Out tomorrow, Wednesday, January 20th. Meanwhile, an early review of the issue along with a few new images of a spoiler-ish nature.

TFW2005 Reviews Bumblebee #2 - Transformers News

Pick up the issue tomorrow and discuss!

 

Is that a Constructicon?

 

It is indeed! It's Scavenger, I think that's the best he's ever looked too, but I like this art style lots.

 

Got the first issue of this and hated the art style... On that basis, I will be avoiding the other issues in this series.

 

hahaha i love how bee looks so smug with his hands behind his back, like that.

 

I really like the art, it reminds me of some of the best of the Marvel UK stuff from back in the day.

that said, from an editorial perspective i still think IDW is right off their rocker trying to sell 2 series with such divergent character models as being the same continuity. It's kinda ridiculous.

 

Wow... loving Scavenger, and how HUGE he is (despite being the loser of the Constructicons). Nice.

Looks like Skywarp's getting to show how sneaky he is... though so far I'm not seeing his basic stupidity shining through. This is supposed to be the guy who is "useless without supervision"... but instead of running amok or aimlessly hiding out like the other Cons, he's hatching this master plan. Hm.

Liking the art.

zmog

 

Tim I noticed you said someone makes a surprise appearance, who is it? I won’t be able to get my copy till the weekend.

 

Spoiler

Scavenger

. Not really a surprise, as he appears on next month's cover....but I didn't want to flat out say that in the review for those that don't follow preview images or previews of covers.

 

Thanks man! I haven't even seen next month's cover. I like the brown tint they've given him.

 

As revealed in the issue,

Spoiler

it's a disguise.

.

 

Ah, interesting.

 

Bumblebee as autobot leader; what a horrid premise for a comic. Now he's giving speeches like the second coming of optimus prime, I must be in the Twilight Zone.

 

I find it funny that Blurr is in his Cybertronian mode, even though in TF ongoing #3 he was an Earth car   How much time has passed in between?

Not that I really care about that. Love the art and am interested in this miniseries..I just haven't been able to find it.  

 

WellyouseeItotallygottheissuetodayyouknowtheonewiththeHotRodcovereventhoughyoudon'tseeHotRodinthestory
butbytheallsparkthisisabouteighteenthousandthreehundredandfortyseventimesmorefunthantheongoingisevenso!

FirstofallitwasneattohaveBlurrtalkinginhisusualhyperactivewaythoughitwasneathowhecouldslowdownwhenheneededto
butIguessit'sjustashameotherAutobotscan'tmakehimoutnormallyImeantheyarehighlyadvancedbiomechanoidswithallsortsofprocessingpowers
sowouldn'tyouthinktheywouldn'thavethoughtofsomethingbynow?

AlsoIhavetosayIlikedtheTronreferencewithWheeljack'sspeechbutnotIwonderifheissupposedtosoundlikeDavidWarner
whowasreallycoolasGeneralChanginStarTrekTheUndiscoveredCountrybytheway
andmaybeWheeljackwouldhaveaskedfortheotherAutobotstomakehimmacaronipictureswhilehewentaboutbuildingagiantJohnWilkesBoothobot
inhissparetime...

OhandIhavetosaythatcrazySkywarplookslikehe'suptosomethingandhe'ssgoneoffthedeepend
youknowmaybehedoesn'tlikethewholeCarwarpthinghe'sgonnabeinAlternitybutontheotherhandmaybehe'sgonnabejealousifCarwarp
turnsouttobefasterwhenzoomingaroundasaflyingcarwithsupertransdimensionalpowersthanthecurrentversionisasaplane?

OneotherthingIwantedtomentionishowIhadhopedtheAlternityaltmodeforBumblebeehadbeenoneoftheones
shownasseenbyBlurronhistripbutthentherewereloadsofonesoffcamerasoitcouldhavebeenoneofthoseandbythewaywoulditsuckforBlurrif
AlternityBumblebeewasfasterthanhimtooImeanwhatisupwiththatcrazyTakaraTomystorylineanyway?

OverallthisissuelookedreallygoodandIhopeBumblebeedoesn'thavetoomuchtroublewiththatselfrepainting
Constructiconbutthenheneverwasthebrightesttoolintheshadanyway.

Wellit'stimeformetowrapupfornowsoI'lleaveyouwithareccomendationtogocheckouttheissueifyoucanandseeya!






(Sorry, I couldn't help myself...)

 

I love the way the mini titles of issues are set up in the Zander/Chee line-- "The Impossible Knot" comes just as BB is getting shot by Blurr. Very nice.

I also like how Bumblebee is slowly growing into the role of leader, and how mis-steps have been turned around with the help of his comrades. He is becoming their leader with their help. For example, Bee challenged the colonel with no plan in mind. He would've been zapped and turned into a car had it not been for the blast he sustained earlier. Only with the help of Ratchet was the situation turned around into a strategy.

The speech he gave Blurr was also awesome as he approached him not as a leader but as a comrade. I liked the pacing for it as well-- Blurr is searching for yellow bugs in the art as Bee is trying to convince him to help in the dialogue. Very effective, and the "Yes" Blurr gives at the end of that gave me a tingle. Likewise, Bee's speech to the other Autobots didn't arise out of his own feelings of the situation, they were inspired by Blurr who would rather die than live as the human's puppets. These were powerful moments as Bee truly becomes the people's (or the bots') leader, learning from others and adapting to situations as they arise.

Lastly the dialogue with Scavenger was awesome. Bee attempts to reach across the aisle--- errr, across faction lines-- to work together in bringing about peace and equality with the humans. Scavenger takes a swing at Bee and says "it's survival of the fittest, the better will rule the lesser beings. I'd rather hide now and stomp later rather than have them presume equality. go on, run autobot, see if ou can outrun history." Straight up chilling...

Great writing, starting to love the art. Even though it doesn't mesh with the ongoing and could be seen as bad marketing, I love being able to see the old school g1 designs in chee's style. Great work all around. I'd give the issue at 5/5

 

I really enjoyed the first issue of this, kinda excited to see where it goes.

 

Yeah it's weird but they keep doing it and no ones complaining enough for them to change it. - Guess it's a "good" move for them.

   

But those lines weren't as hard to read as I thought. I like the explanation they gave for it. Other than that, it was a good read :]

 

Bumblebee issue #2
I almost skipped this issue. I’m really not very impressed with the quality of the art or the writing in this series. However, having read this issue, I’ll go ahead and put down my thoughts on it.

The writing: The main problem I have with the writing is that all the characters are too stupid to be believable. Let’s not beat around the bush here: the Autobots act like idiots, and the Skywatch general acts like one as well. Bumblebee finally figures out that the general will double-cross them when he has no further use for them, when that should have been evident from the start. Likewise, the general falls for Bumblebee and Ratchet’s little pantomime routine when it should be obvious that the two are putting on an act. It’s like a badly written sitcom, so obvious and fake is the double act.

Now I’ll give the author some credit for not waiting until issue 4 to have the Autobots realize that the ultimate double-cross is coming. That particular plot development is so obvious that there’s just no way to drag things out and spring it on the reader at the last minute. So why don’t the Autobots just take the control badges off? Since that’s what Skywatch is holding over their heads, why keep wearing them? And it’s awfully convenient that Blurr decides to shoot Bumblebee in such a way that BB’s badge is disabled, but the general never notices despite the fact that it’s sparking big blue sparks the whole time.

And how exactly does Blurr have an Earth mode over in the ongoing, but has his Cybertronian mode here? And does he have to revert back to his super fast talking characteristic that IDW had thankfully discarded up to this point?

The only real interesting tidbit this issue offers is Bumblebee's assertion to Scavenger that Transformers have as much right to live on Earth as humans do. What? Since when? And why would he believe that? This is the first we've seen that any Autobot is thinking of settling on Earth permanantly, and I'd like to see this idea explored further.

The art: I just don’t like Chee’s artistic style. I didn’t care for it in the AHM coda issues, and I didn’t really like it in issue #1. By itself it doesn’t make or break the series, but combine it with sub-par writing and it drags the issue down.

The verdict: I still think the idea of Bumblebee taking the leadership of the Autobots when he’s utterly unsuited for such a role is sound and interesting. But the art, characterization and dialogue don’t support the concept. I’m honestly thinking that this is the last issue of the mini that I’m going to buy, despite being interested in where the story goes. I guess I’ll see how I feel next month.

 

] Glad at least someone liked it... []

] End of line. []