Dave's Transformers - Comics: Armada

Transformers Armada - Not quite the same setting as the cartoon, it is in fact a better one. Capsule reviews only on this series, written by Sarracini and drawn by Raiz for #1-6, Furman taking over later. With #19, it changes from Armada to Energon, jumping ahead a few years. Energon has its own page.

Issue 1: Well, this is pretty clearly a different continuity from Generation 1, probably for the better (trying to ram this storyline into the G1 setting would be a very ugly fit at this point). Raiz's art is a bit better than Lee's in terms of visual storytelling, although the colors are too saturated and draw attention away from the important elements. The story's okay so far, although Sarracini throws in a few too many "cute" touches for what's trying to be a deadly serious story of enslavement and near-genocide. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 2: Well, the dialogue may not be scintillating, but at least the Mini-Cons HAVE dialogue in the comic. And while we have an answer to "Which Mini-Con is Jetstorm?", we now have the "Is it Runway or Runaway?" question to occupy ourselves with. Anyway, following in the tradition of the very first Transformers comic, this one is related to the cartoon but clearly not telling the same story. And while my opinion of Sarracini's writing isn't terribly high in general, this story is turning out better in two installments than the cartoon has in three the "movie" shown last Friday is pretty clearly just three episodes spliced together, in case you meant to watch it and missed it). Raiz's art is generally pretty good, although Hot Shot looks like he had his jam jar shoved up his reactor linkage on the first page. And Raiz does a lot of Geoff Senior-esque "mouth agape in pain/horror" expressions too. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 3: Okay, one science gaffe aside (even given a few million years, one does not drift from galaxy to galaxy...in any case, once you're in one you're unlikely to drift out), this was actually a pretty good issue. In fact, while I was bracing for the Coming Of The Kids, Sarracini actually pulled it off well. He gave them a good Newsboy Legion sort of feel without actually copying Kirby's kids directly (the second last page of the story is also SUCH a visual Kirby Moment). While Raiz's humans are a bit jarring (I think he was following the animation sheets a bit too closely), the Earth scenes were otherwise pretty good. And it was so nice NOT to start out in a wasteland. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 4: A little scattered after last issue, although there was good banter. I was a bit annoyed by Raiz's tendency to have everybody's mouth gaping open in ever panel, showing teeth, not to mention lots of goggling eyes. Sure, the humans are scared witless and have excuses. But it looks like everyone's loudly declaming their lines like bad actors in a high school play. Overall, something of a letdown after last issue. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 5: For once, a pinup-y Dreamwave cover actually fits the story inside. }-> It's pretty clear that by the time he'd written this issue, Sarracini had seen the first few eps of the cartoon and was consciously trying to tweak it. Some of the dumb things from the early eps are done here...but for good reasons. And while Raiz has way too many characters spend all their time with jaws dropped, the art is otherwise good. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 6: I'd forgotten that Furman took over this issue, and unfortunately the writing wasn't such that I was reminded about it as I read. The only real sign that there's a new writer, in fact, is that there's a bit of a disjoint feeling. Now, Armada has been good most of the time, so I'm not saying Furman is way below form...but he's clearly not starting off strongly. Of course, the second caption's "once and former" bit didn't exactly hearten me. Anyway, the Mini-Cons continue to be well- realized characters, allies to the Autobots rather than loyal followers. And the treatment of the kids continues to be good. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 7: Furman's definitely taking this series in a different direction than the cartoon, and generally a more interesting direction. However, there are some plot elements that are becoming cliche for either incarnation of Armada, and Furman stumbles on one or two of 'em. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 8: Despite a stronger focus on the squishies, Furman's story is quite engaging (although the early pages suffer from a misplaced caption...page 2 is NOT set in a new location, it's the same place as page 1). Guido Guidi's art is pretty good, and he throws in lots of pseudo-cameos of classic Transformers in their vehicle modes. This issue does a good job of setting up a mystery...and the ad for #9 completely BLOWS the mystery, saying exactly who was behind events and more or less why. So try not to read the text for the ad for #9. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 9: Furman really gets across the sense that the Mini-Cons are truly a third faction, not just robot-type Pokemon, with this arc. Guido Guidi's art continues to be good, but the tag-team coloring by Curtis, Wang and Cheung is too dark, murky and oversaturated. A moody atmosphere is one thing, muddy coloring is another. Recommended despite the art. $2.95
Issue 10: The colors continue to be too dark and muddy at times, but it's not as bad as before. Things are really cooking now in this penultimate part of the "Mini-Con Moon Fortress" arc, and there's a good amount of characterization given to several of the Mini-Cons and even to a few of the other characters. It diverges from the cartoon, of course, but at this point that's probably for the best. Anyway, it's good to see a real multi-cornered conflict for once, rather than everyone just choosing up sides immediately. Recommended. $2.95
Free Comic Book Day #1: Despite using recycled art for its cover, this is a totally new comic, with art by Don "The War Within" Figueroa and story by Brandon Easton. And, um, I think Brandon was maybe trying to pitch this one at a younger age group or something, but made the cardinal mistake of writing for younger readers: he dumbed it down. Way down. If I had to make a continuity judgement on this, I'd put it as happening just before the currently-running Mini-Con plotline in Armada (around #7). I'd prefer not to read this one too closely again, though, so I'll leave exact placement to others. Anyway, while this issue does a decent job of showing off the kind of art readers of Dreamwave TF comics can expect (the matte paper does hurt it a little), the writing is going to drive off more readers than it attracts. Mildly recommended. Free.
Issue 11: The conflict depicted on the cover was very good, although the rest of the issue felt like it was just stalling so that the core theme could be run through. And there's still no explanation for how a helicopter works on the Moon. :) Anyway, Furman continues to give the Mini-Cons more characterization in one issue than they've gotten in the entire cartoon series. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 12: This seems to be a recurring problem I have with Furman's recent TF comics. Jumping into an issue in such a way that it feels like an issue or two have been skipped, then going back and filling in the missing stuff with exposition. Granted, the first page of this issue does follow clearly from #11, but then BOING. It smooths out later, but I was still left with a feeling that things could have gone better. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 13: Normally when a book is team-colored, it's fairly hard to tell the difference between colorists. Not this time. One or more of the sextet working on this book puts WAY too much faith in the power of the Blur Tool, blurring is used even when there doesn't seem to be motion called for in some panels, and it's distracting. As for the story, it's fairly straightforward and toyetic, really just a spacer before the Funky Cosmic Stuff gets started next issue (albeit with a little somewhat clumsy foreshadowing regarding the True Power of the Mini-Cons). Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 14: Furman has kinda told this story before a couple of times (notably in the Time Wars TPB also out this week), but he's clearly getting the hang of it. :) Fairly standard "harbinger of cosmic doom" intro, but told with good atmosphere by both Furman and Figueroa. The coloring's a bit on the murky side (yes, this is all dark and stormy night stuff, but it could still be a bit less murky). Cute Spinister cameo. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 15: A pause to let things get really messed up, basically. Lots of losses, lots of "villains show how badass they are" scenes, but no real surprises or revelations. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 16: Penultimate issue. And it just goes to show ya, "Guy who doesn't have a toy is first to die." (Yes, the name goes with a toy, but not an Armada one, and he doesn't look like the G1 toy of the name.) Colors continue to be muddy and oversaturated or dark by turns, which makes it harder to follow the story. Still, the main conflict of the issue was quite cool, and I actually didn't expect it to end the way it did. All this, and Cy-Kill and Cop-Tur, sorta. }-> Recommended. $2.95
Issue 17: Actual penultimate issue before changing the name to Energon, actually. There were several places where Furman was relying on Figueroa's art to carry some aspect of the story, but Don's not quite up to the task (and the murk-o-rama coloring further hurts his cause). Storywise, this is supposed to be part 4 of 4, but it's really part 4 of 5, since the whole Unicron thing won't be resolved until next issue. Still, recommended. $2.95
Issue 18: Something of an anticlimax, all things considered. Guidi's depiction of Unicron is something less than majestic, and the defeat of Unicron feels almost like an aside. There was some good personal business here and there, but it felt like Furman really needed another issue to do it right. Comes with a 2-sheet poster advertising the upcoming G1 ongoing comic, drawn by Figueroa. Mildly recommended. $2.95

Transformers Comics

Reviews of Transformers: Armada comics.