me at catprenzler(at)bigpond.com

My old email has been deleted (thanks Telstra), but when I went to change it in the IDW profile section, it came back with a 'General Error' message.

I now can't log in at all, or access anything.

I think it's an error, and not a banning or anything.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers.

What... uh.... what was the deal with the repeated line, "we still do" towards the end of the issue. Neither use of the phrase actually made any sense as part of the preceding line of dialogue is was supposed to be completing.

The first use does sort of make sense. Grimlock tells them to "show these so-called Monsterbots how it's really done!" and Swoop is observing that, even after everything that he's put them through, the Dynobots still do as Grimlock says (as in, show the Monsterbots how it's done, or in other words, attack the enemy (As they're shown doing in the panel with the "we still do") caption. I can see how he was going for an etymological relationship between "done" and "do". It is roundabout, though.

The second use is just an error, though. And it bugs me, because Hot Rod was supposed to say something else in that panel, and we miss it. Sure, I always buy the trade, so I can hope for a fix, but maybe someone can ask Furman on his blog what the line was supposed to be.

As much as i hate to say this.... the colouring is putting me off this mini.backgrounds and characters are meshing to my eye and the fight scenes are really difficult to read. With colouring nick i have found that you have to be really bold with your seperations.

Hmm, this was an okay issue. The Swoop stuff, while nice to see him get some personality, was a bit repetitive with Slag last issue, and his turnaround seemed too quick. I liked the non-Dinobot stuff (Scorponok and Hot Rod, but most especially Shockwave...making me go back to my first TF comic, Marvel issue #6!). And unfortunately, Furman still doesn't seem to have the ability to do proper dialogue in battle scenes. Just Furmanism after Furmanism...

Art is, like Dogbean said, still messy. I dunno if its inking or coloring or what, but the fight scenes are big blobs of grey puncuated by random spots of red and yellow that look the same regardless of whether they belong to someone in the foreground, background, whatever. Impossible to read.

Overall I felt like this was just setting up the pieces for the interesting stuff next issue with Shockwave, the Monsterbots, etc.

Got the issue yesterday, still haven't had a chance to read it. I had a big IDW week - AHM tpb vol1, Max Dinos 3, GIJOE Origins 1 (I swore I'd pass this one up, but I couldn't resist), and the new Ashley Wood artbook thingie.


And also, my thanks to whoever it was who passed on my message to DanielW.

Doesn't look like I'm banned, it's just that the board may be glitched, and someone has to look into it. :/

One thing I'm definitely noticing here in this series is that Furman is better than McCarthy at moving plot along, and he can keep more balls in the air. Nearly every title Furman has done for IDW has been maneuvering a Plot A and a Plot B at the same time, often even with a Plot C circling 'round only to tie it all in at the end. McCarthy tends to focus on only one of his plots to the exclusion of others, so we get bunches of issues that are nothing but Autobots (in All Hail Megatron of all things!) while the Decepticons tread water. Furman's been tracking Grimlock's plotline, Hot Rod's, and Sunstreaker's simultaneously. Each of them has progressed significantly, and more has happened in three issues of Maximum Dinobots than has happened in seven issues of All Hail Megatron.

Read it, and enjoyed it, but not as much as the first two issues. Feels a bit more like it's bridging the gaps and setting stuff up for the big twists and turns in the last two issues than standing out as it's own thing. It'll read a lot better in the trade where I've not had to wait a month for the next issue though. Still, very enjoyable.

Art was a bit hard to follow again. Really needs more contrast between the different characters and the backgrounds, there’s just too much grey and too many glow effects, it's washing out the details and making one figure blur into the next. Which is a real shame, as I adore Roches artwork, and really wish I could see it well enough to properly appreciate it.

I am really pissed off that AHM has spoiled the ultimate fate of Sunhunter though. He's one of my favourite characters, and I think the very idea of making Sunstreaker a headmaster permanently is brilliant, and a great way to actually give him some character growth.

I was fully expecting Sunhunter to end up destroying Sunstreakers original head to stop the Machination clones, with both of them deciding defeating them is more important than getting back to normal. Now we know Sunstreaker is still just a colossal jerk, which I thinks a massive waste.

It's all well and good having characters giving the odd line every few issues that fit with their old techspecs, but I for one would like to see Transformers being able to grow beyond them, to grow as characters with new experiences and viewpoints, to be able to become something more than a paragraph of dialogue on the back of a toy box from twenty years ago, and I know Sunhunter was supposed to have been exactly that, but has instead been forced into being an eternal, unchanging prat, and I can't see that as anything other than a loss.

Yeah, Lafuente is turning out to be a really Dreamwavey style colorist.

To be fair, Jo is simply aping Josh's Max Dino's 1 & 2 colouring style.

Well it's not so much that I think she's a bad colorist, just that in Dreamwave the colorist's style dominated a bit much over the actual penciler/inker.

Of course I might be spoiled by the fact that we saw, say, what E.J. Su can do when he does all the art start to finish back in Revelation.

I'd have been much, much happier if she'd done them better than he had instead.

It's certainly true that Roche's art, being somewhat more stylized than the others in IDW's stable at this time, benefits a lot from the bold, clean lines he uses. It thus doesn't get served as well under some colorists that are working in a different direction.

Fixed

I liked it. Didn't think Swoop's change of heart was particularly strange. I mean, even if you're mad at a dude, you don't just let him die when you can help.

Gonna miss Roche's art a lot. His Repugnus is the most adorable killer-bug I've ever seen.

^Yep, and he's barely forgiven Grimlock as-is. (Methinks he won't be happy either when he finds out they're destined for the Last Resort as-is) He wouldn't have been a true Autobot or hero (or warrior) if he'd just left him to be slaughtered.

I think the Roche Levels (Heh...Revelation reference, y'see) have been confirmed to be continuing to a certain extent in the rest of the series, but are being supplemented by Raiz. That said...Raiz draws some friggin SCARY Transformers, so I can't wait to see his Scorponok, Grimlock, etc.

I'm really enjoying this series as a concentrated hit of old-school Furmany goodness. The tone is less somber than in Infiltration or Escalation, but it's pulling together a lot of classic Furman plot elements from the UK and US material (Warring in a small town, government interference, wisecracking heroes, evil mastermind overseeing things from afar with a captive audience) that pulled me into his work in the first place. Just appeals to me in a nostalgic sense, while having updated designs and tying into the current storyline.

A series focusing on the Dinobots, anyway? Not gonna be TOO intellectually deep. Nor is it overly ambitious in what it's setting out to accomplish, an aspect of it which I approve of. Revelation (Minor grammatical pet peeve: people calling it "Revelations". It's not like it was the sequel to "Infiltrations" or "Escalations".) was just TOO jam-packed, though he did a good job under the circumstances of having to tie up a lot of loose ends very quickly. Still, I like my pace a little more leisurely.

Just as long as everyone isn't constantly pelvic thrusting ala Armada Megatron in every. single. panel.




People have been doing this for the last 1900 years. It might be too much for them to suddenly get it right.

Enjoyed it. Still, it was definitely less satisfying than the previous two issues, both of which were nail-biters. This one... just had too many things ending well for the heroes to provide that satisfying sense of frustration which comes with a good cliffhanger ending.

Agreement with previous comments about the coloring mucking things up, and the battle scenes being hard to read at times, and the strange "we still do" bubbles.

I really don't like the composition of the Monsterbots' big entry splash panel, either. Grotusque is barely in the frame. It's like a snapshot that wasn't quite framed correctly.

I fully expect to see Hot Rod in his AHM body before the series is done.

My LCS got it last week, and they sold out by Thursday, the day I got to go.

They never sell out of TF comics, so I was very surprised that the one week I don't go on Wednesday they're out. (sigh)

They said they were ordering more, but it took me a long time to get the Optimus spotlight.

Nice issue. Dialogue's still a bit bland and awkward (especially the Dinobots), but that's what I've come to expect from Furman really (I liked how he handled the Monsterbots though).

Story's good, art's nice.

Looking forward to the next issue.

Finally got to read this today. Not a bad issue.

Now, here's hoping the next issue comes soon!

And Lo, The Messiah Descended From Heaven Like A Vast Predatory Bird.
And The Lord Said: What do you humans think you're playing at?! This is over, FINISHED!

I think some of Raiz's problem was having to draw in the Dreamwave "House Style," since his realistic humans looked really nice to my eyes in his recent Death's Head work with Furman, and his Tranformers appeared to be less restricted by "Pat Lee's idea of what anime is after he rented a couple tapes" when he did some IDW covers.