The Energon Pub

[Denyer]

http://tfarchive.com/comics/idw/movieprequel1a.php

Asked after staff of other TF sites doing advance reviews of stuff... the person to talk to is Dan Taylor. I've only seen them at Fractal Matter, so it'd be nice to get other TF places involved.

Anyway... enjoy, feel free to point out stupid mistakes on my part, etc.

edit: It kind of goes without saying, but there are a few spoilers in the review.

[Tigertrack]

Thanks for sharing. I look forward to reading this myself.

[Hotrod]

Front paged and credited Denyer! Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Autobobby1]

Very interesting backstory! Megatron ruled Cybertron with Prime, then declared war are sides were chosen? Cool!

[zoso504]

Maybe I'm misreading the reviewer's thoughts, but was he/she hinting that the Allspark generated life on Earth? Interesting...

[Denyer]

Nope. Just what Prime's reasoning was in sending it away from Megatron's reach. Certain TFs could have been on Earth a while before the movie's set, I think, what with [redacted spoilers about things hinted for the movie plot in online sources] but it didn't feel as if there was a link between Prime's explanation and the next issue caption later on.

The impression is that getting the Allspark back is urgent, so that even when Bumblebee says it took him a while to communicate where Megatron had gone, not much time has passed and the pressure's still on.

Of course, it could theoretically work out that way and Cybertron be dead by the timeframe the movie's set in. But I'm guessing not.

[Alex Kingdom]

Nice review, sound like the comic book might be half decent. However this paragraph sums up pretty much how I feel about the movie:

There's a pretty good chance I'm going to enjoy this more than the movie. I know, it's partly my own fault, I shouldn't have read the scripts, and if I hadn't I wouldn't be expecting the cinematic debut of Independence Day With Robots. It's a bit harder to get really stoked about a film when you're watching for the CGI and lots of things blowing up. For me it is, anyway.

I'm going to find it very hard not to allow the other fiction related to the movie, be it well written or not, from being tainted by the movie itself. Which is why this is such a good review. It very hard, if you of the opinion that this movie will not be particularly good, to be able to judge the spin off/promotional material on it's own merits. Excellent review.

Yours AK

[Lunarabbit]

Hmmm... looks like one of the covers shown might provide an answer to a certain question regarding the new list that includes a few non-movie movie toys....

[dragons]

i like the art very much if it wasnt the leaked pictures i would have never figured out who was who on the cover but he didnt mention why all the decepticons look like shockwave strange and is that ironhide with a crossbow?, arcee, or someone completely differnt we havnt seen just yet ill be getting both covers.?

[Lunarabbit]

...and is that ironhide with a crossbow?

I'd say it's pretty safe to wager that it isn't Ironhide....

[Cumulus]

sweetness all around, definitely looking forwrad to it

[Denyer]

why all the decepticons look like shockwave

From what I gather, final designs for most of the "name" characters are still under wraps to a degree (in spite of any leaks) because of publicity arrangements for the movie. IDW is cleared to use them for the comics themselves, but having covers with too many spoilers out there ahead of time would be a big no-no. The first issue concentrates mainly on establishing a few characters. Reckon it'd confuse the new folk a lot otherwise.

Most of the cues I was talking about are interior art and appearances, though that bulky dark grey 'Con on the second cover reminds me a lot of Barricade.

[bumblezzz]

actually I think prime jazz bb ratchet and ironhide are all there. look under bumblebees legs. and for ratchet it is the red one. looks like concept art of the red ratchet.

[Stormrider]

Thanks for sharing the prequel. The story is actually getting me interested in the movie. The artists do a pretty good job of taking the movie protoforms and trying to give them a Transformer appearance that we are more familar with.

One question - if the Allspark is full of unyielding energy, then why doesn't it fry Spike when he runs off with it?

[Stormrider]

Thanks for sharing the prequel. The story is interesting. The artists do a pretty good job of taking the movie protoforms and trying to give them a Transformer appearance that we are more familar with.

One question - if the Allspark is full of unyielding energy, then why doesn't it fry Spike when he runs off with it?

[Leonardo]

While I like the artwork, that image of the crossbow-wielding TF, if it is a crossbow, made me think instantly of Samus Aran and not Transformers. I'm sorry if that comes across as a slur, but to me they resemble more humans in cybersuits than Cybertronians.

I'm willing to accept that's a close-minded view of it, however.

[Liege Evilmus]

I like that review, well writen and worded. I normaly pass on the comics(I know I shouldn't) so for someonelike me, this was a perfect summation!

I look forward to issue 2.