TL;DR version (first, because that makes more sense)… AHM itself (not counting the other additive Spotlights injected in this particular hardback trade) is an entertaining read for a fan of old school TF and 80s-style kids’ fiction in general, but suffers from occasionally clunkalicious dialogue and a horribly cliché ending.
I’ll just get this inconvenient truth out the way so it doesn’t ruin the rest of this: I’m kind of done with the comic book medium. And by comic book, I mean ongoing books written by a bunch of varying writers and artists over a potentially unending period of time. It just doesn’t work for me, for a variety of boring reasons. So, AHM couldn’t *blow me away* simply by virtue of its medium. Shame, but true, and now I can critique it more fairly. So, on we go!
First impressions were definitely positive. Communist propaganda imagery was cliché long ago, but I took the cover in a campy meta-G1 spirit. It’s appropriate.
The Constructicons open their act with a joke (and I don’t mean Long Haul having his name written on his license plate). The humour here reminds me of the old Marvel UK comics, but it clashes oddly with the flashy modern ‘Murrican art for me. That said, here’s about where I notice the art actually borrows a LOT from the old G1 manga, particularly in the facial expressions and proportions. Nice to see that style make a comeback, since it really improved on the famous cartoon models back then, and still does.
I enjoyed how some of the classic G1 characters’ portrayals are skewed slightly, striking a balance between their cartoon and tech spec versions. Frenzy stands out, with his tech spec’s sonic power and the cartoon’s piledrivers replaced with drills, as well as an explanation that his sonic power drives him just as insane as it does everyone else. Nifty. And… I kind of accept the strong possibility that he’s not gonna be a major character any time soon. One of the problems of G1 fiction; too big a cast.
Other classic characters don’t benefit so well from a modern remake… Oh mercy, the Jazz Conundrum. You guys are my only link with TF fandom, so I dunno if this has come up much before, but let’s be clear here: cartoon Jazz was goofy. Not “racist”, but certainly a racially-motivated stereotype. So, I understand if modern writers want to shy away from making him talk in 70s (yes, it was outdated even in the 80s) Ebonics all the time, but the thing is… what are you going to replace it with? Jazz’s voice here comes off as a little half-hearted. If you get rid of the Explicitly Black thing, you’ve still got the “do it with style or don’t bother doing it” to fall back on, but that’s nowhere to be seen, either. I understand the story is set at a time when Autobot morale is next to nonexistent, but Jazz really comes off as a nervous background character here, particularly next to Prowl’s constant- and strong- inner monologues.
Yeah, I like powerbehindthethrone!Prowl. It’s how I always imagined him anyway. ‘Nuff said.
The “Who would stare at a tiny light in all day in the hope that it would flash for just a millisecond” bit was such obvious setup, but the payoff was nice. Made me lol. Can’t help thinking the writer’s got a bit of a boner for Cliffjumper, though. And Ironhide. Speaking of Ironhide… “Red”, seriously? C’mon. Seriously?
Was kinda hoping the opening shot of a hospitalised Spike surrounded by Sexy Nurses was at least a setup for a punchline, but... Nope. Just Sexy Nurses because Sexy Nurses. Don't ever ask me why I don't pay money for this shit anymore.
But hey, positive stuff!
It’s nice to see Wheeljack and Bumblebee hanging out, presumably a MTMTE reference. But Wheeljack is… different. Up until now IDW were doing a good job of fleshing out the classic cartoon characters (c’mon, it’s basically G1 Season 1 in here) by adding elements of their tech specs, but… I dunno, am I alone in seeing Wheeljack as more of a neckbearded “I ain’t really a NERD ‘cos I gots an ACCENT and an ATTITUDE!” scientist?
He’s like, uh… the one off Mythbusters? Is that the guy I’m thinking of? Anyway, he really doesn’t come off that way here, and it confused me, but hey, IDW can do their own thing. More of this when we get to Thundercracker.
Ah, Thundercracker. You were made out to be one of the big USPs of this book; I almost thought you were the protagonist, and folk were talking as if you’d finally been portrayed with respect to your original tech spec! Fantastic, I’ve always wanted to see a trio of more toy-accurate Seekers palling around, their different personalities bouncing off each other!
…Unfortunately, as Skywarp himself points out, “Starscream is hardly here”. Too right. But that’s fine, Skywarp and Thundercracker should be able to have plenty of fun together. At first, all seems good, little bit of tension here and there. But then… HONOUR. Yes. HONOUR. Oh dear. I’d hoped for some subtlety, but it seems IDW’s interpretation of “unconvinced by the Decepticon cause” is “rebel samurai truer to his cause than his own emperor I WILL HELP THE GOODIES WIN BECAUSE HONOURRRRR”. Ho-hum. And Skywarp seemingly kills him for his transgression. With no drama. Or personality. Weren’t these guys meant to have been lifelong friends? Is this really all we get? It’s a shame that one of the big selling points you guys used to sell AHM to me turned out to be such a dud, but hey, it doesn’t ruin the whole experience by any means.
But hey, it was very satisfying to see it explicitly pointed out that, compared to how the Decepticons choose their leader based solely on strength and charisma, the Autobots’ method of “divine right” by way of a magical McGuffin is incredibly old-fashioned and downright weird. I can only hope IDW did something with this, since it’s one of the most unique and interesting points AHM makes. The Roche story that depicts Starscream considering the merits of keeping the Matrix certainly take it in a good direction.
The Spotlights are hit and miss. I’m a little surprised that the one about Prowl turning Kup into a populist mouthpiece and the one about Cliffjumper saving Anime Land come from the same studio. Or decade.
Aw, man, IDW Bludgeon has a sword. So much for toy accuracy. ='[ Gotta say, though, the flashbacks to the stories involving Bludgeon and Thunderwing REALLY made me appreciate AHM. They look exactly like the kind of TF stories that bore me shitless. More stuff set on Earth, pls!
…Anyways, that was more of a stream of consciousness ramble than a review. It was good, but not great. At least on par with the best of the old Marvel stuff, if not better. So, I guess that does make it great, by TF standards. Thanks to Trekwave for sending it to me!! Now you just gotta review all the candy I sent you. =3
So what's next, Last Stand of the Wreckers??
