TRANSFORMERS ENERGON #26

Cover Date: August 2004
Story: Simon Furman
Pencils: Alex Milne
Inks: Elaine To
Lettering: Ben Lee
Setting: United Nations Plaza: New York City. (Pages 1-3)
Cyber City, Cybertron. (Pages 4-6, 17)
Unicron, The Far Reaches Of Known Space. (Pages 7, 8, 18, 19)
The Shores Of The Black Sea, Turkey. (Pages 9-13)
Downtown Los Angeles. (Pages 14-16, 22)
Toronto, Moscow, Tokyo. (Pages 20, 21)

Plot Summary: Although officially welcomed by the United Nations, the population of Earth is less than receptive towards the Autobots presence on their planet, seeing them as little more than an invading force. With Optimus Prime missing, Jetfire arrives on Cybertron to attempt to get permission from the High Council for reinforcements.

In the bowels of Unicron, Optimus is greeted by a holographic image of Megatron, who tells Prime to release his spark from Unicron’s core. Although he is given the promise of help from Megatron to defeat Unicron if he complies, Prime refuses to do so. Megatron insists that it will only be a matter of time.

Near the Black Sea, Kicker and the Omnicons perform one final Energon mining operation before the arrival of the base defenses. However, during their work they are attack by Mirage and Slugslinger. During the attack, Kicker is separated from Signal Flare’s safety line, and begins to drown.

Among a protest crowd in Los Angeles, Alexis and Rad discuss the Autobots presence on Earth. While Rad sides with their cause, Alexis is more sympathetic with the protesters, who sees the Autobots presence on Earth as a threat to their planet. Disgusted by how Alexis thinks, Rad turns to leave. As Alexis turns to do the same, Rad apologizes and says how much he admires her convictions.

On Cybertron, Jetfire’s request for reinforcements is denied by Council leader Levitacus because of the dangers in spreading themselves too thin until another council member points out that if the Terrorcons are allowed unopposed reign on Earth, such precautions on their part will not matter, for Unicron would simply rise up again and destroy everything. Realizing this, Levitacus agrees to send reinforcements.

Back at Unicron, Megatron continues to pressure Optimus to free him, saying that he and he alone holds the key to stopping Unicron’s forces. When Optimus once again refuses, Megatron shows Prime something that the Autobot leader had been dreading: a full scale Terrorcon attack on several major cities on Earth…including Los Angeles, where the vehicle Alexis was in is destroyed.

Transformers/Humans Featured (in rough order of appearance): Optimus Prime, Hot Shot, Inferno, Jetfire, Prowl, Megatron (Energon), Unicron, Megatron (Armada), Kicker, Signal Flare, Arcee, Strongarm, Skyblast, Mirage, Slugslinger, Alexis, Rad, Leviatcus, Divebomb, Battle Ravage, Cruellock, Insecticon.

Other Notes: The cover image for this issue features the Divebomb repaint (AKA Shadowhawk Marine Type). Megatron’s body, completed in issue #22, has not yet been given life, despite what the end of that issue makes it appear. As in the cartoon, Tidal Wave has been reformatted into Mirage, although how (and when) were not explained in this issue. The Terrorcons have been given the ability to clone themselves.

Review: With this issue, I’m beginning to see a pattern developing between Energon and Armada. Both series have had a mismatched five issue story arc and a two issue divergence that, although amusing, was completely unnecessary when one thinks about it. With this issue, we have essentially started the Energon version of “The Moonbase Fortress” Saga. For those who are unaware, “The Moonbase Fortress” saga was one of my favorite story arcs, and was a prime example of how good characterization can be utilized to make a great story. Unfortunately, it was also best known for its rushed and cliché ridden ending, which totally ripped apart all that had been built up in the previous three issues. I have long desired for the Energon comic to eclipse its predecessor in terms of its story and plot development. Now that they’re finally doing that, I hope that Furman does not resort to his old tricks and makes me nominate him for “Worst TF Writer” at next year’s Trannies.

As far as the artwork goes, it goes without saying that it has put Alex Milne high on the list of my favorite Dreamwave artists. The artwork on Energon thus far has ranged from predictable (Guidi) to interesting (Ng) to just plain horrible. (Raiz) Milne seems to channel Ng while at the same time maintaining a streak of creative liberty that manages to make each page, especially if it contains some form of action, come alive.

The one fault I have with this issue, and what I feel may become an annoying trend as the comic goes on, is how to explain why an old character has a new body. The previous issue found fault with this by not explaining whether or not Snow Cat was indeed Cyclonus. This issue features a variant of that problem. While we are aware that Mirage is Tidal Wave, we are never told how he became this way. And I have a strong feeling that Furman will take a page out of the “James McDonough Book OF Ham Fisted Writing” to do it, too.

Overall, this issue was enjoyable, and like I said, it begins to follow the path set by Armada. I just hope that they stop right here, since I have high hopes for Energon, and I would hate for it to turn out like Armada did.

Review by Bombshell