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Post by charlesrocketboy on Oct 7, 2008 13:57:54 GMT
On the downside, the Beast Wars reprint is too short to work. On the upside, the Meg Origins one actually works oddly well - there's an almost-standalone bit in what Megs is doing, and it manages to segue from Sentinel Prime's bit despite that not being originally planned.
Starscream's Tips is great. More!
Top Gear's back, yay!
As for the original strips:
The Animated one fits the cartoon well, and reminds me of the better Earthforce strips. More like this!
Return To Cybertron continues the slow death of Earth (I like the nasty little bit with the Alabama op frakking up) and manages to dump a whole load of new guys in without it seeming forced - Stockade the Messianic Junkie is a fun character. Ironhide and Prime get good showings too.
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 9, 2008 16:48:28 GMT
I had real trouble finding a copy of this: first issue that's been a chore to track down. Went through several newsagents, Borders, FP and was on the third WH Smiths before I found one. I was not amused to be charged for a bag (which was no use in keeping out the pissing rain, not having been designed for magazines) and in finding my copy was full of torn pages anyway. And I've lost my receipt. I look forward to buying another copy. I had to take the tube into and from town due to bad weather, adding £2.20 to cost of comic.
WH Smiths Woman : "£2.99."
Me: "Can I have a bag, please?"
WH Smiths Woman: "...."
Me: "It's raining outside."
WH Smiths Woman: "..."
Me: "I don't want my magazine to get wet."
WH Smiths Woman: "..." (look of utter disgust)
Me: "Can I have a bag please."
WH Smiths Woman: "The only bags I'll give you are 6p."
Me: "What? Since when?"
WH Smiths Woman: "6p."
Me: "But there's no signs to say this. I bought something in here last week and - "
WH Smiths Woman: "..." (look of utter disgust)
Me: "Fine."
WH Smiths Woman: "6p!"
Me: "Ok, wait - is that the bag? That's not designed for magazines. Look at the size of the holes -"
WH Smiths Woman: "Bags are 6p." (bends comic in two while scanning barcode)
Me: (tense) "Can I not have one of the usual bags that fits the actual magazines on sale here? Please?"
WH Smiths Woman "£3.05."
Me: (exasperated) "It's raining!"
WH Smiths Woman: "£3.05!"
Me: "Fine! I'll go away now!"
WH Smiths Woman: "Change."
Me: "What? No! Oh, right. Thankyou."
WH Smiths Woman: "Bag."
Me: (under breath) "Up yours!"
I then ran to the undergound back to Hillhead where I intended to go the library to fill out a job app. It was then I remembered I needed an envelope and popped into the local newsagent. They had one. Opposite a copy of the fucking hard to find Transformers comic!
I went into the library in a foul mood and tried to read my very expensive sodden, torn comic. Nearby, sat two little bastards doing their Maths homework. Very loudly. Apparently the library was their living room. I scowled at them repeatedly, which seemed to amuse them no end. Bastards.
So: Titan fucking Transformers #17 then.
COVER: Pink and girly. No wonder the WH Smiths Woman hated me. And 'Cybertron Zombie World'? LIES! There are no fucking zombies in my Transformers comic!
RETURN TO CYBERTRON part 1: I have a horrible, horrible, feeling that cliffhanger implies that Stockade wants to become a living God. If so, I'm going round The Fur-Man's house for a quick word, aided by pirahnas.
DINO-MIGHT: Art by the bloke who does the 'How to Draw' feature. Pish!
MEGATRON ORIGIN part 4: Even printed this large, I still can't tell what the fuck is going on with Alex Milne's art.
THE MANY FACES OF OPTIMUS PRIME POSTER: I wept tears of joy to see a picture of Delbo Prime. Loud people in libraries will never know the joy of Delbo, nor possibly the touch of another in a loving context. Or both. At the same time.
MIDDLE POSTER: The cover returns. THERE ARE NO FUCKING ZOMBIES!
STARSCREAM'S 10 RULES ON RULING: Sadly not sponsored by Ken Flatt. Amusing, but I could swear I'd read it before. I may be losing my mind. SHUT THE FUCK UP LIBRARY FUCKERS!
COMPETITIONS: Win Next Avengers DVD? Fuck no. Win Sonic DS game? I'd rather shove manure up my arse.
HOW TO DRAW SCORPONOK: Lee Bradley, I have not forgotten your crimes from earlier in this comic. BEGONE! Lest I make you eat my marzipan until you explode! And why is one of the soldiers pulling a sex face whle chugging on something long and thick while his mate looks at his bum? Hmmmm? HMMMM?
BUMBLEBEE'S CRAP VIDEO GAMES BIT: Somewhere between shit and syphalis can be found sympathy. I have none for the writer of this pish.
BEAST WARS THE ASS-ENDING Part 4: Wait, this is a bumper size issue and this gets...4 pages? FOUR?! FOUR WILL NOT BE FANTASTIC!
ANOTHER CRAP COMPETITION: Win! Radio controlled thing! No. Bring on the dancing girls.
LIO CONVOY CHARACTER PROFILE: You know what's good? Fisherman's Friends minty things. But can I find any? Can I fuck.
TOP GEAR: Win! Marvel TF Crossovers! OK, fair enough. Win! Universe Sunstreaker! Fair enough. Win! Random lunch box! No. Fuck off.
ARTOBOTS: Look upon these pages, Alex Milne and weep. Weep! WEEP!
STAR SCREAMS: Starscream picking on small innocent children who have written in never ever gets old. Great. The kid wearing the Bumblebee costume needs to die. In a blender. A yellow one. A yellow blender operated by Wizbit.
COMING SOON: "It's the end of the world as we know it!" I bet it fucking isn't. Lies!
So there. Harumph.
-Ralph
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Post by KnightBeat on Oct 9, 2008 22:25:35 GMT
I hate WH Smith and their new plastic bag charge. I've left magazines because I can't be bothered to pay a charge on top of the extortionate prices of the magazine (£6.50 for Linux Format - what the heck!). Their charging policy is weird in itself. Rather than charge a set amount for a bag they seem to allow the local area management to set a price. I've been charged 1p in London, 6p in Birmingham and 10p in Southampton in the last few weeks . I'm tempted to subscribe to my regular magazines to spite them, but my post box is smaller than a postage stamp.
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 9, 2008 22:51:48 GMT
*reads back own post*
Hmmm, I really was in a foul mood.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Oct 9, 2008 22:59:33 GMT
Tomorrow is another day!
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 9, 2008 23:06:17 GMT
And I fucking hate Gone With The Wind too.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Oct 9, 2008 23:24:01 GMT
I wasn't quoting that horrible movie.
Andy
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Post by grahamthomson on Oct 10, 2008 8:17:37 GMT
Ah, the plastic bag fascists strike again!
My advice: If the salesperson makes trouble regarding plastic bags, simply, calmly ask them where their uniform was made. Was it made in the UK? Can they guarantee it wasn't manufactured by children/underpaid workers? Do they appreciate how much energy was wasted in shipping their uniform from the other side of the planet when it could have been made here in the UK, supporting the local economy and impacting the environment to a lesser degree.
Then ask them now if they truly believe that sequestering a single plastic bag affords them the right to climb to a higher moral level when they work for a company that uses genuine global problems as a marketing tool to force the consumer, through guilt, to pay extra for the means in which said company can boost its high street profile as you walk around the locality with their name hanging by your legs as you carry their bags.
These people need to start thinking by themselves.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Oct 10, 2008 8:23:02 GMT
Heh! Brilliant, brilliant stuff G. On a sidenote when I was picking up some padded envelopes the other day from Dunfermline's WH Smith and got a plastic bag they never charged me.
Turnbull 1 - Wh Smith 0
Andy
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Post by grahamthomson on Oct 10, 2008 8:30:33 GMT
I do apologise for going off topic there! And I forgot to include the moral of my story.
Last week, I'd loaded £130 worth of shopping (a full trolley's worth) in a well known supermarket chain (I won't say which, but they have orange carrier bags) and the checkout woman gave me two plastic bags. When I asked for more and, admittedly, rather sarcastically gestured to the mountain of produce on the belt she'd yet to scan she looked at me with utter disdain and asked me, rather bitterly, why I hadn't brought in my own bags. It was then I went into the whole uniform/moral high ground tirade.
Then, before I paid but after it was all scanned and packed, I told her that I'd decided to report her to the manager, and if she'd be so kind to call him/her down so I could talk to them. Oh yes, I made a scene. I made my point.
Apparently now, I'm getting a £20 voucher through the post soon as a gesture of "goodwill".
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Oct 10, 2008 8:34:03 GMT
Ho ho ho! Well done!
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 10, 2008 9:37:32 GMT
It's that special look of disgust I get in shops when asking for bags that pisses me the fuck off. I do not always have a bag on me. If I have bought goods from your store and have the umbrage to ask for the special device (bag) in order to carry said goods don't look at me like dirt. And don't bloody charge me!
Pisses me right off.
-Ralph
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2008 13:57:07 GMT
There's a shop assistant in my local Co-Op who gives a sarcastic sigh when I hand over a £20 note for payment of a 90p bottle of coke.
Onto the comic. Why was issue 16's comic strip called Dark Spark - Part 1 and exclaimed at the end that it would be 'continued next issue' when it wasn't? I haven't read the Return to Cybertron story yet in #17 but it looks good and I would have appriciated it if they finished off one story before starting another.
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Oct 10, 2008 14:01:27 GMT
The contents page just called in "Dark Spark" and Furman's blog doesn't refer to it as a multi-parter - probably just an error when they were lettering the art.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2008 14:05:07 GMT
It quite clearly says 'Part One' at the top of the sidebar on page one (page five of the comic itself) and I don't think that has anything to do with the lettering in the art.
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Oct 10, 2008 14:54:35 GMT
Error in lettering the sidebar then - point is, it's not a Part One and it was an error there in calling it that, as shown by the contents page not calling in part 1 and Furman making no mention of it being a multi-parter (which he has done when they are).
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 10, 2008 17:23:03 GMT
Yep. It was an error. And unexpected in a Titan TF issue! I have grown used to them in IDW land though!
-Ralph
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2008 19:12:59 GMT
Error in lettering the sidebar then - point is, it's not a Part One and it was an error there in calling it that, as shown by the contents page not calling in part 1 and Furman making no mention of it being a multi-parter (which he has done when they are). It was also an error when they put the words 'continued next issue' on the last page of the strip. |
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Oct 11, 2008 19:48:16 GMT
They had a "Continued Next Issue" for #15 too though. They might mean it in the "stuff carries on into next issue" sense to keep kids around.
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Post by legios on Oct 12, 2008 19:41:01 GMT
Well, picked this up at the weekend on the basis of a decision to give this one more issue to keep me before I decided I was going to wait for the digests (should any further be forthcoming). Sadly I have a bad case of buyers remorse to be honest. The lead strip was ok, I did sigh a little at the suspicion that we were going to get Transformer religious fundamentalists as our lead villians for this arc though. Not sure what the cover was gibbering about in regards to Zombie Planet - I didn't see any Zombies, just Transformers who were a bit territorial. (Also - lazy, lazy artist. knocking off the design of the Pelican dropship from Halo and omitting the tail is going to be spotted fairly easily. Must try harder)
"Dino-Might" Hmmm, as a preview for the animated comic this pretty much confirms my suspicions about how that is being pitched. It felt somewhat "written down" by comparison with the show. Also I really didn't like the art at all
"Megatron Origin": Yep, as I thought when I flicked through this stuff a the time of first printing - large parts of this comic are done in a grey-on-grey colour scheme. This doesn't help the already cluttered artwork to be any more comprehensible. On the bright side they do seem to be trying to cut it so that they get decent cliffhangers out of it. But no matter how you polish it, this is still a terrible piece of work.
"Beast War: The Ascending": I know I have read the preceeding sections of this in this comic, but for some reason I clearly can recall nothing about them because this didn't make any sense to me whatsover.
The Lio Convoy profile doesn't make a lot of impression on me either, but I can see how it would have its uses in introducing the neophyte audience to him, given that he is a foreign character that a lot of them will have no exposure to. I'm slightly unclear what exactly "razorline" claws are however.
The rest of the features and adverts and whatnot... I'll be honest and admit I haven't read them. I do always have a read through the letters page, just to see what level Starscream has the sarcasm turned up to in any given month.
All told though, given the level of buyers remorse I am having from this (£2.99 for eleven page of strip that I am actually enjoying reading) this is getting rather pricy. It might survive my current pruning of the budget - I am currently dropping regular magazine purchases like nobodies business - but it is far from a sure thing.
Karl
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Post by Bogatan on Oct 12, 2008 21:30:59 GMT
If I had already spent money on he two IDW back up strips I might share some of the animosity to this issue. As is the Megatron comic is maybe the worst thing I've ever read. Conceptually it seems so far to be trying to justify Megatrons future behaviour, which is kinda wierd. Maybe thats not the actual aim but the strip is so hard to make sense of I have to wait to read the next issues previously text to make sure I was following the story properly. I dont know wether to blame the drawings or the colours or both for making it so impenetrable.
Th BW comic I still like but its not the sort of story to be split into 4-6 page installments.
Main strip was quite good. Liked the art although the attempt to feminize Arcee was odd/wrong/scary. I'll hold off judgement on the stories direction as the introduction of nucleon has raised my hopes of Actionmaster Thundercracker making his comic book debut, however unlikely.
Animated? Enjoyed it but a full comic of that on a regular basis I'm not so sure about. It'll depend what the back up strips are and how it all fits together.
Andy
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Post by karla on Oct 12, 2008 21:55:04 GMT
The front of this comic looks so cute, ironhide and bumblebee look like marshmellows ^^
GRINDCOOOORE!!!!!!!!!!! I blame him for the house exploding, and is that a mirage-like with stockade?
I know! what happened to the zombies?
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Post by grahamthomson on Oct 13, 2008 9:13:39 GMT
I quite liked the artwork on the lead strip.
Plus I am now sporting an awesome Transformers tattoo across my chest.
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 13, 2008 10:03:44 GMT
Well done.
Yeah, the Animated strip was horribly dumbed down both in story and art in comparison to the TV show. Furman is a competant enough writer to fit the briefs he's given so it's probably an editorial edict. Does not bode well for the Animated title. It'll get a 1-issue try-out from me but if it's done the same way I don't see me keeping with it.
-Ralph
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2008 20:06:16 GMT
We've got another disc launcher coming in issue 18.
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 24, 2008 20:22:02 GMT
I picked up a copy to replace my torn and water-logged one. Enjoyed the main strip much more this time.
Lass at WH Smiths wouldn't give me a bag though.
-Ralph
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Oct 24, 2008 20:23:21 GMT
Shoot her with a Free! Missile Launcher!
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 24, 2008 20:41:49 GMT
Death comes from my hands!
-Ralph
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The Huff
Thunderjet
Hufferlover
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Post by The Huff on Oct 24, 2008 22:18:19 GMT
Ah, the plastic bag fascists strike again! quote] Plastic bags!!!!! I was moaning to my toy Brawn about this just now! I purchased something from Homebase a while ago and asked for a bag for my item and the cashier questioned my need for a bag - I explained that it was awkward to carry on it's own and that I had walked to the store, would also be walking to Asda (where, if I had not a bag, they may assume this was their stock)and then be walking back home. Her reply to this was that 'I had not thought things through very well had I?' Whattheduce??? I was donig more for the environment by not using my car in and polluting in the first place - the carrier bag has already been made and had I not used it, it's creation would be in vain! Also, what about all the exess packaging that products already come in!!!  ? Then again. I bought a lovely Ben 10 re-useable bag at my Toys R Us today so life is fine again. Issue 17 was also good. |
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