TRANSFORMERS: STORMBRINGER #1
Written by SIMON FURMAN
Art by DON FIGUEROA
Colors by JOSH BURCHAM
Covers by Figueroa
OK, my fellow Transfans! Welcome back to another one of the Fanbot's Going Backwards reviews, where we take a look back at some of the best Transformers comics from IDW. This week my offering is a review of Transformers: Stormbringer #1. Let's dive straight in and see "what lies beneath" (Dreamwave comic joke. Whether or not you get it may define your Transfandom):
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THE STORY: Ah, Simon Furman. The great one. of course, his overuse of cliches and the infamous, used-as-every-second-word Furmanisms annoy slightly, but make me smile and enjoy the issue even more. I am always happy with the complex and realistic (if sometimes a bit too Marvel with the fallibility factor) character. Jetfire is the brooding, quiet, and philosophical scientist he should be, the Technobots brilliant and wordy yet with some definite flair and fun that makes them more interesting.
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A calculating, antisocial bunch of Autobot prodigies? Hello, that's what we have Perceptor for. Strafe (pictured above) with his reluctance and timidness is good to see. And the portrayal of Cybertron of a barren, lifeless husk of a planet caused by the millions of years of war is very cool and realistic. A sort of Cybertron equivalent of Watchmen, if you will. So all round the story is well-crafted and is a great portrayal of a more realistic Transformerverse -- Marvel Ultimates eat your heart out. So, results overall:
ART RATING: 9.5 out of 10
STORY RATING: 10 out of 10
OVERALL RATING: 10 out of 10
ERRORS: On the cover, Jetfire sports Autobot symbols from a fan-made font, one that erroneously gives the symbol three hashes on each side of the forehead instead of two. The placement of symbols is particularly bad in this issue, with the contours rarely conforming to the contours of the surface they're placed on. In fact, the symbols on Jetfire are so badly photoshopped in they actually erase some of Don Figueroa's pencilling near the edges of the symbols. In the flashback on page 7, Megatron's chest is missing the "squiggle" design seen in all the other flashbacks featuring him. On page 19, all three word balloons are attributed to Afterburner, though they read like they should be attributed to Afterburner, Nosecone, and then Afterburner again. This error was corrected when the issue was published in trade paperback.
VERDICT: A beautiful and expertly executed issue that demonstrates the cred of both Furman and Figueroa. Burcham adds his awesome palette to the mix as well. A solid 10 out of 10! Next month: THUNDERWING!!
Posted by Fanbot at 10:45 pm, WEDNESDAY 9 December
Jetfire looks absolutley amazing!
ReplyDeleteI know. Don Figueroa rocks!!
ReplyDeleteyeah I know he is an amazing comic designer!
ReplyDelete