Bish's Review: Marvel UK #102 "Fallen Angel" Part 2

Fallen Angel Part 2 sees us return to the battle between Galvatron and... well.... everybody else. Naturally it was written by Simon Furman but this time the art duties were handed to Jeff Anderson. Annie Halfacree lettered, Steve White coloured, and Ian Rimmer edited it.

The cover is all Geoff Senior and is sort of half brilliant. The depiction of the burning Galvatron could scarcely be more dramatic but the talking heads are, once again, too cute, and go for humour that doesn't work. A mostly great cover that I basically hate for what it could be and isn't. Sorry Geoff.

We open with a page-long explanation of the events of the preceding issues then find that the Dinobots have well and truly joined the battle against Galvatron but even with the weight of numbers are only just holding their own. Blaster transforms to ghetto blaster mode and tries a more powerful burst of the same sonic attack that disorientated Galvatron last time. It angers the future Decepticon, causing him to charge at the defenseless Blaster, who is whisked away, into the sky, by Swoop.

Blaster apologies for messing up, but in a nice sequence of panels, Swoop explains how the distraction allowed the other Dinobots to co-ordinate and redouble their attacks.

Meanwhile, Shockwave arrives at the periphary of the fight with his Decepticons. Soundwave theorises that Galvatron is here to usurp Shockwave as the Decepticon leader as he sought to do with Megatron last time. Shockwave comes to the unappetising, but logical, conclusion that his leadership might depend on him aiding the Dinobots.

Galvatron rallies disappointingly quickly from the Dinobots' assault and starts pounding them, and Blaster, again. He takes Swoop out with a well-placed particle cannon blast and Swoop finds himself beside the shattered shell of Centurion, unable to move. He is reflecting on his ignoble fate when he suddenly hears a voice inside his mind. Professor Morris, who previously took control of Swoop before he was granted Centurion, has re-established their mind link.

He begs the damaged Swoop to let him take control once more, to bypass the concussion that has knocked him for six and let him fight back. Swoop is resistant, remembering the terrible things he was forced to do last time, but eventually relents. Morris/Swoop's attack distracts Galvatron for long enough from killing the Dinobots for long enough that the Decepticons arrive and drive him off.

The combat at an end, Shockwave pauses only to deliver a warning that when Galvatron returns and destroys the Dinobots the Decepticons will return to emerge triumphant.

Another great issue. Who knew that Furman could make what is essentially a two-issue long brawl in a field into one of the most suspenseful stories of the Marvel run so far? The stakes were raised as soon as Galvatron entered the fray but now he's in the wind, escaped somewhere on Earth, and you just know that when he comes back, it'll be a big deal.

Furman deserves praise for utilising the somewhat paradoxical fact that good recurring characters make a comic's universe feel larger and giving Professor Morris another believable chance at redemption for the murder he committed with Swoop's body. This is a great moment for Swoop as well, as we discover just how far he'll go to save his friends. He has every reason to refuse Morris but cannot let Galvatron win. Of course, Morris is deeply regretful and on the level here, but Swoop had no reason to trust that.

Furman keeps the story moving fowards at a breakneck pace and manages to deliver us some good character stuff as well but the hero for this story is really Jeff Anderson who manages to give us page after page of varied and easy to follow robot fisticuffs. The Transformers in these books might not be photo-realistic but the fight scenes really flow and, more importantly, tell a powerful story, which I think is a skill that has been partially lost among some of the more detailed modern comic-book art styles. I loved Geoff Senior's work in Part 1 but I cannot honestly say that he would have done a better job with Part 2 than Anderson did. For continuity I might have liked it, but otherwise, Anderson hits it out of the park here.

If you can find the Titan collection, read this story! We're back on Cybertron next week with Resurrection.

The Ark Addendum - Crosshair's Transform

Time for another edition of The Ark Addendum!  After having this feature share space with the Ron Friedman scripts, in order to get those out the door a bit faster, we return to our regular schedule of whatever random model I'm feeling today.

Today I'm feeling like getting away from the Sunbow cartoon and dancing over to Japan.  We haven't done a Transform sequence in a while, so how about... Crosshairs!

One thing that's a bit odd about the sequence is how we see his Targetmaster fly away from him in the second step... but then Pinpointer (or Pointech, if you're feeling the Japanese love) isn't on the model in step one.  Whoops!  Anyway, enjoy! 

Ron Friedman auctions - Scripts! (Part 6 of 6)

Well, I suppose that all good things must come to an end, and so we reach the final installment of the Ron Friedman scripts.  At least, it's the final installment for now.  Who knows, more may surface in the future.  This batch rounds out the last binder of S2 material with five classic episodes:

Microbots - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PBZNSJWB
Blaster Blues - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MHSROEO6
A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Cout - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PKQA9MWA
Make Tracks - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=55ICXP37
The God Gambit - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=35B4O19H

What an amazing collective effort that was, for so many fans to pitch in together and get all this wonderful material.  Sorry it took a few months to get it all scanned and uploaded, but I hope you think it was worth the wait.

Oh, and while we're on the subject, I wanted to give one last shout-out to the annual AllSpark Charity drive.  You can read about it over on the AllSpark Forums.Long story short, it's an opportunity to give back to the world, via Hasbro's Children's Hospital. They've already exceeded their goal of $5,000 in a month, but that doesn't mean you can't give.  We've got one last day, so make it count!

Review: Marvel G2 prequel - G.I. Joe Starring Snake-Eyes and Transformers Generation 2 #141

The next issue in the G2 prequel invasion of the G.I. Joe ongoing book is titled Sucker Punch.  We've had another creative shake-up.  Though Hama remains the writer, the book is now penciled by Steven Leiber & William Rosado, with Scott Moulter & Chip Wallace on inks.  Colors and letters are still by Sharen and Parker.  The cover is by Rosado and Wallace.

We finally get a cover that lives up to the nominal subtitle of the book, G.I. Joe starring Snake-Eyes (& Transformers Generation 2).  Snake-Eyes meditates, while a Cobra goon swings a sword at him.  In the background, a rather nice silhouette of Megatron grapples with a human in a lab coat, presumably Dr. Biggles-Jones.  It's a lovely cover, with some cool ninja action and some understated Transformers action in the background.  The inking that Wallace turned in is particularly nice, and I like the use of coloring to separate foreground from background.  It's only marred by the text "Continuing the greatest Joes action saga of all time!"  Umm, really?  I hope not.  It's a decent crossover, but as far as Joe stories go I'd assume that there are much better. Ah, well, a little hyperbole seldom hurt anyone.

The book opens with Megatron returning to robot form, much to Cobra Commander's consternation.  It was awkward when he assumed his tank configuration, and it's awkward now.   It's also odd, because Tunnel Rat says that he sees Biggles-Jones with Cobra Commander, but she's nowhere in the scene.  No time to dell on that, though, the recon squad is under attack by Cobra Eels!  Megatron alerts Cobra Commander to the battle, but declines to help his 'ally' as their deal was specific; Decepticon technology for Dr. Biggles-Jones, who's at the hospital.  (See?  They even acknowledge that she's at the hospital, and not hanging out in the street.)  It's nicely ominous, though, that we see what Megatron was really trading for, especially when he offhandedly references the need to pack her in liquid hydrogen.  She's not going to be going along as a partner, that much is clear.

At said hospital, Biggles-Jones confronts Scarlett about her status as a double-agent while the Ninja-Force looks in, unseen, from the outside window.  Their voyeurism is broken by an attack from the Cobra Night Creepers, which they quickly (and silently) dispatch.  The team is sent to back up the recon team in the sewers, though Snake-Eyes is more concerned about Scarlett, and gets the chance to remain behind when the Night Creeper Leader (that's his name) shows up.  They begin a furious battle across the rooftops.

Inside the hospital, Scarlett insists on her sincerity, but Biggles-Jones informs her that she's not just guessing, she knows.  Meanwhile, Mindbender is listening in on their conversation through the simple expediency of having an empty glass pressed up against the wall.   For a couple of secret agents, they sure outed themselves in a spectacularly stupid way.  The artwork, as well, takes a turn for the worse.  I'm assuming that this is Leiber, as the ninja battle seems to match the style of the cover.  After cutting away for some other plotlines, we snap back to Biggles-Jones, who finishes telling Scarlet 'the whole truth.'  Unfortunately, we the audience never learn this truth, which is pretty clumsy. The reason?  Megatron's hand, crashing through the window.  The rendering isn't great, but the composition is fantastic.  It's very much inspired by King Kong, I think. 


Slice and Dice look for Scarlett, who has seemingly vanished, but is actually hiding under the bed.  She manages to defeat the two of them, then lurches outside, making her way to the Ark.  Mindbender blows her cover and she has to battle a pair of Alley-Vipers, which she does effortlessly. 

The conclusion of the Snake-Eyes / Night Creeper Leader battle is anything but effortless, though.  Snake-Eyes drops his weapons and takes the meditative stance he assumed on the cover, leaving the Cobra to puzzle through what's happening.  Bluff or technique?  He decides on bluff, charges forward, and is resoundingly defeated.  Yeah, Snake-Eyes is pretty bad ass.  Unfortunately for him, Hawk has just learned that there's another American security agency with a Cobra double agent, and the Joes have to cede jurisdiction.  Spirit and Storm-Shadow are dispatched to extract Snake-Eyes.  That won't be easy, though, he's ambushed by Slice & Dice, as well as a hundred cobra troopers covering every possible escape route. 

Scarlett, too, has gotten herself into a pickle, as she confronts Megatron, attempting to gouge out Biggles-Jones' brain with a Protoplasm Stripper.  I love the imagery here.  This isn't something that Furman or Budansky would have come up with, but it does seem very Megatron somehow.  Scarlett demands Megatron release her, standing up to the titan in a display of bravery bordering on stupidity.  How will she get out of this one?

And there you have it!  We're all set up for the conclusion of this storyline.  Our heroes are certainly in dire straits, with Scarlett's cover blown and Snake-Eyes surrounded.  However, it does seem like we went to a lot of trouble to set up Scarlett as a double agent, only to have her discovered through sheer stupidity.  What was the point of this whole arc then?  I imagine having to shoehorn in Transformers messed up Hama's plans a bit, but the whole execution seems to have been bungled, I'm afraid.  Oh, well, he has one more issue to pull it out.  Having two different artists on the book also hurt, especially since their styles don't mesh that well.  After the lovely sharp lines and highly detailed pencils of Chris Batista, this issue seems like a step backwards.  Also, the pacing could have been much smoother.  This issue feels overfull, with running battles on the rooftops, in the sewers, Scarlett & Biggles-Jones conspiring, and of course the Machinations of Megatron.  Some of this should have gone in last issue, which was a bit light.  Don't get me wrong, it's a decent issue, there are just some flaws that mar it. 

Since it's yet to be reprinted, it's not super easy to find, but if you're a fan of Transformers Generation Two this is a decent prequel, giving us a lot of Megatron to tide us over till the Transformers book resumes in earnest. 

Ron Friedman auctions - Scripts! (Part 5 of 6)

OK, getting near the end.  This week, I'll finish off season one, and if all goes as planned next week I'll post the last of the S2 scripts that I have.  That'll pretty much finish off the scanning and posting of the Ron Friedman material gathered by the Transformers Fan Coalition.  Sorry it took so long... scanning in hundreds of pages while juggling writing and a full time job isn't easy!

The Ultimate Doom - Part 1: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?lhjhhqompcaj1n6

The Ultimate Doom - Part 2: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?p2m254ukuudsde7

The Ultimate Doom - Part 3: coming soon (curse you megaupload!)

Countdown to Extinction: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?gd2qydx4qifedth

A Plague of Insecticons: coming soon (curse you megaupload!)

Heavy Metal War:  coming soon (curse you megaupload!)

The Ark Addendum - Megatron's Master Plan (b) and Ron Friedman Scripts

Time for another edition of The Ark Addendum, coupled with, for the last time in the foreseeable future, a script.  This is the last of the 'incomplete' scripts that I got in the auction.  Actually, the script is complete, but it's part one of a two part episode, and part two wasn't up for auction.  Yup, Megatron's Master Plan.  Long time readers may remember that I've done other models from this episode as one of the very first Ark Addendums I ever published.  I've got quite a few more from this episode that I'll get to eventually.

This time we're looking at Berger's rocket ship.  I'll be honest; I never liked the design on this one.  The exterior is pretty cool, I suppose, but the interior looks a bit too much like a commercial airliner to me.  The Autobots all sitting down with nothing to do looks wrong to me somewhere. 

The script itself is pretty interesting.  Friedman directed them to change the name Burger to Berget (pronounced Bur-Gay or Bur-Jay or Bur-Get), since Burger doesn't sound "heavy enough."  I guess that didn't happen.  Here's the script download link: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?2dgku1yu6r6u2fa

Bish's Review: Marvel UK #101 "Fallen Angel" Part 1

Fallen Angel: Part 1 was issue #101 of the UK Transformers book. It was written by Simon Furman, drawn by Geoff Senior, lettered by Anne Halfacree, Coloured by Steve White and edited by Ian Rimmer.

The cover was by Lee Sullivan. A full headshot of Galvatron - not looking terribly like either his toy or the cartoon model. The actual design is reasonably successful for what it tries to be, but really, this isn't a great image to illustrate this story and the speech balloons: "I'm back and... I'm mad" is too cute. Disappointing.

While Optimus Prime reunites with the Autobots on Cybertron Fallen Angel sees a return to Earth for both the setting and for one particularly menacing future Decepticon. Yep, as per his promise on the cover of the Christmas issue, Galvatron is back!

We open with the Autobots that Circuit Breaker had freed back in Decepticon Graffiti! issues #94-95 of the UK comic and issue #23 of the US one. They are traipising through the countryside trying to find the Ark. While they are talking, there is a massive outpouring of energy and Skids vanishes in a flash of rainbow light! "It begins again!" warns the caption. Regular readers of the comic will recognise this as the signature effect of somebody time-travelling, removing an entity of equivalent mass from the timestream.

Meanwhile, Centurion (piloted remotely by Professor Morris, last seen back in In The National Interest) is patrolling about when he sees an explosion that looks like a meteor impact and decides to investigate. As the human-built robot gets close enough to look into the crater a hand shoots out and grabs him!

We get a nice dynamic Geoff Senior splash for the title page as Galvatron leaps from the hole and attacks Centurion, ranting about someone named "Rodimus Prime". Fighting back proves essentially pointless as Galvatron takes a (strangely miscoloured) page to tear Centurion apart bit by bit, all the while mistaking him for Rodimus. After the deed is done, and Morris is left without a working robotic avatar, Galvatron calms down a bit and realises he hasn't killed Rodimus Prime. He works out that having fought Rodimus inside Unicron in 2006 (Transformers: The Movie - readers - you HAVE seen this) he escaped his plunge through space using the time-jump device that he had previously used in Target: 2006 and returning to 1986 (or '87, it's unclear why the time-jump takes Galvatron to the exact point we are at in the narrative instead of back to his original time-jump pre the events of Target: 2006). He hit the atmosphere at speed and plummetted to Earth, the impact disorientating him enough to mistake Centurion for Rodimus Prime.

Meanwhile, the other Autobots, minus Skids, are puzzling about a mysterious Transformer signature they have located in this area and complaining about being lost, as only Skids knew the way. They do not have to look for the source of the signal, as Galvatron is approaching them, planning in his mind how to take over the 1986 Decepticons and prepare them for Unicron's coming. He sees the Autobots and rushes to attack as Perceptor and Warpath open fire on him. Undamaged, he transforms to Space Cannon mode and blasts them.

Nearby, at the Decepticon base, Shockwave, now in command because Megatron is still absent on Cybertron, sees the massive explosion from Galvatron's attack. He thinks it might be Megatron, ready to take his revenge (which, in a way of course, it is). Shockwave orders Soundwave and Razorclaw to mobilise and meet the new threat.

Galvatron takes Blaster by the throat but is momentarily prevented from destroying him by a swift counterattack by Cosmos, Powerglide, Seaspray and Beachcomber that doesn't really damage him but knocks him off-balance. Blaster sees an opening and hits Galvatron with some high frequency sonics which disorientates him for a moment and brings back his madness.

As he recovers he sees the head of Centurion thrown at his feet. It is a challenge. The Dinobots are here and they mean to make him pay for their former ally!

After the thematic mess of last issue this is a welcome relief. Here we have a fast-moving, straightforward action storyline with big implications for the coming weeks. Moving back from Cybertron before Prime's storyline is concluded is a smart move from Furman, as it once-again expands the canvass on which he is working. There are now sufficient characters and sufficient potential plots to fill the two worlds and the layering that this gives to the narrative makes everything feel much grander and more believable.

Furman obviously loves using Galvatron as an arbiter of destruction and while it might be argued that it is a little cheap to reuse him in this way so soon after Target: 2006 lets not forget that the movie, and, more importantly, Galvatron's toy, were still current. Clearly, while this is not the case in the US book, the UK book treats Transformers: The Movie as canon, albeit still taking place in the far-off time of 2006. I predict continuity headaches in the future!

Right now though, it all fits together, and if I were to have any complaints about the issue it would be that it perhaps fits together too neatly. It seems frightfully convenient that the Autobots and Centurion were wandering this close to the Decepticon base and for Galvatron to happen to fall to Earth within walking distance. I can't judge it too harshly based on this, however, given how skillfully Furman weaves back in characters we might have forgotten about and gives us a story that really raises the stakes for the coming issues.

Senior's art is as superlative as ever and his depictions of the events of Transformers: The Movie are probably the standout. The only criticism I might make are that Galvatron, in his madness, almost looks like a different character from his more sane moments, but I suppose that is probably the intention.

A great, action-packed issue. It was reprinted by Titan and you might be able to get hold of that collection although it is technically out of print. Sadly it has not been reprinted by IDW because they do not hold the rights to one of the non-Transformer characters who will be appearing shortly.