Search This Blog

Thursday 23 April 2020

Sig Pub - Transformers #54

Notes
  • The screenshot comics this month are of the episodes "Starscream's Children" and "Spotted", but the episodes aren't titled in the comic itself, though both are heavily edited to fit the short comic space in the magazine.
  • The free gifts this month are a pot of "Energon Putty", a Megatron action figure, and another packet of the fun fact cards that were completed a few months ago. I think they were supposed to give us the third of the Build-a-Bot set, but it wasn't ready in time or something (I dunno)
Features
Meet Megatron - Do some Megatron themed puzzles etc
Bee Connection! - Lead Bee through a maze to see Cheetor
Decepticon Disguises - Find the odd-Decepticon out
Autobot Roll Out! - Do an Autobot themed wordsearch
Scraplets Spotting! - Find all the Scraplets in a picture!
Alt Mode Match! - Match a character to their alternate mode
Spot the Differences - Play spot the difference.
Memory Challenge!- Memorize the characters on one page, then name them the next page
Ttransformers Post - Witness the pictures drawn by the small Earth children! 
What's Up, Windblade? - Find the missing pieces to a Windblade image, then take a quiz
Competitions - Enter some contests to win some BotBots and Cyberverse figures

IDW - Rom: Dire Wraiths #2

Writer: Chris Ryall
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Editor: David Mariotte

Main Story Title: One Small Step for Dire Wraith-Kind, Part 2 
Main Story Artist: Luca & Andrea Pizzari
Main Story Colourist: Jim Boswell

Side Story Title: One Small Step for a Spaceknight, Part 2
Side Story Artist: Guy Dorian Sr. & Scott Hanna
Side Story Colourist: Ross Campbell
Main Story Plot
The Wraiths on the Moon attack Armstrong and Aldrin, intending to take their bodies to head to Earth, but are stopped when the Adventure Team arrive, Kiev shoots at Axlar, despite being told to not risk them all with weapon's, and the Wraith seems to vanish.
Adventure One docks with the Apollo 11 Command Module, where he congratulates Collins on humanity getting this far, but tells him that it's over, as their journey is beginning now...
Back on the Moon, Armstrong tries to contact Houston, but their signal is still baf, but they do hear him saying that they are under attack, and Sulor attacks the line Human, before he is joined by some of the Adventure Team to fight the alien off by freezing him with and ice cannon.
Nearby, Kiev starts to pass out, after Axlar secretly drilled into her foot, and replaced her. Sulor breaks free of the ice, and destroys Flannery's helmet as revenge for the ice cannon, but also absorbs his essence to use his knowledge to their advantage.
Axlar reveals his identity to the others and bites off Aubreyson's head, instantly killing him too.
Aldrin grabs the historic American flag from the ground and spears it through Sulor, killing the Wraith surprisingly easily.

The second Mystic finds the Adventure Two shuttle, where she taps into it to learn how to pilot it, when she picks up an SOS from the Adventure Team's satellite, where Sandra announces Hanks murder and asks for a reply, or she's going to sound the alarm to Earth.
The Mystic decides to head to the satellite to use it to head to Earth to join the bulk of the invasion.

The last member of the Adventure Team, Dodger, tries to get Armstrong and Aldrin into the lunar lander to return to the Command Module to get back home to safety, whilst he stays to fight Axlar, however the Wraith still plans to possess one of them to go to Earth, as they need to help in rebuilding it to a new homeworld, as the Solar Order do t know anything about their plans here yet, and they're the only ones who can possibly stop their spread.
Axlar bulks out, ready to destroy the astronauts and take over one, whilst the second Mystic approaches the satellite and Collins looks ominously ahead, completely alone in the Command Module....
Side Story Plot
Rom and Bikini arrive on Marn-33, where they find Dhorian's lifeless body and a portal to an unknown-to-them part of space, which they cannot enter.
The two Knights mourn their fallen ally, and wonder whether the armour could possibly live on without the living Knight inside. On cue, Dhorian wakes up, and attacks his allies, revealing that it's a tally a Wraith-Mystic using his corpse as a puppet, who launches herself and the two Knights through to portal, leaving them adrift near a red planet...
Characters
Adventure Team
Dodger/James Brightside
Arsenal/Anatoli Kiev Killed and Replaced by Axlar
Scalpel/Elmo Aubreyson Killed by Axlar
Mixmaster/Martin Flannery Killed by Sulor
Sandra Shore
Hank Armstrong (Mentioned) Killed and Replaced by a Mystic 

NASA 
Neil Armstrong
Buzz Aldrin
Mike Collins Possibly Replaced by a Mystic
Houston Operator (Voice Only)

Dire Wraith
Mystic Aby'ss
Mystic Sky'sm
Axlar
Sulor Killed by Aldrin
Third Mystic (Side Story Only)

Solstar Order
Rom (Side Story and Flashback Only)
Nikomi (Side Story and Flashback Only)
Dhorian (Side Story Only) Dead, Body Possessed by Third Mystic
Orphion (Flashback Only)
Livia (Flashback Only)
Fy-Laa (Flashback Only)
Guar (Flashback Only)
Maur (Flashback Only)
Other Space Knights (Flashback Only)
Notes
  • Sorry for the delay on this again, when I'm not at work I'm busy playing Animal Crossing (maybe I'm not sorry)
  • Due to the current pandemic, comics are being delayed right now, so a lot of the newer releases haven't been shipped here to the UK yet, or are just postponed for a while. Sorry, but that's life right now :/ 
  • I'm still not sure about the identities of some characters because the mages have the same character models, and the NASA astronauts all look very similar. The only way I know Collins is the one in the Orbiter, is because I know Armstrong and Aldrin were the first to walk on the moon from history.
  • So...I'm guessing my hopes for an Inhumanoids comic are dashed now, since most of those characters are dead now!
  • Despite us seeing last issue that the Wraiths actually absorb their victims, and imitate them, rather than possessing their bodies....Kiev appears to just get possessed by Axlor.
  • Sandra is revealed to have been hiding whilst Hank was killed last issue.
  • Due to the Hank-Wraith being a sent from the scene, and Collins looking a bit sinister at the end, we can probably assume that he's been taken by the Wraiths too.
  • Apparently the other Wraith-Mystic can absorb the ability to fly the Adventure Two shuttle from accessing it's systems....okay then....
  • The Wraith possessing Dhorian's body in the side story appears to be the Mystic that he seemed to kill last issue...so what happened to the other soldier Wraith??!!

Thursday 9 April 2020

IDW - Transformers (BNE) #19

Title: Rise of the Deceptions: All Fall Down
Written by: Brian Ruckley
Art by: Anna Malkova
Colours by: Joana LaFuente
Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood
Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz
Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer 

Plot
Windblade finally wakes up from the stasis pod she's been in since she was caught in an explosion, only to discover that the planets gone to crap, and that the Tether has fallen.
Megatron, assuring his fellow Ascenticon Senators that this was a necessary evil to save Cybertron from the Autobots, gives them all orders to "help" with the recovery, but also confines Soundwave to the base, so he cannot be taken by the Autobots.

Soon, the Ascenticon Guard has some major changes, Elita is relieved of her duty and confined to quarters, to allow Skytread to take over her commander role, and several Risers are recruited into the guard.
Skytread and his team are sent out to help in the recovery efforts, and he orders Bee to investigate a damaged building, where the yellow bot is attacked by Treadshot and Catgut, having been deemed a risk to the Ascenticons now. Bee manages to mostly evade the assassins, but is almost killed by them, until Chromia arrives and rescues him, telling him that his mission is done, but the bot is upset, since he didn't accomplish anything from it, and Rubble is still dead, and his killer hadn't been brought to justice...

Elsewhere, Prowl and Nautica are escorting the Voin Asserter through Iacon, trying to placate him, and Orion Pax tries to convince Sentinel Prime to release Pyra Magna from prison, as she is the only one of the Great Generals still available to them, but the Prime refuses, and declares that HE has the Matrix, not Orion, and that after he is gone, Ultra Magnus will take on the Matrix.

Windblade is summoned by Novastar as she had been drafted into a new team of hers to act as recon and rapid response, whilst Hound is leading a similar team of Heavies to go after the Rise.

Elsewhere, Flatline is finalising the repairs to Shockwave, whilst Skystalker tries to explain that he cannot connect with Vigilem again, but they are interrupted by Sixshot, who asks why Mindwipe has headed to Iacon with some troops for resources for his research, much to Shockwave's shock and anger!

Characters
Autobot
Sentinel Prime - Space Shuttle
Orion Pax - Truck
Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport (Mentioned)
Nominus Prime - Jet (Mentioned) Possibly Dead

Security Forces
Chromia - Car
Prowl - Police Vehicle
Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet
Ironhide - Van
Novastar - Car
Smokescreen - Car
Blades - Aerial Vehicle
Sureshot - Car
Springer - Car/Helicopter
Javelin Being Operated on by Ratchet, following a head-shot
Sentinel's Guards
Streetwise - Police Vehicle (Mentioned)
Hound - Jeep (Mentioned)

Ascenticon/The Rise
Megatron - Mining Vehicle
Soundwave - Hovercraft Confined to Ascenticon HQ
Strika - Battle Tank
Jhiaxus - Jet
Ratbat
Shockwave -  Flying Artillery
Sixshot - Tank/Jet/Winged Beast/Gun/Car
Elita-1 - Car Confined to Quarters 
Bumblebee - Winged Hovercraft Left Faction
Skytread - Tank and Jet
Refraktor - Hovercraft
Flatline - Van (Possible Member)
Skystalker - Car
Treadshot
Catgut
Swift - Helicopter
Roadtrap - Van
Battleslash - Helicopter
Crasher - Race Car
Runamuck - Car
Runabout - Car
Acid Storm - Tetrajet
Ion Storm - Tetrajet
Nova Storm - Tetra Jet
Ruckus - Buggy Comatose
Kaskade Comatose
Mindwipe (Mentioned)
Stormcloud - Jet (Mentioned)
Visper - Jet (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian
Nautica - Submarine
Ratchet - Ambulance
Corpse in the Rubble Killed in Tether Collapse
Crowdfillers
Primus (Mentioned)
Pyra Magna (Mentioned) Imprisoned
Wheeljack - Race Car (Mentioned)
Wheeljack's Team (Mentioned)
Dai Atlas (Mentioned) Gone Immersant
Vigilem - Titan Warship (Mentioned) Missing
Alpha Trion (Mural Only)
Solus Prime (Mural Only)
Solomus (Mural Only)
Quintus Prime (Mural Only)
Other Bots in the Murals (Mural Only)
Lodestar - Titan Starship (Mentioned) Crippled by Vigilem
The Other Titans (Mentioned) Unresponsive
The Iron Hope Hundred (Mentioned)
Scraplets (Mentioned)

Other
The Voin Asserter

Notes
  • Due to the Rise members joining the Ascenticon Guard, I see no reason to continue pretending they are separate organizations, like they are in universe
  • This is the first main series issue to only have one person providing the art in a long time!
  • Windblade has finally gotten out of her stasis pod...and is immediately put to work...poor gal
  • We learn that Kaskade and Ruckus were the two Risers to survive the explosion at the Immersant Titan.
  • It's unclear if Ratbat is also a Senator here, like he is in most other continuities pre-war.
  • It's mentioned that Nominus Prime "left us", either meaning that he died, went Immersant, or is somewhere off world. I guess we'll find out in the future though :) 
  • Elita has been relieved of her duties and confined to quarters, and Bee gets effectively relieved of duty when they try to kill him, meaning that all the known traditionally Autobot Ascenticons are out of the group now.
  • It's unclear if Flatline is a Riser, or just making house calls as a dedicated medic, but since Shockwave's return to Cybertron is supposed to be hidden, we can assume it's the former.
  • Vigilem is mentioned to be missing now, but Lodestar is also confirmed to be alive, but crippled

Thursday 2 April 2020

Sig Pub - Transformers #53

 Notes

  • Sorry I'm so late with comic reviews lately, I was in isolation after a family member went to Italy, then we had the lockdown, and on top of that Animal Crossing came out. I'll try to get back on top of things soon :)
  • The screenshot comic this month is for the episode "Parley" 
  • This month's free gifts are an Optimus Prime projectile launcher, and the second of the build a bit kits, this month was Optimus Prime too.

Features
Grimlock: King of the Dinobots! - Grimlock themed puzzles
Colour in Starscream - take a wild guess...
Show Wheeljack the way! - lead Wheeljack through a maze
Reality Check! - Answer some Transformers questions
Spark Armour Quest! - Learn a bit about Spark Armour 
Observation Test! - Play spot the difference!
Prime Count Up! - Count the different Optimuses in a picture
Bumblebee Wordsearch! - Do a word search!
Catch Megatron! - Lead Optimus to Megatron
Transformers Post - scary children have sent in scary pictures again
Shockwave Shadows - Find the correct Shadow to match Shockwave's pose
Finish Cheetor - find the missing pieces to a picture of Cheetor
Competitions - enter some contests to win some Cyberverse figures