Apr 16

Review: Windblade #1

TF_Windblade01_cvrAIt was kind of a given that I’d like Windblade . With Mairghread Scott and Sarah Stone making it the first Transformers comic outside of fanzines and message boards with an all-female creative team, with it introducing a new female Transformer who’s not only pushing IDW to diversify their cast but pushing Hasbro to diversify their toyline as well, it would have taken some epic blunders for me to dislike it.

Despite all it has going for it, Windblade could have still been as mediocre as so many other comics on the shelves today and in the past decade. It could have been a great idea bogged down with a bland story and muddy, unreadable art. It could have failed to hold a candle to the other excellent Transformers comics currently running, More Than Meets The Eye and Robots in Disguise. It could have challenged my desire, my need to like it.

I’m happy to say that’s not at all the case.

Spoilers ahoy!

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Mar 26

Transformers Dark Cybertron Review: Closing the Book [Spoilers below cut]

DRKCYBRTRN012_cvrAToday marks the end of Dark Cybertron, the first real big event in Transformers comics, spanning many months and 12 issues, including both Robots in Disguise and More Than Meets The Eye. One of my esteemed colleagues on this website has already chimed in with his thoughts on this crossover event and he did not have a lot of good to say about it. I endeavor here to give my own thoughts and perhaps offer a slightly different viewpoint.

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Mar 19

Transformers: Robots in Disguise: Dark Cybertron: Death of a Hero: Is It Over Yet?

TF_RiD27_cvrAIf I went back in time 20 years to tell my young self that in the future Transformers comics would still be around and that my  young self’s favorite character Shockwave would be conquering the entire universe with mad science in in a multiple ongoing  Transformers comic book Event, well little me would be very excited. But then I would have to break it to myself that this Event  is rather dull and making me tired of Shockwave. Little me would just stare at future me in confusion. This is Dark Cybertron. Continue reading

Feb 14

Are You Ready for Toy Fair 2014?

1392401212_windbladeIt’s that time of year again – no, not Valentine’s Day, it’s Toy Fair! This weekend is going to be a non-stop deluge of new toy news, so to make sure you’re on top of it here are a few of the best people to follow and places to check:

Twitter feeds:

Web sites:

  • ASM always has massive galleries of every company present at the show
  • TF Radio Network will be discussing it via live stream on their site!
  • Seibertron.com has already started their coverage
  • TFW2005 has a Toy Fair tag

If you know of other sources, mention them in the comments and I’ll add them to the list!

Feb 10

One Foot In The Dead Universe: IU Talks to John Barber and James Roberts

Now that Dark Cybertron is well and underway, we here at Iacon Underground were fortunate enough to get to ask IDW writers John Barber and James Roberts some questions about the series so far and both Robots in Disguise and More Than Meets The Eye going forward!

IU: Thank you both so much for taking the time to talk to us! Now that we’re halfway into the event, what’s your favorite part of DARK CYBERTRON so far? What upcoming part of the series are you looking forward to finally seeing the light of day?

John: Well, we’re a little past halfway, but that’s my fault for not writing this quicker… it’s funny, because of the way this comic came together, that so much of it kinda crushes together in my head… it’s hard to remember what’s out, what’s done but not out, and what’s still in progress… Early on, I think the combination of Phil Jimenez and Andrew Griffith in issue 1 was really exciting to see. I’ve known Phil a little bit for a while, but never actually worked with him or even spent any real time talking to him before we started this comic—and it turned out we grew up really close by each other. And Andrew, I love working with. That first issue coming together was really cool.

As far as looking ahead—I think the last act of the story, the last third is really strong. Issue 9 is really crazy action, and I think James and I found a good rhythm to the writing there. And issue 10 is a lot of fun, there’s sort of a breath to take, before the end comes.

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Feb 07

Jagex Updates With Transformers Universe Trailer

So what do you think? Are you excited to play it as a MOBA? Do you like seeing the Prime aesthetic alive and kicking, or does it feel over now? Are you, like me, still mourning the loss of character creation?

Feb 05

Jagex Provides Transformers Universe Update, Still Not MMORPG

An email went out today to those signed up for beta access to Transformers Universe, the MMO first unveiled as an RPG with character creation at BotCon 2011 but later changed to a MOBA. After the initial limited beta, there was very little said about the game for months. According to Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard:

2013 was a critical year in the evolution of Transformers Universe. It was essential that we just knuckled down and got on with the core gameplay, and that unfortunately meant there was not much news to share for anyone outside of Jagex.

The new projected release timeframe is Summer 2014, with widening beta access between now and then. What will the current version of the game be like?

Autobots versus Decepticons, you’ll team up to play with and against other Commanders around the world in tactical and strategic online battles, competing for supremacy in the global faction war. Legendary Transformers characters will make special appearances – but more on that another time!

Your squad of Bots are a faction-specific collection with their own play styles, weaponry, augment options and specialties. There are countless fighting strategies when battling them and we really believe they will crystallise, embody and capture both what Transformers is all about and your imaginations.

More information can be found over on the official site.

Feb 03

Marvel Retrospective II: “Power Play!”, “Prisoner of War!”, and “The Last Stand”

This is the second in a series of articles re-visiting Marvel’s version of Transformers, covering the 80 issues released in America and the 4-issue miniseries “The Headmasters.” Images are scanned from my personal copies of each comic.

...close enough.

…close enough.

Over the course of the rest of the original 4-issue miniseries, plot points similar to the cartoon’s “More Than Meets the Eye” are carried out: The Autobots establish a human-Cybertronian relationship with Earth in general and the Witwickies in particular; the Decepticons try to get energy; Starscream plots against Megatron; there are a few big battles; the general status quo is set.

But a couple things differ strongly throughout the arc.

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Jan 24

Marvel Retrospective I: “The Transformers”

This is the first in what will hopefully be a series of articles re-visiting Marvel’s version of Transformers, covering the 80 issues released in America and the 4-issue miniseries “The Headmasters.” Images are scanned from my personal copies of each comic.

Here we go again for the first time...

Here we go again for the first time…

It was a world transformed.

In 1984, Marvel comics began a series of comics that would be the very first representation of Transformers in fiction, edited – and soon written – by Bob Budiansky, the same man who named most of the early characters and wrote the bios printed on the toy packaging.

Though I feel the animated cartoon that soon followed became, for most folks, the definitive version of the G1 story, the comic rumbled along far longer than the ‘toon lasted and morphed into its own totally unique version of the mythos.

I was a kid in the early 1990s, when Transformers was in decline, and my first introduction to the property was by way of an old Marvel comic I found at my local library. I spent much of my childhood scavenging yard sales, book stores, and flea markets for signs that Transformers once existed, and it oftentimes paid off in the odd issue of the Marvel comic, usually far distant in the chronology from any other that I owned. So I pieced this story together in my mind and it became just as cherished as the cartoon that I also adored.

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Jan 17

More Than Meets Some Haikus!

[Ed. Note: I come from a fanzine background, so I love highlighting not just news but creative work as well. So have some haikus from our contributor Windchaser!]

Cyclonus the grump.
Can’t deal with emotions.
Tears face in grief.

Robot Tailgate
So old, yet so very young.
New horn seals friendship

With amnesia
Skids has forgotten so much
But not Getaway

Oh, Chromedome
So unlucky in love.
Remember Rewind.

Leader Rodimus
Not quite a Prime yet
Rod Pod too silly.

See Ultra Magnus
The big voice for reason
Small robot inside