Transformers Energon - Starting with #19, the Armada comic became the
Energon comic. It follows from the Armada comic setting, and so is different
from the setting of the Energon cartoon. For #1-18, see the Armada comics
page.
Issue 19: Armada changes its name to Energon with this issue. Furman
keeps writing, Guidi keeps drawing. The story picks up ten years after #18,
continuing to follow its own continuity (I've seen just enough of the new
cartoon to know there's significant divergences) and also implanting a few
bits here and there (such as a reference to Scorponok being in the battle in
#18...nope, can't find anything that looks like him). This issue does a very
good job of setting up the new conflict, and the colorists even seem to have
lightened up on the saturation. Recommended. $2.95
Wal-Mart Energon #1: This is #19 packaged in a plastic bag with new cover
and some new goodies for $4.77. The new cover is a slightly stiffer paper
stock than normal and has Prime wrestling Scorponok from Scorpy's POV.
There's a "pull out" poster in the middle, but if you pull it out you lose
half of the Powerlinx combinations chart (Hot Shot, Inferno, Rodimus and
Prowl combinations, no self-combinations shown). The last several pages of
the issue are short "More Than Meets The Eye" sort of entries, with techspecs
and bios. These cover Prime, Jetfire, Hot Shot, Tidal Wave, Starscream (who
now has regular techspecs, no question marks), Battle Ravage, Insecticon
(oddly enough) and Scorponok. Prime and Scorponok get full pages, the others
a half page each. The inside back cover indicates that #20 will be redone as
Wal-Mart #2. The extras are NOT enough for me to recommend picking this up
if you already have #19. But if you don't have #19, I'd say the new material
is just barely worth an extra two bucks. $4.77 at Wal-Mart.
Issue 20: This one's almost all about the humans, and I'm loving it.
While the characters are largely the same as in the cartoon, the story is
almost totally different, and the comic comes out way ahead. While some
characters are in similar roles in both, Alexis is practically the antithesis
of her cartoon portrayal, yet still follows well from Armada's portrayal.
Oh, and Kicker gets a real name. Strongly recommended. $2.95
Issue 21: Well, this month we're back to pretty much solid murk in the
colors. Sure, these are dark hours and all that, but there's a difference
between "dark" and "oversaturated and indistinct". Even the one well-lit
scene made me check to make sure my glasses hadn't been dipped in grease.
The story is considerably clearer, as Furman indulges in his passion for
worldbuilding and origins. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 22: Yes, this is probably sounding like a broken record by now (or
a skipping CD for you young'uns), but the comic shows how much better the
cartoon could have been. It starts with so many of the same basic premises,
yet develops them in ways that are less, shall we say, LAME. Some of the
differences are just different, not better (like the chatty Tidal Wave), but
others are so much better. And with the art almost entirely free of
overcoloring this issue, it's an overall good read. Mind you, it's not what
I'd call a GREAT story, and there were some bits here and there that grated
on my mental ears. But by comparison to the cartoon, it's slagging genius.
Recommended. $2.95
Issue 23: After a rocky first few pages, Ng's art is fairly clear and the
colorists use some restraint. Good character interactions and development,
although Tidal Wave's "voice" still seems so wrong for him...guess I'm too
infected by his cartoon personality. The humans work well in this issue,
getting to make a difference by doing the one thing they CAN do as well as
Transformers: think. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 24: Whoa, major gear shift. While it starts out looking like
buildup for the next phase of the war, it takes a sharp left turn into
becoming a very personal tale about the relationship between two characters
who are nothing like their cartoon counterparts: Tidal Wave and Ironhide. In
the cartoon, Tidal Wave is a near-mindless thug, and Ironhide is the "kid
identification newbie", all annoyingly eager. Furman's versions of these two
are much more interesting. It gets a little exposition-y at times, but is
otherwise a good tale. Strongly recommended. $2.95
Issue 25: Interesting choice of cover stock, almost like thin sheet
plastic, more reflective where it's left white. The paper stock inside is
also different, slightly less shiny than the usual Dreamwave paper. As for
the story, it's pretty standard stock itself. Cocky young heroes find that
they need to use their heads, not just their powers, and defeat a relatively
minor threat who thrashed them initially because they thought with their
blasters. The art by Joe Ng is pretty good, and the coloring very good.
Recommended. $2.95
Issue 26: The art by Alex Milne is okay when it's not REALLY obviously
using scanned in images, but the storytelling of the first few pages could
use some work. The grown-up kids (Rad and Alexis to be specific, Carlos
doesn't appear) look too young here, which hurts the serious scenes Furman
puts them in. Oh, and Cruellock's appearance, while it looks pretty bad
artwise, is cute. Overall, I'm *reading* a serious story that interweaves
several plotlines while heading towards something, but I'm *seeing* a lot of
disconnected goofiness thanks to Milne's art. Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 27: Oops, the murk is back, and not just in scenes where it's
supposed to be dark and spooky. Of course, with four colorists working on
the book, you're bound to get oversaturation on SOME of the pages. The story
gets a little stretched thin, as it jumps between no less than four major
plotlines (Prime/Megatron, Mirage/Omnicons, Rad/Alexis, Jetfire on Cybertron)
and a few minor ones. Furman juggles these reasonably well, but there's only
so much you CAN do with so many threads in a single issue. He also resorts
to a few cliches, not all of which work (the Rad/Alexis scene was
particularly groanworthy). Mildly recommended. $2.95
Issue 28: A lot of scene-switching here, so there's very little
advancement on any one front. It's the sort of thing that will probably read
better in the inevitable trade paperback, with the focus splitting to a half
dozen or more fronts to give an impression of the scope of the conflict
before narrowing down to the pivotal actions that resolve things. The
coloring could be better, but Milne's art on its own is reasonably good at
conveying what needs to be conveyed (Convoyed?). Lots and lots of toys show
up as characters, for those who look for such things. Somewhere between
mildly recommended and recommended. $2.95
Issue 29: Well, the massive plot-thread splitting of the previous few
issues collapses down to something more manageable this issue as things come
to a head. I'm amused that a certain character seems to be going down the
Dark Phoenix path. Milne's art is a bit hard to follow in places where it
doesn't need to be hard to follow, but it's better than, say, Ruffolo. Yes,
yes...damning with faint praise and all that, but still. Generally a good
issue. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 30: Mostly a big brawl between Megatron and Scorponok. Much more
satisfying than their battles in the cartoon, by an order of magnitude or
two. Matere's art could use a little work in terms of visually carrying the
story, but it's okay. Recommended. $2.95
