(Top of the) DINOPILE!
(Spoiler free-ish)
SynopsisGO TEAM ’BEE! BUMBLEBEE leads an all-star team of AUTOBOTS to Earth to find rogue DECEPTICONS… but in this all-new story based on the hit Cartoon Network animated series, they find more than… they bargained for! (You thought we were going to say “meets the eye,” didn’t you?)
DINOPILEAfter the Free Comic Book Day almost one-off issue by John Barber, new writer Georgia Ball has taken on the task of keeping this series up and going, with a new angle on the almost over first seasons of the new animated show Transformers: Robots in Disguise. And the angle is probably the closest we'll ever get to some continuity with Prime - but how does the rest of the series look with its first issue down? Read on!
Good old daysWhat readers need to keep in mind is that this comic series is aimed at a very similar target audience as the cartoon, and will not be playing into the wider TFverse that most of the other IDW titles are exploring right now. That said, the vibrancy and humour of the series is deftly transposed from screen to page, even with the monster of the week formula that only worked for so long in the show.
Genericon #1234What Ball's writing brings, along with some really silly jokes (which I loved, I won't lie), is also an interesting look, perhaps even better than the show did, at Bumblebee's discomfort with his position as leader, the unruliness of his 'team' - and the feeling of utter betrayal arising from the final scenes in the book.
ArtA lot of the work done by Ball's script, both on the lighthearted and serious sides of the coin, is wonderfully heightened by Priscilla Tramontano's excellent visual rendition, showcasing a variety of expressions, body language interactions, panel dispositions and layouts, and just a general sense of *fun*!
Is it..?Tramontano's colours, too, are sleek, stunning and fun, the characters are fun, are obviously having fun, and so is the artist/colourist! We get references to the wider IDWverse (with MTMTE's My First Blaster making an appearance early on in the issue), and some always excellent lettering from Tom B. Long, who can play around with a lot more sounds than usual. And two great tone-catching covers, by Tramontano and Travis Sengaus/Josh Burcham (thumbnailed).
ThoughtsSpoilerish aheadGiven the target audience, the timescale of the comic compared to the show, and what the FBCD issue had set up, this is an excellent debut for a younger reader series, one that ensures to keep the light side of the dynamics between the characters on the show, pokes some fun around at things, and includes the excellent Grimlock and running gags - including the no-nonsense general recap - without driving them into the ground.
The Decepticon sticker! The Blaster! The teeth!Ball and Tramontano are set to bring a fresher look at some of the moanings of the older readership, with the ending of both issue #0 and #1 just enough to keep us intrigued while the actual target fully revel in the (I'm running out of words to say) fun! Worth picking up for a new reader, for the art direction and colours, and always worth it for the bouncing dialogue, . And dinobot.
