THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS 28-10-08
October 28th 2008 07:53
This week it's something of a Hasbro-fest, as I review All Hail Megatron #4 and the preview issue for IDW's G.I. Joe relaunch.
TRANSFORMERS: ALL HAIL MEGATRON #4
I was a little bit down on this series when I reviewed the first three issues just a few weeks ago. I found the whole thing a bit repetitive, with endless scenes of Decepticons smashing up Earth. And with a distinct lack of Autobots, we were left with humans to carry the side of our protagonists, and I've never liked reading about humans in the Transformers universe.
So All Hail Megatron #4 came as a welcome relief for me. This time it's the Decepticons, who have basically totalled New York, taking a break as we take a look at what the Autobots are up to. And as could be expected from the series title, things for them are pretty grim - they've been reduced to a remnant of their former strength, fighting for survival on the ravaged surface of Cybertron and trying their best to keep Optimus Prime from dying.
And suddenly it's not boring any more! I love the Decepticons, but here's the thing about them - most of them are goons without much personality. It's hard too write an ensemble cast featuring Skywarp, Thundercracker and Soundwave, because two are basically interchangeable and the third barely speaks. What it usually boils down to is endless retreads of Megatron and Starscream, which has been done countless times before. But the Autobots are different, at least so far as the original bunch goes. A lot of care was taken when they were conceived to create a group with a lot of different personalities that play off each other. So suddenly we have Prowl and Jazz debating leadership and direction, Ironhide accusing Mirage of betraying the Autobot cause, Cliffjumper eagerly awaiting any chance he can get for a bit of action. The characters just lend themselves to this sort of thing better, and the comic is five times better for it.
The art seems to have improved a lot as well, taking the style of the animated series and dirtying it up a bit. It probably helps that there are no humans around, as TF artists are generally very bad when they're not drawing robots.
So I've done something of a 180 on this series, as it's improved a hell of a lot in just one month. It's still somewhat directionless, but the characters are sparking a bit more.
G.I. JOE #0
The G.I. Joe license, previously held by Devil's Due, is now in the hands of IDW, the same guys who've been doing Transformers for the last couple of years. I'd enjoyed parts of the Devil's Due stuff, disliked other parts, and just generally felt that it failed to recapture whatever it was that made the old Marvel series so great. Now IDW have it, they've hit the reset button with a total relaunch. Thier plan is to have three titles: G.I. Joe, which is the place to go for straight up action stories; Origins, which explores how the team was put together; and Cobra, which has a focus on the evil characters. So naturally, this being a preview, we get a short leading into each title.
The short for G.I. Joe is by Chuck Dixon, and it's adequate yet unexciting in the way that all Chuck Dixon comics are. You know what you're getting here - a competent action story without much else going on. Some Joes go on a mission, and at the end they capture a guy who whispers one word at them before he dies - Cobra. Which seems a bit pointless to me - you do scenes like that to foreshadow stuff, or build suspense. But it's a G.I. Joe comic, and we already know they'll be fighting Cobra, we know who Cobra are, and we know what they do. Still, it's ok I guess.
The trailer for Cobra, by Christos Gage is similarly adequate, but it shows a little more promise. The set-up for this series is that undercover agent Chuckles is infiltrating the Cobra organisation, so we'll be getting a good look at their inner workings while also having a character to root for.
The gem of the issue is the trailer for Origins, and it's easy to see why - franchise creator and scribe of the Marvel series Larry Hama wrote it, and he knows the characters better than anybody. It tells the story of Duke's recruitment, and it's a nice little story with enough moral ambiguity so you can't quite tell if Joe leader Hawk is on the level or not. It's an intriguing set-up from tyhe get-go, and I'm happy to see that Hamam still has the chops.
So the new Joe line looks mildly intriguing, but it doesn;t look to be doing anything too radical to the franchise. You probably already know if you'll like it or not - but if you haven't tried Joe comics before and you like military stuff, give it a shot.
TRANSFORMERS: ALL HAIL MEGATRON #4
I was a little bit down on this series when I reviewed the first three issues just a few weeks ago. I found the whole thing a bit repetitive, with endless scenes of Decepticons smashing up Earth. And with a distinct lack of Autobots, we were left with humans to carry the side of our protagonists, and I've never liked reading about humans in the Transformers universe.
So All Hail Megatron #4 came as a welcome relief for me. This time it's the Decepticons, who have basically totalled New York, taking a break as we take a look at what the Autobots are up to. And as could be expected from the series title, things for them are pretty grim - they've been reduced to a remnant of their former strength, fighting for survival on the ravaged surface of Cybertron and trying their best to keep Optimus Prime from dying.
And suddenly it's not boring any more! I love the Decepticons, but here's the thing about them - most of them are goons without much personality. It's hard too write an ensemble cast featuring Skywarp, Thundercracker and Soundwave, because two are basically interchangeable and the third barely speaks. What it usually boils down to is endless retreads of Megatron and Starscream, which has been done countless times before. But the Autobots are different, at least so far as the original bunch goes. A lot of care was taken when they were conceived to create a group with a lot of different personalities that play off each other. So suddenly we have Prowl and Jazz debating leadership and direction, Ironhide accusing Mirage of betraying the Autobot cause, Cliffjumper eagerly awaiting any chance he can get for a bit of action. The characters just lend themselves to this sort of thing better, and the comic is five times better for it.
The art seems to have improved a lot as well, taking the style of the animated series and dirtying it up a bit. It probably helps that there are no humans around, as TF artists are generally very bad when they're not drawing robots.
So I've done something of a 180 on this series, as it's improved a hell of a lot in just one month. It's still somewhat directionless, but the characters are sparking a bit more.
G.I. JOE #0
The G.I. Joe license, previously held by Devil's Due, is now in the hands of IDW, the same guys who've been doing Transformers for the last couple of years. I'd enjoyed parts of the Devil's Due stuff, disliked other parts, and just generally felt that it failed to recapture whatever it was that made the old Marvel series so great. Now IDW have it, they've hit the reset button with a total relaunch. Thier plan is to have three titles: G.I. Joe, which is the place to go for straight up action stories; Origins, which explores how the team was put together; and Cobra, which has a focus on the evil characters. So naturally, this being a preview, we get a short leading into each title.
The short for G.I. Joe is by Chuck Dixon, and it's adequate yet unexciting in the way that all Chuck Dixon comics are. You know what you're getting here - a competent action story without much else going on. Some Joes go on a mission, and at the end they capture a guy who whispers one word at them before he dies - Cobra. Which seems a bit pointless to me - you do scenes like that to foreshadow stuff, or build suspense. But it's a G.I. Joe comic, and we already know they'll be fighting Cobra, we know who Cobra are, and we know what they do. Still, it's ok I guess.
The trailer for Cobra, by Christos Gage is similarly adequate, but it shows a little more promise. The set-up for this series is that undercover agent Chuckles is infiltrating the Cobra organisation, so we'll be getting a good look at their inner workings while also having a character to root for.
The gem of the issue is the trailer for Origins, and it's easy to see why - franchise creator and scribe of the Marvel series Larry Hama wrote it, and he knows the characters better than anybody. It tells the story of Duke's recruitment, and it's a nice little story with enough moral ambiguity so you can't quite tell if Joe leader Hawk is on the level or not. It's an intriguing set-up from tyhe get-go, and I'm happy to see that Hamam still has the chops.
So the new Joe line looks mildly intriguing, but it doesn;t look to be doing anything too radical to the franchise. You probably already know if you'll like it or not - but if you haven't tried Joe comics before and you like military stuff, give it a shot.
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