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Beast Wars: The Ascending

Posted:
Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:04 pm
by Dr. Caelus
Didn't see a thread for this, so I figured I should get it kicked off.
Over all, I'd say it was 'okay'. It established the comic's place chronologically, and initiated the next story arc, that was about it.
Spoilers:
I really thought Ravage was Stasis-locked way too easily, especially for a Transmetal II.
Grimlock's little scene with Manterror, Retrax, and Snapper was funny.
Longrack's Cybertronian mode was a nice nod to Hasbro.
The three cybertronians at the end took me a while to figure out. I don't know their proper names, but they're Japanese repaints of Torca, Skyshadow, and Injector.
And what the heck was up with the McDonald's Manta-Ray being a Predacon? I thought he was a Maximal?
And can Torca 'swim' through the Earth?

Posted:
Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:41 pm
by Calvatron
I enjoyed myself, but i'm not really into it at this point. I hope it draws me in more.

Posted:
Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:53 pm
by Scaleface
Okay, I'll assume this thread is for people who read the comic, so I'll talk freely.
Yes, Manta Ray and Beetle are Predacons. Rhino and Panther are Maximals.
I liked Longrack's cybertronian form. Should be easy to make one with a Cybertron Longrack and a repro label.

Posted:
Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:13 pm
by i_amtrunks
With all good luck, and with the comic gods a smilin' I should have these in my hands by tonight!!!
Muhahahahaha!
Re: Beast Wars: The Ascending

Posted:
Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:49 pm
by Tigertrack
Caelus wrote:Didn't see a thread for this, so I figured I should get it kicked off.
Over all, I'd say it was 'okay'. It established the comic's place chronologically, and initiated the next story arc, that was about it.
Spoilers:
I really thought Ravage was Stasis-locked way too easily, especially for a Transmetal II.
Grimlock's little scene with Manterror, Retrax, and Snapper was funny.
Longrack's Cybertronian mode was a nice nod to Hasbro.
The three cybertronians at the end took me a while to figure out. I don't know their proper names, but they're Japanese repaints of Torca, Skyshadow, and Injector.
And what the heck was up with the McDonald's Manta-Ray being a Predacon? I thought he was a Maximal?
And can Torca 'swim' through the Earth?
I liked it. It appears they have tunnels underground so Torca may have only been in a tunnel underneath.
With the three you mention at the end being Blendtron's, they were Unicron's heralds, were they not?
It was a TF comic, I enjoyed it, but Devastation is more my style.
Did enjoy Cybertron Longrack's appearance. Stampy being in it was cool too.
Re: Beast Wars: The Ascending

Posted:
Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:27 pm
by Dr. Caelus
tigertracks 24 wrote:With the three you mention at the end being Blendtron's, they were Unicron's heralds, were they not?
I think so, and that makes sense plot-wise, but I know pretty much jack about the Japanese continuity.
Did enjoy Cybertron Longrack's appearance. Stampy being in it was cool too.
Yeah, I would shell out the money for a Cybertronian Stampy figure. His botmode was all sorts of snazzy, and implied a kick-aft altmode. With ginormous engines.[/quote]

Posted:
Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:23 pm
by Justicity
Oh what a beautiful comic ^^
Worth the wait for me. Yes, I thought it was a really interesting read, loved how they used the alt modes a little more unlike in the Gathering where Beast Modes rarely appeared apart from some walking scenes & the Grimlock-Magy fight.
Will be interesting to see how things turn out with Shockaract (sp?), his birth/rebirth (?) looks very cultish & should bring some interesting plot. Cannot wait till 2 comes out.
Ravage's stasis lock didn't come too easily in my opinion, his head was whacked straight into a wall, thats enough to knock out a human, & seeing as the mechanics are similar, with all the vital information being stored & worked up there, a transformer's head should be just as vulnerable, just a little more reinforced.
I liked how he actually
spoke in this comic, unlike Gathering, I could really imagine his voice. I just hope they have a fight between him & Nightglider (? Maximal Flying Squirrel) so he can make a reference to "Moose & Squrul"
Not going to happen is it?
Edit: My bad, just reread the Gathering & realized Ravage DID speak in that, it just wasn't memorable


Posted:
Thu Oct 04, 2007 4:50 am
by Scaleface
Was Stampy a redecoed Energon Skyblast? Not perfect, but he's close.



Posted:
Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:24 am
by Jokopoko
Yes, I liked the opening to this new series but a few things have irked me somewhat. Firstly the colouring, it really doesn't do Don's artwork justice in my opinion...it looks way to cartoony for me and one of the really good things about Gathering (For me anyway) was how natural and really it actually looked.
Another thing would be the keeping of the Japanese names, now before I'm flamed let me say I don't mind those names but I was under the impression Lio Convoy was going to be referred to as Leo Prime for us, but hey its not that bad I guess.
Other than that really I liked this issue and expect great things from the series.

Posted:
Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:08 pm
by i_amtrunks
Justicity wrote:Oh what a beautiful comic ^^
I agree, the sloppy work on Megatron origins makes me appreciate Dons and Su's work on BW and Devastation all the more.
Great setup issue, putting Cybertron Longrack in the comic was pure win, Cybertronian Stampy would make for a great figure, even if he is a somewhat obscure character.
Torca's appearance was great, and hopefully Grimlock does not get too many more starring roles, he is kinda boring in this issue.
Shockaract will be great, hopefully Antagony follows him out of the pit thingy.

Posted:
Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:16 pm
by Briggs
Just finished first read. Not bad. enjoyed it more then devastation.
Sure are alot of characters, glad i picked up the source book too, lots of faces to get aquainted with (preds suck, btw. insects suck)

Posted:
Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:57 pm
by VestigialHeart
I don't post very often, but i had a question. I just got done reading the first issue and the one thing that's REALLY bothering me is the fact that B'boom appears twice. Is the cybertronian version that's with Lio Convoy supposed to be Apache? If so, didn't he have roughly the exact same color scheme?
As far as the japanese names go there was never a US release of stampy, mach-kick, break (next issue), dirgegun, killer punch (my personal favorite) or lio convoy was there? Isn't the only release of Leo Prime that Classics repaint of liger jack/leobreaker?
EDIT: I just got done flipping through the first sourcebook and it answered my question. I'm still not sure how i feel about the fact that both figures are virtually identical and are represented as seperate characters. I would have prefered they ousted B'boom and leave the original BWII and BW:NEO characters in tact.

Posted:
Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:27 pm
by Scaleface
I believe B'Boom and Apache are identical, as well as Clawjaw and Scuba and Snarl and Tasmanian Kid. All the other reused Japan molds at least slightly different colors (Like Bonecrusher and Bighorn, one has some red paint on the face, the other white).
Would be kinda nice though if they either tried to explain it (they are brothers, they used the same scan of a babboon) or if they just acknoledged it (Hey Apache, you look just like B'Boom!) I did notice they gave them different weapons in the profile books.

Posted:
Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:23 am
by Briggs
I've decided that Razorbeast is an awesome character and commander.

Posted:
Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:19 am
by Marty Rocket
I'll probably be in the minority here when I say this. I liked it, but after reading it, at the end I was left feeling kind of flat. Like I'm not that excited to pick up the next issue. I felt that way with the last Beast Wars comic series, too.
The redone G1 series Simon Furman is writing on the other hand leaves me excited at the end of each issue, especially with what you're left with at the end of Devastation's issue 1.

Posted:
Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:39 am
by Counterpunch
I actually found the book boring.


Posted:
Fri Oct 05, 2007 10:15 am
by Tigertrack
Counterpunch wrote:I actually found the book boring.

I agree, it was the way most minis start, but Devastation was pretty exciting.

Posted:
Fri Oct 05, 2007 10:48 am
by Briggs
tigertracks 24 wrote:Counterpunch wrote:I actually found the book boring.

I agree, it was the way most minis start, but Devastation was pretty exciting.
lol, i found it the complete opposite!

Posted:
Fri Oct 05, 2007 12:25 pm
by Counterpunch
tigertracks 24 wrote:Counterpunch wrote:I actually found the book boring.

I agree, it was the way most minis start, but Devastation was pretty exciting.
I want to see Big Convoy. I want to see Galvatron (BW2). I want to be impressed.
A simple page or two of Big Convoy on a battlefield, kicking ass and then getting called home by Lio Convoy would have done it. Show me Galvatron in the shadows having more information than either Maximal or their enemies have.
I really feel the ball was dropped on this one. Dropped harder than the ending to the Micromaster book.


Posted:
Fri Oct 05, 2007 2:20 pm
by Tigertrack
Counterpunch wrote:I really feel the ball was dropped on this one. Dropped harder than the ending to the Micromaster book.

Ouch that is really a low blow CP.


Posted:
Fri Oct 05, 2007 7:51 pm
by Darth Bombshell
Counterpunch wrote:I actually found the book boring.

I can't help but agree. But up to a point. While it's true that I found it boring, I do think that it's going to get somewhere by the end of the story. Truthfully, it hasn't expunged all that was bad about The Gathering, and I know for certain that the "somewhere" isn't going to be good from a narrative point of view, but I'm more willing to accept it, if only because it actually has a chance of being good, despite all that could go wrong.

Posted:
Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:09 am
by Leonardo
I found this reasonably enjoyable. I've only had one read-through thus far.
Having Magmatron as a chronally displaced entity that can see all seems like a convenient method of having some exposition, which to me feels somewhat like a shortcut. Of course, in a story that's only four issues long, it might be necessary to do that to move it along. I don't know.

Posted:
Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:16 pm
by Sentinel Pax
Anyone think they could post some pics of Stampy and the others' Cybertronian modes? As for the comic itself, I've heard a mixed response to it.

Posted:
Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:39 pm
by Darth Bombshell
Sentinel Pax wrote: As for the comic itself, I've heard a mixed response to it.
I'm not at all surprised about that. A year's build up will do that.

Posted:
Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:43 am
by Tigertrack
Sentinel Pax wrote:Anyone think they could post some pics of Stampy and the others' Cybertronian modes? As for the comic itself, I've heard a mixed response to it.
Yes, I was kind of hoping for this in the BW Sourcebook, but it appears not to be part of what they had in mind to do.
Maybe in the trade of this series they'll collect together the designs for the Cybertronian modes for those they have.