THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

Synopsis: Somewhere in the Arctic, a mysterious man named Lazarus is leading a business man named Ratzenberg to a rendezvous, in order to persuade him to invest in a new project. After both philosophise, Lazarus tells Ratzenberg about a race of transforming warriors who arrived on Earth millions of years ago. Lazarus' excavation team reach their goal, and Lazarus explains to Ratzenberg the possibilities of controlling such warriors. As the pair reach the site, the workers uncover the dormant Soundwave. Ratzenberg is impressed enough to invest on the spot.

Notes: Although there is no date given in the story, later issues will show that this prelude takes place in 2001/2002.

Transformers Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Soundwave.

Notable Others: Lazarus [first appearance].

Production Notes: The strip covers six pages. The initial edition was supplied to retailers only, and included seven pages of Transformers sketches. Only around 4,500 of these were made. No cover price was given.

The reprint edition [cover price $3.95] also featured the same sketches, aside from the pencil rendering of the #1 Autobot cover, which was omitted, as well as a written piece by James Raiz on Armada [which has some nice RiD concept art], and the eight-page Armada Preview, as well as pencil artwork for Armada.

Extras: The first edition had a pin-up of Starscream on the back cover - a scaled-down version of the Dreamwave Starscream poster.

Review: Total non-event. It makes absolutely no difference whether you read this strip or not. The tediously obvious Lazarus waffles for most of it, and so far the forthcoming plot is hideously exposed - Lazarus is the standard arrogant Earth scientist who thinks he can control a dreadful technology for his own good. Gee, I wonder if it'll backfire on him... Then we finally get past the cod-philosophising of him and the equally uninteresting Ratzenberg, we get a single page of Soundwave under a pile of ice, and the thing finishes. The art is good, but to be honest in 21st century comics, that's par for the course, and Lee hasn't shown anything he didn't in the similarly style-over-substance 'Dark Minds' series. A cynical moneymaking exercise, which does not bode well for the limited series. If you haven't got it, don't buy it.

Synopsis: A South American rebel camp is wiped out by a mysterious robot. Back in Ohio, Spike Witwicky is picked up for an interview by an army general named Hallo, from the Development of War Technology Department, who tells Spike he must accompany him to his base. Out in Canada's Northwest Territories, Lazarus takes a terrorist named Bishop to see his weaponry. After the humans depart, their jeep transforms into a robot to guard their backs. Lazarus shows Bishop the controlled robot, and tells him it is the future of warfare. Spike now visits the DWT at the Pentagon, where he discusses the Ark II tragedy with Hallo [see notes]. He then shows Spike satellite footage of the rebel camp's destruction, which shows Megatron to be responsible. Lazarus explains to Bishop that he controls the Transformers, but as the humans walk away, a flash of life comes to Megatron's optics. Back in Washington, Hallo shows Spike that they have been able to recover one Transformer - Optimus Prime.

Notes: The story takes place in a new continuity. In 1998, the Earth's governments unified to join the Autobots in defeating the Decepticons. The battle was initially a stalemate, until a pilot named Rudy "Red" Kingsley sacrificed himself to give the Autobots an opening. The Autobots then planned to leave the planet on the new Ark II spaceship, with the Decepticons their prisoners. The Ark II tragedy took place on June 24th 1999. The Ark II took off from Earth with the Autobots, their Decepticon prisoners and seven human guests [Mark Marsh, an American engineer; Akira Yashimura, a Japanese biologist; Rolf Meyer, a German chemist; Linda Richards, an American sociologist; Rudolph Vesic, a Russian architect; Henry Lanson, an Oxford professor; and "Sparkplug" Witwicky, Spike's father and one of the Autobots' first allies], bound for Cybertron, but exploded several minutes after launch for unknown reasons. Spike's brother Buster is mentioned.

Transformers Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Megatron, Hound, Starscream, Optimus Prime.

Notable Others: Lazarus, Spike Witwicky, Daniel Witwicky, General Hallo.

Production Notes: Just a note that this was the first ever Transformers comic to top Diamond's sales chart, and remains amongst the biggest selling issues of all time.

Review: A big disappointment. Dragging out the plot in this way suggests padding, which beggars the question why produce a six-issue series if there's the plot for four issues? The pedestrian pace is further ridiculed by the unbelievably crass info-dump of a two-page mock-newspaper story at the back of the comic. Forgive me for being naïve, but shouldn't the comic tell the story itself? Lee's visuals are again aesthetically pleasing, but often unnecessary - for example, for the good of the narrative the indulgences on pages 2, 4, 14 and 21 should have been slimmed down for expediency's sake. It would have been infinitely better to have shown Spike having a flashback to the events leading up to the Ark II [What a stupid name for a spaceship! The thing crashed on its maiden voyage. It's like someone building a Titanic II...], far preferable to a large number of redundant frames and the article - it's almost as if Sarracini doesn't think readers would be able to work it out for themselves, and need it literally spelt out for them in black and white. Lazarus continuities to grate - the denouement is currently so obvious that you begin to wonder if it's going to be the twist that he does get away with it. This issue is the sort of thing that should have been compacted, and in the Preview. Basically, Dreamwave don't seem to have learned from Marvel. This seems incredibly obvious, but they haven't realised - it's not humans that make a Transformers comic interesting, it's Transformers.

Synopsis: Hallo explains to Spike that his men have been unable to revive Optimus Prime. Spike places a piece of the Matrix given to him by Prime in the Autobot's chest, and he awakes. Meanwhile, an Arctic oil refinery is attacked by a squad of controlled Transformers, both Autobot and Decepticon. Laserbeak relays the footage to Lazarus, who uses it as a pitch to various terrorist leaders at an auction. However, Megatron reveals himself to be in control, and prepares to take control of the operation. Optimus Prime, Spike and Hallo are in the Arctic, where Prime uses the Matrix to revive a handful of his warriors left unfound by Lazarus. Meanwhile, the team who raided the oil refinery return to base, only to find it in chaos - the Decepticons have taken over.

Notes: Optimus Prime gave Spike a fragment of the Matrix before the Ark II launched. Prime also uses the Matrix to revive a handful of dormant Autobots - Jazz, Mirage, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, Trailbreaker and Superion. The controlled Transformers used to raid the base are Grimlock, Soundwave, Bumblebee, Starscream, Thundercracker, Frenzy, Ravage, Prowl and Laserbeak.

Transformers Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Optimus Prime [revived by Spike], Soundwave, Grimlock, Starscream, Frenzy, Bumblebee, Ravage, Prowl, Laserbeak, Megatron, Jazz [revived by Prime], Mirage [revived by Prime], Sunstreaker [revived by Prime], Sideswipe [revived by Prime], Wheeljack [revived by Prime], Trailbreaker [revived by Prime], Superion [revived by Prime].

Notable Others: Lazarus, Spike Witwicky, General Hallo.

Errors: How did neither Lazarus or Hallo find the Autobots who seem to be buried under not much ice, and fairly close together? $45 million isn't a lot for a giant transforming robot - it's not much more than an actual F15...

Review: This is much better. It's still not classic, and Lee still wastes too much of the book in pointless frames, but at least the plot moves. Megatron coming to his senses and taking over from Lazarus was painfully obvious ever since the Preview, but at least it's out of the way now and the main plot can be expounded upon. Sadly, some of Sarracini's dialogue is risible [most notably, Optimus Prime's "Welcome back, boys. It's been a while" nonsense], but at least then Transformers are beginning to get lines, as opposed to the hypocritical Spike [who willingly places himself in a war, and is then embittered by the consequences], the stereotypical decent-guy-but-with-a-job-to-do General Hallo and the tedious Lazarus.

Synopsis: The military take Optimus Prime to the Arctic oil refinery. The Autobot is shocked by the devastation, but Spike is adamant that he contributed to Earth being in such a position because of his part in the war. The military locate Lazarus' base, and Prime leads the Autobots to confront Megatron. The Decepticons are settling into the base, and Megatron has revived four warriors to back him up. He has rigged up a device which will turn the planet into a replica of Cybertron, and sets it working. Lazarus is swept over by the metallic liquid. Megatron then prepares to meet Prime's force. He confronts the Autobots, and gives them the choice to join him in ruling the new-look planet. Optimus refuses, but is shaken when he finds that the reactivated Grimlock sides with Megatron. Both sides scuffle, but Hallo takes the chance to deploy a massive bomb on the Transformers, and Megatron's advancing device.

Notes: Megatron has revived Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave, Laserbeak and Grimlock. The three jets amuse themselves by dismembering the bodies of Cliffjumper and Bumblebee, amongst others. Megatron uses Ironhide, Hound, Prowl, Ratchet and possibly others to power his device.

Transformers Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Optimus Prime, Mirage, Jazz, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, Trailbreaker, Superion, Megatron, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Starscream, Cliffjumper [deactivated], Bumblebee [deactivated], Ironhide [deactivated], Hound [deactivated], Prowl [deactivated], Ratchet [deactivated], Laserbeak, Grimlock.

Notable Others: Lazarus [killed by techno-virus], Spike Witwicky, General Hallo.

Errors: Laserbeak is spelt "Lazorbeak".

Review: Typical. Lee gets to the action, and makes a mess of it. Visual padding is as prominent here as ever before, and when the factions finally clash, it's totally mishandled. Autobots and Decepticons scuffle with each other like extras from a bar fight scene in a forties film, and Grimlock just disappears after his scene. Taking of whom, why are Lee's most prominent plot points so far lifted from cartoon episodes? Grimlock did the defection thing in "War of the Dinobots", not to mention every terrible Decepticon-sympathetic fanfic ever, and the device seems ripped from "The Key to Vector Sigma, Part Two" or "City of Steel". Would it be too much to ask for a few new ideas? Talking of which, where does Megaton get the device? Did he make it when Lazarus wasn't looking? Has it been kicking around for 17 years, like the plot for this thing? The dialogue's terrible, from Starscream's pathetic "Evil is always fun!" [chew on that, Raksha...] to the incredibly lame comedy with the deafened Radio Operator and Hallo ["Forward me the exact co-ordinates immediately" "What?" "Forward me the exact co-ordinates immediately" "What?... I'll forward you the exact co-ordinates immediately"]. It's almost as if Lee's art came first, and Sarracini had to fit his plot to the visuals. Again, the art's good in general, though it's nowhere near as expressive as, say, Geoff Senior, and falls down big-time when it should deliver in the fight scenes. Spike's even more hypocritical too, while Hallo is now just a stereotypical military buffoon. Maybe if Dreamwave spent less time trying to bleed money out of the fans with multiple covers and posters, and more time on actually making a decent comic, this would be a nice run-around. But they didn't, and it isn't.

Synopsis: After the seemingly successful Operation Cleanup, General Hallo seems troubled. It turns out the bomb only succeeded in knocking the Transformers out, the metal virus absorbing the blast, and all recover without damage. Optimus Prime is unnerved to find the Decepticons are nowhere to be found. The Autobots discover their comrades who had been used by the Decepticons, and begin to tend to them. Ironhide briefly reactivates, and warns Prime of a plan by Megatron. Meanwhile, the revived Devastator spearheads a Decepticon attack on San Francisco. Superion flies a squad of Autobots to help the city, and he is able to stop Devastator briefly. Trailbreaker is able to subdue Grimlock, while Optimus tackles Megatron. However, the battle takes a turn for the worse when the Decepticon jets force Superion to separate into his Aerialbot components. Back at the late Lazarus' base, Wheeljack works on trying to tackle the virus, while Jazz and Mirage attempt to repair the Autobots damaged by the Decepticons. In San Francisco, Devastator is triumphant, complicating the Autobots' plan still more. Back at the Pentagon's C Block, the imprisoned Spike receives a note seeming to offer help.

Notes: Megatron has also revived Devastator. Wheeljack has a funky 'mobile lab' in his forearms... wicked! Hmmm... Operation Clean Up is classified [which is a little odd, as with tweaking, the story of the US military stopping the evil Transformers might win the government a lot of public approval]. Grimlock isn't doing going 'Con by halves - he has the time of his life rampaging around San Francisco like a miniature Godzilla - well, until Trailbreaker clonks him with an 'I' bar, anyway.

Transformers Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Optimus Prime, Wheeljack, Trailbreaker, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Superion, Ironhide, Ratchet [deactivated], Hound [deactivated], Bluestreak, Devastator, Grimlock, Megatron, Laserbeak, Soundwave, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Starscream, Air Raid, Skydive, Slingshot, Fireflight.

Notable Others: Lazarus [killed by techno-virus], Spike Witwicky, General Hallo.

Errors: Operation Clean-Up is a bit pathetic, briefly knocking out the Autobots without any physical harm, and doing even less against the Decepticons. The force of the Ark II crash, and Operation Clean-Up isn't enough to knock Silverbolt into component parts, but a few missiles from Starscream & co. are? Devastator and Superion are drawn waaaay too big, especially when you consider Devastator carries Aerialbots in his fists - they should be not too much smaller than his arms really.

Review: Well, after the damp squib of #3, if someone told me this one would consist mainly of fight scenes I wouldn't have bought it. But from somewhere Lee pulls the kind of work he should have been doing from the start. It's fantastic fun from start to finish, with Devastator and Megatron both being the menace the cartoon writers never let them being [that said, the latter's continued attempts to talk Prime over are a little annoying - it's like he's not met Optimus before...]. The action's drawn beautifully, and even Sarracini's dialogue isn't too bad. It's probably unfair to compare a fun romp like this to Furman's more cerebral stories - this is the escapist action epic the series should have been from the start. Only the heavy-handedness of Hallo on the first page [Gee, I wonder if betraying the Autobots is bothering him, perchance?] really jars... but this isn't about characters, it's about big robots hitting each other - it's like a Godzilla movie - daft, full of heavyweight fights, has very little plot and is an unashamed joy to experience start to finish.

Synopsis: In the Canadian Northwest territories, Jazz' team, boosted by the revived Red Alert, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Brawn and Huffer, begin to combat the metal virus, but it will take all of their energy to stop it spreading. In San Francisco, with Superion down, the Optimus Prime's team are in trouble. With Jazz unable to provide back-up, Trailbreaker is knocked out by Devastator. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker soon follow, leaving Prime to stop the Decepticons alone. He summons up all his strength, charges the giant and is able to knock him out by shooting him in the face. However, Optimus is left drained, and at the mercy of Megatron. Meanwhile, Spike meets his mysterious benefactor. Back in Canada, the Autobots are beginning to run out of energy, and things worsen when the Canadian army arrive to stop them, anxious after previous Transformer attacks. Back at the Pentagon, it turns out that Spike has been rescued by Larry, a local cleaner. He shows Spike a file named the "Lazarus Project". He explains that five years ago, a scientist named Adam Rook worked with General Hallo, and the pair tried to build their own super-robots, but failed. Larry's brother had been an engineer on the project. With this failing, Hallo and Rook then used the defeat of the Decepticons in 1998 to achieve their goal. They took over the deactivated Decepticons, and knowing the Autobots would object, sabotaged the Ark II. Rook disappeared after the explosion, taking the Decepticons with him. Spike is disgusted at Larry's lack of action, and leaves him in the complex. Back in San Francisco, Megatron is still trying to talk Prime over, using the population's greedy actions to illustrate his point. At the DWT HQ, Hallo plans to nuke the city to end the problem once and for all.

Notes: Wheeljack has created an anti-virus which uses the Autobots' energy to combat the plague. Red Alert, Bumblebee, Brawn, Cliffjumper and Huffer have all been repaired. It's clear from the art that Rook becomes Lazarus.

Transformers Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Bumblebee, Jazz, Mirage, Wheeljack, Red Alert, Huffer, Cliffjumper, Brawn, Trailbreaker, Devastator, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Kickback [flashback], Blitzwing [flashback], Soundwave, Skywarp [flashback], Starscream, Thundercracker [flashback], Air Raid, Skydive, Slingshot.

Notable Others: Spike Witwicky, General Hallo, Adam Rook/Lazarus [flashback].

Errors: Spike genuinely believes Hallo will send him a hand-written note telling him of his execution. Why does Hallo, instead of having Larry killed, or sent to the back of the world, employ him as janitor in his HQ?

Review: The issue starts off really well. Okay, so the young couple contemplating the tranquility of it all then being disturbed by giant robots is a terrible cliché, and Bumblebee's character is terrible [I know DW aren't following any specific continuity, but the mix of Iceman and Bart Simpson is awful, and derivative to boot], but the art is nice. The 'we can stop this but it may kill us' nature of Wheeljack's anti-virus is another cliché, but the art is good enough and it's good undemanding fun. The best segment is the battle with Devastator, which is dynamically drawn. However, it soon falls apart. Why would Hallo keep Larry working in the Pentagon? He may be insane, but he's not stupid. Then we've got more sledgehammer exposition. If the Preview and first issue had been handled properly, this could have been so much better. Spike's also abysmally drawn, notably in profile. While I can understand his anger, Larry did just spring him... Spike then decides to face Hallo on his own, unarmed. Megatron's still doing his stuck record thing with Prime, and his argument about whether the humans deserve saving is stolen from myriad 80s X-Men books, to name just one source. And then, to cap it all off, instead of doing something interesting with Hallo, he's the standard mad bastard general with the itchy nuke trigger finger. Bloody fantastic. Lee's early overindulgence and Sarracini's stop-start writing mean that there's a lot of work to do in the last issue. A terrible mishandling of what should have been a fun romp.

Synopsis: The President has flown from the Pentagon to a Pacific military base, to find out what's being done about the battle in San Francisco. However, Hallo has already acted, launching a nuclear missile against the city. In the Northwest Territories, Wheeljack's depleted team are no match for the Canadian military, who are unaware of the spreading virus. Back in San Francisco Megatron continues to try and talk Prime round, but the Autobot leader is spared when the local fire-fighters create a diversion. Prime frees his fellow Autobots. At the Pentagon Spike confronts Hallo, who pulls a gun on him. Cliffjumper and Bumblebee meanwhile try to reason with the Canadians, but find them unwilling to listen. Jazz advocates a withdrawal, but Wheeljack had one last idea and runs off. Hallo rants long enough for the President and his aides to arrive, one of whom kills the general. In San Francisco the Autobots easily defeat the Decepticons, but Soundwave detects the incoming missile. The Aerialbots form Superion, and take off... Up in Canada Wheeljack drains the last of his energy to power up a radar dish, to act as a giant anti-virus blaster... Superion collides with the missile over the Pacific, sacrificing himself. Later Spike informs him of the Autobots' good work. The Decepticons have fled, and abandoned Grimlock, but the Dinobot turns down an offer to rejoin the Autobots.

Transformers Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Bumblebee, Red Alert, Wheeljack, Jazz, Mirage, Wheeljack [killed by feedback from plot device... I mean radar dish], Mirage, Cliffjumper, Huffer, Soundwave, Megatron, Grimlock, Optimus Prime, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Silverbolt, Slingshot, Air Raid, Skydive, Trailbreaker, Superion [killed by flying into a nuke].

Notable Others: Spike Witwicky, General Hallo [shot by a presidential bodyguard].

Errors: Why doesn't Superion split up into the nuke? Or try to shoot it down or something? Even with the premature detonation, a nuke would cause a bit more than a tidal wave. Spike's fine with the Autobots all of a sudden, despite everything being the same as always.

Review: Dire, unimaginative, generic speed-written crap. I said during my review of Issue 5 that it'd take a lot of work to stop Issue 6 from being a contrived, convoluted mess, and clearly Dreamwave weren't up to the job. Nothing is felt when Superion or Wheeljack die... The former seems impetuous and the latter a plot device [why not get everyone to put a portion of their energy into the dish in the first place? No need for blasters and the risk of human intervention etc.]. Grimlock's fate seemed to be free of any chance of resolution as soon as the second series was confirmed, no doubt causing the lateness of issues #5 & #6 as they were re-hacked. The intervention of the fire-fighters is a cynical, trendy piece of post-9/11 acclaim, a belated jump on the bandwagon. Yes, that's incredibly harsh. It's also more than likely true. The Autobots, once freed, simply knock the Decepticons out, and Dreamwave's lack of originality is exposed when the pre-nuke scenes resemble the end of their very own issue 3. Pat Lee draws humans terribly, and on top of everything Menasor has Tits of Doom on the cover.