The Pull Bag

Transformers Robots in Disguise #1-4 Review

November 18, 2015 1:53:17 EXPLICIT
The Pull Bag Transformers Robots in Disguise #1-4 Review
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About this Episode

TFG1 Mike and BeatlesDiva dive into the first four issues of IDW's Transformers Robots in Disguise animated comic series, exploring how the tie-in adapts the Cartoon Network show while expanding on its storylines. They discuss Priscilla Triantafillou's art style matching the cartoon aesthetic, the compelling portrayal of Decepticons with sympathetic motivations, and standout issues featuring villains like Spinhead, Transit the busformer, and Overhead. The hosts praise the comic's character work and humor while noting some concerns about how the story handles Russell's involvement in dangerous missions.

Hi, this is John Barber from IDW Publishing.

You are listening to the Geekcast Radio Network.

Welcome to Back Issue Classics, here inside the

pull bag. TFG1 Mike brings in a variety of hosts

to cover many comics. We review stuff from DC,

Marvel, IDW, Image, Scenescope, and more. So,

open your ears to hear our discussions on comics

you might not have known about. It's all here

inside the pull bag with Back Issue Classics.

Glad you're with us, Sideswipe. For now. As your

senior officer, I order you to take this equipment.

You don't get to give me orders. Excuse me, these

are very delicate. I don't know if you've studied

the science of 394J receptors. Their construction

is really quite interesting. Interesting! Welcome

to the pull bags back issue classics. Wow, I

almost forgot what the whole show this was I

am of course TF Joe and Mike This is the 45th

back issue classics episode and joining me is

Nicole Beatles Eva Hillstorm. Hello. Aloha. How

are you? I'm doing all right We kick lady wreck

to the curb Her protoform, it requires attention.

Yeah, sure it does. Isn't it time to transform

and transcend yet? I wish. Oh, how I wish. So

the three of us back in June of this year reviewed

Transformers Robots in Disguise number zero,

the free comic book day issue. That was... That

was a while ago, yeah. Yeah, that was a while

ago. It was back in June. So we reviewed that,

and here we are now. We're going to be reviewing

the first four issues of Transformers Robots

in Disguise. This is the animated comic book.

This is not the book formerly known as Robots

in Disguise. She's getting really odd with Transformers.

Transformers comics, it's IDW, and it's the creative

teams that just love to torture us. I mean, you

know, thankfully, Georgia and Priscilla are not

the torturous soul types of people, at least

not yet in a way. After all, this is a kid's

book, folks. I mean, this is very much kid friendly.

But the issue zero was written by John Barber

with art by Priscilla Trimantano. I assume I'm

saying that name, right? I've never heard any

different. So Priscilla, if you're saying it

wrong, let us know. Yes, tell us please. So number

one has two covers. One is the standard team

cover with Grimlock Strongarm and Bumblebee.

Where the hell is Sideswipe? Good question. I

don't know. Or Fixit. He's not on there either.

Yeah. And the second cover, actually all of them

are on there. Fixit's the largest one on the

cover. He's like, I wasn't on the last cover,

so I'm gonna make sure I'm prominent in this

one. Okay, so since Issue 0... We had talked

about this then. At that time, the Transformers

Roads and Disguise animated series on Cartoon

Network had not finished its first season. Since

that time, it has, and I have seen all of the

episodes. I enjoyed it. I thought it was a really

cool show. I'm glad that, you know... Eric Matthews

aka Terry McGinnis Batman Beyond Wilfred L is

the voice of bumblebee and it's not just a bunch

of beeps anymore Yeah And I like the show I think

the show's first season the coolest thing that

it did was it actually put wind blade in the

cartoon I did like wind blade. I really did They

obviously couldn't use her comic origin since

that's so different, but I like how they introduced

her That's the problem that I have it's like

here's my character. We can actually stick with

the origin She already has like four different

personalities like which personality Don't give

me why I love I enjoyed the series, but it was

kind of like the villain of the week kind of

thing. But if you think about it, G1 was fairly

similar. You know, it was the plot device of

the week. So I still had fun watching it. I think

it got better closer to the end once they introduced

Windblade and it got more linear. As it went

on, obviously they finally introduced Megatronus

at the end, which I thought, I really thought

that was going to be Soundwave, the way that

they showed him in disguise talking to, not Thunderhoof,

Steeljaw, thank you. At first I thought that

was going to be Soundwave, but I like how they're...

They're combining the the storyline of prime

with the animation style of rid Because I mean

Megatron essentially just at the end of prime

or at the end of Beast Hunters Was it yeah, it

was Beast Hunters. He just essentially walks

away. So we don't know what the hell happened

to Megatron But this guy here that comes in at

the end of this first season of the rid cartoon

is Megatron us who Megatron took his name from

So, but the comic, I'm kind of wondering where

the comic falls within the storyline of the show.

Right after prime. Right. No, I understand. So

basically this is about, okay, you're talking

about the comic. I don't know. It's a little

bit here and there. Well, obviously it's after

the alchemore crash, which is what we see in

like in the cartoon series like the first episode

or so Obviously, it's after that and they're

still trying to learn to be a team So I'd say

it's somewhere in between the first seven or

eight episodes of the first season I agree. Yeah,

I guess I don't know Margaret Scott if you're

listening comment, please Or Georgia or Priscilla

So we get the previously page and we get the

previously page is essentially catching us up

on what happened in the cartoon and it has the

covers and who the creative team is and then

we get into the actual story and they kind of

catch everybody up for new readers. What do you

think of the art so far? I think it's a lot of

fun. It's what are those it's a different style

than what we're used to you know if you feel

it's Priscilla's style And we never really see

other than covers because she does a lot of covers

for IDW But we've never really seen her do interiors.

I believe this is her first time doing interiors

I think you know if you if you were watching

the cartoon robots in disguise it It's a good

replica of I mean yeah, what how did? take on

that task. I want to know how Priscilla took

on that task. Oh, here's this cartoon. Now you

need to draw it pretty much like this. And you're

just like, holy crap. Cause you know, some people,

everyone has their style. I mean, look at Livio.

He has a different style than pretty much anyone.

And what about someone said, Hey, Livio, you

got to draw like Priscilla now. And you're just

like, Oh my gosh, what a task. So this this first

issue starts out with Bumblebee strong arm and

side swipe Hunting some villain, but it's just

not any villain. It's a evil demon fix it But

did you notice what fix it has Yeah, huh, and

I don't I don't think I don't don't think swerve

is gonna be too happy about that I'm pretty sure

there's other my first blasters, but oh my gosh

What a good little throwback to, oh, here's a

little something from more than meets the eye.

Enjoy this, you know? I know this is a different

continuity than more than meets the eye, but

I really wanted Swerve to come in and just smack

fix it upside the head. That's my gun. Give me

that. Get the hell out of my bar. I like how

she put like a little Decepticon emblem on him

too. I like Evil, I'll fix it. I think he's adorable.

Yes he is. He's very, very adorable. And as the

monologue goes on, it says, uh, uh, and a team

chosen by Optimus Prime, but it's, uh, it's as

its only defense. The word team here is used

loosely. They're still working on it. They're

still working on it. I I love how they work in

because sometimes in the show I Really get frustrated

with fix -its glitches because sometimes they

just don't it's kind of like bumblebee trying

to figure out his his catchphrase Sometimes they

don't work, but George Georgia really makes them

work Stand stand down Autobot oppressor face

my math raft So a lot of debate and topic on

Twitter recently is dealing with Overlord and

a certain part of his anatomy. I've missed it.

Oh, you didn't hear about the Overlord lipstick

thing? No, I've missed out on that. Oh, I'll

have to find that for you. I think Priscilla

brought it up, actually. And as I'm looking at

her version of Strongarm, I'm like, yeah, Strongarm

could be a... Twin sister the way she draws her.

I think I love her lips. I think they're beautiful

So as we go through this fix it's like capture

devices should be an off mode that was an anger

that was the agreement And then we get the dyno

pile Always be a dyno pile I know this is a different

Grimlock. I know this Grimlock used to be a Decepticon.

He is now an Autobot. And the voice does work

for him in the animated series, but I just think

it would be so much better if it was Greg Berger.

Everyone loves Greg. That'd be interesting if

they have a Dinobot versus Dinobot versus Dinobot.

Yeah versus the clone Dinobot versus the other

yeah I Do I do love Grimlock's line. I'm the

Dinobot. It's a thing if I say it's a thing I

like how you use this brute force to make his

his point So essentially they're here doing this

training trying to work as a team and they're

in the middle of playing a capture the flag game

do you notice what's on the flag oh it's krimzik

when uh when fix it's like i'm touching the flag

doesn't anyone want to stop me anyone almost

i can think of is builer Hey, it's 30 years old

this year, so that's crazy that is crazy Actually,

no, it'll be 30 years old next year I'm sorry

count 86 95 85 was breakfast club breakfast clubs

30 years old this year Wow So as we go along

they're all just kind of pig piling on each other,

dino piling on each other, and just kind of figuring

out how to get separated. And Bumblebee rings

the gong. Oh god. A gong joke. I enjoy it, Georgia,

but really a gong joke. The next thing you know,

they're gonna be playing their own version of

the gong show. There's nothing wrong with that.

I love that show. So essentially they failed

the training and we go back to the scrapyard

and Denny asked them how the training was and

They go and talk about bumblebees monologue gear

talks about team prime and how you know They

were all you know, you know one big well -oiled

machine and Don't ever remember seeing ratchet

that had I don't ever remember seeing ratchet

smile as much smiling Remember the episode where

he took the genetic or the energy ever Yeah,

and he he started becoming like a young bod again

He was happy then Yeah, but that's cuz he was

drugged up he was smiling I think the coolest

thing that came out of that episode was he turned

into the Whambulance. I'd love to get on our

seat. She's like, did he just? Yeah. Well, that's

probably one of my favorite episodes of Primer.

Absolutely. So as this first issue goes on, as

I said, we go back to the scrapyard. We meet

up with Denny again and his son Russell. Who

is really really mad that they went and had combat

training without him. Yeah, cuz you know everyone

wants a ten -year -old kid a combat training

And Grimlock's like I'm a side swipe like a bug

You know, I wish I wish Georgia and Priscilla

had put a little side note here with bumblebee

with that old reference that I love to make,

I'm not just playing on Bumblebee anymore, I'm

a gold bug! Anyway, it wouldn't work here. So

the team is, you know, Bumblebee's like, we're

tripling our time, spent in combat drills, and

everybody essentially groans, and the lights

go out. And they do the whole new tune, only

their objects are showing. Yep. I'm trying to

tell who is who, honestly. The big blue eyes?

Yeah. Those are Grimlock. Yeah. The ones next

to him? That's Bumblebee. That's Bumblebee, yeah.

The blue eyes with the eyelashes, of course,

that's Strongarm. Yeah. The small one, the small

one. Side Swipe and Russell, yeah. It basically

mirrors the panel right before it goes out. so

So we get We get old Bessie back up and running

and you know the the generator and come to find

out a transformer has short -circuited and They

believe it's sentient What is this remind me

of small soldiers And this is where This is where

a side swipe is like I should go check it out

Always awesome. You can go but only if you take

strong arm with you I'm just waiting for those

two to get together Are you kidding me? Yeah,

I'm hoping between issue zero and now I'm hoping

by the time we put this episode up live Priscilla

will have sent me Sidearm The combined form of

side swipe and strong arm It's like one of those

couples everyone knows you should be together

but the two of them, you know Yeah, see I see

side I see strong arm more of like his Condescending

mother and I see wind blade more of his type

No, they're gonna get together one of these days

I'll be right with the world through bad fanfiction.

Maybe oh, it's already out there. I Don't want

to know I That's one thing. I don't look for

on the internet is fanfiction from other people

and that's all I need to know You what you just

hear about it from other people yeah, and that's

all I need to know yeah, so they go to this disturbance

and we find um we find this no i'm here i'm sorry

i was like oh crap the skype could get out So

they're off and running to their their place

and wherever they're they're gonna look at this

disturbance and come to find out there's a Helicopter

waspinator looking thing If only it was really

waspinator, but I like this guy this guy's pretty

funny Oh, it's a girl Oh, not this one My story's

mixed up. Apologies. Spinhead. Oh, you're thinking

of the buffalo. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.

Sorry. Yeah. And this guy is like, your mind

control rays will not consume me. He transforms

into a helicopter. Fix it. Where's the nearest

power substation? And they transform and go to

the substation and... We have more arguing between

the two of them And then the villain shows up

I have a suggestion why don't you try looking

up I Love this panel. That's a beautiful pit

that is I Love this panel because the way Priscilla

has the background the way the character model

is there And look at his eyes his eyes aren't

even all the way open. Yeah did she uh she did

uh she did all the coloring too huh she does

it all in this series at this point i love the

colors that she used for for him yeah it's pretty

amazing and this decepticon believes that um

they wish to possess his thought functions I

love the reactions of Sideswipe and Strongarm.

Wait, what? No, we don't. That would be crazy

talk. I love the look on Sideswipe's face. Sideswipe,

yeah. You know, if these two eventually get together,

it's kind of like, almost like the honeymooners

at this point. I don't think there's any domestic

violence in it I don't know they you know Grimlock

Dino piled on them and she's already aggressive

What do you think so far of the overall story

I think it's fun. It's just one of those enjoyable

jaunts like I One thing I do like about the series

and I'm is the introduction of new characters

and it's it's a fresh feeling like oh what are

we going to get new this week and i i love that

this character is pretty much insane and they

and they're and they're trying to help him in

one way and they're like i don't know what to

do with this guy so i think it's a fun little

adventure i'm liking it so far what about you

yeah i This is what I needed for a Transformers

comic. Don't get me wrong. I love formerly, you

know, the book formerly known as rid I love more

than meets the eye, but I just haven't been able

to get into them lately I just I don't know what

it is. I just haven't like after combiner wars.

I pretty much stopped reading both books I just

and the only one I've been reading was wind blade

before that but This is really cool because They

can do more here than they can in the animated

series. Because the animated series, I mean,

I know we're supposed to be getting a second

season. Supposedly. But who knows if that's even

gonna happen. I haven't heard anything about

it. So let's see. Spinhead kicks us. a strong

arm in the face and um and just their exchanges

the way georgia writes them she nails the characters

from the show like i can hear darren chris's

side swipe and i forget off the top of my head

who plays the voice of strong arm but um not

that i apologize i don't know right now we go

back to the uh... scrapyard and fix it's like

decepticon helicopter like alt mode uh... disturbing

fixation on mind control could you be more specific

constant zimmer sorry how's the zimmer okay uh...

left -handed that narrows it down here we are

spin head I love how Priscilla draws each of

the characters because they're kind of like what

they look like in the cartoon, but at the same

time, not really. She's able to put her own spin

on the characters with the facial expressions.

Like Bumblebee, I don't think the Bumblebee character

in the show would ever look the way that he looks

like when he says, I've heard of them. They were

behind those attacks on Cybertron's government

last year. And then you've got Sideswipe, Grimlock,

and Strongarm all... Well, Sideswipe and Strongarm

are looking very sheepishly because Grimlock's

essentially insulting them. Look at that face

of Grimlock. Wouldn't you be kind of sheepish?

It looks like he would have them for breakfast.

Yeah, pretty much. So as we're going through

this, um, it all comes back to teamwork. Um,

and they want to go stop this guy and Russ is

like, all right, I'm coming along. And then there

is like, Nope. And then he's, you know, he, he

basically, you know, stands toe to shin or toe

to shoulder to bumblebee and be like, you know,

Need to come along if I'm a part of the team

The one thing Say the same thing here This is

the problem that I do have with this series and

this goes with the cartoon, too I mean they're

taking on big battles and then they have this

ten -year -old that they're supposed to write

into the story, right? This would never happen

But you're supposed to put a character in there

where, you know, the younger kids can relate

to and say, oh, this is me. I can be playing

with robots and stuff. Sometimes it's too unrealistic.

Some of the situations that he gets in. Yeah,

that's the only thing that I mean, like I said,

even before the comic came out, I did have that

problem with the cartoon. I'm like. I know his

dad's a little more lenient and a little more

adventurous than most other parents, but. Yeah,

they're going after An enemy that they don't

know anything of who could be very dangerous,

you know so That's where my my fantasy stops.

So it's just like I don't know about this but

I Like when he plays dress up and he goes incognito

with his dad. I really think that's fun The scene

where they're all driving to the to the substation

or wherever it is they're supposed to be going.

The one thing, even in the cartoon show, that

I have a problem with is Grimlock. There's nothing

about his personality, it's just the logistics

of Grimlock. He's a giant Dinobot, and their

point of the series, both comic and cartoon,

is they need to stay hidden. How are you going

to stay hidden when you have a giant T -Rex looking

thing trumping and stumping down the mountain?

Well, you know, they've played it off pretty

well. Yeah, they have played it off pretty well.

I just wish... I wish he would get, like, Transmetal

2 Beast Wars Megatron skates. Remember? When

Megatron had the wheels? That would make Grimlock

so much. I remember getting Skating Megatron

Hello. Because remember Ducky? Oh, yeah, I Would

love David K to sing the old Sesame Street Ernie

song rubber ducky. You're Pretty sure there's

somewhere where he has saying that I'm pretty

sure he's sick of citing rubber ducky Is an awesome

man So we get to the subs I accidentally went

to go get my hair tie and I dropped all my remotes.

I was thinking there, I thought you turned in

to fix it for a moment. Just started glitching

all over the place. I dropped my remote. So we

get to the power station or whatever this is

supposed to be. Guess it's a I've never seen

a power station look like this one It's essentially

rigged up with a whole bunch of wires and everything

else and it's essentially a floating power I've

never seen a floating power station Let me get

this straight. I'm going to run this way and

you're gonna run in the opposite direction and

that's gonna get us separated Yeah, it works

for me clink I Don't care how many people say

wild wild west is a bad movie. I still love that

movie I still enjoyed watching it. Yeah So we

get to Spinhead and he tries to tell them about

the secret ruling class and They all look at

him like he's crazy And he's then he's just comes

to his senses well, then I guess you're just

a bunch of filthy Autobots See this is what I

do again. This is one thing that I really do

about enjoy about this series just like Issue

zero they have these Decepticons and you get

to know what? why they're doing what they are.

They're all feeling like, I just want to go home.

I'm being repressed. I just want to be my own

person. You know, at that one point when he's

talking about, he feels like his second class,

you know, you kind of feel sorry for him. You're

just like, these guys, you guys just want to

go home. And that and that will look on his face

the the look that Priscilla puts on his face

when he says sigh fine That last pet on that

page I loved his look he looks so downtrodden

and hurt and you're just like oh And then everybody

on team B kind of sideswipe transforms picks

Russell up and Basically zooms off and everybody

on team B essentially just just looks like they're

gonna desert. Yeah, and Bumblebee gets stomped

on. Yeah, he gets dino piled too. He gets, yeah.

I mean you look at that panel and you go back

to the beginning where Grimlock is doing the

dino pile. It's pretty much the same look. Remember

how B got mad because you're lucky that now it's

happening to him. Hence saying the training that

they did when Bumblebee said y 'all failed, actually

he could have learned from it. Well, they kind

of did because they're working together at this

point. That's true. I mean, as we see, and I

thought it was hilarious for Priscilla in the

in Georgia to work the panels with Where strong

arms like catch this rabbit next thing, you know

is side swipes tapping him on the shoulder Yeah,

that's a very car. I'm not I'm not being insulting

when I say this, but that's like very cartoony

kind of That's like something out of a Looney

Tunes cartoon There's nothing insulting to anything

when you compare it to original Looney Tunes

there's nothing insulting because original Looney

Tunes is amazing and awesome and fun and Yeah,

I don't think that's oh no So We have all these

awesome panels where Sideswipe's running away,

Grimlock's running in, and it looks like our

heroes are going to basically lose, and then

they don't. And I swear, Spinhead, with the way

Priscilla colored him, especially in the panel

where he's like, ugh, because he's crashed down,

I swear he's a double for Waspinator. I bet you

he's probably his long lost cousin. You said

that, you know, because when I was reading this,

I was kind of picturing kind of the same kind

of voice, you know, that buzzy, you know, voice.

And then poor Grimlock, now? Can I do it now?

Dino Pile might be the best thing this series

has ever produced. I really do feel sorry for

Spid Head. Yeah, I'm already down on his luck.

Literally kicking a man while he's down right

here. And you'd think that this issue would end

right there with, you know, Spinhead saying,

what is this dino pylon? Why has it hurt me so?

But no, we were too late. Lo and behold, bulkhead

Narcy. Yeah, kind of like the issue zero again.

yeah did you expect to see them this early even

though we kind of saw them in issue zero i i

was thinking i'd see them at the end of the arc

i wasn't expecting to see them in the next issue

yeah because i thought that was going to be like

the big ender um for yeah the first four you

know i thought oh well they're not going to come

in until the the end so this was kind of nice

and it kind of gives another dramatic Story art

to it as well. I enjoy it and we actually get

more because as you've already said this is essentially

continuing the the Transformers Prime storyline

with different animation style So it's kind of

nice And I love how Priscilla did RC. Oh Yeah,

gorgeous. I It's so awesome. I love the prime

RC. I really did and so she's continued on and

I like that how she's added just a little bit

more paint to her than what we saw in Prime.

I just love the colors on her and her style.

She looks gorgeous. Is it just me or do they

look like they're supposed to be camouflaged?

I think they're supposed to be just hiding in

the shade. Right, but if you look at the up close

panel where RC says we're on our way back to

the ship, I don't know it looks like to me It's

just a shading like if you're through like through

the bushes and stuff Sometimes you're gonna get

some light and sometimes you're gonna get a lot

more shading Okay, I just think it's just the

lighting but that's how I took it. So yeah, that

could be because if you the light is coming on

the side there the Behind them. Yeah, so that

would be reflected like that. Yeah, that's true

And this one basically this first issue basically

ends with Bumblebee and telling Denny about that

his old team is here and and he basically is

having doubts and you know at the end he says

maybe we don't trust each other very much after

all. But think about it. I mean if you are in

that situation where you just had the most epic

adventure ever Yeah, and I mean when you go through

something traumatic you Basically become family,

you know everyone is in that situation you come

closer to someone when you go through all that

and so for Them not to tell him that they were

back on earth. Yeah, you'd feel like Well, I

guess I was wrong. I guess I did screw up or

he's probably doubting himself. Like yeah, it

was all my fault or something, you know So I

can see where he's coming from so absolutely

before this first issue ends we have this little

Two panel thing I believe John did this I don't

know if Priscilla did it I'm not sure because

John did one that was in issue zero so yeah So

I'm not sure cuz that bumblebee does not look

like Priscilla's bumblebee Yeah, well and the

thing is this this whole page is a letter from

John Right, yeah. I'm thinking it's John's doing.

If not, someone tell us. Yeah, please. The first

issue, I liked it a lot. I thought it was a lot

of fun. What about you? I really did too. There's

a lot going on. I mean, you've got different

little subplots here and there. You've got a

new character, which I absolutely enjoy. I'd

like to see more of him. You got the motion where...

I kind of felt sorry for him, you know, and you

got some fun stuff. I mean, Grimlock's pretty

hilarious. Fix it. The homage to my first blaster.

Come on, that wouldn't be over right there. Yeah,

I was really hoping he would get a chance to

use it because I would want to see what Georgia

does with the magic bullets that come out of

swerves blaster I really doubt if you know later

on I mean fix it right now. He's kind of in the

background But he's gonna I'm bet you he's gonna

probably have a his storyline where he He'll

have to probably defend for himself at one point.

I could see that and him using it, I think that'd

be awesome, so. Yeah, I enjoyed this first issue.

Again, if you're looking for the heavy drama

of the Transformers comic or more than meets

the eye, you're not gonna really get that, because

it is geared towards the younger readers, but

that doesn't mean it's not fun, because I had

a lot of fun reading it, so. I mean, the whole

point is that Yes, it is for the younger readers,

but it's also for us because I've already made

allusions to Sideswipe and Strongarm being, you

know, the honeymooners, the Transformers version

of the honeymooners. I mean, that's not exactly

a kids show, folks. With issue two, we get...

We get a cover Basically kind of like a photo

cover. That's got a lightning strike on the front

of it. Yeah And here I'd say it's like it's here.

Yeah. Yeah The digital issue does not have the

other covers on I don't know why but I know the

sub cover for this one was it's by Josh Oh, it's

by Josh. Okay, because I've got my mic You've

got your sub -cover. So as you know, Josh Birch's

style, you could definitely tell it's his, you

know? And again, it's kind of got like that lightning

crack or the tear going down, but it's going

down the middle. So it has the Robots in Disguise

team on it. Yeah, what I love about this one,

most of all, Is they put a roll call page in

this is where I was good I was hoping you were

gonna talk about this because oh How can we not

talk about this? There's a roll call page in

every transformers comic no matter what it is

there there has been for the last Four or five

however many years they've been doing more than

meets the eye and robots that form formerly known

as robots, but okay, so here's the rundown we

got bumblebee team leader big -time hero uh -huh

sure strong arm plays by the book sides so i've

never even read a book grimlock stomped on the

book i thought that was so cute fix it trying

to keep it together and we have denny who is

the junkyard owner human ally and russell denny's

son would be autobot um Gotta say Georgia. You

gotta come up with a little bit better for the

humans. Oh, that's fine because that's basically

I mean, come on Russell would be Autobot. I think

that's awesome Because he wants to be one even

though he's a ten -year -old kid. Oh The going

back really quick the sub cover for this issue.

I remember what it was It's bumblebee trying

to be he man. Oh, yeah By the power of cybershot,

I have the power! I was thinking about this.

Someone please tell me. Okay, I was looking at

Skeletor today, a picture of Skeletor that I

have, and I'm like, this huge muscly body, what

happened to his head that he's just a skull?

He has no flesh there. Which version of Skeletor

is it? It's the one that I got from an artist

from Comic Con, so it... Um, is it in the style

of the Filmation Skeletor or is it in the style

of the New Adventures Skeletor or is it in the

style of the 2002 Skeletor? It's more like the

old school 80s. The Filmation, okay. There is

an actual backstory for that. They created a

backstory for Skeletor in the 2002 Mike Young

production cartoon. Oh, okay. Basically what

happened was... Because through Maddie collector

and the toys and all that his alter not alter,

but his former Personality was that of Keldor

who was brother to King Randor, okay? through

some weird thing they were brothers and Keldor

Think of I really hate to do this, but I have

to It's essentially a Mufasa scar kind of thing

really between Keldor and Randor So I just sent

you the picture that I have from an artist at

comic -con. Oh Yeah, that is very much. Yeah,

that's very good. It is on the stick in the background

Or Dakia Sorry to get off topic Well, just to

catch you up here in that storyline of the 2002

cartoon In the first three -part or the beginning,

we have Keldor wanting to take over the planet,

obviously, blah, blah, blah, blah. There's this

vial of ooze or vial of poison that poisons his

face, and that's how, in the 2002 cartoon, he

eventually loses, you know. Instead of Optimus

coming in there and saying, give me your face,

the poison took it from him. Okay, cool. So thank

you now back to your regularly scheduled transformers

programming people I appreciate your help Because

I remember watching the 80s cartoon like everything

No, they don't they don't address it in the in

the filmation cartoon at all Yeah, they don't

they don't address it in the the live -action

film either so No, it's yeah, I've got to watch

that Horribly wonderful show The best part about

that movie is Franklin jealous Skeletor. Oh my

gosh, very very very and after the credit scenes

Wait what? Oh my gosh, you don't know about the

after credit scenes It was like one of the very

first after credit scenes ever made in Masters

of the universe It's been a while since I've

seen I'll have to go back he's still alive from

Terminator Oh, God. Go watch it. It's awesome.

So we start this issue off basically catching

everybody up on what happened in the first issue,

the fact that Team Prime is on Earth. We start

with, you know, Denny and Russell. We start with

the roll call, and then we break into the actual,

because that was the Previously page. We break

into Crown City morning rush hour. I can already

tell you folks, I love this issue simply for

how awesome the villain is in this. Because whoever

thought of having a... I mean, this is like...

Like transformers on speed. It's like when's

Keanu Reeves gonna come out here? I mean seriously,

it's like when's this bus gonna jump the 50 feet,

you know, I mean so we got we open this up and

People are waiting on the bus they get on the

bus and all of a sudden the bus starts moving

and transforming and people start screaming and

Let us out. What's happening? I gotta watch my

intake What are you gonna say? I know it's kind

of freaky here. You're just doing your everything

top on a bus and then all of a sudden You're

probably thrown next to the guy that hasn't showered

for three days, you know, oh So it's a bust a

comic -con That's a stereotype No it's not, it's

reality. It's not a stereotype. So we got Team

B trying to corral this busformer. I remember

when I first read this issue I actually tweeted

on Twitter to a friend of ours, Brian Kilby,

and asked him if there were ever any busformers

before, and apparently in bayformers there was.

There's also they also had a contest in the uk

Oh, well, it was about four or five years ago

And they made a trans. Well, I can't ever think

of his name now. It was one of those double Yeah,

I think that's what i'm talking about Yeah, so

yeah Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, it was a contest

and that was the one that won for over the uk

so So team B wants to stall this guy and you

know, he's like hold still so I can mash you

and Side swipe is like We're logging off the

next street get transit over there. Anyway, you

can side swipe wants you to turn left Obviously

I can't do very much voice to save my life but

This is like a Batman 66 joke right here folks

because you have you have the Grimlock basically

head -butting transits chest and you have a bang

as a sound effect. I love it. I love the onomatopoeias

that they used. So cool. So we get to the Crown

City Central Transportation Center. where Russell

is a crossing guard or something and he's saying

that it's you know closed and whatever else I

think the coolest part about this is who's in

the crowd who's in the crowd who's in the crowd

okay It's the panel where Russell is saying,

looks like some of our new units need a little

more time in the test lab. Excuse me, gotta run.

Okay, I'm looking. Come on, we're right in front

of you. Oh, she just missed it! Carly and Spike!

Yep! And I think, I swear to god, the chick behind

Carly is Shayna. She could be Shayna, yeah. I

hope Priscilla comments on this and lets me know,

because I really think that's Shana from Gemini

Holograms. Oh my gosh, that'd be so awesome if

they were in the same universe. I know, right?

Sadly, nobody can see that movie anymore. And

the Transformer that was in the Michael Bay film

was Bendy Bus Prime. Bendy Bus Prime, that's

what it is, yeah. As we go along here, we find

out that Transit likes to throw espresso stands

at Grimlock. And a whole bunch of other things

as well. Oh, poor Grimlock. At least Grimlock

is a good catcher. Yes, yes he is. At least he

can, you know, juggle everything fairly well.

So transit gets away and He gets held up by a

traffic jam and We have fix it traffic sign hacked

operation stop and go is address mess success

Thanks you really cleared that up I Love what

she I love a Priscilla did with with side swipe

there Because at first I didn't notice it, but

it's fix it on his, I guess his arm, because

I can't tell because of the panel. On his arm,

it's a holographic thing that pops up. It shows

you sideswipe. And then bring in Denny in a suit.

I'm like, whoa, is that Jefferson Darcy? I know,

that's what I think of too. Well, to be fair,

Ted McGinley voices Denny on the show. So Transit

basically falls off the bridge there and is basically

caught. I love the news report coming up here.

Crown City bus goes out of control. Coffee seller

confused. Don't don't blame don't blame And team

be consistently They're still not working well

together they seem to think it's a successful

mission but bumblebees like yeah next time we'll

have to work on the whole you know Conceal yeah,

yeah staying in Cognito now And he keeps comparing

them to his, or no, he, well, that was last issue

he kept comparing them. He sits there and asks

Fixit if he's found the other Team Prime members

and Fixit's like, yeah, I put out signals everywhere

except here apparently. And Ultra Magnus knocks

on the door with the hammer. I love it. Again,

let me stop you right here on that. Before Ultra

Magnus comes in, Priscilla, again, once again,

does a great job with expressions. I love the

look that she's giving me here. That one panel

where he's talking to Beed, you can tell he's

just rolling his eyes. I love it. Oh, you mean

Fix It? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, well, Fix It is the

most... They're all very All their facial expressions

are very expressive, but I think fix it I think

she has the most fun with him like I'm not trying

to put words into Priscilla's mouth But it seems

like through the art just through seeing that

she has the most fun with his expressions more

than the others Yeah And as I say that we have

side swipe and strong And their reaction to Team

Prime, more so strong -armed than anybody else.

I absolutely love the look on her face here.

She fangirls out. In all fairness though, I don't

flavor. No, I don't flavor either and I'm not

saying it's a bad thing. I just I love their

two reactions where she's like team prime and

she's got all these stars and everything else

around her head and in her eyes and side swipes

like just whoa So we have the reunion very quick

reunion between bulkhead and bumblebee and then

we have strong arm fangirling all over RC And

I love how R .C. is taking this. She's doing

like pretty much what any person that has to

go to a convention that has to meet up with their

fans. She's taking it very well. Yeah, I'm glad

that Brasila did not put a like Brasila has like

a half smile on R .C.'s face. She's not like

she doesn't have like a rolling her eyes kind

of look or kind of a frowny little smirk on her

face And I can so here's some Lee Montana saying

this my first fan That's why I spend all of my

time lately tracking down criminals the fame

and the glamour Just add in the fashion and the

glitter and there you go So they're there on

a criminal investigation and they're looking

for three criminals ejected from the alchemore

because they are looking for someone named Clipshade

who apparently was Bubblebee's first bust. And

they then have an interrogation scene. I love

the interrogation scene. I do too. Because it

essentially brings us to everybody. We've already

captured. We got flame feather who was in issue

zero We got spin head who was in last issue and

we got transit who was in this issue and I love

it I I think I love that three sets a panel there

I Think because they all look so good. I Almost

wish they were in like a black and white like

police station kind of style i mean don't get

me wrong for this for what what priscilla's style

is for the but the way i see this is i want to

see them up against the the height board you

know what i mean oh yeah mugshots everybody mugshots

um so we find out about a decepticon named retrofit

Who joined just before? Clip shades incarceration

And apparently strong arm is gonna impersonate

retrofit This can't go well I Like how strong

arms like hey I could do an ad -lib as long as

it's not me She can't add lip for herself, but

when she's in When she's a second personality

she can't Yeah Honestly, I like the retrofit

colors on her almost better than her normal colors.

They look really cool here Those are like my

two favorite colors the the blue and purple my

favorite. Yeah I love the way Priscilla has only

looks like a kid on Like he's on a picnic or

something. Yeah, I know he's got I know he's

got the binoculars and he's looking just but

the way she's got him laying down I just can't

I just can't obviously I'm picturing in here

because it's here. But in my mind, I just can't

picture Any version of bumblebee laying down

like this for reconnaissance? I think there was

one I'm sure think it's I Just thought that he

would did it in prime but I could be wrong Think

he crouched down. I don't think he he's laying

down on the grass So clip shade shows up Strong

arm as retrofit tries her is it Georgia that's

giving them the characters these names cuz I

kind of like that name clip shade I Would assume

is Georgia Would assume or I don't know if that's

the Hasbro's doing like you have to have a character

called this or whatever Or if it's Georgia because

I really do like that. I Don't think like unless

they're going to eventually make toys of these

comic character versions You know, I don't know

we can ask I Love that. I love the colors. I

tell you. Yep Clipshade reminds me of the Dobermans

from Oliver and Company. Oh boy. So Retrofit,

aka Strongarm, basically screws it up. Because

you know She agrees with him about finding afterburner,

which apparently was a trap. Yeah, and bumblebees

like nope gotta go Gotta go savor. We stick together

which that's a good message. Yeah, I mean look

he learned from prime about that, you know, he

was primed for years and centuries so It hurt

my eyes at first, but I love the scene where

RC and bulkhead transform I Love see this is

what I do miss with a lot. We had it earlier

in this issue as well But good transformation

sequences. This one's gorgeous. I love how she

did it You know because there for a while a lot

of the transformer comics you rarely got a transformation

scene You know Mean, I'm pretty sure it's very

difficult to draw But yeah, she did a great job

up here. I love it. I think I think it's cool

Yeah, it is very cool So we get to this warehouse

which they think they're gonna get the upper

hand on Clip shade, but he basically jumps through

the window. Yep, and then it seems like We see

that close -up of him where he says we do indeed

it ends and He doesn't look the same like when

he looks like the panel right before that he

says We're always says you and I have been here

before and we both know how it ends In the panel

after that and the panel after that he looks

so different He looks like he's like 30 years

older in his face. It just I don't know. It looks

weird I think it's the shading Okay, because

there is it's supposed to look darker because

they're indoors now instead of outdoors Okay,

I'm thinking that it's probably just the shading

of it I didn't notice I didn't notice that so

Okay, so he gets outside and sideswipe and Grimlock

are basically double whammied. Yeah Strongarm

tries to get him but that doesn't work. Grimlock

eventually grabs him and they're like oh well

we'll take him back to the command center and

Ultra Magnus is like belay that order. I still

can't do a Michael Ironside, sorry folks. I'd

love to but I can't. So they leave the team comes

back to the Scrapyard Russell is eating a sandwich

because he stayed home this time, which is on

good And the strong arm is still fangirling over

working with team prime And then we have the

cool stuff, because Priscilla was able to include

a certain... I love this. Let's get a spherical

Priscilla. Ech. Carnival mirrors give me the

creeps. Anyone that didn't notice this, you should

be ashamed of yourself. Any Transformers animated

fan that didn't notice this, you should be ashamed

of yourself if you've looked at this comic. Because

she got in an animated bumblebee. animated is

so beloved you know yeah and she even got in

a sort of looking animated optimus a little bit

yeah the panel after the B panel where he says

optimus prime I mean, obviously Optimus in Transformers

Animated was David Kay, and not Peter Cullen,

and this does look more like the Peter Cullen,

obviously, Transformers Prime face, but it's...

I don't know. The body looks more animated, but...

Yeah. Yeah. And Optimus basically says, you know,

trust your instincts, and this is where this

one ends, where he's like, something, there's

something altering us is not... telling us from

now on this is our investigation and that's where

number two ends. I love this issue. I really

like the ending of number two because you're

just like oh so is Ultra Magnus in the wrong

here or is someone impersonating Ultra Magnus

or what about the rest of the team? This issue

left me with lot of questions and I like it when

they do that because then you get so excited

to read the next one like ooh what's gonna happen

it's gonna go on you know I think my favorite

part about this issue was the whole beginning

with with transit that was just awesome we need

to have more transit I just dug that so much.

Yeah, they did. Again, it's a fun story. It really

gets you involved and I like that they have Team

Prime in there as well. So for issue number three

we have the regular cover is Denny and Russell

riding Grimlock. They're writing a t -rex and

thankfully he does not have any feathers You

wouldn't want to write a t -rex really. That'd

be awesome, right? the sub cover is Very strange.

I love the sub covers It's it's very strange

looking to me. It's our it's our C and strong

arm but They don't look like what Priscilla is

drawing them as. It's because it's by Josh. Josh

Birchenberg. Okay. And don't get me wrong, I

love Josh. I do. I'm not saying anything bad

about his cover here. I'm just saying, I'm not

used to seeing Strongarm look the way that she's

looking in this. Well, because you never really

see Strongarm get out of that personality mode

of... She's so by the book so serious and then

you see a fangirl out and you're just like oh

wow, you know And apparently rather than act

appreciative about it or or somewhat tolerant

about it Josh draws RC like she's pissed because

it's got the three red flares in the top of her

head How long has this been going on now? Yeah,

really ain't that the truth So we get into issue

number four, or number three here, I'm sorry.

I'm jumping ahead too much. We have the previous...

You're counting zero. You're probably counting

zero. Yeah, kinda. That's what happens when you

do a free conflict issue, folks. So we get the

previously page to catch everybody up. As the

story opens... We have the roll call page, but

it's the same. I'm wondering when George is gonna

change that up It's probably I would say it's

probably after the story arc because we're gonna

rich for a review is in story arc So it might

be different next issue. I'd say Well, I know

it's not different for issue for maybe issue

five. Yeah, so I'm saying for issue five. Yeah,

okay Starting the next story art. So yeah So

this one is uh last issue we dealt with transit

and busformers and bendy bus prime and all that

stuff and this one we're dealing with the transformers

version of storage wars called bin battles i

love it i didn't even think storage wars was

still a thing oh yeah and then they've got like

all these other knockoffs i know i know yeah

But like I remember two or three years ago where

storage wars was this big huge thing and now

it just I don't know maybe it's just me since

I don't really have actual cable television right

now, but It just seems like it's almost died

down. Oh, I'm I think it's still a thing That

upon pond stuff and yeah Pawn stuff, that's funny.

When you get one show, then they have like five

others that follow it, you know? So they're talking

about this show, Bin Battles, and... apparently

Denny ordered something or did something where

he he's looking for his vintage Morton Donuts

sign and apparently it's there and he goes off

to do that and sideswipe sideswipe wants to go

see it but Denny's like you're probably gonna

need to stay out of sight And apparently strong

arm is not not too happy apparently she doesn't

get reality television programming Don't blame

her I Was really surprised when bumblebee did

the turn that he did here you mean bin bowels

I love that show I Don't think I've ever seen

mobile be that Happy? It depends, it depends.

Yeah. So Fixit has been looking for known associates

and he finds a... ...Buffaloid. And all I can

think of is... Wow. She kind of reminds me of

El Torito from WWE. Oh my gosh. Nice. Bumblebee

says, any lead is better than none. Good work,

Fixit. Fixit's like, I would have reported back

sooner, but it took me a few days to identify

ClipShade's favorite chrome alloy pie. It's magnesium

meringue. I thought that was so adorable. And

Bumblebee's like, I just said that for emphasis.

Didn't really need to know. Well, he has excellent

taste. The recipe looks vicious. Suspicious.

Delicious. I kind of want to see what this recipe

is. Yeah. So StrongArm and Grimlock go with Bumblebee

and he sends Sideswipe, Denny, and Russell off

to find other storage units and whatever else.

Denny doesn't even want to go at first because

his Morton doughnut sign came and I can't believe

Priscilla put in a Simpsons doughnut. Why not?

You're the best doughnut. I know but it's just

so funny. I can't believe she got away with that.

Why not? Simpsons did it. So Denny doesn't really

want to go at first until Russell says we're

going storage shopping. I get the driver's seat!

Denny is such a pack rat. He is. Speaking of

reality television, he should probably be on

Hoarders. Yeah. The thing is he owns a junkyard,

but he doesn't let go of anything. It's true.

So he gets to this Yes the auction here and looks

like it's a paper I Don't it looks like it's

a it's a paper sign or it's some sort of placard

or whatever of Denver the last oh, I'm sorry

No, it's not Denver the last dinosaur. It's a

green version of It's a green version of snarl

you know the Sinclair uh gas station dinosaur

oh yeah yeah i guess that's a brontosaurus or

brachiosaurus i don't know but something like

that and i love the next panel where side swipe

on on the monitor is like if anyone is watching

this i hope they're having more fun than i am

and bulkhead's nearly asleep So the buffaloid

is a Transport van of some sort apparently no

and you you'll see That's right. That's right.

Never mind. I'm getting my shit. I get my issues

next step again. Let's think that was transit

No, I know because this is a this is a purple

van versus a gray bus. Yeah, I know I was thinking

it was transit again. I'm like, nope. No, it's

not. No, he's locked up. He's in the stasis pod.

I realize that now. So the female guard's like,

make sure you check the traffic report, Joe.

I heard there's an accident on 5th. And basically,

you know, he turns on the radio. with a high

today of 72 traffic is up next but first maybe

you should step outside Joe and Joe gets ejector

seated that would fun and suck at the same time

well at least he held on to the lamp post yeah

so the the van comes to the the store the you

packet self storage facility And Bumblebee's

like, okay, strike on my mark. Grimlock is not

exactly quiet when he's saying, I'm ready, I'm

pumped, I'm taking her down, yeah, woo! And of

course, Bumblebee does, I feel like at this point

in this panel where Bumblebee's like on three,

one, two, and. And Grimlock's like, attack! Bubblebee

is Murtagh. Grimlock is Riggs. Do we go on three

or one, two, then three? No, one, two, three.

That's what it is. One, two, three, go. So the

Buffaloid... Grimlock tries to trick her. Greetings

fellow Decepticon. I don't think so. She's smarter

than that. Yeah, I love it when Priscilla has

Grimlock head -butting Pete. Well, actually the

buffaloid here head -butts him, but I just love

that look. It's just awesome. Yeah, I did that

panel a lot. I like how she made this buffaloid.

I like how the... was it overhead? Yeah, over.

Mm -hmm. Yeah, I like how tough they make her

like you what she's not gonna back down She knows

she's caught but she's gonna put up a good fight

here. I love it I think the best panel of overhead

here is after Strong arm throws the trash at

her and and her eyes and her just the whole girl

i just love that panel this panel is so awesome

i like that like the you know little little air

coming out of her nostrils like a buffalo would

you know an actual workflow absolutely and apparently

um grimlock decides to wear a dress dress Because

a few panels later they crash into the clothes.

Like, wow. I like the hat. They don't like the

hat, yeah. So we find out that Overhead is actually

the mastermind behind this whole thing, for now

anyway. And she even says, I just want to go

home. You know she says she'll even tell them

how to find her boss and and Always like clip

shades already in custody that hood ornament.

He's just for show I Do notice there is a couple

of Art errors here Okay, at one point she has

her horn ripped off and then is kind of like

grown back again. Oh So it's kind of like your

boyfriend there. My boyfriend was gifted his

horn. Thank you No, he was not. It was gifted

that he'd get it ripped off. He got it back.

Yeah, well, that's just one relationship that

just... Talk about some bad fan fiction. Oh,

boy. The Cyclonus tailgate fandom just... Wow.

I don't even... Don't even look at it. It's a

good thing you don't. So she whips out this transmitter.

thinking that they're going to basically go along

with what she's saying. And yeah, they're...

Wow. What happened to you this issue, Priscilla?

Yeah, you're right. The art on her, the horn's

there, it's missing, it's missing, and then it's

there again for the rest of these panels. Yep.

That's the only fly I could see. Yeah. Absolutely.

That could be understandable. Yep, and in the

panel later when she's stasis cuffed to the side

of the building her horn is gone again. Yeah

So they're all laying in wait to see who shows

up for this This transmitter thing this this

distress signal and lo and behold its clip shade

And apparently Clipshade is a double agent. You

know, if he was big and black and silver and

turned into a cassette and he was a Decepticon,

it'd be Ravage all over again. No, I... Ravage

is a cat, he's a dog. Big difference. I know.

Okay, change the species too. No, I... Like double

ages, I think they're fun. They are very fun.

Yes, I especially love Really jumping head love

what he does to sideswipe Side swipe just gets

a raw deal honestly So before we get there we

get to the fact that they're looking for overhead

and She's with Strongarm, and apparently, um,

obviously Strongarm comes to realize that the

stuff that was stolen isn't random, it's, you

know, it's ingredients for a space bridge, and

Mumby's like, Strongarm! And she, uh, she got

knocked on her ass, essentially. And they're

all arguing and arguing and arguing, and this

is where your favorite moment here comes in,

where Cliffshade's like, would you like to see

what this cannon is really capable of? Click.

He stole Pinkie Pie's party cannon. Well, at

least he put it to good use. I love sideswipes

reaction afterwards. Can you sync that to music?

And then Clipshade's reply, you obviously missed

my penultimate performance under my stage name,

Spectrosynth at the Cybertron Amphitheater. So

he's a professionally trained actor. Oh god,

now all I can think of is... Clipshade is Bugs

Bunny. Oh, a Shakespearean actor. Strong arm

obviously is not too happy. The look on her face,

I swear it looks like she's constipated. She

just got knocked out, man. I know. Team Prime

shows back up at the end of this, because StrongArm

says, it's alright, it's just when I catch up

to that buffaloid, I'm gonna knock her into a

new dimension. Bommi's like, you're right, but

first we need to find Alter Magnus and get some

answers. You're right, Lieutenant. Answers are

long overdue. And I gotta give kudos to Priscilla

and the the size that she she's putting it into

this last panel because RC looks like the size

that she's supposed to be Absolutely she does

So with issue number four, we have two covers

here. We have the regular cover and the sub cover

the regular cover is Pretty much everybody Yeah.

Sideswipe even has his sword out. Fix -It's there,

Bulkhead, Rimlock, Strongarm, Bumblebee, and

Magnus. And they look like they're fighting the

audience. I think it's great. I think it's fun.

And then the sub -cover is basically Bumblebee

and Magnus going at it Rock -Em -Sock -Em robot

style. Who doesn't like a good Rockum Sockum?

Yeah, I wish they'd put one of those jokes in

this series. I can see, I can see Side Swipe

and Strongarm playing Rockum Sockum robots. Oh,

that would be fun. That would be awesome. So

obviously we start off with the previously page

getting us caught up with what happened in the

last issue. Then we have the roll call, and then

we have a completely different story. Like, because

issue four as of this recording just came out.

So this recording is not going up until a week

after issue four's release, so we're going to

spoil the hell out of it, folks. But I wasn't

sure what to expect at the beginning of this

after the previously page, because obviously

it's in the style it's supposed to be in. And

then we start off with Sesame Street drawings.

I'm not saying that as an insult. No, I think

this is absolutely adorable. It is. It's awesome.

Especially in the very first panel that the sun's

crying. Yeah. I love it. Oh my gosh. These first

three panels made me smile so big. I love it.

It's just so funny. I didn't know Brasila could

do stuff like this. This is awesome. This looks,

these four or five, yeah, three or four panels

here, these opening panels, that's actually three.

It looks like it's... It looks like it's something

that you'd see in like a fourth or fifth grade

art class Oh, but it's it's I think it's adorable.

I love it. Oh, yeah No, I'm not saying that it's

I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just saying the

way that she's drawn it It honestly reminds me

of the way I used to draw when I was in elementary

school Well, then we get back to the real world

That's how you thought this would go Thanks for

reminding me why I never tell you anything So

basically we start with ultra Magnus and we'll

be fighting and Over the fact that ultra Magnus

should have trusted in and everything else And

Ultra Magnus is like, I wasn't sure I could trust

your friends. And at first I thought he was referring

to Side Swipe. Uh -huh. But when he says that,

he's looking back at Fix -It Grimlock. And yes,

while Grimlock was originally a Decepticon, he

is now an Autobot. But I mean, why would you

ever not trust Fix -It? I mean... Cuz was it

often wasn't he decepticon at 1 .2? No, he was

the Autobot minicon. He's the Autobot minicon

that came with the alchemore. He was the pretty

I thought it was something in the cartoon camera.

No, he was the He was the caretaker of the prison

ship alchemore. That's that's right So we get

the whole thing of I accepted your help and The

fact that Bulbabe didn't listen to him and he

ordered his team to investigate And his point

is that while he may have compromised Ultra Magnus's

mission to protect Cybertron At the same time

Ultra Magnus's decision to use them instead of

telling them what was going on has endangered

everyone on Earth So it kind of plays out in

like what's strong arms dream was but obviously

they're not BFFs So with the trust issues out

of the way We then go to the fact of that the

What is it the Buffalo? You know Wouldn't suspect

one of the Autobots because one of them has never

she's never seen one of them which is it's a

side swipe So the side swipe goes it gets to

go be a spy and Like I still can't believe none

of them got that joke I mean Come on the idea

of going under cover is like slapping a new sticker

on my bumper. I love it and it it's like they're

all just like what the hell is wrong with you

he's never he really is the outcast of the group

he was never military trained and he kind of

yeah sucked into this and now he's trying to

learn yep So we go to the coastal wetlands where

we have two gator looking bots coming back with

a bunch of boxes apparently Really none of this

stuff Overhead can use Well, cuz they don't they

don't even know that yeah for her and so she's

like Yeah, they don't know what she's looking

for because the Autobots confiscated all her

stuff last issue I think And One of them says

what's the first thing you're gonna do when you

get it back to back home razor grill I'm gonna

find that tinfoil traffic cop that pulled me

over for leaking oil in a no leaking zone and

break his gaskets How about you you think he's

talking about prowl? Tinfoil traffic? Yeah, I

can see Prowl being a tinfoil traffic cop, and

after all he doesn't like people who break the

rules. Exactly. But then again, it could be bombshell

controlling Prowl. Oh yeah, I'm gonna do something

tough like that too. I was definitely not going

to say watch season three of What Not to Alt

Mode. I want to see that show! What not to what

not to alt mode? Do you think that was a more

than meets the eye jab? Probably at wrong. Yeah

And apparently they're not going home according

to According to overhead Because she doesn't

want to go back to all the rivalries and whatever

else she wants to rule earth essentially and

We go back to training is underway at the scrapyard.

Oh Boy that's One wacky looking drawing. Don't

you think? Yeah, I love it though. I I'd like

What's his name? Why can't I think of his name

now? The dog. Clipshade. Clipshade. I even like

that name. I like his theatrical, uh... Him as

the clown. Yeah. Love it. Oh, boy. And then you

got a weird -looking Megatron in the upper right

-hand corner. You got Side Swipe with two different...

Actually, you got Side Swipe himself standing

next to the board with some sort of frown on

his face. And then you have the frown, and then

you have some sort of angry -looking face. He

almost looks like Pterosaur with his angry face

on. So they're trying to figure out how Side

Swipe can improvise, because apparently Side

Swipe did not go to the Groundlings or Second

City or anything like that, and he's not good

at improv at all. And they all try these lines,

and this is just hilarious. I like that they

all try to give it a shot. Sideswipe, I think

I had a moo -moo, a choo -choo, a breakthrough.

Could you just send everyone off? Poor Clipshade.

Poor Fixit. That's true. I mean, don't get me

wrong. Oh my god, I just noticed the fzzz -whack.

It's like somebody hit it in the head. I love

this series. It's a lot of fun. There's so much

fun stuff, even in the background. I wonder how,

well so far I count two, but I'm really wondering

how many more Decepticon symbols Priscilla can

put into this one, because she's got one on the

board. And then there's one behind fix -it when

we get to him. Yep. You gotta know where the

Decepticons are at. Yeah, that's true. And there's

one... on the screen with skull cruncher and

and What's the razor grill? So they've all got

a plan that side swipes gonna be the undercover

and Because razor grill and skull cruncher are

essentially Decepticon versions of the Dinobots

intelligently they basically just Accept them

into the fold and... Sadly, that doesn't work

out too well for them. I love this whole next

page. I think it's so cool and cute. I love it.

They basically beat them both up. I just love

how Skullcrunchers are so happy to see someone

and just hugs them to the point where they're

starting to break. Yeah, it's kind of like um

Yeah, yeah, yeah as well So as we go along here,

they think they're gonna get away with it, but

then team prime shows up It's three on two if

you count side swipe four on two if he can get

up Grimlock and team prime end up in Grimlock

mumblebee and team prime end up in the Storage

facility I just gotta mention this I finally

came to realize like skull cruncher reminds me

of someone like figure out it reminds me of Little

John It finally just came to me, like, ah! There

we go. So as team B enters the storage facility,

we get a rat trap reference, even though it's

not really rat trap. I'm just like, something

bad? Yeah, at least he's not wearing a chef's

hat, thank god. Ratafui. I take it you didn't

like that one? No. a chef rat no that just no

so as strong arm is being freaked out about the

rat trap reference overhead basically sneaks

up behind her because apparently she had a silent

alarm installed mm -hmm which is smart it's smart

luckily Strong arm finally gets the upper hand

over her. And we have another really awesome

roar with the red eyes. Again, I love it. I love

that panel. That panel is awesome. Poor Grimlock.

This is again the whole teamwork thing. In Grimlock

not realizing certain things. She grabs his tail

and Bumblebee is like a deer in the headlights.

Oh, not again. That's exactly what I said. And

one of the other, I forget if it's Skullcruncher,

I don't know, it's the green guy. I'm coming,

boss, just let me catch... Yeah, Sculpture's

the big one. Oh, okay. So this is, uh, uh, Grille,

um, Razor Grille. Yep. There we go. Uh, and Razor

Grille gets a big ol' bulky elbow to the face.

Mm -hmm. I really wish Miko and Jack and... I

know people are gonna kill me for saying that,

but it's... How can you see Bulkhead and not

have Miko there? Whatever. It really is odd,

isn't it? Yeah. It kind of is. Considering all

of them were on Cybertron, you know, at the end

of whatever. Uh, so they go to try to trap Overhead.

Doesn't work at first and she essentially just

throws RC right into the wall. Oh man, RC looks

like a little puppet. Yeah, pretty much. And

is it just me or is it in that panel where Buffaloid,

or where, I'm sorry, where overhead, where the

wham happens, where she's shoving her head into

the wall? Doesn't she kind of remind you of Strika?

Just a little bit, the way that she's posed.

A little bit. Strika's awesome. I love Strika.

We need more Strika. So instead of really actually

making the space bridge work properly she turns

it into a black hole What are my favorites on

this page though is Grimlock when he's looking

up at her? Yeah, it's like a little puppy waiting

for a treat So everybody's trying to hold on

to everybody else And I'm trying to oh, it's

bumblebee that saves the day Yeah, he's you know

the hero type clearly Wait red button on the

left these controls don't make any sense. I built

it so I Understand it. This is the last dance

for both of us Autobot I'll lead you what I I

have to give her kudos for that because Yeah.

If you're going to make a, uh, a device, you

make it to where you understand that kind of

tricks, whatever everyone else up, you know,

I, I, I gotta give her kudos for that. She's

a smart thinking Buffalo. Yep. And Bumblebee

is like, if you're not going to tell me how to

shut this thing off, I'll just have to get lucky.

You know, pushing random buttons does work apparently.

Or all of them at once. Yeah. True. With someone's

face. So, all's well that ends well, I guess?

I guess. Everybody's captured, the buffaloid

has a defeated, uh, what is that look? Oh, God.

Not, it's not Pokemon, it's, um, oh, there's

some animation. I don't think it's anime, but.

Where the eyes are zonked out. Oh, that's a lot

of anime. This isn't a lot of anime. Yeah, I

know, but I was trying to think of something

specific, and she gets put into the other stasis

pod, and apparently Bumblebee can shock them

in the stasis pods. Well, they're putting him

in stasis. He's putting her into a stasis lock.

Yeah, that's true. So they have all of, they're

basically taking all the criminals at this point.

And as the issue goes to an end, Sideswipe says

something about, oh, cause Ultra Magnus and Bubbleweed

make up and they, you know, like, oh, I'm never

gonna underestimate you again and I'll trust

you and blah, blah, blah. You know, the whole

standard, if there's anyone, you know, anything

you... You know anything you need well one side

swipe speaks up. I've got a couple of traffic

violations. You can take care of strong arm and

She then goes through all the violations So this

one kind of ends with I wasn't expecting the

end of what comes up under the next thing but

basically ends so long old friends until my mission

here is complete you'll know where i you'll know

where to find me and it ends with team b and

russell and denny and in the bottom right hand

corner next via cons return i can't wait to see

how they get because that was the coolest thing

about prime is the via cons 3d designs and i

can't wait to see how they work it in the 2d

world Because the whole point of RID is it's

the 3D animation models on 2D backgrounds. So

I'm really wondering, first of all, I'm wondering

if the via cons will ever show up in the cartoon.

Second of all, I want to see, I can't wait to

see how Priscilla designs the via cons for the

comic at this point. Oh, she'll do great, I'm

sure. Oh, absolutely. So we're gonna take a quick

break come back with final thoughts and overall

ratings after this Strong arm horses aren't generally

aggressive and less provoked perhaps not sir

But given how many of the alchemists inmates

are analogous to Earth's animals. It is vital

We understand any enough. The only way to train

is to actually train which is what I'm gonna

do right now Is it true kittens can swarm? Freeze

Decepticon Alright, we are back. Do we want to

do individual review scores? Because it is a

story art. Yeah. I loved it. There was a few

things with the art. Now, don't get me wrong.

I've wanted to see Priscilla's art for the longest

time on interiors. Like, don't get me wrong.

She's an amazing cover artist, but she's finally

getting her chance to shine as the interior artist

here as well. And she's doing it all. There isn't

a separate colorist. There isn't a separate...

Well, I think Tom B. Long does the letters, but,

you know, as far as, you know, actual drawing

and colors and inks and all that, it's all her.

And yeah, there was that little thing with...

I think it was issue three, where she had Bertram

help, if I'm right. I think so, yeah. Issue three.

Okay, Josh helped an issue three For me overall

the story was really good. I like the humor in

it. I Love the Things that the this creative

team is doing where it makes me think of other

things and obviously I love to make all kinds

of references and everything else, but it's just

one of those things where Wow, there's just certain

things like this is for kids. Don't get me wrong

It is but it's also for us too because there's

so many cool hidden hidden gems. Oh Yeah, I mean

there's so much Like I said just from the start

where you see my first blaster. I'm like, okay

I love evil fix it evil fix it needs to be around

more often Overall I'll give it a four and a

half out of five. What about you? I was gonna

give the same. I really enjoyed it Like I said,

I don't want to give a series like a perfect

score because they need... this is the start

of it. It needs to go a little bit. But like

I said, it's a fun series. You've got the sentimental

side, you've got the fun jokey side, you've got

the... I like how they have images back to certain

things. They've got new characters, they've got...

the old characters as well for people like that.

I mean, it's just overall just a fun story. I

love these new Decepticons. Like I said, most

of them just want to go back home. They're just

crap. Yep. Yeah, I really dug this first four

issue arc. I thought it was really, really cool.

It's just so interesting how that George is writing

and Priscilla's art just come together to tell

this amazing story. I Really wish we'd see more

of Clipshade though. I think he needs his own

little knee I like Clipshade. I want to see him

doing theater Here is your weekly theater batter.

Yeah, I can't talk. Here's your weekly theater

battle people clip shade versus thundercrapper

Yes, you'll never live that one down Yeah, so

that's gonna do it for us, folks. I think coming

up next for the pull bag, it's gonna be Dark

Side December when Ryan Gross from Starjoes joins

me and we take on the Star Wars Thrawn trilogy,

Dark Empire, and Shattered Empire. These are

the comic versions of Thrawn and Dark Empire,

not the books. So we'll be doing that for December

for Star Wars After that, I don't know what's

happening. I think you and I might be doing d4ve

at some point Okay, because I'm finally getting

around to grabbing all that stuff as well. So

Where can the people find you on the line? Just

Google Beatles diva Beatles like the band not

the bug. That's me. That's the easiest thing

I could tell you You can find me at TFG1Mike

on Twitter, you can find The Pull Bag on Twitter

and Facebook, on Twitter it's at The Pull Bag,

you can find GeekCast Radio Network over there

as well on Facebook, at GeekCast Radio on Twitter.

Make your greatest game into comics and we will

catch you next time! Aloha! Looks like this team

you've put together has had a pretty high success

rate. At the mark of good leadership. Well, you

know, I had solid raw materials to begin with.

If slick here is any indication I'd say that's

probably true Slick can we jump right to the

important questions Like where did you come from

the High Council wouldn't send just one bot to

back us up and they didn't? Skeptibot my name's

strong arm now. I was sent by Primus Yeah, that

primus on a mission of my own more than a thousand

years ago Primus believed a terrible evil would

someday focus on Earth and threaten all life

in this galaxy. He upgraded my tracking systems

and put me in stasis. Ordering me to protect

this world at all costs. She's more windbag than

wind blade, am I right? She's awesome. You've

just heard the latest episode of The Pullback,

the GCRN's comic review and discussion podcast.

There are several ways to get in touch with us

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unleash the geek in you.

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