Transformers Robots in Disguise Review

Hi, this is Margaret Scott, the first female

writer in Transformers Comics, and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Welcome to The

Polebags Back Issue Classics. Join us as we talk

about comics from yesteryear, from DC, Marvel,

and more. So open your ears to hear our discussion

of the older continuities, as the Back Issue

Classics are also what's in... the pull bag we

need to look like something humans will accept

we need to be robots in disguise hello and welcome

to the pull bag this is uh back issue classics

this is the 32nd back issue classic episode i'm

your host tfg and mike joining me is lady rec

hello hello and nicole beetles diva hello bonjour

And before we get into today's topic, um, we're

going to bash on Derby drivers. The first Saturday

in May, at least here in Kentucky, most people

are pretty much 95 % of the state. I would be

in the other 5%. Really put a lot of care and

love into the Kentucky Derby, which brings a

lot of money and tourism. It does not bring gambling

because Kentucky is a no gambling state. If you

want to gamble, you got to go over the boat to

Indiana. Um, you know, so, but the first Saturday

in May for us geeks is free comic book day. And

this year free comic book day had a hell of a

lot of surprises for us. Um, There was the lackluster

secret wars issue there was the IDW TMNT issue

there was DC's dumbass divergence issue and then

there is another IDW title Transformers robots

in disguise Thank God this has nothing to do

with politics So, before we get too far into

this really quickly, let's go around the room.

Nicole, what is your usual habits on Free Comic

Book Day? Do you ignore it? Do you celebrate

it? What do you do? I usually try to celebrate

it this year because I've got a whole different

shift and stuff. I, well, it was crazy this year,

so I didn't go this year because I think I was

up for 36 hours, and I just couldn't stand to

be in line for another two. Because my comic

book shop is huge. They make a big deal about

it. They bring in professional comic book artists

and writers. It's kind of like a little mini

Comic Con. And it's a lot of fun. And the thing

is, it's free. Of course, I wouldn't I know that's

the whole point about you don't have to pay for

their signatures or their commission. Oh Yeah,

and so I always tell people you want he's put

a lot of work into this There's you you need

to buy something from him. You know, I always

try I love it. I adored I think it's a lot of

fun again, I missed out on this year, which really

sucks because nude work shift this year did not

agree with me, and I'm getting old. Okay, so

I love it. It's great stuff. What about you,

Amy? What's your tradition for free comic book

day? My tradition is hopefully to have the day

off from being a parent so I can actually get

to the comic shop. This year I did not get a

chance to. I feel like we're so lame this year.

Everything's falling apart. But no, I didn't

get a chance to go down there Well, your boys

are old enough, right? I mean, oh, yeah. Well,

why not make it a family outing? That would have

that would have been possible to do that if my

husband hadn't been out of town all week So it

just turned out that he was out of town all week

and We were just swamped with everything. It

was real May was insane for me. It was like so

incredibly insane Which is funny because like

we had Field trips and my husband was out of

town for work. There's a funeral there was a

Comic -con there was the end of school there

was oh just there was just tons of stuff so Yeah,

and a camping trip. I mean it was just it was

just yeah We slammed everything into that month

not that we intended to but it just kind of did

so Unfortunately comic book day for me just didn't

happen But the good thing is, not all comic shops,

we're talking about this right now, not all comic

shops actually participate with Free Comic Book

Day. So anybody, if you're thinking about doing

it next year, which is highly recommended, I

totally recommend it, other people recommend

it, you gotta call ahead, find out what's your

comic shop, if they're doing anything free or

anything like that, because sometimes people

walk in like, hey, where's my free comics? And

they're like, we don't do Free Comic Book Day

here. Just let you know that does happen. So,

you know, I would say, and again, I'm probably

guesstimating here again, I would use the 95

5 % thing, or I would say 95 % of stores around

the country do it. Yeah. And there's other 5

% that don't. Um, cause let's face it as, as

Nicole said, you know, while it may be free comic

book day for us, the stores still have to purchase.

these things from the publishers. And they still

have to get them shipped to them too. So it's

like, you know, they still have costs on top

of that. And then on top of all of that is like,

you know, some people don't have comic shops

near them. And so that's the other, the other

half that I, this is like the first comic shop

or the comic shop that I have right now is the,

it's been open for like the last three years.

So I haven't been always be able to participate

with free comic book day because I didn't always

have a comic shop nearby. So yeah. And as Nicole

said, if you can on free comic book day, buy

something, get your, you know, you can get your

free comics, but also if you want to really help

out your shop, buy something. Doesn't matter

if it's a comic, if it's a trade paperback, if

it's a toy, a poster, just buy anything. Buy

a, buy a big bang theory Sheldon button. I mean,

just anything. We're gonna take a quick break,

you're gonna hear some sort of audio clip, and

we'll come back with Transformers Robots in Disguise

issue number zero. After this... we could really

use a prime right about now all right we are

back and it is time to talk about IDW's free

comic book day 2015 offering one of their offerings

anyway since they had two this year transformers

robots in disguise issue number zero the only

cover we had because I don't think they did an

alternate for this issue is bumblebee Grimlock

sideswipe and strong arm with ghost prime in

the background on it what do we think of the

cover ladies it's awesome it definitely it definitely

brings I mean it's very bright it gets it gets

you to notice the atomic that's for sure and

of course Bumblebee's the most recognizable character

these days and he's right in the center so yeah

this is gonna this is good marketing absolutely

so This this it's almost weird to not have And

I know this is a special thing because it's free

comic book day and but it's almost weird not

to have a Transformers comic that has the the

previously on it or or a you know cast of character

page or even the Cover page that'll come next

issue. I know this is the free comic book page

It's the reboot, so it doesn't have things like

that in it. And this issue is written by John

Barber. Now, when issue one comes out in July,

it will be written by Georgia Ball. However,

the artist will be returning. So we're going

to have Priscilla Tramontano on art. I like Priscilla.

She did a great job. This is really cool to see

this. Really uber excited that she's going to

be spearheading this whole thing. Because her

art is just fantastic. We needed her in no disrespect

to whoever it was that was on the art on Beast

Hunters, I don't remember. Yeah, something like

that. Maybe. I don't know. We really needed Priscilla

on Beast Hunters. Because, and we're not even

there yet folks, but I'll just say right now

the reason why we needed Priscilla on Beast Hunters

is because of the final page of this comic and

how the TF Prime characters look. But Transformers

Robots in Disguise, in general for those that

don't know. It's the new cartoon series airing

at 6 30 a .m. Eastern Standard Time on Cartoon

Network on Saturday mornings Yes, that's right.

I said 6 30 a .m. Pope people that's if you're

lucky enough to be on the East Coast Yeah, and

I we had to get up like at Twilight 1 o 'clock

No, if it's on at 630 here out in your area Amy,

it's it's 9 no 330 and Nicole was 430. Yeah,

that's what everyone wants to do on a Saturday

is wake up at that time DVR's are yeah exactly

this exactly the thing I said And basically this

is a continuation of prime, but what? the cartoon

series now is doing is it's the 3d models on

2d backgrounds um it's kind of a uh it's kind

of like somebody took animated and prime and

meshed them together yeah i could see that yeah

um i always thought that it kind of had and and

this is just coming from me because i just i

watched it but um guys remember the uh shoot

now i'm gonna pull a fix it again crap Tron yes

Well, you know what kind of like the stylization

of it, yeah There's a slight vibe of that to

me at least in the show. I can see that You can

just see the little bit of a nuance there. I

mean, it's practice much more colorful than the

Tron one was but Yeah, you know and so far for

that series we are up to 13 out of the 26 episodes

for season 1 yeah So what are we have both of

you watched different episodes of the series

or I've watched all that's that's current as

well, so What do we think overall before we really

dive into the comic? What do we think of the

cartoon series overall to this point? I think

it's fantastic. I like that. I just like it.

It's just it's it's really good. I found different

things about it that it's hitting all the same

kind of it's hitting a right group of people

that I think that just they're they're being

smart about it. Where Transformers Prime was

smart because they had so many characters there.

kind of doing about the same thing here except

it's not nearly as dark it's a little more lighter

and much more happy kind of feel to it not too

chipper but just like it's it's not the same

dark heavy serious stuff going on like they did

in Transformers Prime even though it had great

um comedy to kind of lighten that up that we're

not having to see that here in this this this

show now So it'll be interesting to see where

they go with the comic. But yeah, it's pretty

fun. Absolutely. Nicole, thoughts? I have a love

-hate relationship with it. Overall, I do enjoy

it. I just wish they'd get over the villain of

the week thing. I get back to Steeljaw. Is that

right? Yeah. Okay, for some reason, I was just

like, that doesn't sound right. And what he's

up to, but it seems like it's just the villain

of the week right now. I want to get over that

hump. I know it's going to be coming here soon.

You know, the transfer was prime, it had the

same issue. I know, that's what I'm saying. Yeah,

I didn't really get it. I had the same thing

with prime, you know, because it's just like,

okay, we're just collecting another item. Let's

get on with the big story. Like I said, I still

enjoy it. I just want them to get over that little

edge and be like, okay, here we go. You know,

I think the reason why, at least in the first

season, they're doing the whole villain of the

week thing is because they want to focus on,

and this could be a Hasbro thing. I don't know.

It might, might be just Jeff Klein, Adam Beach

and Margaret Scott and the rest of the people

that work on the cartoon series, but In the beginning

of the series, the prison ship Alchemora crashes,

all the Decepticons escape, they're essentially

leaderless because we don't have any mention

of any kind of Decepticon leadership whatsoever.

Now I do know that's coming because the last

episode of Season 1 title has something to do

with a mega -villain. That's the reason why they're

doing the whole villain of the week thing is

because they want to highlight each of the characters

that escaped From the ship. It's also gives them

a good time to kind of Introduce us to the characters

and kind of do a little character building and

you know to see where they're going with like,

you know Where the hierarchy of the of the team

is, you know, which character does is this person

which characters that person? You know, and so

we're learning about the characters, too don't

know it's just one of those things that I'm like

yeah I wouldn't I kind of wish that they'd be

having something different to kind of combat

every single time but it's kind of been their

flavor we're gonna sit there and and I'm like

okay well we'll just ride this until it exhausts

itself and then hopefully there'll be other things

on the end of that yeah so with the comic here

the first page we see the prison ship crash we

see well we see the or it's kind of like it's

like preview without being the preview yeah um

and the funniest thing is all is i can all is

i can hear in john's little um narrations here

is thundercats on the loose oh boy so we have

the team assemble we have decepticons on the

loose The issue starts with a fire and a bunch

of firemen now in the show So far to this point

in the series Don't think the humans have ever

really like they've been around humans Obviously,

they're around Denny and Russell but like like

a city at large like firefighters or policemen

or something no one of Authority has really seen

the transformers yet in the series Just Denny,

who was the adult out of the whole thing. Well,

yeah. But that's what I'm saying. Well, he is

kind of an adult. Not really. He's a fun adult.

He's like us, you know? Oh boy. Wow. Alrighty

then. There's nothing wrong with that. I know

what you're thinking. Well, you know, because,

hey, we're all kids at heart, you know, but we're

all responsible adults, you know. We are three

adults reading a comic here geared towards six

to 10 year old readers. I think we could say

we're like Danny. Oh, boy. So we've got a fire

in the forest. Hey, kids, forest fires. Yeah.

um and the firemen you know are trying to figure

out and get their gear together to fight this

fire and then all of a sudden the bottom panel

we hear stomp stomp stomp this is the appropriate

time to bring smoky the baron here to say fairlock

only you can prevent forest fires that would

be awesome and we see the Or better yet, we could

turn Grimlock into Smokey the Bear. Put him in

overalls and a hat. There you go. So as we turn

the page, we see the narration from one of the

firefighters saying, there's nothing going to

come around and stomp out the fire and save the

day. And guess what Grimlock is saying? Stomp,

stomp, stomp, stomp the fire, save the day. The

title of the story is Fire When Ready. Grimlock

John is really nailing his character. I am kind

of Skeptical on Grimlock in the show because

there are certain times where he just doesn't

I Don't know it just doesn't hit me right, but

he's a big teddy bear. I love him Well, he's

wrecking things, and that's kind of your thing.

That's kind of my thing. But, you know, surprisingly

enough, when I was at Phoenix Comic Con, because

Adam Beecham was there, we had a panel and everything,

everybody loved Grimlock. Like, he got the biggest

reaction from everybody on the panel, or everybody

in the room that was there for the panel. So

it was just kind of like, ah, yeah, Grimlock.

Everybody likes Grimlock. Just gonna say I love

him for a big toothy grin and the fact that he

you know wrecks things too He's the wrecker in

the group, although he doesn't know it yet So

they're trying to get the fire out and we have

strong arm being hurt, you know Stick up the

butt officer kind of thing She started to slightly

release her hold on that slightly I can't even

compare her to Prowl because I think she's like

Prowl turned up to like not not in his way that

he's in the other comics but just he's like the

rule book is like the word of God yes that's

a good way of saying it She's got all the rule

book -ness of Prowl and yeah, you just yeah.

And the OCD -ness of Filtrum Magnus. Yes, but

it's like really turned up. I like the episode

where she's like scratching herself because she's

like got that nervous tick. Yeah, that was that

was pretty cool. So in and I just thought of

this... If people, we all know, everybody ships

characters, okay? If people ever ship her in

Side Swipe because they're constantly bickering

at each other on the cartoon series, their ship

name should be Sidearm. Well, if they ever have

a proto baby that's gonna be I guess that's more

of James department So we are introduced or the

The new readers to the series are introduced

to Strongarm, Grimlock, Fix -It, Bumblebee, and

Sideswipe, along with Denny and his son, Russell.

Rusty! Sorry. And I think John wrote this really

for us, even like for those people that have

already seen the show, because the scene here

where... Bumblebee says hang tight starring arm.

I'll just grab side swipe and will will wear

a side swipe and both Denny and and Bumblebee

you don't see them, but you see the word You

know yelling off panel side swipe and he and

Russell are off and running I Love Priscilla's

art. Why has she not been a full -time artist

before? other artists that are established she

has been on other things she's just been doing

coloring yeah but I mean like actual you know

the actual art so we get into the standard argument

of why the kids should not go on the mission

and know it's too dangerous and you know oh but

it looks fun and all this and all that We have

For fix it this wire needs surveillance graciousness

maintenance see fun Poor guy I remember when

he was first announced and shown off the entire

internet just like threw their hands up and said,

Oh my God, I give up. Cause they're like, I don't

know. I just remember a whole lot of people not

being happy with fix it being a part of the team.

Yeah. The internet rages all the time. Don't

judge it till you see it. People complain all

the time about stuff that they don't know about.

I mean, I, I, I get it. Go back to animated people

were up in arms. about the animation style and

how ridiculous certain characters are going to

be. By the end of the series, pretty much every

Transformers fan loved that show. We were all

sad to see it go. Uh -huh. And they were up in

arms again when they tried to do that. Exactly.

It's a fickle fandom. It always will be. All

right, so we get, as we go along here, we get

to the point where the villain of the issue,

Flamefeather, always Autobots. Well, if you can't

avoid them, burn them. Flamefeather is a bird

who breathes fire. He's essentially a fire -breathing

dragon, except he's a bird. Yeah, hence the Flamefeather.

Cuz all the good names are taken Yeah, well you

can't have a third take or Burning tank or Well,

there's you know fat tank or what was the other

tank or Tall tank or tall tank or a fat tank

or burning tank or there you go Nicole what do

you think of the story so far here? It's not

too bad. It goes along. We'll see, because I've

been watching the show when this came out. So

it wasn't anything new to me. So I couldn't really

say, oh, it's got my complete attention. No,

I think it's fun. You can see the personalities

in all the bots. And Russell and Danny, yeah.

Fix it. His eyes are just adorable. He's so cute.

Yeah, so far, so far, so good. What about you,

Amy, overall for the story? I have to agree with

most of what, with everything that Nicole said.

It's really fun. It's definitely something I'd

be like, hey, I would definitely get this for

my kids because they were like, hey, at that

age, it's the target audience. So it definitely

works for me. And it is it goes right along with

the show. I mean, this is this is something I

could very easily see as an episode. Oh, yeah.

And the art is just fantastic. I just want to

give Purcell a big hug and say thank you so much.

It's awesome. And they have to scour the playground

for a fire breathing bird. I want to see this

issue. as an episode, just to see how they would

animate and show us the map that Priscilla drew

with all the character heads. See, this right

here? This is my favorite part of this. I think

this map, this double page map is just adorable

and fun. And yeah, I really like this part. You

got Grimlock munching on dino burgers. Yeah,

this is just so fun. Does that make him a cannibal?

Potentially, yeah So they've got to split up

and search and find flame feather They eventually

do find him and a Major fight kind of ensues

and basically Grimlock covertly stomps flame

feather. Okay, I feel sorry for this poor con

Because he just wants to go home. That's all

he doesn't want to cause a ruckus. He just wants

to get home I feel sorry for the guy and these

Autobots They're the villains of this story because

I go we're gonna take him down. He just wants

to go home Don't hurt him Let's forget the part

that they're criminals. Well, yeah, he just wants

to go home. But he's a criminal. Yeah. We've

all made mistakes. He's okay. I know I'm never

ladies and gentlemen listening to this. I know

I'm never going to get this through Nicole's

head because she is a Decepticon sympathizer.

He is a Decepticon villain bad guy. Who basically

is igniting forest fires. What about Knockout?

Grimlock is a Decepticon still. He still hasn't

gone through his little ceremony to make him

an Autobot. So he should be locked up too. He's

dumb and gullible enough to be fooled into being

a good guy. Maybe Flamefeather could be that

same way. They're just not giving him a chance.

So this one ends with Ends with them looking

at a weird statue and We get an internal monologue

here saying that that could have gone better.

Flamefeather's down, and now Bubblebee and his

team are involved. When I first sat here and

read this, I'm like, who the hell is, before

I turned the page, obviously, who the hell is

saying this? And lo and behold, robots in disguise

meet Transformers Prime. We've got Bullhead,

Ultra Magnus, and RC. This is so cool. This is

what made this. This this I want to say episodes

comic yeah issue Yeah, it really really did Because

we have no idea why they're here. It's a good

hook It's a really good hook especially your

fans of the first of the last one You know like

hey, I wonder if the other characters could be

in this And boom, then we have the comic who's

like, oh, we're going to get a crossover. Yes.

Yeah. And we get at the bottom, To Be Continued

in Transformers or Robots in Disguise number

one, available at comic book stores everywhere

in July. And it even gives us the cover to the

first issue here. Reporting for beauty, snooty,

duty. Why are Ultra Magnus and Arcee in bulkhead

on Earth? Will they be friend or foe to Team

B? Find out this July in Robots of the Sky's

number one. Overall, this is a fun little issue.

There's even a little letter back here from John,

John Barber. I absolutely love that. There's

even an added little comic here at the top of

the letter page. Yeah, I thought that was cute.

The art on this little thing is done by Travis

single single us and the colors are done by Priscilla.

I Really dug this issue I Really did I thought

this was so cool. I am so glad they're doing

this It's very solid very solid Fits right into

the universe. I mean quite literally this could

just be an episode that we an XO episode excerpt

From from the show, but the fact that they put

the Transformers Prime characters in it makes

me go. Oh, are they do that the show? Probably

not, but you never know they could have a you

know One of the characters maybe eventually I

don't know they could do pretty much anything

with it. It's so new and everything they could

have a a sneak preview or not a sneak preview,

but They could have an episode where one of the

characters just play a role for like a short

time and then go back to wherever they're going.

Like Drift, you know? Oh no. Okay, anyway. We're

not gonna make any comments on that, no? Transformers,

Robots in Disguise, the comic and the cartoon

are brand new. The cartoon is in the Prime Universe

as is at the beginning of this episode, so...

who knows what's gonna happen with the cartoon

who knows who's gonna show up and like amy said

it could just be for an episode or so uh... but

i do think they're also going to bring in completely

on uh... they've kind of have brought in completely

unknown characters every single decepticon that

has been the show to this point uh... because

they're all they're all new characters no predacons

either not yet The only characters that we really

know are Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. That's

about it. Everybody else is just brand new. Well,

yeah, you're right. I would say Sideswipe is

another consistent character, but this version

of Sideswipe is new to us, but the name and the

carc and all that. And Grimlock is a different

Grimlock than the one we've known, too. Although

I have to say he still has that wrecker personality.

And you know what I just realized the reason

why he probably is gonna become a wrecker He's

a green fucking dinosaur He's the wrecker color

green No, there's nothing wrong with that, but

I just now looking at the cover again, I'm like,

oh boy Amy what would you rate this issue? Oh,

it's a solid four Okay Nicole I'd say that, too.

It was a lot of fun. Between the two -page spread

and that last page where the prime character,

what are they thinking? What are they doing?

Why is Ultra Magnus, you know, like, what are

they going to do to this other team? That's what's

got me intrigued. That's what's going to make

me want to read the next issue. Or B. In fact,

they're friends with B. Yeah. And so why are

they going after him? It's that he won't understand

what we're doing, you know? He's our friend,

Ultra Magnus. There's no reason to be mad at

each other. We can work together again. RC, tuck

some sense into him. Sorry, bulkhead. What we're

doing is too important to let friendship get

in the way. Yeah, that's just... I just can't

see RC saying that, but okay. I can see her saying

it. But they're saying friendship. I'd say there

was more of a family vibe when Transformers Prime

ended. But we don't know what has changed between

Transformers Prime ending and Robots in Disguise

picking up, so. True. We'll see. It's enough

to suspend my disbelief, so that it's possible

that, you know, hey. I'm gonna give it a four

and a half Really love Priscilla's art and colors

and all that and I like John's writing I really

do But I really thought that this was gonna be

George's debut And I wanted to see like the whole

point for me for free comic book day for getting

this was oh I'm gonna see a new writer. I want

to see how they write these cuz We've seen John

writes nearly everything for the most part, or

you know, one or two issues of kickstarting something.

I understand why he's on here. I don't have a

problem with that, but I really wanted to see

and judge Georgia Ball as a writer on this issue

zero more so than John, because I already know

what to expect from John when it comes to his

writing. But absolutely, I mean, this is a fun,

fun issue. It's gonna be a fun series. Can't

wait to do more of these. And it's gonna be interesting

to see, as we've already said, what other characters

show up in the comic. All right, folks, I think

that's going to do it. Where can the people find

you online, Amy? You can find me on Twitter,

at ladyofrack. Nicole. Find me on Twitter at

Beatles diva. That's Beatles like and that's

bug Alright folks that's gonna do it for this

issue of this episode of the pull bag and join

us next time when I have no idea What the hell

is gonna be on the episode make your greatest

gaming to comics and we will catch you next time

Bye -bye Fix it back to the ship and get that

cell ready Russell stay here with sides way everyone

else We're a team now, and we're all that stands

between underbite and the loss of a lot of innocent

lives. So let's do what we have to do. Roll up

and roll out! You've just heard the latest episode

of The Pull Bag, the GCRN's comic review and

discussion podcast. There are several ways to

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