Post by grahamthomson on May 17, 2010 9:10:17 GMT
“Prime Directive” was originally published by Dreamwave in Transformers Generation One: Prime Directive #1-6 (April-October 2002)
The are many rules, directives if you will, to follow to ensure the creation of a high quality comic book. For example, don’t make up the plot as you go along, don’t rely on computer effects to cut corners with the artwork, don’t have the inker(s) blindly trace every single pencil line, don’t repeat panels, don’t drain all of the intelligence of your characters.
Dreamwave’s first Transformers six-issue mini-series breaks all of these rules and more. It also breaks the brain of any reader who might dare to read all six issues in one sitting.
Prior to the release of the first issue of this series, the hype and anticipation on the Internet was incredible. At one point it almost took physical form and threatened to consume the entire known universe as we knew it. And if you think that’s an exaggeration, you must have missed the hyperbole of Dreamwave’s press releases.
“Prime Directive” is 140 pages of brightly coloured nonsense. True, the opening chapters play on the anticipation of readers desperate to see their beloved Transformers characters return to comics after so many years’ absence, but any coherence in the story is negated by severe plot drift.
Writer Chris Sarrancini, while good with cliff-hangers and one-liners, seems to be having trouble keeping his focus. The plot makes no sense whatsoever, and not even the characters have the intelligence to make sense of any of it.
There is no imagination to the story, instead cliche after cliche is served up to the reader who, despite being starved of Transformers comics, is expected to swallow every bitter piece.
Pat Lee’s artwork is erratic at best, downright repellent at worst. There is no sense of composition or character anatomy (what kind of neck must Optimus Prime have on the cover image above?), let alone consistency. The character designs spontaneously change from page to page and at times it isn’t clear at all as to what is supposed to be happening.
The worst of Pat Lee’s (and all the other background/finishing artists) crimes is the unapologetic reuse of panels and elements within panels. Don’t feel like drawing a crowd of Canadian soldiers? Why bother when you can copy/paste one in Photoshop. Feel like using an entire page to depict a convoy of vehicle-mode Autobots drawing ever closer? Just use Photoshop’s enlarge tool. Who’d notice, right?
We all noticed, Pat.
“Prime Directive’s” only strength is the colouring. Things have come along way in colour separation technology since the Marvel days (fully-painted colours notwithstanding). Certain scenes, particularly in the opening chapters, are rendered beautifully.
Another sign-of-the-times is the severe decompression of the story to spread it across six issues. “Prime Directive” is a commercial exercise more than it is anything approaching an artform. The series, the biggest selling of 2002, makes full use of multiple covers, collected reprints and over the top hype to rake in the dollars.
Of course, you’d have to have the business sense of a faulty traffic light to let your company slip into bankruptcy after such record-breaking initial sales.
“Prime Directive” is an unruly danger, to be accused of substance abuse if only it had any. If you missed it and have some morbid curiosity to satisfy, a spare copy shouldn’t be too hard to find; after all, half the Internet was duped into buying it.
The are many rules, directives if you will, to follow to ensure the creation of a high quality comic book. For example, don’t make up the plot as you go along, don’t rely on computer effects to cut corners with the artwork, don’t have the inker(s) blindly trace every single pencil line, don’t repeat panels, don’t drain all of the intelligence of your characters.
Dreamwave’s first Transformers six-issue mini-series breaks all of these rules and more. It also breaks the brain of any reader who might dare to read all six issues in one sitting.
Prior to the release of the first issue of this series, the hype and anticipation on the Internet was incredible. At one point it almost took physical form and threatened to consume the entire known universe as we knew it. And if you think that’s an exaggeration, you must have missed the hyperbole of Dreamwave’s press releases.
“Prime Directive” is 140 pages of brightly coloured nonsense. True, the opening chapters play on the anticipation of readers desperate to see their beloved Transformers characters return to comics after so many years’ absence, but any coherence in the story is negated by severe plot drift.
Writer Chris Sarrancini, while good with cliff-hangers and one-liners, seems to be having trouble keeping his focus. The plot makes no sense whatsoever, and not even the characters have the intelligence to make sense of any of it.
There is no imagination to the story, instead cliche after cliche is served up to the reader who, despite being starved of Transformers comics, is expected to swallow every bitter piece.
Pat Lee’s artwork is erratic at best, downright repellent at worst. There is no sense of composition or character anatomy (what kind of neck must Optimus Prime have on the cover image above?), let alone consistency. The character designs spontaneously change from page to page and at times it isn’t clear at all as to what is supposed to be happening.
The worst of Pat Lee’s (and all the other background/finishing artists) crimes is the unapologetic reuse of panels and elements within panels. Don’t feel like drawing a crowd of Canadian soldiers? Why bother when you can copy/paste one in Photoshop. Feel like using an entire page to depict a convoy of vehicle-mode Autobots drawing ever closer? Just use Photoshop’s enlarge tool. Who’d notice, right?
We all noticed, Pat.
“Prime Directive’s” only strength is the colouring. Things have come along way in colour separation technology since the Marvel days (fully-painted colours notwithstanding). Certain scenes, particularly in the opening chapters, are rendered beautifully.
Another sign-of-the-times is the severe decompression of the story to spread it across six issues. “Prime Directive” is a commercial exercise more than it is anything approaching an artform. The series, the biggest selling of 2002, makes full use of multiple covers, collected reprints and over the top hype to rake in the dollars.
Of course, you’d have to have the business sense of a faulty traffic light to let your company slip into bankruptcy after such record-breaking initial sales.
“Prime Directive” is an unruly danger, to be accused of substance abuse if only it had any. If you missed it and have some morbid curiosity to satisfy, a spare copy shouldn’t be too hard to find; after all, half the Internet was duped into buying it.
