Dave's Transformers - Comics: War Within

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Transformers Comics	Reviews of the "War Within" comics.
Transformers Comics	Last Updated 12/5/04 Age of Wrath #3 (of 6) added.

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The War Within - Written by Simon Furman and drawn (initially, at least) by fan Don Figueroa, this series looks at a possible new origin story for the Transformers. It fits with Furman's later work in some ways, but is meant to be a fresh start.

Issue 1: Okay, while the first two books from Dreamwave demonstrated that there's a lot of support for the nostalgia of Transformers, and that Dreamwave is chock full of fans, they really didn't have much fandom pedigree. This series corrects that, with story by fan-favorite Simon Furman, and art by well known (within the fannish community) fan Don "Macromasters" Figueroa. Don built a meter-tall Transformer FROM SCRATCH a few years ago, to give you some idea of the level of his geek cred. Furman continues his trend of treating Transformers as epic mythology with this story of the origins of Optimus Prime. The story has little to do with the history-as-fans-knew-it, but contains many elements of TF history that Furman introduced in his previous TF comic work (some of which is in the Target: 2006 TPB from Titan, which my store didn't get yet, sigh). Figueroa's art and designs are very good, although they're a bit hurt by Dreamwave's school of excessive computer coloring. Sometimes less is more, guys. Also, being a fan of the first stripe, Don works in plenty of background easter eggs that are nods to the fans without distracting from the story (i.e. among the various "abstract" light patterns in an opening cityscape are several symbols out of TF history, the maint bots in the background are taken from one of the cartoons, etc). But enough rambling. The story is promising, the art is lovely (if over-colored), and the wholesale revamping of things is going to give some of the more obsessive fans apoplexy. It's all good, baby. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 2: This "fresh start" continues to read more like how Furman thought of the origins of the TFs all along, and you'd hardly have to change the Marvel issues he wrote to fit into this timeline. Even the contradictions fit well, on the grounds that the characters are bound to change over time, and it makes sense that millions of years ago they were different...but not so different you can't see that they're the same characters. Prime is not a bold war leader yet, but he clearly bears the weight of the world on his shoulders and refuses to let any die who might be saved...except himself. Figueroa's art continues to be very good, if still over-colored. And there's lots of easter eggs here and there for the diehard fans (like the Diaclone Multiforce on page-whatever where things start to blow up, lower right hand corner of the spread with Prime's first appearance of the issue). All through it, you can see the sense of something big and mythic building, the only caveat is that it might not build quickly enough to give the story weight. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 3: Lots of motivational exposition this time out, even giving us some look into what has shaped Starscream the eternal traitor. The art is still good, but the layouts are starting to bug me. Too many cases of having the panels flow across two pages and then down to the next row, and the coloring is such that it's not immediately obvious when this is happening. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 4: Things advance nicely in this issue, and even some of the more drawn-out fights don't take too much away from the story. Plans unfold, characters come to realization, etc. Stuff happens, but at the same time it's not just a litany of plot points. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 5: Well, it's Furman, so you knew it would have to get pretty mystic eventually, and here we go! Three separate main threads intertwine in this issue, and they all tie together by the end. And there's even time for some character-building scenes. Figueroa's art continues to be very good. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 6: Hh. The pacing went into overdrive this issue, as if it had been originally conceived as 8 issues and suddenly had to fit it all in at the end. I guess I just didn't see the events of #1-5 really supporting the changes made in #6, and then there was the whole "Oh, it's been taken care of off-panel" bit at the end. Looked lovely, read kinda sketchy. Mildly recommended. $2.95

The War Within: Dark Ages - A sequel series, set some time later after both Megatron and Optimus Prime have been lost to an accident. Furman writes, Andrew Wildman draws.

Issue 1: Andrew Wildman is back! Sadly, covered in heavy inks and heavier colors. Anyway, while we only get snapshots for much of it, Furman establishes an interesting view of how the war goes without Prime or Megatron, how everyone breaks into multiple subfactions. The mystic side of Transformers is also played up in this series, which I kinda like. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 2: The "Dark Ages" bit is dropped from the cover, which caused a little confusion at the comic shop (they weren't sure if this was the new series or a new printing of the previous series). Oh, and need I mention that even the cover on this one is mega-murked? Really getting tired of this. The story itself is interesting, as Furman continues to explore the politics of fragmented Autobot and Decepticon subfactions, as well as those who try to act as neutrals in this multi-front war. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 3: Okay, this is a minor point, but I really liked how the new TFWW design of Jetfire paid homage to both the toy Jetfire and the cartoon Skyfire by having the Jetfire face be an armored mask over a Skyfire face. Wildman's uncluttered style helps counter the murkwurks coloring in most scenes, and Furman does a good job of bringing up both the immediate threats and the growing background one. Comes with a pull-out poster ad for Transformers: Energon (just a two-sheeter) showing Energon Prime looking pretty good (I think the poster is drawn by Guidi, but there's no signature, and no guarantee that the book's regular artist did the poster). Recommended. $2.95
Issue 4: Grimlock and Trypticon really get to shine this issue, and what is presumably the main plot finally lurches into enough motion that the chances of a hurried deus ex machina ending are receding. There's several colorists, and we get a range from the house style murk to some fairly clear and clean coloring (although nothing as sharp as GIJoe/Transformers). Recommended. $2.95
Issue 5: Some interesting mythos-building here, although my worries that #6 will be one massive infodump are getting stronger, with so much left unrevealed and undone with only one issue left. Anyway, plenty of Easter Eggs again (just figured out the one on the cover...cell D-43 indeed!), and at least one clear sign of Furman's Britishness ("suits me down to the ground" is a phrase I've only ever heard on the Goon Show, but it might be in general currancy over dere). Recommended. $2.95
Issue 6: This is almost the definition of an anticlimax. The story ends because something *doesn't* happen. It's also clear that this story was aimed straight at the long-time fans, who know exactly what the Big Secret is. Newer readers should probably go poking around summaries of the original comic to get background, lest they be left wondering, "What the slag was THAT all about?" The anticlimax works reasonably well, as it's a vehicle for some good character development, and at least Furman didn't try to cram a proper climax into a small space like he did with Armada #18. Recommended. $2.95

The War Within: The Age of Wrath - The third series in the setting. Another six issue series.

Issue 1: I picked up the variant cover that gives away the last page. Oops. Joe Ng's art is generally good (if a tad bulky), but at least one of the three colorists is solidly mired in murk. The other two are okay. In terms of the story, things pick up some time after The Dark Ages, with Ultra Magnus demonstrating quite conclusively that he can fill Optimus Prime's boots in every way, including the angst. Of course, things fall apart pretty quickly, or else we wouldn't have a conflict for the arc. :) I do like how Furman managed to set things up at the end so that it's not clear whether everything is part of one person's plot, or if two are kicking in at the same time to the dismay of the plotters. Recommended. $2.95
Issue 2: The story jumps ahead by some unspecified amount of time, probably on the order of weeks rather than months or years, though. There's a certain amount of confusion in the storytelling that I don't think was intentional (although Ng has a few "off" pages in terms of storytelling, it's not just Furman). The three inkers and three colorists do make for some unevenness as well. What I did get of the story was decent, and felt like Furman was at least trying to wrap up the foreshadowing/setup more quickly this time and leave room for a more satisfying middle of the story. Mildly recommended. $2.95 (Oh, and the "one or two plots" thing is resolved.)
Issue 3: Heh, Joe Ng is now a time unit. The story's a bit jerky in places, and spends a bit more time than I'd like on a running battle against what's supposed to be a grunt, albeit a grunt with surprises. Pacing issue, basically. Oh, and I'd like to go on record as saying that "Turbomaster Flash" sounds like some bad 80s DJ. :) Recommended despite flaws. $2.95

Transformers Comics

Reviews of the "War Within" comics.