Out Wednesday, December 29, 2010. *sigh*

The shipping list shows the incentive cover coming out this week, and the normal version (the one most people would actually be able to get) is coming out next week. No idea why.

For whatever reason it's pushed to the 29th, here's the preview for those that haven't picked it up yet.

Man, those humans on the "special squad" look incredibly ugly. Some look even alien, like the HUGE guy or the small guy with the bulbous head.

The walking tank on the cover looks interesting. Though, I am surprised about the timelines... wasn't the Bonnie and Clyde story after WWII?

Bonnie and Clyde died in 1934. The movie was from 1967, though.

Got this, read it. Not bad, and I doubt anyone will complain about evil Nazis.

Folks may complain about incorrect German, though. I got a chuckle at "Exterminieren", however, but that's the Doctor Who fan in me. Now if only that word would get used against Nazis by mechanical-looking critters from space, rather than by Nazi warmachines or against regular Germans. Anyway, I don't suppose any of the German-speaking fans can translate?

One issue to go. Now here's hoping it comes out when we're told it comes out, and that Foundation comes with it.

I can, once I have read the comic.

Töten Sie mich: Kill me.
Du musst hier raus: Get out of here.
Raus hier!: Get out!
Da... eines der ungeheuer keht zuruck: There... one of those giant (...) is returning.
Wo sind die anderen?: Where are the others?
Hat es... gerade gesprochen: Did it just... speak?
Irgendwas stimmt hier nicht. Alamier den Kommondanten. : Something's not right here. Warn the commanders (I think. I suspect they mean "Kommandeure")
Was zum Teufel?: What the Devil?
Vorsicht: Be careful!
Erwiedert das Feuer!: Fire back!
Aktiviert den Panzergiganten!: Activate the tank/armored giants!
Aktivieren!: Activate!
Halt! Du da - ergib dich im Namen des Fuhrers!: Halt! You over there - surrender in name of the Fuhrer!

The German's a bit clunky and faulty at places, but I think the translation is near enough to give you a general idea.

Excellent. Thanks!

Geez, I read it... what a clutterfest. You know your comic sucks if you have to add an extra full page at the end, explaining the whys and wherefores.

Why bother introducing all those commandos if you're gonna kill them all off after like, 4 pages?

Also, there is no way in hell that Hitler, a HUGE Wagner fan himself, would have allowed military research to happen in castle Neuschwannstein, which was practically built as a shrine to Wagner operas by the quite-obsessed king of Bayern. Not to mention, the castle stands undamaged to this day.

And sorry to state this, but I am a bit bored by the fact that it is always Jetfire popping up everywhere. It wouldn't hurt to give the other seekers some screentime too, like Nefarious did in the last issues. We know they have been active around these time periods, as evidenced by Simmons' photos in ROTF. I was also a bit miffled before I realized Jetfire is playing back the conversation he had with the Fallen in Tales of the Fallen, the whole scene seemed like radio communication happening right now.

Not really, no. I love those pages. They explain behind the scenes things and forge links between what's happening in the comic and material from the film, novels and other comics, highlighting and correcting disconnects that it wouldn't be possible to dedicate the comic itself over to doing. A character from 1913 can't stop to highlight and correct a continuity error that won't have happened until 2007. I think the notes pages are great, and they've really highlighted for me how much work Barber has put into researching and understanding all the different corners of movie fiction. It's very quickly given me a high opinion of him, and makes me look forward to seeing what he's going to do with the DOTM stuff coming up.



Because Sector Seven does things in seven. Also, horrors of war. Not everyone comes back. Dirty Dozen, y'know? It's further a credit to the writer that he's able to quickly establish simple, identifiable personalities for a good number of the characters in a short space of time (something he's been doing quite well all through the mini, and particularly with the First Seven). Of course, it's the characters who don't get any face-time who get the quick, ignominious off-panel deaths (Garcia, Horwitz, Newcombe), where Corliss gets a whole scene on the plane, and then gets a grisly black comedy moment to reveal his death.



But the Nazis DID use the castle to store all the stuff they stole from France, so they had a presence there. And this is fiction. Bonnie and Clyde also didn't die when this series said they did, and Surface-to-air-recovery wasn't in use for a decade after it's mentioned in this issue. It's a story about a secret government organization! They cover things up, they rebuild things to hide what they did, they have stuff others don't.



Yeah, but Jetfire's continued presence is going to tie back into those mysterious caves, which he spend the decade between #1 and #2 crawling around in. The Nazis have their layout from his memory, and they're obviously going to factor into the final issue somehow. Jetfire's key to this. There's a distinct plot thread tying his appearances together that wouldn't be there if it was a bunch of random Seekers turning up.

THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!

(Also, woo, Ghosts of Yesterday still in-continuity!)

I liked the issue pretty well, and I also like the end comments. It's a far cry better than the Ongoing's confused and forgetful continuity.

I have to wonder how Jetfire got captured, a little note about that would have been nice. I didn't care about the teammates, as they were obvious fodder. No real need to waste time introducing them all though. It didn't give their deaths much more impact.

I remain eager to see where the tunnels plot is going.