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Takara Tomy Transformers Legends #48 Christmas Special Manga Now Online

Date: Friday, January 5th 2018 3:09am CST
Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): Takara Tomy

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Views: 21,112

Courtesy of fellow Seibertronian Cyberpath, we have news of another instalment in the unnecessary continuation of the Takara Tomy Transformers Legends manga, as uploaded online to their website, with more unnecessary depictions of female characters, and even further unnecessary interactions with said characters after the introduction of the LG57 Octone/Octane chapter.

The issue seems to be marketed as a Christmas special (as per the title), though the official Twitter account does mention a delay in publication, and is numbered as the #48 in the series, and features the likes of Targetmaster Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr, plus God Ginrai, a scourge of Scourges, with appearances from Wheelie, Perceptor, Minerva, and others too.

Pack In Comics for Takara Legends LG56 Perceptor and LG57 Octane

Date: Thursday, January 4th 2018 8:24am CST
Categories: Comic Book News, Toy News
Posted by: william-james88 | Credit(s): prime roller

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Caution: This news post contains mature content that some users might find objectionable. We recommend only users age 18 and up view this content.

Thanks to fellow Seibertronians Cyberpath and Sabrblade, we have links to both the pack in comic/manga that comes with Transformers Legends LG56 Perceptor and LG57 Octane, as well as a plot summary for the Perceptor comic.

Below you will find links along with some highlighted panels. The Perceptor comic heavily connected to the G1 episode "The Face of the Nijika", and answers how Perceptor became just a head (since in Japanese continuity, the actual robot characters are just the small bots that Transform into heads). It also confirms that this is indeed G1 cassette Ramhorn and we get to see how Ramhorn went from being a cassette to a mini tank.

The Octane comic (yes, he is actually called Octane on the box), shows how Starscream takes over Octane's body in this bit of continuity. The toy comes with an extra clear plastic head representing Starscream's ghost.

LG56 Perceptor --

- [Page 1] - [Page 2] - (from prime roller)

LG57 Octane --

- [Page 1] - []Page 2] - [Page 3] - [Page 4] - (from prime roller)

Here is the summary for just Perceptor's comic:

TFWiki wrote:Having heard that the Legends World was created by the Zamojin, Perceptor travels to the dimension in search of his old friend, Katsu Don, whom he's lost touch with and worries about. Highbrow looks forward to investigating the dimension's mysteries together with his fellow scientist, though Perceptor's first duty is to fix up Ramhorn, injured in battle to the point where his cassette mode is beyond repair. Perceptor replaces it with a new tank mode, and while Ramhorn hates it, the scientist insists that he made the right choice giving him a more mobile altmode is better. The group is then interrupted by none other than Katsu Don, who says he's here to "take back Nijika" before tearing Perceptor's head off and running off with it. Highbrow and Perceptor's colleague Minerva are ready to make chase, but Ramhorn warns them that the Zamojin are strong and that they should bring some extra firepower in the form of Perceptor's body.

Katsu Don brings Perceptor to the headless new body of Nijika, damaged in a previous battle, and, having recalled that Perceptor's parts are compatible with hers, attaches the panicking scientist's head to it. The process is interrupted by the other Autobots, who have reconfigured Perceptor's body into its rarely seen tank mode, and a combined barrage from both it and Ramhorn distracts Katsu Don long enough for Perceptor to remove his head from Nijika. He returns it to his original body and takes aim at Katsu Don using Ramhorn's third mode, a handheld weapon, and the Zamojin retreats, swearing he will fulfill his dream of creating a full-scale Nijika someday. Admitting that he wasn't actually going to open fire on his old friend, Perceptor hopes that Katsu Don will someday, on a night of falling stars, find the right path again.

After returning to Axalon, Perceptor figures that since his head was already separated, he might as well convert it into a small robot and live a comfortable, human-sized life. Unfortunately, this makes it less comfortable for him to use his microscope mode, as he now has to stand on Minerva's head just to look into the lens.

And here is the summary for Octane's comic.

In the year 2022 of the G1 World, crazed stalker Lunaclub catches up to her beloved Starscream and cuts his head off, and while she's surprised that he survives thanks to his half-ghost form, she doesn't mind since it means she can kiss him all she wants. Starscream cares little for her affection and more about going to the Legends World so he can become a Headmaster and regain his mobility, a plan that catches the interest of Moonheart, who harbors her own feelings for Soundwave and wants to go see him.

Meanwhile in the Legends World, known pervert Tigatron has a found a kindred spirit in the Headmaster Octane, and the two make plans to seek out pretty ladies, hire them to appear in sexy videos, and get rich. The mention of profit attracts Trickdiamond, who offers to be the manager of their budding business, but instead she gets dragged into modeling for their first video. It becomes is a huge success and the three make enough money for Octane to buy a transtector, only for a ride on its jet mode to be interrupted by an attack from Lunaclub and Moonheart, followed by Starscream materializing inside the plane in a ghostly Headmaster form. Intending to destroy Mayor Megatron and become ruler of the Legends World, he takes control of the transtector and crushes Megatron's Tankor Drone guards with its truck mode before transforming into robot mode and grabbing his old leader.

However, Octane has installed a safety device to prevent his body from being stolen and presses a switch on its stomach that causes it to stun and eject Starscream. He reclaims the body, and when Lunaclub and Moonheart take him on, he defeats them both with a flamethrower blast, announcing that he won't let conflict disturb this peaceful world where he can make videos of pretty girls. Moonheart flees to go search for Soundwave while Starscream, true to form, crawls up to Megatron and begs for forgiveness, and is punished with having to appear in one of Octane's videos together with Lunaclub. Trickdiamond is relieved she doesn't have to do it anymore, but the new video doesn't sell at all and they end up using her as a model a second time.

iTunes Transformers: Optimus Prime #15 3-page Preview

Date: Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 7:46pm CST
Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: Bounti76 | Credit(s): iTunes

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Views: 20,362

Thanks to a tip from fellow Seibertronian Soundwave902, who pointed us towards iTunes, we have the initial three-page preview for Transformers: Optimus Prime #15! This issue promises the return of the big bad Onyx Prime, whose return has been hinted, assumed, and downright spelled out over the last couple of years in IDW comics. Check out the preview below, and head back here for the full preview, and a rousing discussion, once the issue is released on January 17th!

“THE FALLING, PART 1!” Darkness falls over Cybertron as the legendary Onyx Prime returns. What does this mean for Optimus Prime—and the Earth? Windblade defends an already tense planet against a secret that could shatter Cybertron forever.

Interview with Creators of IDW Transformers vs Visionaries #1 - Spoilers

Date: Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 1:41pm CST
Categories: Comic Book News, Interviews
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): Syfy

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Not long after the release of the book (today) and the publication of the Seibertron.com review (read it here), SyFy also brings us an interview with the entire creative team involved in the barely tepid start to Transformers vs Visionaries mini-series crossover.

In the piece, which you can read in full here, editors Sarah Gaydos and David Mariotte join writer Magdalene Visaggio and artist Fico Ossio in talking about their approach to the issue, the story in general, the influences on both Transformers and Visionaries from previous work, and where it might go from here. There are gigantic spoilers for the issue, of course, but we've avoided them in the snippets below.

Magdalene Visaggio: There's a ton of great concepts in the old Visionaries cartoon from a storytelling standpoint. The basic structure of the show is super compelling. But I knew that that kind of content wasn't going to fly in 2017. So I approached this much like Ron Moore approached Battlestar Galactica: what's the stuff here that matters, versus what's the stuff here's that's designed to sell toys? We only have five issues to work with, so everything needed to be streamlined; initially that meant paring down the cast and simplifying the magical system, which in the show involves multiple animal totems, with some of the players getting magical staves and others getting the power to control ancient vehicles. I basically stripped everything down to something that wouldn't demand copious explanation: everyone gets a staff that can summon holograms, nobody gets more than one totem, etc.

I also really can't stand it when villains exist for the sole purpose of being evil. So I needed to figure out what exactly separates the Darkling Lords from the Spectral Knights. You know, what is the story the Darklings are telling themselves where they're the good guys? So I landed on the idea that they're both factions of a single organization run by Merklynn – the Visionaries, natch – with different philosophies that went into schism. There's more there that's gonna come into play as the book unfolds.

Fico Ossio: We kept the original concept, the idea behind Visionaries and started from there. After we had the story, we worked on what this world and characters should look like and then matched that with the original designs/characters and IDW's Transformers. But overall we wanted to do a complete update from the original for the most part.

Sarah Gaydos: For me, the key was having a believable situation where both the Visionaries and our current IDW version of Transformers all would exist believably in one place, so it just didn't make sense to stick with a vintage look. Fico did a fantastic job of updating the character design and mechanics of the Visionaries. I couldn't be happier with it!

[...]

SPOILER obviously provided many more big moments in the comics for IDW, and you highlighted some of those moments at the end of the book. Fans will want to see [them] avenged, right?

Magdalene Visaggio: And [they're] not going to be the only one to die before all this is over. This is a high-stakes story that is going to have long-term consequences for the IDW G1 franchise.

Fico Ossio: OH YES! I'm looking forward to drawing that.

Sarah Gaydos: Hell yes, I want to see [them] avenged. This book has real stakes, real emotions at play. Mags is doing a fantastic job with balancing all these aspects of intrigue, betrayal, grief, and somehow packing in a ton of heart all at the same time. And Fico's art, with colors by David Garcia Cruz, captures the incredible visuals of New Prysmos, while still bringing the spirit of Transformers everyone knows and loves to life.

[...]

With magic playing such a big part, you chose some interesting characters to combat that in Wheeljack, a scientist, Breakdown and Ironhide, a typically traditional, protective and defensive voice. Talk about playing those personalities up against New Prysmos, Darkling Lords and Spectral Knights.

Magdalene Visaggio: Ha, yeah. I actually didn't get much of a say in the matter, which I think is really cool. So many other characters were occupied in other books and stories, so these were the face characters that were available – which is kind of exactly how it happens in-universe, too; you don't always get to pick your team. I credit David Mariotte for handing me a group of Cybertronian heroes who would be a great foil to the Visionaries I was reinventing.

David Mariotte: It's true, there are a lot of other Transformers doing a lot of other things right now, but we worked with my predecessor, Carlos Guzman, to figure out a core handful of characters that would be available and a good fit. And a lot of them fell into place naturally. Ironhide is a head of security on Cybertron and suddenly there's this whole city with unknown capabilities that he has to deal with. Wheeljack's a scientist who is suddenly up against a force that defies explanation. Breakdown, and I'll never stop harping on how well Mags writes him, has been a background character for a while now, but he finally gets his chance to step up and show Cybertron what he's made out of.

Review of IDW Transformers vs Visionaries #1

Date: Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 11:33am CST
Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): IDW

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Views: 30,059

More Like Old Prysmos
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
Cybertron has been invaded. The Transformers encounter unwelcome guests at the heart of Cybertron—and they may not have their hosts’ best interests at heart. Refugees from another world, the Visionaries’ startling magical abilities could make them powerful allies… or dangerous enemies.

evil wizard probably still evil

Story

It's a new year, and a new month, and a new week, so of course, we have a new comic book day -- with a new IDW Publishing Hasbro shared universe crossover which brings a new reality and a new threat to a newly found order and semblance of peace on Cybertron, in the form of Merklynn's Visionaries. And here's my first disclaimer: I never had any interest of knowledge of Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light.

Yep, all of them

With that taken care of, I'll admit I was able to follow the entirety of the plot and the dynamics - personal, interpersonal, interplanetary, inner and outer - that are being set up by newcomer to the Transformers part of the universe Magdalene Visaggio. And for the Visionaries part of the story, despite some admittedly by-the-numbers characterisations and set-ups, I wasn't displeased.

...and then we get here

On the Transformers side of the story however, issues arise. Aplenty. The core Cybertronian cast is small, but that is not an issue - Ironhide, Kup, Wheeljack can easily carry a story, as Revolutionaries and issues in the ongoings have shown - but their personalities here do not feel coherent with their previous IDW incarnation at all, even following more of a G1 animated series couple of pointers at times. Which actually has repercussions on the way the plot unravels.

also Breakdown is in it

And that is the crux of the issue: Cybertron is in peril, again. Realities will be shattered, again. We've just had a new status quo established on the planet after First Strike and as this issue is starting up - and just like that, everything comes crumbling down in the most lazy, forced, unnecessary way possible. More on this below.

Art

As I mentioned in the initial part of the review, the story is perfectly understandable, readable, and legible - and that is a virtue in the layouts too. Fico Ossio works extremely well with what Visaggio sets out, and we have a story that works from a visual perspective, as well as some pleasing improvements in the treatment of Cybertronian features since the early days of Revolution.

thassa good mug

Similarly, as with the previous work on First Strike, the colours by David Garcia Cruz work really well with the new (help me say it here, though) take on technology vs magic, giving us both vibrancy and shadow where required, and working well with partner in crime Ossio. Some of the background lightings are particularly noteworthy.

DOOT you too

I did also quite enjoy the lettering work of Gilberto Lazcano, perhaps more subdued than others in the approach to the craft, but still expertly weaving through the layouts to clarify points, names, and emphasis where required by the script and story. And while we have seen a lot of the covers already - you can check them all out in our database of course - the Brendan Cahill / Lauren Bennett one chosen for the thumbnail is perhaps the most poignant (if anything had landed in the story).

Thoughts
WARNING: this may contain spoilers

We have seen all of the issues and problems that this book has brought to light once before, featuring the same exact characters and set-up, already: Infestation. And much like Infestation, there is nothing there that hooked me in any way to keep on reading or covering the series with any interest. In fact, the reaction I have seen to the final events range from the 'unnecessary, but meh' to complete, and I'd say justified, frustration and anger.

...

My main point, however? I blame very little on this on the writing, the script, or the directly involved creative team (the credited ones, I mean) - this feels a lot, almost reeks, of editorial mandates. The editorial backmatter, to me and many others, confirms that. The multiple misspellings (Breakdown, Trailblazer) and insistence on certain points confirm it. The multiple covers showing gruesome deaths of Cybertronian characters are part of the confirmation too.

And after the affirmation brought by the likes of Optimus Prime and Till All Are One, and Lost Light to a lesser extent, this was entirely unnecessary, and unfair to Visaggio, Ossio, and the rest of the team.

out of

Full Preview for IDW Transformers vs The Visionaries #1

Date: Tuesday, January 2nd 2018 4:56am CST
Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): CBR

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Views: 16,237

Despite having seen the majority of these pages already in this previous story from IDW Publishing, CBR has posted a fuller preview of this week's first issue in a new crossover miniseries - Transformers vs The Visionaries #1! Check it out below, and head back to Seibertron.com after its release for a review.

Story by
Magdalene Visaggio
Art by
Fico Ossio
Colors by
David Garcia Cruz
Letters by
Gilberto Lazcano
Cover by
Andrew Griffith, Angel Hernandez, Brendan Cahill, and Fico Ossio

Cybertron has been invaded. The Transformers encounter unwelcome guests at the heart of Cybertron—and they may not have their hosts’ best interests at heart. Refugees from another world, the Visionaries’ startling magical abilities could make them powerful allies… or dangerous enemies.

Welcome Eisner-nominated writer Magdalene Visaggio (Kim and Kim, Quantum Teens are Go, Secret Empire: Brave New World, Edge of the Venomverse) to the IDW family!
The Visionaries make their explosive return to comics!
Magic vs. metal!
Variant covers by Brendan Cahill and Angel Hernandez!

Hero-X To Publish Classic Marvel Transformers Comics in Japanese translation

Date: Tuesday, January 2nd 2018 4:51am CST
Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): HeroX

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Views: 16,867

Much like for he IDW Publishing Transformers comics (discussion thread here), we also finally have news of a Japanese translation of the original Marvel series, to be released in Japan via HeroX.

The news so far, as announced on Twitter, will see the full US Marvel Transformers comics series, starting from February 23rd, 2018 for 2,560 yen (USD $23) and will include original Japanese commentaries plus a Marvel UK cover gallery, and some fan content, with the plan to release the full run depending on sales and interest. Like for the IDW material, these releases will also feature new cover art from Japanese creators, revealed through their Twitter account, so stay tuned for more!