The Ark Addendum - Razorclaw's Transformation

Happy Tuesday!  In addition to our weekly celebration of Mars, that means that we're ready for another installment of The Ark Addendum.  This time, I figured that in honor of the Ron Friedman auctions (and if you haven't contributed to the charity/auction drive, what are you waiting for?) I'd go back to some American G1 classic models.  Yup, no Masterforce or Headmasters today, no siree.

In fact, I figured I'd do up the full Transformation sequence for none other than the Predacons, my favorite combiner team.  I know, blasphemy, right?  Everyone knows it's supposed to be Devastator.  I just love how sturdy the toys are for these guys, and I rather like the idea of five sleek and deadly Decepticon jungle warriors.  This week it's Razorclaw, team leader extraordinaire.

Review: War of the Worlds, the series ep 35

Pied Piper is the thirty-fifth episode of War of the Worlds, the series, and features the first Morthren born on Earth.  You'll remember him, he was born to a kindly old lady back in Breeding Ground.  They're calling him Adam now.  Adam isn't getting his human emotional needs met, and so Malzor sends him to the Creche, a human institution for genetically engineered test-tube babies that masquerades as an ordinary school for the gifted.  Thus, Adam will get what he needs while helping out the Morthren cause, reporting back human progress on improving itself.  Suzanne is called in to help reach the distant Adam, as she is a friend of the director of the Creche.  What she sees concerns her, even before Adam starts to rack up a body count. When she returns with her posse to bust Adam out, she finds out what he is and thwarts his mission to steal the children.  She does allow him to return to Malzor with all the Creche's records on genetic experimentation, though.

The Good: There are some nice character moments.  The Julie's dreaming about flying felt like a very real response to the oppressiveness of her environment.  Martin's dream of the loss of his son had a human violence to it that was nice, especially when he shouted "Don't you ever threaten me, bitch!" to his wife.

I liked the idea of Adam's perception powers.  He can manifest visions of Mana to communicate with, share his dreams with his fellow students, or turn them against his captors. 


Suzanne has now made peaceful contact with an alien, as Harrison, Kincaid, and Debi have done before.  It's interesting to me that, of all of them, she's last.  Somehow she seems the most open-minded about this sort of thing.

The Creche is a terrifically dull place in most respects.  I like that way the imaginarium is done up, though.  It seems a bit ahead of its time.  I also like the conceit that there's one room for scheduled imagining, and the rest of the time bleakness reigns.


I like the continuity with Adam.  Also, him manifesting as Patrick, Martin's dead son, is appropriately creepy.

The Bad: Coincidence.  Suzanne just so happens to be the godmother to a child killed by the director of the Creche?  Boo! It's another symptom of the limitations of the format of S2.

The debate between  Martin and Suzanne seemed stilted.  It's as if the producers wanted to slam genetic engineering but didn't have a good idea about how to do so.

The whole episode has a bit of a Village of the Damned feel to it that I can't shake.  Maybe it's just the subject matter, but it seems a smidge derivative to me.

The Ugly: There is a complete paucity of gore in this episode.  No funky alien tech, and even the human bodies have no marks on them as a result of the mechanism of Adam's assault.  I'm forced to fall back to Martin's death by jumping from a window.

Another fairly standard S2 episode.  A bad coincidence to get us in the door, some attempts to explore social themes, a bit of action.  The aims are more ambitious than the execution, but that's not such a bad sin.   War of the Worlds: The Final Season, is available  for purchase on DVD.   (In fact, this is the first review where I've been able to watch it in high quality, as opposed to crummy YouTube videos.  I hope you appreciate the difference in screen grab quality.)

Review: Marvel G1 #74: The Void!

The Void! is the seventy-fourth issue of the US G1 Marvel Comics run of Transformers.  For the fifth issue in a row, it is brought to us by Furman (script), Wildman (pencils), Baskerville (inks), Yomtov (colors), and Parker (letters).  Editor and editor-in-chief Rob Tokar and Tom DeFalco are credited as 'nobody' and 'nothing,' respectively.  The cover is by Wildman and Baskerville.

The cover features Optimus Prime and Scorponok, side-by-side gainst the hordes of Unicron.  It says so itself!  Still sporting the damages they've sustained from issues 70-73, they face off against a swarm of robots wearing Unicron masks.  The alliance is intact, it would seem.  For some reason this cover fails to excite me.  I feel like it should, it's well rendered and the idea of the alliance facing off against minions of Unicron feels right and natural.  I can't put my finger on my issue with it.  Perhaps it's just not as brilliant as the rest of the book, or perhaps it's the odd white background.  Maybe it's that the cover fails to surprise; it is rather expected, in a way.

The book itself opens in a rather unexpected way.  We get a full page of almost nothing, with Unicron curled up in the center.  The title of the book is incorporated into the narrative, which I always like.  We then cut to a two-page spread of the Primus-possessed-Xaaron going over the Transformers' creation myth, which leads into a two-page spread of the assembled Transformers, complete with logo.  It's really very well done.  It's been a while, well over a year, since we were introduced to the idea of Primus and Unicron, so it's nice to see it reviewed here right in time for the big finale.  What a motley crew populates the book!

After Primus names Optimus Prime the his champion, we cut to Grimlock on board the Ark.  Some seeds are planted for the future (Snarl detects only one Cybertronian life form on Earth, and that one's in two parts... fascinating!), Grimlock's hand locks up again, and the Dinobots pump Nucleon into the life support bays without stopping to see who they're reviving.  No harm could possibly come of that, now, could it? I love how dense these two pages are.  Grimlock's motivation, to prove to Prime that he was right and Prime was wrong, continues to be compelling.  It seems to me that it stems, at least in part, from Grimlock's time as leader.  How frustrating it must be for him to have his reign end in failure, to have to turn the reins back to his predecessor.  He's so proud; surely on some level he wants the Autobots to say that they choose him, not Optimus.  These themes will be explored more in upcoming issues, but they certainly make for compelling reading.

On Cybertron, Blackrock begs Prime to have Primus send them back to Earth.  Circuit Breaker isn't doing too well on a planet full of robots.  Primus, though, is shut down, filling Optimus with misgivings.  Scorponok, too, is worried about the future.  After Starscream and Shockwave threaten him, he asks Prime to walk with him to strategize.  Instead, though, he confesses his fear to his sworn enemy.  He, a man, just doesn't want to die.  Perhaps that's one of the reasons that Zarak bonded with Scorpnok; it must offer a sort of immortality.  Optimus, having experienced death, is in no hurry to die either.  It makes him feel selfish, but he resolves to face death with nobility and resolve, should he have no other choice.  Scorponok is touched by his example, but his resolution to fight together is interrupted by Unicron cultists.  They're hunting Optimus, though, and not him.  He has a moment of weakness, when he contemplates leaving Optimus to his fate, but ultimately leaps (quite literally) into battle.  It's a lovely panel, no?  It's also great character development on his part.  Scorponok is coming a long way.  We also get a nice Galvatron moment, when he interrupts a cultist about to ambush Optimus and feeds him his own grenade.  Bad-ass!  He summons some help, and then makes himself scarce.

We get one more interlude, seeing Thunderwing fully repaired and the dark Matrix make its way to Cybertron for revenge, before cutting back to the Autobot and Decepticon reinforcements who have arrived to save the day.  Side by side, they battle the Unicron minions.  Scorponok is stopped from killing the last one by Optimus.  They are, after all, beings possessed.  Primus hails the wisdom of Optimus, and informs the assembled Transformers that this was his plan all along, to flush out those Cybertronians corrupted by Unicron's will.  Naming Optimus leader was a ploy.  Optimus' misgivings increase, but before he can do anything about them he collapses in pain again, begging his 'friend' to fight it.  Hi-Q?  Once again, Furman's use of the lore of Transformers past creates compelling layers of story.  How easy it would have been to forget about Optimus' Nebulon companion, but instead he becomes an important plot point.

The book ends on a bang.  Kup, looking up in the face of a shadow, asks Primus to confirm that the god is aware of everything Unicron does.  When Primus does so, Kup asks him how he could possibly have missed THAT, pointing to the looming form of Unicron about to destroy them all!  It's a lovely piece, one of my all-time favorite Unicron images ever.  The glint on Unicron's long nail, the starscape, the look on his eyes, the landscape that is Cybertron.  It's just gorgeous.  So gorgeous, in fact, that Wildman signed it, which he hardly ever did for an interior page. 

Another terrific installment in the Transformers saga, this was.  The plot continues to build, as all threads converge on Cybertron.  Even as this goes on, Furman is laying the foundation for the next story, the life after Unicron plotline.  It's such an absolute joy to read these issues, to appreciate the deftness with which Furman weaves together disparate elements from both his own run and Budiansky's.  Issue #75 feels absolutely perfectly set up.  I can't wait to read it again.

The only hint we get for next month is the 'to be continued...' at the end of the last page.  I don't think any more needed to be said about what we're going to see next issue.  The Void! caps off IDW Publishing's Classic Transformers, Vol. 5, available for purchase at Amazon.com.

The Ark Addendum - Cab's Transform

Huzzah!  War of the Worlds, season two has arrived on DVD, so I can get back to my weekly reviews.  Exciting!  And since we're on the topic of weekly content, it's time for another Ark Addendum.  This week, I present to you (dramatic drumroll here) Cab's Transformation.

Confession time.  I never liked Cab.  I dunno why, he just never sang to me.  His design, at least, is kind of cool as a human I suppose, what with the animals and the spears and whatnot.  But as a robot, he seems a bit too lanky for my taste.  Even his action shot at the end of the transform seems lackluster to me.  Shuta and Minerva were much more relatable to me than the Prince of Kairn.  Don't even get me started on how much cooler most of the Destrons were than this fellow.  Ah, well, to each his own.  Anyone out there love Cab and want to tell me why I'm crazy?  I'd love to hear from you.

War of the Worlds DVDs

If I may shill for Amazon for a moment, there won't be any War of the Worlds review today because the DVDs got lost in transit.  My office has a horrible postman; packages go missing or get delivered to the wrong office.  FedEx and UPS have no issues delivering here, but the post office can't seem to get it right.  Nevertheless, when I contacted Amazon about it they were very reasonable and are sending me another copy two-day express.  Hopefully next week I'll have a review queued up and ready to go. All they asked was that I give the item a week past the 'delivered by' date, which seemed very reasonable to me.  The moral of the story is, Amazon customer service is top notch. (The other moral of the story is that the West Hollywood postal service is lacking.)

Review: Marvel G1 #73: Out of Time!

The seventy-third issue of the US G1 Marvel Comics run of Transformers is titled Out of Time!  For the fourth issue in a row, the creative lineup is unchanged, contributing to the strength and momentum of the story.  For those keeping score, that makes this a Furman (writer) / Wildman (penciler) / Baskerville (inker) / Yomtov (colorist) / Parker (letter) production.  The cover, too, is an Andy Wildman.

The cover is rather intriguing.  Optimus Prime, Scorponok and Shockwave appear to be in the process of vanishing, as they stand before the Neo-Knights.  LESS than Meets the Eye is written above the logo, which is itself transparent.  "The Vanishing!" is written.  All of the lines drew your eye inevitably to Optimus Prime, front and center, making it a very effective piece.   The coloring, too, is very effective, with the Neo-Knights popping much more than they would otherwise.  The sum of all these parts is a very strong cover.  If there's a criticism to be had, it's that perhaps it gives away too much, but then the idea of a 'vanishing' is so abruptly different than anything that we've been building to that this serves to pique rather than to spoil. 

Once again, the issue manages to live up to the promise of the cover.  We open on a beautiful close-up of Galvatron, barking orders against some lovely Furman prose. I'm just a bit surprised that they put the logo on this page, rather than the next as a part of the narration, though this way works fine too.  It seems that Xaaron and Galvatron have made the journey to Primus' slumbering form, where Xaaron prays and Galvatron rages.  Galvatron worries that Hook, Line, and Sinker will be coming for him soon, and he's right to be concerned.  Unicron is closing in on Cybertron, having ignored the planet Jhi in a fun vignette, and dispatches his minions to find Galvatron and thwart whatever treachery he might be planning.  They stop menacing the Autobot Targetmasters and plunge into Cybertron's core to find their prey...

The opening sequence works well, picking up where the Galvatron/Xaaron plot left off while delaying the expected confrontation between the Neo Knights and the Transformers by just a few more pages.  Galvatron's frustration and mad lashings out are well done, especially him pacing about and smashing the wall.  Meanwhile, Xaaron is beautifully desperate in his supplication.  Meanwhile, Unicron's ambition and greed resulting in him sparing a world was a nice bit of cosmic irony.  By the time we cut back to the main action, all we want is to see Galvatron fight the trio of minions.  The tension continues to build.  Bravo, Furman, bravo.

Following a one-page summary of recent events on Earth, we get to see some superhero action as Thunderpunch and Dynamo (Hector Dialonzo), Rapture and Circuit-Breaker, square off against Scorponok.  Optimus realizes that he might have to defend Scorponok from these humans as Shockwave realizes that Circuit-Breaker poses a threat to him and resolves to kill her after she cripples Scorponok. When he shoots her, naturally Nightbeat takes the blame, and things go from bad to worse.  Across the river, Mindwipe manages to hypnotize Soundwave, Scorponok's second in command. He sees victory for his rebel Decepticons for a fleeting instant, before the Autobots put their guns to his head.  They're going to salvage the alliance any way they can.  They'd best hurry, though, as Nightbeat is down and Optimus is rapidly weakening under the ministrations of Circuit-Breaker.  Blackrock begs her to stop, then commands the others to stop her.  Thunderpunch won't side with robots against a human, though, even if they are Autobots.  All seems darkest until Shockwave converts to his space gun mode to destroy Scorponok.  Blackrock instantly recognizes it as the form that crippled Josie way back in issue #6.  He shouts for her to look, and she does.Her reaction is beautiful, and the shot of her unleashing on Shockwave, sixty-seven issues in coming, is priceless.  The coloring, inking, lettering, pencilling... everything just works so well.  Spent, Circuit Breaker plummets to Earth, but Thunderpunch jumps up to catch her.  Contrasting this is Shockwave's fall, a fall which Scorponok watches with grim satisfaction.  He turns back to the humans, but Optimus challenges both sides to stop.  The civil war is over, and the alliance is in tact.  Perhaps things are looking up for our heroes?

On Cybertron, though, things seem dark.  Hook, Line, and Sinker have arrived.  Galvatron is tired of cowering, and squares off against his opponents with savage fury.  He skillfully disarms Line, then dispatches him using Sinker's own weapons.  Sinker, too, he blasts apart, though Hook gets the drop on him.  Before Galvatron can be destroyed, though, Primus has awakened!  Using the body of Emirate Xaaron as an avatar, the god effortlessly destroys the dark creation tainting his presence.  Galvatron pours on the charm, beseaching Primus to bring the scattered children of Cybertron home.  Looking at the Decepticon symbol adorning his supplicant, Primus agrees, leaving a smirking Galvatron to muse that even Gods can be conned.  No doubt he's got some experience in that department.  On Earth, we finally find out what the cover is all about as robot after robot vanishes, summoned home by their creator.  Nightbeat's damaged form is in contact with the helicopter of the Neo Knights, and so they too are teleported away.

We seem to be rapidly approaching the endgame, with the Earth plotlines resolved and the Cybertron plotline about to blossom.  There's one more page, though, and Furman uses it to pull in yet another unresolved thread from the past.  The Creation Matrix has come back online, thirsting for revenge.  It hovers over the mangled form of Thunderwing, and we realize that that tale is not yet fully told.  When I first read it I turned the page, expecting Thunderwing too to vanish, having not quite grasped the mechanics of how Primus' teleport worked.  (As it turns out, he only grabbed the Transformers on Earth.)   

And that's it!  20 pages just flies by when the storytelling is this strong.  Furman is knocking down pins set up by Budiansky years earlier, as well as providing payoff for his own stories and weaving in threads like the Matrix Quest that had been lying dormant.  He's supported by consistently strong artwork. Anyone who knows comics must realize that #75 will be a big event, and now we're just one issue away.  Many fans, myself among them, consider this entire storyline to be one of the all-time high points of the Transformers, and it's easy to see why.  The emotional resonance of characters like Optimus and Galvatron, Scorponok and Shockwave and Circuit Breaker, is so strong that each of their intertwined fates looms so much larger in the imagination than they have any right to. 

No teasers for next month.  Maybe Furman didn't think they were needed.  Maybe he was right.  Out of Time! is available in IDW Publishing's  Classic Transformers, Vol. 5 at Amazon.com.

The Ark Addendum - The Dormant Volcano Mysteriously Erupts (part 2)

And now, as promised, part two of The Dormant Volcano Mysteriously Erupts!  Once again, my profound thanks to Steve Mapes of Transformers At The Moon for providing me these model sheets. 

Here we see the rest of Pipiro's family.  They're a rather wholesome looking bunch, no?  It's fun that they provided a little scale chart as well.  I thought about knocking out the Japanese and replacing it with English, but instead opted to just describe what was said in my text description.