DvD reviews the first chunk here:
http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants/012612.html
Dom
-skipping this until it gets properly compiled.
Autocracy reviewed
"Autocracy" discussion
Autocracy:
"Autocracy" is/was IDW's first digital exclusive comic. It is a "year one" type story, similar to (and arguably replacing) "The War Within" as the origin of Optimus Prime and the other '84-'89 cast. (Side note: It strikes me that "The War Within" is just shy of 10 years old. Anybody else remember when it was the "new thing"?)
Dille and Metzen do a competent, though far from stellar, job of delivering a modernized origin for the TF comflict. The story is set in the past of IDW's G1 and/or the past of Hasbro's "Alligned" setting. There are consistency errors, listed in detail by others, between both. But, in general terms, it fits. The writing in "Autocracy" is light years ahead of the original cartoons that Dille wrote in the 80s, there are a few scenes that seem to have been "written by numbers", with Dille and Metzen writing to hit obvious plot points but doing little else.
As was the case with "Chaos", Ramondelli's art makes for better illustration than it does for actually conveying a story. The first issue mitigates this somewhat by labelling each character when they first appear, Unfortanately, this convention is dropped almost immediately, despite it being even more necessary in later issues.
I have not read the digital editions of "Autocracy". But, I have to wonder how Ramondelli's art works on a screen. My gut feeling is that it would not work as well.
There is a particularly sloppy, and easily fixable, error in chapter one involving Prowl and Ironhide magically switching places between panels.
Over-all, "Autocracy" is worth picking up if you can find it. But, it is not worth going nuts trying to find a copy and certainly not worth making the jump to digital for.
Grade: C
Dom
-will probably buy volume 2 if/when it is compiled.
"Autocracy" is/was IDW's first digital exclusive comic. It is a "year one" type story, similar to (and arguably replacing) "The War Within" as the origin of Optimus Prime and the other '84-'89 cast. (Side note: It strikes me that "The War Within" is just shy of 10 years old. Anybody else remember when it was the "new thing"?)
Dille and Metzen do a competent, though far from stellar, job of delivering a modernized origin for the TF comflict. The story is set in the past of IDW's G1 and/or the past of Hasbro's "Alligned" setting. There are consistency errors, listed in detail by others, between both. But, in general terms, it fits. The writing in "Autocracy" is light years ahead of the original cartoons that Dille wrote in the 80s, there are a few scenes that seem to have been "written by numbers", with Dille and Metzen writing to hit obvious plot points but doing little else.
As was the case with "Chaos", Ramondelli's art makes for better illustration than it does for actually conveying a story. The first issue mitigates this somewhat by labelling each character when they first appear, Unfortanately, this convention is dropped almost immediately, despite it being even more necessary in later issues.
I have not read the digital editions of "Autocracy". But, I have to wonder how Ramondelli's art works on a screen. My gut feeling is that it would not work as well.
There is a particularly sloppy, and easily fixable, error in chapter one involving Prowl and Ironhide magically switching places between panels.
Over-all, "Autocracy" is worth picking up if you can find it. But, it is not worth going nuts trying to find a copy and certainly not worth making the jump to digital for.
Grade: C
Dom
-will probably buy volume 2 if/when it is compiled.