B.U.M.B.L.E.B.E.E
(Spoiler free-ish)
SynopsisSome call him Goldfender, but the name's Bee... Bumblebee. On loan to MI6 and teamed with a human partner, Bee's trapped in the middle of a Cold War plot to disrupt British Secret Intelligence. But when things go wrong, it's up to Bee to discover if there's a traitor in their midst. In the spy world, allegiances can change just as easily as a Transformer.
well, kindaIt has been a very long time since we saw anything in print or digital as a tie-in or lead-in or even just promotion, for the Paramount live action universe, as directed by Michael Bay. It looks as though, now that the plans are changing - and very much so - we're back in business however, and the old movie comics making team is back for the ride!
with a theme song!John Barber is clearly having fun with this mini-series, even just from the first issue, as the puns are aplenty, the references even more so, and the dynamic between Bumblebee and Omega Zero / David Reeve is hard to shake too far away from Ian Noble-Action Man and Kup, from the pages of Revolutionaries. The action is worthy of something that can be a movie blockbuster for sure, but it's their dialogue (and the acronyms) that sticks the most.
and the cheesy one-linersThat said, I am a little confused at the pitching of this series - as it's intended to be aimed at a younger audience, yet has very pulp, noir, crime references and context which a younger audience may very well not get at all. Plus, if it is indeed to lead into the upcoming Bumblebee movie, I'm very curious to see what this story established about the current Cybertronian situation on Earth.
ArtAs team is back, Andrew Griffith returns next to Barber to work on the visuals for the former's script as the A.R.T.I.S.T., and as we already knew, his mechanical-but-organic, movie designs work amazingly (as does his architecture), and are dynamic without fault in their execution - which cannot otherwise be entirely said about some of the human renditions of the other side of the cast, unfortunately. It may, at this point, just be my personal taste getting in the way, however.
from Griffith's TwitterPriscilla Tramontano does some seriously impressive work as the C.O.L.O.R.I.S.T. to go with the excellent base lines, and manages to bring both a fresh coat over some old-style looks, and make it all work as a new perspective on an old visual aesthetic. Partnering that up with some well placed, even spot on, SFX from regular L.E.T.T.E.R.E.R. Tom B Long, and you get an explosive mix that works extremely well with the punchy script for this opening issue.
boomboomThe covers for this series so far have been a huge selling point for myself and several other fans online, be it the regular Griffith / Tramontano variant, the Fico Ossio, Megatron-cameoing version, or the pulpy Sara Pitre Durocher take on the story - you can view them all in our comics database
here, with credits!
ThoughtsSpoilerish aheadConsider my interest very slightly piqued, at least insofar as we're getting some more human-bot interaction from Barber - as well as his usual net weaving, with Sector Seven, various continuity issue jugglings and fun dialogue - along with what this story will say about Bee losing his voice, how the movie version we saw develops from this very different character, and what other cameos might make it in both character and style.
but we areThe movie aesthetic may turn off a fair few regular IDW style accustomed readers, but keeping the target in mind, younger fans will probably have grown up with this style and it's a great idea to have something Transformers comics based for them in the hands of Griffith and Tramontano. The covers are definitely also a big draw, and not one to be underestimated.
Down below, the top two photos are DB4 Zagatos from the front, (the black and white one is my photo!) And then below that is the DB5, the car James Bond drove. You can tell the color cover was drawn around the Zagato in the details. Shape of the headlights, round body, drawn out grill, etc. The car in the black and white cover is sort of a made up amalgamation of several old British cars, primarily a DB5. 
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