The Energon Pub

[Chibi Starscream]

Thundercracker is that a Starbucks cup?

Robots with Coffee is now canon.

It's probably called Starscream's Coffee! Lmao. There's plenty of fan art of it too.

[YoungPrime]

Thundercracker is that a Starbucks cup?

Robots with Coffee is now canon.

It's probably called Starscream's Coffee! Lmao. There's plenty of fan art of it too.

Bot's have been drinking can's and Juice boxes of Energon with Kremzek's face on it for millions of years now.

[SW's SilverHammer]

Ah man, this is Thundercracker's "don't dream it, be it" moment! Honestly I'm really looking forward to this annual. One last story for El Presidente Starscream, I think it's gonna be great.

[Sunstar]

Thundercracker is that a Starbucks cup?

Robots with Coffee is now canon.

It's probably called Starscream's Coffee! Lmao. There's plenty of fan art of it too.

This?

[primalxconvoy]

Thundercracker is that a Starbucks cup?

Robots with Coffee is now canon.

It's probably called Starscream's Coffee! Lmao. There's plenty of fan art of it too.

This?

In Japan, we actually GOT Starscream with our coffee, like a boss.

2885961937_877492a772_o.jpg

PicsArt_1519516494425.jpg

[Sunstar]

Thundercracker is that a Starbucks cup?

Robots with Coffee is now canon.

It's probably called Starscream's Coffee! Lmao. There's plenty of fan art of it too.

This?

In Japan, we actually GOT Starscream with our coffee, like a boss.

2885961937_877492a772_o.jpg

PicsArt_1519516494425.jpg

I have those.

[primalxconvoy]

Me, too. It was a great day, being able to walk into my local convenience store and get breakfast AND TFs, all week-long...

Ah, happy memories.

[Sunstar]

I never drank that coffee, is it any good?

[primalxconvoy]

I never drank that coffee, is it any good?

Didn't you get the coffee in the cans?

As for taste, it's just regular, canned coffee, with a bit of milk and sugar.

[Sunstar]

I never drank that coffee, is it any good?

Didn't you get the coffee in the cans?

As for taste, it's just regular, canned coffee, with a bit of milk and sugar.

I did, but I left it intact.

[primalxconvoy]

I never drank that coffee, is it any good?

Didn't you get the coffee in the cans?

As for taste, it's just regular, canned coffee, with a bit of milk and sugar.

I did, but I left it intact.

Why? They're not special cans, and you can always get more coffee that's in basically identical cans anytime!

[Sunstar]

I'm in canada and we don't get this sort of thing.

[Va'al]

Velvet Thunder
(Spoiler free-ish)

NOTE: The Annual is out on Wednesday, but to avoid discussion about it clashing too much with the other Optimus Prime comic book also out this week, this review is published before the release of the book. There are no spoilers insofar as we were able to keep them in check.

Synopsis
THUNDERCRACKER IN: STARSCREAM: THE MOVIE! The good news: somebody finally gave Thundercracker money to make a film. The bad news: it's Starscream, and he wants a biographical picture to win over the people of Earth. Will Thundercracker stand by his principles or... well, no, he makes the movie.

His FACE

Story

Annuals are a strange thing, in comics series, arriving as they do from outside the narrative, but still usually relevant to the main strands of stories told in the main series they refer to. In Till All Are One's case, we saw it actually being a conclusion; in Optimus Prime, we see a long-frame of rounding out and rounding up some moments regarding Starscream (in deferred time) and Thundercracker himself.

our noble hero

And the result is something that truly excels at highlighting the troubled past of the Seekers and the Decepticon ranks and faction, through the focus of the former's leader Starscream, and the lens of Thundercracker - and it does so injecting some actually surprisingly serious, resonating moments in an apparently light-hearted framing.

what humour

The story, then, takes place across a number of moments that follow Starscream's rise to power and later fall (hence my reference to the TAAO annual above), as Thundercracker starts the work and only concludes it much, much later. Barber's script, as I will say in the other Optimus Prime comic review this week, is a mine of delights for anyone with any interest in Transformers lore, and choc-full of cameos and references.

you're gonna need a bigger bot!

And that is something that Barber is very good at, leaning onto it in full force for a lot of beats in the issue. Using the framing of Thundercracker to give us a story about Starscream was good. Very good. It then turns to Thundercracker again, almost suddenly, and it gets perhaps even better, reminding us of how powerful he actually can be, and what his background is.


Art

The general framework of the light-heartedness of the script suits Priscilla Tramontano's art style perfectly, and John-Paul Bove's colours just help it that little more, keeping in line with the likes of MTMTE #57 in Titans Return, and the general silliness-but-not-really of Thundercracker's emotive side, even just as we open the issue on the title page. It's just.. fun.

niiiiiiice

An unexpected - though entirely by my own fault - surprise comes in the small parts in which regular Thundercracker artist (from xRID and Transformers days) Andrew Griffith was brought in, with colours by Josh Burcham, to round out some flashbacks and cutscenes. And paired with Tramontano, and the framing of the narrative devices, it just works. Beautifully so.

Seekers: Origin

As for the joyous touches added by the lettering, we see Shawn Lee feature back in, and having probably as much fun as the rest of the creative team on this, with some particularly fun parts in Buster's various noises, and the sound effects that manifest in various forms throughout.

We've seen both of the covers available for the issue, and both are viewable in our database entryhere, but I chose the Andrew Griffith / Josh Perez for the points made above: having him show one of his old 'creations' was a lovely touch.

Thoughts
WARNING: this may contain spoilers

A script that takes itself nowhere too seriously, with art that combines the more significant beats with the overall joyful, gleeful fun that the team clearly had while working on this project, with a spotlight on some of the lesser seen moments of Decepticon and Cybertronian history, and a bot-load of character work worthy of the best bottle episodes out there. You really should pick this annual up, with one caveat...

me, humbly, with this review

...Barber's strengths may also be the hurdle to new readers coming to see Thundercracker doing fun movie fanfic things and being more influenced by humanity than Decepticonism. The references, the interviews, the cameos - they may not work for a newer Transformers fan (but which also speak to readers of Revolutionaries, GI Joe, xRID, and more). At the same time, they do not, in any way, detract from the overall enjoyment of the story, as those very same references also branch out to wider points, such as commentary on fandom, and popular media in general, references to specific franchises, and more. I repeat myself: pick this up.

. out of

[Targetmaster Kup]

Where in continuity does this issue for?

[Daniel Adkins]

Where in continuity does this issue for?

It appears to take place between Optimus Prime #14 and #15, before the TAAO Annual.

[Va'al]

Where in continuity does this issue for?

It appears to take place between Optimus Prime #14 and #15, before the TAAO Annual.

I think it's also after, as we have Starscream in his rise to power commissioning the movie, and after his confession in the TAAO annual (he has the hologram of his 'good' self) towards the end of the movie's production.

[Sunstar]

Where in continuity does this issue for?

It appears to take place between Optimus Prime #14 and #15, before the TAAO Annual.

I think it's also after, as we have Starscream in his rise to power commissioning the movie, and after his confession in the TAAO annual (he has the hologram of his 'good' self) towards the end of the movie's production.

Sooo... do you think I'll like it?

[Va'al]

Where in continuity does this issue for?

It appears to take place between Optimus Prime #14 and #15, before the TAAO Annual.

I think it's also after, as we have Starscream in his rise to power commissioning the movie, and after his confession in the TAAO annual (he has the hologram of his 'good' self) towards the end of the movie's production.

Sooo... do you think I'll like it?

It's a Thundercracker story that revolves around Starscream. It's not a Starscream story, though he is the catalyst, if you will.

Briefly: I have no idea. But it's a good book.

[Chibi Starscream]

Sounds great. I gotta have it. My Seeker fangirl self yearns to read it.

[Ironhidensh]

It was nice to see a reminder that Thundercracker was once a bad badass warrior.

[Va'al]

Falling Pains
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
The Falling, Part 2: The arrival of Onyx Prime throws Cybertron into chaos—because he hasn’t come alone. Onyx’s treacherous companion forces Soundwave to finally make a choice: is Optimus Prime a friend... or foe?

...

Story

John Barber is extremely busy this week, with his handiwork appearing in two major stories for the Optimus Prime series, and one of his greatest strengths appears loud and clear in both: his knowledge of the franchise and how to weave together multiple pasts into something that makes complete and utter sense in a new story thread, be it through one line comments to Aligned, cameos from Beast Wars, or anything in the Annual (see review here!).

Hey, it's Alpha Bravo!

To add to all that, Barber's Soundwave is one of the better developed, multi-faceted, and narratively functional for experimentation in script and page layout characters that has emerged out of the IDW universe of Transformers - and this issue cements it. You almost miss the point of view just before the climax of the issue, until you realise you hadn't, you just skipped a beat.

my heart just did again

That said, I'll also reiterate what I had mentioned previously to ScottyP about Onyx Prime, with an added caveat that comes out of this issue specifically: he is terrifying, imposing, well-crafted and grounded in enough lore and versions of reality to make him come across as the threat that he is, and what his presence means to the different characters who face him.

More Beast Wars!

With those two major points in mind, though, there is one dangling issue I want to address with regards to the pacing and the narration: the story will most definitely feel chaotic, fragmented even, at times - but hold on to those fragments, as they serve a purpose, and they're never entirely unintentional.


Art

Kei Zama on lineart truly does wonders with her darker inks and shadows, even for an issue that deals a lot more with nuance than it might initially look like. The art, then, perfectly fits the script, the fear and threat that both Onyx Prime and Liege Maximo have brought to Cybertron are physically palpable. Additionally, the page and panel layouts are gorgeous and gorgeously functional, especially with Soundwave at the centre.

literally, at times

And if Zama's art is well suited to the script, Josh Burcham's colouring work on the lineart just makes sure that is most definitely indeed the case. It helps us work through the fragments and the parallels alike, where the art might at times throw a little more shade over comprehension than is perhaps necessary.

unf

What is left of the visuals, then, is what holds the narrative together - which would otherwise be a headache-inducing task, were it not for the balancing act of Tom B Long and his careful lettering of dialogue, captions, and placing on the page and in the panels. There is no unintended misdirection.

As for the covers, the one thumbnailed spotlights Casey Coller and John-Paul Bove's variant for this arc, with the silhouette suggesting the point of view taken in the issue. The other two, the main Zama/Burcham early Cybertron take on a happy family (*my heart*) and the Marcelo Matere (no colour credit given) Prime on Prime action can both be seen in our database entry here.

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

Any story that features John Barber's Soundwave is already looking good to me (there are some exceptions in the recent past, but let me have this), and linking current day situations with the character's parallels from his own personal and ideological past is a great way to frame a story that already did something similar, yet entirely different, with the Mistress of Flame last month.

lol jk

There is politics, there is personality, there is a strand of dark humour that just works when spoken deadpan (again, Soundwave) and with the artistic team working so hard to make this story come across for the weighty matter that it is, you might even miss a twist that may or may not be there - but if it is, and once it kicks in, you'll grin worse that Onyx Prime's apparently permanent grimace.

. out of

[Randomhero]

I had a hard time following the last couple pages. It kinda looked like Soundwave was overwhelmed and unleashed some kind of sonic explosion but it wasn’t. I waited for the wiki summary to explain it was an unknown explosion.

That said I loved the issue all around. Really great!

[Sunstar]

I read both, but I need to re-read #16 when I don't have a migraine. I adore Thunderbuns <3

[Va'al]

That is a thing I do not have a hard time imagining. As I said in the review, it works for having Soundwave as the narrator/POV - but it doesn't make it easier on the brain power.

[ScottyP]

That is a thing I do not have a hard time imagining. As I said in the review, it works for having Soundwave as the narrator/POV - but it doesn't make it easier on the brain power.

Yeah it tooks me a few days and a couple reads to really work it out. I got it in one read, but appreciated it after the second.