Transformers Holiday Special!

Post by **zigzagger** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 7:34 pm

Transformers Holiday Special three page-preview by way of iTunes (via The Allspark).

Full issue due December 23.

Post by **zigzagger** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 7:36 pm

I didn't realize this was going to be a thing.

But this is adorable!

Patapsco · Post by **Patapsco** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 1:11 pm

now this is amazing, all three are far too adorable and hilarious for their own good. Barber's one in particular is genius

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Dec 25, 2015 12:31 pm

I read that early Christmas morning, and it was bloomin' lovely. With the irony of the More Than Meets the Eye story being closest to a "Straight" one in the book for a change.

I think the opening Scott tale was my favourite, lots of good stuff casting Starscream as the Grinch with some delightfully tortuous rhymes and a very sweet ending. I'd actually be fine with this being the final Starscream story.

But it won't be.

The MTMTE one was as said the closest to a normal story, and I was half expecting all the technology that looks like Christmas stuff to turn out to be an elaborate prank played on Rodimus by the Magnus/Megatron love fest.

It was very enjoyable though (and felt rather like a mesh of two Star Trek Voyager episodes, the one where they get boarded by people who hate telepaths and have to hide those in the crew and that one where everyone has to go to sleep whilst they go through dangerous space) and had a lot of snazzy lines. Plus Magnus singing Andy Williams, at last, some decent music in a James Roberts comic!

The Barber one perhaps suffered from being similar in style to the opening story which was much more focused, but on its own merits it was also a hoot and probably the peak of the running gag of Thundercracker as a writer. Megatron being evil because Santa only gave him a lump of coal is a better backstory than Megatron Origin as well.

Red Dave Prime · Post by **Red Dave Prime** » Fri Dec 25, 2015 8:08 pm

Santa Megatron really reminded me of the evil robot santa claus from futurama. Only not as evil.

But thumbs up all round on this issue - the 3 shorts are all fun and really, all this issue needs is a hardback cover and some text stories, maybe one or two a-z profiles and I would have been in retro heaven.

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:08 pm

I don’t read any other comics (though I do want to get Brend’s recommendation of ‘Rover Red Charlie’). I didn’t feel Scott or Barber’s entries were substantial here. Maybe they have subtle nods & refs to their own longer stories that I don’t get, but they felt slightly phoned-in.

However I LOVED the MTMTE story. Whirl Whirl Whirl Whirl… you are an utterly loveable weirdo. He’s murdered, lied and cheated his way through most of MTMTE, but I adore him. He has the most expressive face and often gets the best lines; including one from Spaced whilst paralytic on the floor. And he delivers a superb line to Megatron whose nearly rocking inconsolably from the forcible Magnus hug.

Even though he’s a shitbag, that he should exhibit such a strong paternal instinct makes me love him even more. That one panel of him and the baby lying in hibernation together, and him looking down at the baby being the last thing he saw before he effectively hit his own kill-switch. That was pretty beautiful.

There were so many excellent bits in this story; Rodimus’ “I knew it” comment made me laugh, and Ambus loving the Crooners made me smile. The way the characters interacted and bounced off each other felt like it generated a more genuine Christmassy feel than what seemed to me like the more forced stories from the two other writers.

I’m totally okay with all the Earth culture references, the fact that Megatron can withstand most things in the universe except perhaps a cuddle, and that the absolute bastard Whirl was willing to give his life for a baby.

Really nice change of art style too; cartoony and expressive, with nice movement, and somber when it needs to be, though sadly it doesn’t suit Megatron’s gravitas.

At £4.95 it’s not worth it… but that’s only because I got no joy from the other stories. But as a Whirl fan this is absolutely essential to me. I’m glad I have it for this extra little insight into his oddball-ness. I only wish there was another way I could have got hold of it, say in a proper MTMTE Annual or as a pack-in story accompanying a spiky, pointy-edged soft toy of the robot himself, complete with pull-string that reels off all his lines.

Red Dave Prime · Post by **Red Dave Prime** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:33 pm

Ah slag, did you not enjoy the starscream one? I thought that was pretty good. The thundercracker one was the weakest but still had the odd giggle

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 9:29 pm

It was nice, and I appreciate the thought that went into it. It just wasn't quite my cup of tea, that's all.

Doing a play on a Christmas poem is cool, but I've already seen this done over the years by character in The Beano, The Dandy, The Simpsons etc. Its not a new thought. So I prefer it when someone tries at something more original. I know Dalek mentioned that the MTMTE story cribs plot points from Voyager and things, but it was the character stuff I liked best about this Roberts story. The fact that any one of the Autobots would have been better suited than Whirl to play a Fatherly role.

And then all the little incidental bits... Rodimus' reaction to what he thought was Megs & Mags taking it to the next level, Whirl's glib admittance that he kicked off their war, and therefore all the death. Megatron and Magnus' double-teaming Rodimus with their dry humour over the Christmas tree and hat... in my mind, feels like more effort went into it than a nice Christmas poem based around Starscream being Scrooge McStarscream.

And I did enjoy Barber's Thundercracker and Buster the dog, as I've loved in the past Garfield's Babe's & Bullets, Sledgehammer (the stop-motion TV series), I love Steve Martin's Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, and Dirk Gently. Maybe I was just being unduly grumpy yesterday. So I should definitely love this, but the final panel killed it a bit for me.

I was also a bit grumpy because I assumed with the cover having Magnus, Rodimus and Megatron on it, that it was a MTMTE Holiday special, you know? I thought that it would be a December of:

- MTMTE,
- Sins of the Wreckers part 2, and
- MTMTE Holiday special.

Which sounds excellent. Didn't quite turn out that way; what with the delay of Wreckers and me not reading beforehand what this Special really contained! But its hardly the end of the world