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Post by charlesrocketboy on Sept 9, 2008 15:42:11 GMT
Oooer. Not that good a strip this week - the heelturn and the end is too abrupt, which is a pity because the first half (especially with the Autobots outnumbered) was great. Two errors I've noticed - Megatron Origin isn't five pages when Ascending is, even though ending the page before would work better; but worse! The Elphaorca profile shows TORCA!  |
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primenova
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
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Post by primenova on Sept 10, 2008 10:18:15 GMT
I was expecting to get this last saturday. But don't really like the placing of Prime on the cover compared to where Bumblebee is - looks rushed & the colouring. Not got my copy yet.
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Nigel
Thunderjet
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Post by Nigel on Sept 10, 2008 11:16:37 GMT
#16 in the shops already? It seems to come round quicker each time. But never mind this issue - next month, Pretender tattoos!
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Sept 10, 2008 16:06:37 GMT
Should go nicely with this issue's Rotor Force gun!
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primenova
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
Posts: 6,001
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Post by primenova on Sept 12, 2008 12:04:04 GMT
Have everyone else who sub's got there copy in the post? Seems to be running late this month.
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Post by Bogatan on Sept 12, 2008 14:10:41 GMT
Got it today. The Jazz stuff feels rushed but has potential. Megatrons strip really is painful. Im sure there is a good idea in there, but the art seems deliberately designed make no sense then got coloured using as much black as possible. This issue did at least feel like something was happening, but it doesnt fit the 5-6 page format. I might be alone but I'm still enjoying Beast Wars.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 13, 2008 22:06:25 GMT
Main strip was the usual enjoyable tosh in the Furmanverse. I actually liked that Jazz just Went Evil straight away rather than the usual tortured soul stuff. Furman is building subplots so I'm sure it will pay off. At this point, the only thing that's hurting the strip is the frequency: it would help if the comic came out more often.
Points off for some muddled art on the first page.
I really like the cover. Nice feeling of doom. Also, Bumblebee has clearly learned from Knight Rider that there is no problem that cannot be solved with a turbo boost.
An air of desperation is creeping in re: other features. The competitions did not include TF stuff and the video game review bit was pointless. It might have been saved if 'Bumblebee' had actually written the 'reviews' in character.
The back-up strips are dying on their feet: whether you like them or not, they are not built to be cut up into such small chunks. Either they should be extended (there's enough space in the mag) or use that space to print more of one story and drop the other. Otherwise (combined with the increasingly thin extra features) I fear kids could get bored with the title.
Next month: zombie world! This has better not be a lie again for the Earth failed to die two issues in a row, as advertised. I am writing to my MSP.
-Ralph
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Sept 14, 2008 13:18:42 GMT
Ah now, issue 16 does have Earth slowly dying...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2008 17:20:48 GMT
And underneath the free gift taped to the front there is something on the cover which reads '25 Free Swappits inside'. What the bloody hell are these and where are they because I haven't got any in my issue.
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 14, 2008 18:08:12 GMT
It's an ad for an online auction site for the under 18's.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Sept 14, 2008 19:37:17 GMT
Clearly the prize support from Hasbro UK has now dried up for this title (They probably feel that it is time they were providing support to the Animated toy-ad/comic) and Titan are now down to raiding the generic slush-pile of stuff folk want to promote - expect the prizes to get more random and naffer as time goes on.
The features clearly suggest that they are done putting much internal effort behind the title as well. They very much have the ring of stuff that was thrown together by a junior staff member to go into whatever comic needed copy in a given week.
As to the content of the comic:-
Well, the main strip is continuing to motor along at a good clip. Yes, it is a little bit hackneyed in places, but I am much better disposed to doing the "evil Jazz" subplot swiftly than I would be if they decided to spin it out over six - twelve months (as many comics would do). The art is generally decent and makes this strip a decent package. (Although I feel sorry for the Decepticon bloke with the forward-swept wings - clearly they have decided "no , you don't get to transform. Stand up the back and keep quiet".
The reprint strips are... quite frankly a mess. Leaving aside that I am not fond of them anyway, they don't function terrribly well in a structural sense in the way they have been sliced up. "Megatron: Origin" this month ends on a speech bubble emerging from a generic tower somewhere on metal-space-planet-land. Where I a youngster this wouldn't be the sort of thing that would make me eager to see what happens next. The "Beast Wars" strip suffers from very much the same format. In structural terms these stories simply fall apart when you slice them up randomly.
I am starting to wonder how this comic will do once the Animated comic launches. I would have thought that the latter would do a certain amount of canabalising of its sales (never underestimate the impact of "Do ye no wan this Transformer co-mick, it's goat the wans that are on TV in it.").
Given the switch to random-page-filler in terms of features, and that the back-up strips are not particularly readable even discounting my personal feelings about them, I don't think I shall be sticking with this much longer. I believe Titan are doing collections of the main strip are they not? If so I think I shall ask some kind person to let me know how far along they are so I can work out at what point I should start buying them. I'll probably get more of a sense of value for my money that way.
Karl
(Technically the Earth has been dying in the main strip for several months now. It just never seems to actually become a significant plot point for some reason....)
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 14, 2008 22:26:05 GMT
Titan have put out two digests thus far called Transformers Adventures which are around £3 on amazon. Volume 1 has strips from #1-6, volume 2 just came out and has strips from #7-13 (IE up to Twilight's Last Gleaming part 5). I've yet to sight a copy of volume 2 in shops though.
-Ralph
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primenova
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
Posts: 6,001
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Post by primenova on Sept 15, 2008 10:19:51 GMT
The cover looks better in the poster - at least you can see Prime moving, his foot being covered up by lettering on the cover.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2008 16:15:11 GMT
I'm currently scratching my head as to what the official free gift is that came with issue 16. I've got a copy of it with four free badges as a free gift but I've also seen copies of the issue in the shops with stickers on the front cover. Furthermore, I walked into a newsagents today and saw taped to the front cover of the issue what was left of the packaging that contained some kind of plastic toy. The free gift had been torn off every issue leaving the cardboard bit at the top of the bag still selotaped onto the issue. What's going on?
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 5, 2008 13:13:59 GMT
Civilisation is falling.
-Ralph
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