THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

CURRENT TRANSFORMERS COMICS FROM IDW PUBLISHING

Spotlight: Galvatron
Reviewed by Inflatable Dalek

I see it as a small rebellion, a reminder that my destiny is still in my own hands.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss as The Who once sang. After being promised no Unicron, we get Galvatron working and acting in exactly the same way as he did for the big horned one back in the Marvel days old. This effectively gives the comic an air of disappointment and a sense of seen it all before, it's entirely possible to predict most of Galvatron’s dialogue in advance. Which is a shame, as there's lots of good stuff in here as well, lots of nice development for secondary Autobot characters, and the tying together of two of the ongoing plotlines at the end deals nicely with one of my concerns that there were to many balls up in the air right now. We also get some lovely crisp artwork from Guido that helps to wash away the memories of his lackluster efforts on the Hearts of Steel comic. Galvatron in particular looks fantastic, big hulking, and dangerous. But at the end of the day, it's a disappointingly average Spotlight, and Galvatron may have been better of staying in his black hole.

The story of the first Ark, and the official cover story for its mission, was recounted in the Nightbeat Spotlight. The misadventures that led Thunderwing to be an inanimate corpse can be found in Stormbringer.

Simon Furman has said emphatically that Unicron will not be appearing in the main IDW comic. Exactly who Galvatron is now working for is unclear at the moment, but it has to be said that his mission and attitude is pretty much the same as in the latter Marvel US issues where he was working for Unicron.

Exactly what Galvatron's role was on the ship goes unsaid. He does seem to think he was the main man, but on the other hand, despite being part of the crew on the most famous space journey in Transformer history, none of the Autobots here seem to recognise him. Perhaps he was the cabin boy. Oddly, one of the other crew members looks very much like Thunderwing, but we'll assume that's coincidence.

It's not stated what happened to the rest of the crew, but Galvatron does claim everyone else living in the Dead Universe has lost their free wills, unlike himself. It may well be that the Sports Car Patrol as seen in Nightbeat were also onboard.

Coming surprisingly late in the day, we have the first confirmation that the Prime carries a Matrix within him. The chap who launched the Ark isn't named, but is unlikely to be Sentinal Prime considering how long ago it was. Galvatron firmly claims to predate factions, firmly placing the flashback before the Megatron: Origin comic.

Sideswipe's call to Earth happens between Escalation and Devastation, most likely very soon after the former, as Ratchet and company are still in the dark as to Hunter and Sunstreaker's true location. Though Sideswipe claims concern for Sunstreaker in an attempt to get reassigned there's no mention of any special relationship between them.

Leadfoot, Road Rocket and Skram are all Generation 2 toys, with the latter two making their first ever appearance in an official English language Transformers comic.

The inhabitants of Helo-Q are green and silver floating heads, and would seem to be inspired by the Quintessons. A black featureless void that defies explanation, with an evil entity at its heart, features in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Where Silence has Lease.

The comic also includes character designs for the Cybertronian modes of Hound, Leadfoot, Skram, Sideswipe, and Road Rocket (alas poor Warpath). Of these, only Road Rocket's alternate mode is seen in the issue itself.

Galvatron: I am the Emissary, the Harbinger of the Unlife, the word of those once and now forever.

Galvatron: The great and good gathered to cheer us on our way to the stars. Little knowing such noble goals as exploration or the opening of new trade routes had been shelved long before. The Ark was about destiny!

Hound [After Sideswipe seemingly kills Galvatron]: Dammit Sideswipe! What's a corpse going to tell us?

Most notably, Ratchet has his silver cartoon head rather than the red Marvel one he's had up to now, did he repaint? Jimmy's headband is also the wrong colour. At this stage one can only assume that there's an Autobot with a washing machine alt mode lying about, as the two humans are still wearing the same clothes.

Skram is confused as to whether or not Galvatron is a Deception as he doesn't have any insignia. Yet Skram is the only Autobot who seems to be bearing their faction symbol, making you wonder if he gets confused as to who's side the others are on as well. Perhaps the Decepticons are just really, really keen on making sure everyone’s purple badge is nicely on display? Oddly, the character designs in the back of the comic include Auto-brands on everyone.

Despite an attempt to make the numbers look alienesque, Leadfoot clearly has the number 93 in English on his chest. Also, the attempts to make it look as if he doesn't turn into a F1 car don't really work.