I've gotta say I'm a bit disappointed. I was hoping this would pick up after RoTF, but it is set between alliance #4 and RoTF adaption #1. (also, please someone tell me if the adaption is worth picking up). story: bumblebee strains his relationship with sam as he continually attempts to be his protector. big fight with barricade, both survive, the end. i'd give it a 1.8/5. some things were somewhat cleared up, like bumblebee's voice problems. but really, i think the story was a little thin. art: eeks, i'm not a big fan. i'll have to compare/contrast with reign of starscream and the other prequel comics later, but the bots just lack detail (aside from the internal robotics components), seem energon deficient, and carried little weight. these aren't the majestic bots we've seen in IDW's G1 series, nor (to the best of my memory, again i'll compare later) the movie bots seen in prequels. these are robotic toothpicks with poor facial expressions. half the time during the battle, i couldn't tell what was happening-- it was like watching the original fight between BB and barricade from tf1 on a black and white tv from the '60s while drunk with one eye missing. ok, maybe not that bad, but it wasn't enjoyable. i'm also not a fan of sam's character model and prefer the cover A version. 1.5/5 i understand a big problem with AHM was that it was all setup/characterization and no action for like the first 6 issues, but at least AHM #1 set up a mood and a story arch. this ToTF #1 does none of that, seems rushed story- and art-wise, and overall feels flat. i understand that these are to be spotlights, but this first one feels like filler, only setting up why BB still speaks thru the radio in RoTF. all in all, a small let down from alliance, and a big letdown from the story in defiance imo. hopefully ToTF #2 redeems itself.
I am, but I still didn't get this one. sure, the art doesn't look that great, but I'm still interested
Their 5 page preview did it's job - I spent the money on something I enjoyed rather than something I'd regret.
I liked it. I'll agree that's there's really not much there, but it was a fun little story. Worth the read IMHO.
Next issue looks cool. But I don't get this one, is this after the movie? Is Barricade still alive then?
I picked it up today and only flipped through it so far. The only thing I gathered: Barricade is fucking INDESTRUCTIBLE.
It was kinda boring and a bit pointless. The fight went on far too long and most of the time I had to stare at the panels for a while longer than I should need to to work out what was happening. Oh no - I hope Bumblebee doesn't get killed! Oh wait, he's in the sequel film, so I know he won't. Didn't even answer why Barricade wasn't in the second film. Could've left him dead from the explosion and been done with it, but it had to have that Hollywood mentality of the villain coming back at the end to evil another day.
Meh story but cool art. I didn't know Kevin Maguire used Carlos Magno as a pseudonym. And very dissapointed with general TF fan attitude towards comic art. At best I'd say TF fans are limited in terms of appreciating art other than manga influenced, at worst I'd say they're plain ignorant at what constitutes good comic art. I hope its the former because the art in this was quite good with only a few exceptions (notably that panel where Sam was ogling at poorly collage girls).
art is subjective, not objective. we all have our different preferences, none more intelligent than the other. also, "what constitues good comic art" in your opinion? also, the art in TotF is a departure from what's come before, so I think there's justified criticism based on that alone for anyone who likes the other stuff.
Referring to following from DW period, though only Pat Lee sort of qualifies. EJ Su is manga influenced, so even if I'm off the mark its not buy much. Good comic art is strong sense of style and clear sense of visual storytelling, regardless of style. And the artist clearly has both of those (same goes for the artist who did the starscream story in the previous issue). Yet both guys are underappreciated as far as the comments I've read here. Nothing wrong with differing taste, I just suspect most readers here aren't well exposed as far as comics go.
