Oh yeah Jazz is awesome, definitely Saboteur material  . Using his own energon converter as a weapon.

And I love the look of Iacon before the war hit it.

 

I was somewhat bored by the issue. While I do like that the issue showed certain ways the Autobots kept their hopes up while stranded on Cybertron during the AHM period, the "battle" with the Predacons wasn't all it was cracked up to be. No Predaking, take out three right away. Definately not my favorite Spotlight thus far.

 

Seems like this issue should have shipped a few months ago, before Kup's crew showed up.

 

has anyone else noticed the airwolf homage when it comes to the look used for helicoptor ironhide and the crew were on?

seriously people just looking at that cybertronian gunship sporting that colorscheme has me thinking airwolf for some reason

 

I liked the issue. Sure, it wasn't anything really necessary or exciting, but it was nice to see a bit of an uplifting story for once. Not to mention, it seemed to show they Autobots a more 'real' in a sense.

 

I liked the issue not as good as Blurr but it was still good and I think its the closest thing we'll get to a Tracks Spotlight

 

One thing I did like was the Predacon sense of honor, mostly displayed by Razorclaw. These guys seemed like the kind of guys BW Dinobot would have derived his warrior's code from.

 

I agree with the general consensus-- good, but a bit predictable and not OMG AWESOME! good.

I did enjoy that Tracks assumed Jazz had kicked Razorclaw's skidplate when it was actually the other way around, though.

This story was before the Autobots even came to Earth, so there shouldn't have been any combiners except Monstructor yet.

It was originally solicited to be released in February.

 

I'm probably alone in this, but the TF: Animated verbal mannerisms that cross over into G1 stuff bugs me. It's okay for the cartoon, I guess. It's more light-hearted and you can get away with saying "servos" 500 times in an episode. I just totally face-palmed when Trailbreaker called Jazz "Boss 'bot".

The art style was very rough, but it didn't bug me too much. I could make out what was happening, but I felt like it was a wasted opportunity for some wallpaper worthy shots.

The story was neat, but the overall 'what it means to be an Autobot' point was too 2x4 upside the head, where it should have been more subdued. It was driven home in the beginning, through the middle, and then again at the end. I think just having it just at the end would have made a darker and more bad-ass story take focus, with a nice Autobot message delivered at the end.

 

Before I read this issue, I was torn on what kind of approach I should take in judging it, knowing that some 'newbie' fans like myself were the ones breaking it out.

I decided, "Hey, if I'm paying the $3.99 to read it, then I should not evaluate with kid gloves on, I should evaluate it just as I would any other Spotlight comic".

So I did just that.

And loved it.

From start to finish, this story kept my attention, and as the story unfolded whilst reading it, I think a congratulative smile kind of crept onto my face.

So yeah, congrats to you guys for putting this together. I found it to be just the kind of tale that got me into Transformers in the first place, full of heart and spirit with just the right amount of suspense, action, and humor. What a spotlight should be, really.

In particular, I applaud the decision to include a two-page spread of Jazz going at it with Razorclaw. Some might find this wasted space, but I have found that these kind of battles have been somewhat neglected of late. I think Prime vs. Megs in Escalation was maybe the last time such focus had been put on a fight.

And let's face it, these are the kind of battles that cemented our love of Transformers in our youth, and it's nice to rekindle a bit of that now and then.

Also, nice use of 'tech'. These are robots, after all, so it's nice to see the use of a cable-toted camera retracting from Jazz's wrist, for example, and the static-like vision from Tracks damaged optics. Nice touches.

I am hardpressed to find something I didn't like, but if put to the task, i would say the Predacons were too easily taken out. One could still rationalize this, though, by saying they had not faced an opponent with the cunning, guile, and heart of Jazz. So it still works on some level, IMO.

One of the best Spotlight yet to see print.

Strong work.

Give it an "A".

With MD #4, twas a great day to be a TF comic fan.

 

Actually, that stuff's not just from TFA, but from BW and G1. (Boss-bot was what Quickstrike would occasionally call Megatron)

 

i agree entirely

 

I was going to mention that as well, since Cheetor always called Primal 'Big Bot' and Rattrap sometimes used 'Boss Monkey.' Besides, I always call people I work for Boss, even when I was in the military so it seemed more realistic to me.

Does Tracks know Jazz saved him? The flashback may have been the first time Tracks has worked with Jazz, but now they're in the same small group. You can't tell me he never figured out by Jazz's voice and behavior. But in the end, it's played like Tracks has no idea. It just left me confused is all.

 

He knows it's Jazz now. There would be no way he can mistake that voice for anyone elses. But he knows it was Jazz who saved him, because he mentioned I think, or how would Prowl have known it was Jazz?

EDIT: Oh maybe they don't know it was Jazz nvm. The way Tracks smiled at him at the end made me think he knew, but I guess he doesn't.

 

Hey guys, Josh van Reyk here, I'll clear this up as best I can.

Tracks did eventually figure it out, but out of respect for Jazz, has never let on. It adds more to the weight of the story if it's some mystery Autobot. You know how people say you should never meet your heroes, same kinda concept here.

Prowl, having known Jazz pretty well for a long time, figured out who Tracks was talking about. Prowl knew Jazz was feeling pretty down about their situation, so he goes to cheer him up a littlle, remind him of the message of the story.

 

They couldn't have Predaking due to (from how I was reading it) the timing of flashbacks in this issue took place before the Infiltration/Devestation etc arcs and before the Autobots left Cybertron and at that time combiner technology was only present in Monstructor.

Overall I found it an ok issue, but like you said Jazz taking out three of the Predacons right away was a little bit to much especially if we are to believe that these are Megatons Elite Squad.

 

Well, Tantrum, Headstrong and Rampage ARE the three dumbest ones. Or maybe they were expecting a straight-ahead from Autobots, rather than special ops gureilla tactics like the energon bomb, tactics which Jazz was likely a pioneer of at the time. Razorclaw saw it for the trap it was. (How Ackbar of him.)

Jazz got a stroke of luck and made the most of it.

 

When you put it like that it makes sense.

 

Thanks for clearing that up!

 

got a copy and love reading it.

one minor gripe though,
we can see that jazz only has 8 cycle before stasis lock and then razorclaw claw ripped his gut out, wouldnt jazz not be able to move or talk afterward?