Transformers Volume 3: All Fall Down Review

Hi, this is John Barber from IDW Publishing.

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the comics we're reading right now here inside

the pull bag. Hello and welcome to the pull bag.

This is episode 407. New record. I'm of course

TFG and Mike joining me as always Steve Megatron.

Hello, sir. Hello. Hello, and we are back for

Autobotly April to talk about Transformers Volume

3 all fall down. This is from the new universe

that IDW has going currently and Yeah, what a

collection volume 3 is. Holy schnikes So volume

3 includes the rise of the Decepticons arc, which

was issues 19 to 24 Wheeljack Orbital Decay,

Gaging the Truth, and Storm Horizon. Gaging the

Truth and Storm Horizon were the Galaxy's stories,

the final two stories in the Galaxy's line. I

kind of like, and I mentioned this in the last

podcast we did, I kind of like that IDW is doing

this, that basically throwing it all in together,

but at the same time, I wish it was just the

actual main... Arc and these other things were

in other trades by themselves But it is what

it is the only reason why I really wish that

besides the fact having to read over 200 pages

is That these trades are now $25 a pop Yikes,

yeah That's painful Yeah, I Mean but how many

issues are actually in them though? 19 to 24

orbital decay That's three parts. That's it's

close to I want to say at least Ten now ten issues.

I think I could be wrong. Hold on. Let me look

If that's the case, I mean it's still cheaper

in a sense like then buying them individually

Because you talk four dollars a pop typically

like at retail. Yeah Yeah, it's it's over well,

you know seven to twelve that's five issues isn't

it I Don't know the math it's crazy. Oh now it

says it's it's 1799 but still you know it is

what it is and you know we're not here to complain

about prices we're here to just talk about the

the creative stuff the um the fourth trade is

on pre -order that is 25 dollars uh the fourth

volume uh and i will go over that at the end

of uh at the end of the show but volume three

all fall down has shock wave and sound wave on

the cover What do you think of the cover? I honestly

don't I don't mind it. I like the I mean honestly,

I love any time I see like bots for one but true

The the bumblebee one specifically like I'm not

a big fan of the design of what they have for

bumblebee but like I like the The glossy metallic

look that they give them Which they've done a

lot of that in this series and it kind of is

reminiscent of some older stuff, but I I like

that aesthetic Yeah So just to get this out of

the way the creative Brian Ruckley is on rise

of the Decepticons and wheeljack orbital decay

Sam Maggs is the writer on gauging the truth

and Brandon Easton is on storm horizon Brandon

Easton also wrote some of the War for Cybertron

trilogy animated series on Netflix as well. Anna

Malkova with, sorry about that, with Billy Mondford

and Blackie Shepard are on art and Joana Lafuente

is on colors for Rise of the Decepticons. Additional

colors done by John Paul Bove. For Wheeljack

Decay, Beth McGuire -Smith is the full artist.

For Gaging the Truth, Beth McGuire -Smith and

Leme Mayo with Josh Bircham on colors. Yay Josh!

And then Stormbringer, or not Stormbringer, Storm

Horizon as I said is Brandon Easton with Andrew

Griffith on art and Josh Bircham on colors. Oh

boy. This is a lot to unpack. Yeah, the cover

for Bumblebee for issue 19. Target Bumblebee.

Great. I actually had to go back to the end of

the previous trade because I'm like, what the

hell's going on here? Even though we just recorded

that episode last week or it just released last

week as of this recording kind of thing. And

yeah, I mean, Megatron's getting ready to rise.

That he is I love sound wave in this Yet sound

wave I'm starting to get like in this particular

issue. I'm getting vibes from the The Marvel

Comics universe mm -hmm in a lot of ways Megatron

was calling the shots, but then But then there

was Like sound wave was running some of his machinations

shockwave is running some rat that was running

some so I mean in a lot of ways I'm getting a

lot of those vibes from this this comic Yeah,

and I'm sure they probably took inspiration from

that obviously And apparently somebody found

out that bumblebees a spy and they've basically

just cut ties with him So bumblebee the Decepticon

is no more I mean, he doesn't die, thankfully,

but, you know, it is what it is. It's just weird

seeing a giant purple Decepticon logo on Bumblebee's

yellow chest. We have Optimus Prime and Sentinel

Prime. Man, I'm miss -animated. I don't. Didn't

I enjoyed it for what it was at the time. I don't

miss it. I You know, they're they're arguing

about the politics and about all this and all

that and try it, you know Optimus's or Orion

or whatever He's not optimist yet because he

doesn't have the matrix but Ryan of this prime

Yeah, Orion emus packs prime primatronius or

whatever So there's that we get We go back to

Bumblebee, he narrowly escapes getting killed.

And then we're taken to these new teams that

they're putting together. And again, like I said

last time, even though I'm not the biggest fan

of Springer, I don't mind this version of Springer

so much because he's not - Give him something

to do. Yeah, exactly. And I still don't understand

and I'm still curious as to why, like, are all

of these people, bots, whatever you want to call

them, all of these people that are signed up

to do this duty, like, none of them have Autobot

symbols on them? Like, are they just regular

Cybertronian citizens that are volunteering here?

I assume so, but you would think that they would

have... Autobot symbol, I don't know, it's just

weird. I think they don't get those till later.

To be honest. Probably. Hey, this is the first

time we're both reading this song. And yeah,

Bumblebee punches a kitten in the face. I mean,

the cat bit him, but still. Scruff McGruff took

a bite out of crime. Yep. I love the colors.

I love the lines. The action is great. Really

dig most of Megatron scenes because Megatron

scenes are kind of the best scenes As they should

be I Love the lighting that they do instance

when shockwave shows up. Mm -hmm And he's in

his repair chair Yeah, and it looks like his

hand is being like regenerated because there's

like skeletal mass and like a blob around it.

Well, yeah, because remember the last step. Yeah,

I remember that. Yeah. So. Well, and then I love

how on the table there's like different alternate

hands. Mm hmm. That's awesome. So he switches

them out. It almost reminds me of crying. Yep.

If his robot body. Absolutely. That's the first

thing I thought of. He's got a claw. He's got

something else. He's got a hand and then he's

got his blaster. Mm hmm. Yeah Yeah, so I think

it's funny when sick shot comes in and lets him

know what's going down Mind wipe but no Yeah,

and that's how we leave off this first chapter

of rise of the Decepticons And an issue 20 we

get night beat and mind wipe on the cover. That

is a cool cover. I like that With bumblebee.

Yeah, what I was gonna say cyber trines most

wanted. Yeah exactly, right? And We have Andromeda

She's the news lady. She's the hype lady for

the news broadcast and apparently prowl is watching

this and night night beat walks in on him doing

that Welcome to Cybertron's most wanted today.

We're looking for shockwave six -shot frenzy

quake barricade sky stalker Yep, and yeah, what

jumper is the host? I don't think Cliffjumper

is is that. Slimy, because most of those TV show

like. You know, they didn't they didn't used

to be that bad. Well, you had John Walsh, he

was all right. Well, yeah, I know. Yeah, it was

everybody after him that's tried to host it.

Elizabeth Vargas is doing it now. It's on Hulu.

I'm like, should I even try to watch one of these

episodes? I don't know if I want to. So, we get

a conversation between Hound and a hound, Prowl

and Nightbeat. We then cut to Hound and he's

trying to make peace and then Sideswipe comes

in and ruins everything. Because that's what

side swipe does well hound is apologizing, you

know, like this should have never happened. We're

sorry and side swipes just he's basically combat

and Pretty oblivious to everything else and he's

like you idiot like He's very combat antsy. Yeah,

and hound is kind of like I love planets. I love

life like I like to One he's kind of like, you

know You know, and then his statement, you know,

don't try to force it and don't try to be someone

you're not. Yep. And then we get to, uh, interrogation

mode. Yeah. Uh, and then swindles. Oh Lord. Swindles.

Geez. This is crazy. I love it, but it's crazy.

And we have all these bots that we don't know

anything about which is fine, which is great

You need to introduce new characters. You need

to introduce young bots and whatever I just love

that swindle is at the center of all of this

here in this issue That was cool I don't know

if the the cliffhanger for this issue was as

good as the one as last issue though Yeah, I

don't I don't think so I mean it's six shot You

know going into the bay here with frenzy or rumble

or whoever and the other bot kind of thing and

That's the other thing about this is they've

explicitly stated now in the IDW verse rumble

is red frenzy is blue Would have been better

just have one purple and one blow I know right,

you know Interchangeable that I can just do what

they want. Yep And we get to the next issue I

love that that cover there that cover is really

cool with the with all the bots on it for issue

21 Mm -hmm. That's fun And, uh, is that who I

think it is? Sure is. Leviathan, are you okay?

No! Ground opened! I fell! Been here since dawn!

Comm's damaged! Okay, then. So they gotta get

help for him. And Windblade runs into Bumblebee,

and she's like, that ugly thing doesn't suit

you. Talking about the Decepticon symbol. This

is totally agree hoist as he'll scour it off

when he has time. Yep. I love, love this, this

holographic image of Megatron though. Kind of

reminds me of something Beast Wars, Beast Machines

Megatron would do. Absolutely. Absolutely. Could

see Beast Wars Megatron saying a lot of this

too. Oh, yeah, I mean absolutely You got what

they brought you with all your sacrifices Your

silence your patience all their promises orders

of peace all of it dust and debris Yes And we

get Windblade and Bumblebee standing there, and

then Orion shows up, or he's in a different part

of the thing, and we get a thing with him and

Chromia. And then he says, I think you will get

your fight, Sentinel Prime means to convene the

full Senate without the Ascentagons. He wants

Soundwave condemned even in his absence. The

Ascentagons outlawed. Oh lord. Yeah, they are

very interchangeable. I'm looking at frenzy and

rumble right now. It's like I mean the one who

is supposed to be frenzy the blue one he does

kind of look purple in his chest and in his head

and he has like an aqua blue on his arms, but

I Should've just reversed it for the other one.

Yeah Would have made it so much easier Yep, but

it is what it is. Oh, well So Leviathan wants

search and rescue. And Beachcomber and the other

bots are just going to drive away, apparently.

That's not cool. Yeah, they. So. One of the Decepticons

has some blasting to do and the Autobots are

like one of them flew off into the Sun I can't

exactly see anything anymore. Oh No trigger happy,

of course, it was trigger happy Beachcomber nose

cone So much action in this which is great I

love seeing Springer in action in this this is

so cool Is that now that yeah that is a smoke

screen very cool Very g1 colors very different

color kind of car, but very g1 colors for smoke

screen That's and the things with all the creatures

showing up is just weird yeah it is I'm like

hmm get your Beast Wars out of my G1. No, I'm

not like that, but I know. Heaven forbid we start

an argument. And smoke screen offers cover for

frenzy transforms and basically goes. Yeah, he

gets run over, crunch. And then he transforms

again. It's like, well, apparently that didn't

hurt him at all. He's holding his chest like.

Yeah, that's that's that's true he is yikes So

they're bringing the tank to them and oh Look

a net a really small looking net when it fires

out of the gun Maybe it's gonna expand more let

me see last year. Yeah a blaster yay Good old

red box, and it looks like depth charge behind

him Yeah, it does next time yep That would be

yeah, hey That is step charge. I think hmm It

would be weird if it was if it was it would be

cool, too I think it's funny that uh they got

a character called red box Let's blaster. Oh,

that's what they call them That's yeah, that's

funny Yeah, come on. I've told you not to call

me that but fly well friends our thoughts go

with you We'll try and keep them safe red box

Yeah We get wind blade and six shot and away

we go Heads up six shot is inbound and Boy, does

he make an impression. I love how they use all

of his modes. I kind of love how the winged cat

or whatever he's supposed to be is kind of like

the last mode and it's got Rumble and Frenzy

next to him or behind him. I love that shot.

That's cool. Then you get smoke screen and Springer

and wherever the other bot is that Nova star

Or whoever it is on the field I really dig that

I think that's great and Then Leviathan decides

to say enough and that's where we in this one

and and these issues run fast Yeah, a lot faster

than some of the other ones. Yeah Mean most of

this issue was a battle which is great. I mean,

it's not great for you know furthering the story

but I mean you kind of get a further story with

the battle and how All of this is going down,

which is kind of cool. I Like that again. I love

the art. I think the arts great The colors pop

on on all of the bots and cons and things like

that and the way the backgrounds are drawn I

really dig that as well Getting into issue 22

We start out with sad bumblebee Mopi Mopi be

Mopi be he's he's in a cell and Yeah We go back

to the battle and six shot is basically destroying

everybody And with homing missiles, no less.

And Springer's like, oh, where's? And I'm like,

what? Where's the Simpsons? I know. And then

Wing Blade tries to decapitate. Yup. And then

he grabs her. Yes, he does grab her. Oh, boy.

Right by the throat. Don't think she was trying

to decapitate him with the way that wind blades

Sword is it looks like she was gonna drive her

sword right down into his head so Yeah Rumble

and frenzy show up with with the tank dude again

and more battle more battle dismount dismount

right Squash yep And then Leviathan comes in

and tries his best. And of course, because the

odds are shifting, Sixshot is going to cut his

losses, which he only takes Rumble and Frenzy

with him. I love that shot, though. The Verouche

with him transformed with Rumble and Frenzy on

each of his wings. That's cool. Yeah, Leviathan

that's that's something new Yeah, and I'm okay

with it. I think I thought I laughed I thought

it was funny like wait. No, don't leave me here

and they're like, can you transform? I don't

want to transform whatever it was that he said.

I don't want to transform Well, he eventually

had to transform anyway So we get a scene with

Andromeda and one of her biggest fans Vox pop

And it's this giant political thing that we're

just gonna skip. Well, it's funny that they're

talking about spark extinction. Where's your

extractor now? Starscream's standing at Sentinel's

side. Yes, yes he is. I'm wondering when he's

going to flip. Oh, he's on their side. He's just

playing. Yeah. I do love seeing Orion and Ironhide.

I think that's really cool. That's fun. And then

he's telling him that he's learning all the wrong

things. Yes, he is. They get a message from Nautica

Yeah, well well now one of the things going on

is that road rage and I have lost track of the

voine assertor it's eluded us Prime says find

it Nautica. I will have chromia and iron hide

and make their teams aware I Just feel like there

is so much going on in this comic it isn't even

that it's a full trade paperback with over five

issues in it there's just so much going on that

at times i feel lost with like the battles i

get the side the the the whole thing about megatron

wanting to you know do what he does i understand

but like there's just so much going on at times

and i'm like wait a minute what Don't know maybe

I just can't focus on on things as I used to

be able to So they have this demonstration and

at some point they're like quick secure quick

or else because he's gonna Wow He's gonna escape

They should have taken him out when they had

the chance And Yeah, and then the animals show

up I'm like wait what? Already then that's not

a move Yikes weird battle there. Mm -hmm. Yeah

Sorry folks. We're not we're up to this but we're

not up to this cuz honestly, I'm not like Okay,

so we often complain about Transformers talking

too slowly in Netflix but like in these last

few issues There's more battles going on and

more action than there is actual talking, which

is great. I mean you need a solid balance of

both But it's like I just want to figure out

where the story is going and I just can't we

end this issue with Decapitation. Yep Pretty

much arch extraction. Yep. And then an arrest.

And Bumblebee is under arrest. I do love issue

23's cover. I got to say this, though. I've enjoyed

Bumblebee. I enjoyed the original rendition in

G1 for his optimism, but I also enjoy the more

gung ho version that we've gotten in. The war

for Cybertron and this comic universe as opposed

to What we've gotten an animated series over

the last several years. Yeah so Because again

most of the cartoons they don't know how to portray

him not what he's kind of useless Yeah, like

I mean he's there to you know, oh, I'm here I'm

here for your support prime, but other than that

he doesn't do anything like He's kind of just

one of those ones that they toss dialogue to

and he's he's kind of the scout. But other than

that, he doesn't really have a purpose. Yeah.

They've given him more of like rat traps role

in a sense, which fits him. Oh, absolutely. It

does. Yeah. Yeah, I just I absolutely enjoy it.

I do enjoy the comic. I did enjoy reading the

comic. I just feel. Over stimulated or something

with how much is gonna like we're up to issue

23 out of this arc So this is the second to last

This is put the penultimate Part of this arc

with Megatron on the on the cover here by Joanna

Lafuente. I love that cover But I just feel like

there is so much even if I was doing this even

if we were Doing this month to month single issue

and maybe we need to go back to that and stop

doing trades for transformers Maybe we'll feel

better like how we're doing the beast war stuff

and we're anticipating the next one kind of thing

but Reading this again today. I was like, oh

my god. There's so much here and I have no I

Apparently I'm the worst podcast in the world

because I have no idea how to discuss it We open

issue 23 with iron hide this could be rough I

do love the shift list behind him with pipes

and groove and Backstreet where the boys I do

love seeing all their names on on the list. I

think that's really cool And He says, half of

Cybertron thinks the Senate Guard is a junkyard

for old bots, weird bots, and we're proving them

wrong. We do our job starting now. And somebody

says, wait, half of Cybertron thinks what? Ironhide

is making that up, right? Exaggerating for motivational

effect? You should get out more, Subsea. Plug

yourself into the talk on the streets. Yeah,

and maybe try having a beast jewel mode like

me and Chain Claw. You get used to half of the

cyber. You have half as I've tried looking down

on you. That's crazy We get to more of Andromeda

and Vox pop and then proud just comes right into

it and like can you report on something else,

please? I thought that was hilarious Stop doing

that in it Yeah, can you interview somebody else,

please? He's an energon sync who always is angry

but doesn't know why or what to do about it.

And we gotta be careful here, and I'm kind of

glad that Bumblebee has a Decepticon symbol on

him because we get introduced to Bumper, who

is a black and yellow copycat of Bumblebee. Want

to say he's the one that says I don't know Prowl.

This is way bigger crowd than we expected Isn't

it? Shouldn't there be more of us? So that's

who bumper is and rise of the Decepticons We

have deceived you Yeah, so Megatron speech is

about to happen and Or he goes up to to up to

Orion and iron hat. I hope you have some room

for some uninvited guests I hear matters may

be under discussion that affect our interests

I do love seeing them together. I think the the

feud the couple panels coming up here your supporters

are saying dangerous and misguided things Such

things can be said in support of causes that

are neither They are that are neither they do

not invalidate the cause I just love seeing the

two of them together especially with how the

art is drawn and how they are drawn Very very

cool Yeah Megatron goes into the Senate and says

That is still our way is it not the accused have

the right to face the and answer the accusers

oh Boy, there's Starscream. Oh wait Starscream

is back at the at the jail with Bumblebee And

why is it always that Starscream's I Get it.

It's part of his transformation. Why is it always

they have to accentuate his feet? with his boosters

as the heel, as if he's wearing heels. As he's

walking away from Bumblebee, he says, I mean,

it makes sense that the head of intelligence

should visit you. You've been doing some interesting

things like the whole image is of his feet and

walking away and it looks like he's wearing ladies

shoes. It does. Those boots are made for walking.

That's right. Oh, I'm old. I'm older. Yeah, I

know. Yeah, I know you know Back to Megatron

and I like what he's saying. I think it's interesting

and I kind of can't wait to see where it goes

I do love the line Sentinel Prime What have you

call us Decepticons? He thinks it's some slur

slight. He is wrong. We are the Decepticons for

we have deceived you. I think that should have

been the end of the issue, but that wouldn't,

it wouldn't have worked out well because if it

was because you know, he goes on to say the rest

of his speech and then he's basically like, now

we need to, you know, order 66 now kind of thing.

All of these events happen where everybody turns

on everybody and everybody is is going crazy

and Holy crap And when I did what I haven't mentioned

yet what we haven't mentioned yet is that they

reformed the Rainmakers So we have acid storm

Nova storm and ion ion storm, which is really

cool. I love seeing the rainmakers used Then

Megatron basically tells the set it off Pretty

much yeah, and then ape face and yeah All the

baddies are taking out the guards. Yep, because

you gotta take out the guards in order to get

to the people. And then Prime's seeing the acid.

Yep. Yeah, that's like... At first I thought

somebody shot Orion when the first drip of acid

falls on him. I was like, wait a minute, did

somebody shoot him? No, that's acid rain. Oh

boy. Love the colors, love the art, love the

designs of the robots. I think they're super

cool. I think they're super fun. And then, uh,

ion storm was badly damaged. Yes, yes, I think

it's funny strike has become a part of the old

guard of Decepticons and eventually becomes a

via con Yeah, I mean I like that though. I think

that's cool because it gives her you know, it's

You know if you go back and you watch beast machines

and they say oh they were old generals from You

know the past kind of thing Not that this is

tied into that obviously, but this kind of makes

me think of oh, this is their past even though

we don't see obsidian yet Or I don't know if

we ever will but seeing strika here and having

her as a character. I really enjoyed And that's

rise of the Decepticons issues 19 to 23 Up next

we have issue 24 wheel jack orbital decay It's

a little bit different Aesthetic. Yeah, it's

well, it's a different artist. I believe from

what I remember from what I said earlier in the

episode of the podcast so we have wheel jack

and cosmos and Gears my god. It's basically all

the and how it looks like Yeah, Huffer. I just

don't know who the one is. Lancer. It is the

one in between Huffer and Cosmos. But I'm like,

hey, this is G1 in space. This is season one

bots with season three story. Colors are great

a lot of vibrant colors. I like where there's

some of those scenes where they're They're doing

the panels of kind of flashback you Yeah Yeah,

the flashbacks in this are really fun I Love

how they're basically, you know trying to save

the moon here and they have to do it in a certain

time limit. So many colors in this though. It's

so nice and so rich and even though they're in

space, it's like, you know, this... I don't want

to say pastel, but it's like this pastel explosion

of color and they're just everywhere. Dark greens,

light purples. dark purples sometimes there's

a couple of scenes where wheeljack even looks

green even though he's not on his face but there's

one scene where he kind of looks like he's green

cosmos and gears actually get stuff to do which

is nice and gears is like all i want to be is

good at something and you'll gears will we all

have that potential but this i want to be good

at this i want to be good at what you do Well

gears, you know, not everybody can do what wheel

jack does Yeah, and then wheel jacks kind of

trying to do everything you can and One of the

people have lost hope and you know He is not

no and wheel jack has three ideas to save the

moon and the first two don't work At all. And

his third idea of using the spaceship to blow

up works, I think? Sort of? Not really, but kinda?

Again, I love the conversation back and forth

between Gears and Huffer. I think that's fun.

Love the fact that that wheel jack goes outside

to kind of catch his breath and kind of see that

they actually did save the moon Well, I mean

they had to destroy half of it to save the other

half but still it's And then three deceptive

or four decepticons and many more steel on the

moon. Yep Astro trains in the background. Yes

Astro trains always in the background makes me

so mad well in the one Bad guy there. He's got

like the head of the Blitz wing from animated.

Mm -hmm. Yep Yeah, I love when the artist can

slip in designs like that. I think that's really

cool And yeah, so that's that's orbital decay

Yes, we go into another one we have two more

storylines to talk about folks and I know people

are just you know Stunned in awesomeness of how

great this podcast is because it really isn't

I have to say I do not want to go through all

of gauging the truth because it did not It didn't

resonate with me very much It didn't resonate

with me hardly at all. There are three parts

to it. I love the designs. I love the colors.

I love the art. The writing on it. I was not

thrilled with the story. The story didn't actually

even captivate me. Come to find out Gage, who

is this young Cybertronian or Autobot or whatever

you want to call her. She had her memory screwed

up. Do love that they bring in RC and green light.

I think that's cool and they eventually, you

know become a a trio But I mean overall the story

was just way too much it It feels like I'm reading

a Transformers version of what you would see

Whatever cult it is on some true crime TV show

like if America's most wanted is featuring David

Koresh or something. That's really what this,

this felt like to me. And I, it did not keep

my, my attention really at all. I just didn't

like the story. Visuals amazing. Absolutely amazing.

But the story itself, not so much. Now the last

story, Storm Horizon, that was a story. Holy

crap. Ultra Magnus and Sound Blaster. And supposedly

this is supposed to tie into War for Cybertron?

It is. I thought that's what Brandon Easton had

said at some point or something. I thought I

heard him say that in an interview. I could be

wrong. It's like he was writing the Ultra Magnus.

Part of the arc in, in siege and somebody said

something about that. He, because he was doing

that, he was also doing this and he was, I don't

know. I could be wrong. I don't want to put words

into the guy's mouth, but that's what I thought.

I heard him say on an interview with, uh, the

transmissions podcast a few months ago or a while

ago now at this point, but basically ultra Magnus

is, um, on this one mission, and then he gets

detracted because he has to go find his friend

Alpha Trion. I love this. I think the writing

is amazing. I think the art is really good. The

story kept my attention. I especially love the

panel. Threat neutralized, and he has a sword

in somebody's head. Think it's funny Megatron's

working with them. Yeah, that is kind of funny,

isn't it? Mm -hmm I believe that was in the past

though. That's the I Could be wrong though, but

it was yeah. Yeah. Well that yeah, then that

was in the past That was before what because

we actually see an image In in this three -parter

of what Megatron is is doing and saying which

is the speech we saw Earlier in the rise of the

Decepticons arc and it kind of ties everything

together Which I think is really cool. So then

you get chrome dome helping Magnus and they're

looking for help a try on and you know Interesting

Yeah, I really dug it. I thought it was great.

I thought it was really fun Again, the art is

really, really good, and Magnus has always been

one of these bots that has really good features

to accentuate in art. Well, that's because he

has a face. True. He don't need no plate. He

don't need no stinking faceplate. I couldn't

decide if I heard in my head Robert Stack or

Jack Angel as I was reading this for the voice

of Magnus Because Jack Angel voiced him in season

3 and obviously Robert Stack may the man rest

in peace voiced him in the movie Yeah, no, I

really dig it I think it's fun. I think it's

interesting. I think it's cool that you have

set up sinister or sinister Really want to call

the bot spinster, but but it's spinister Like

him being the foil for Magnus and and all of

that and I think that's cool that you don't necessarily

have to have Magnus versus Megatron or Magnus

versus Starscream or hell even Magnus versus

cyclonus even though I would love to see that

And then Good. No, I was just going to say, like,

it's really weird. Some of what's going down

in the the Decepticon that he's that was exiled.

Not quite Decepticon, but yeah. And dealing with

Magnus and in that situation. Yeah. And he calls

him the the great soldier hero from the last

great war. Which makes you think that there was

another one before the war Yeah, you think right?

I mean World War one comes before World War two

you know that kind of thing but I Don't know

I I just really enjoyed this I love the backgrounds

Brandon's writing and how like literally I everything

that Magnus is saying even when he eventually

says to spin a star or spin a stir uh... you

know call me general magnate like the whole thing

throughout the whole thing he's saying to his

his own people it's just madness or ultra magnus

you know you can dispense with the general stuff

when it comes to the villain in the respect it's

like you will call me general uh... i love that

i think brandon really captured the voice of

ultra magnus in this and the art is just killer

And then it takes like a flashback. Yep with

Alpha Trion and Ultra Magnus So very cool Yeah,

I don't mind flashbacks when they're done. Well,

and I think this one was done well to you know

Explain the story and explain why he is so gung

-ho about finding Alpha Trion and hey sound blaster,

too That was interesting Sound blaster was with

try on What would you what are your final thoughts

on this whole thing I prefer the the one with

the the rise of the Decepticons The most just

because there was more going on. I liked the

color palette. I liked the the storyline the

most I would put the Magnus one kind of second

just because you get a little bit more backstory

on him and ultra back there and alpha try on

But then as far as The other one I just didn't

care for that one at all Yeah, we'll yeah, I

would say rise of the Decepticons is my favorite

part of the art for the main ongoing so far The

Magnus one -shots are great. Wheeljack and Orbital

Decay is great, because that eventually is probably

going to tie into what's going on on Cybertron.

And then the gauging the truth story, I just

did not care for at all. No, I did like Ultra

Magnus getting that kind of Gundam armor. To

go over his already armor that he has. very very

cool absolutely I mean I would I could see where

this particular story would fit with war for

Cybertron right yeah I mean I absolutely think

you know overall there's a lot to enjoy in volume

3 Just wish IDW would stop including everything

in the trades, but then we have to buy it single

issue and it's like It's almost cheaper to could

be or whatever sometimes it is I don't know Next

time we're probably gonna do it a little different

folks next time We will probably do declaration

of war which is the title for volume 4 of this

series Which actually doesn't release until June

30th, so We'll get back to Transformers from

IDW at some point, but in Volume 4 we have Issues

25 to 30, the Valentine's Day special One -Shot,

and Transformers Escape 1 to 5. Escape 1 to 5

is another mini -series, kind of like Galaxies

was. As far as the overall story for Volume 4

goes, the bold new vision of the Transformers

universe continues. Filled with diplomatic drama,

techno thriller twists, and giant sentient robots,

the Decepticons have officially overthrown the

Senate. With the Autobots out of power and Sentinel

Prime deposed, it looks like Megatron's vision

of the future will take over. But not if the

new Prime can rally what's left of the security

operations and the Senate Guard into a resistance.

Meanwhile, with the Autobots and Decepticons

Declaring war on each other a group of Cybertronians

top scientists and diplomats launch a plan to

get those uninterested in the fighting including

the alien a -o -van Refugees living on Cybertron

a way out of the devastation to come So very

very cool Overall for the entire collected trade

I would probably give it Three out of five If

I'm rating the individual stories like kind of

what you already did where you know You know,

we already put it, you know for a second third

kind of thing rise of the Decepticons is my favorite

part as we already said so that's number one

and then Magnus is number two. The rest of it

is just kind of it's there. I Agree, I don't

know man. It's just I don't know, and I know

some people have said, a couple of the people

that are over on transmissions, Jeremy Dennis

and Daryl and Charles, a couple of them have

said to me that they weren't that interested

in the Brian Reckley run because in single issues

it didn't read right. Well, I hope you guys listen

to this. As horrible as this podcast has been,

because I'm just the worst podcaster ever, that

In trade, this really didn't, the main arcs are

fine, but the other stuff in there, it's like,

maybe we should just stop at a certain point

and not read the other stuff. Read the best stuff

and then keep move on. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

So, ladies and gentlemen, coming up next here

in Autobot late April, we're going to be getting

to hopefully Transformers Beast Wars number three.

Yay! Actually, Autobot late April this year is

kind of short, because some of the Transformers

stuff isn't coming until later kind of thing.

And I want to, I mentioned this before, I want

to do an actual whole crossover month at some

point, so all the IDW crossovers. So in episode

four and nine, I'm going to do an Origins episode

with somebody, so that's what's going on for

the rest of Autobotly April. Coming up in May,

we've got Batman, White Knight, Von Freeze, and

then Curse of the White Knight parts one and

two, and then more Beast Wars, and then Radiant

Black three and four will also be coming, plus

I have a special episode for episode 411. So

that's what's coming up here inside the pull

bag. What do you got going on? Well, more things

than all things Transformers and possibly some

articles to come on the website as well as I'm

still planning AlterGeek's return. It's just

a matter of sitting down and recording it. Right.

But mostly, you know, Transformers toys. Very

cool. Very cool. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Alright,

make your great escape into comics and we will

catch you next time here inside The Pull Bag.

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