Transformers Summer Special Review

Reviewer: Iain Burnside
Story Title: “Welcome to the Jungle”, “Perspective”, “Ultra Magnus… to the Rescue?” and “Ain’t no Rat”

Written by: Brad Mick & Adam Patyk (“Welcome to the Jungle”, “Ultra Magnus… to the Rescue?”, “Ain’t no Rat”) and Simon Furman (“Perspective”)
Penciled by: Pat Lee (“Welcome to the Jungle”), James Raiz (“Perspective”), Rob Ruffolo (“Ultra Magnus… to the Rescue?”) and Don Figueroa (“Ain’t no Rat”)
Inked by: Rob Armstrong (“Welcome to the Jungle”), Erik Sander (“Perspective”, “Ultra Magnus… to the Rescue?”) and Elaine To (“Ain’t no Rat”)
Colored by: Alan Wang (“Welcome to the Jungle”), Elliot Kravchik & Sigmund Torre (“Perspective”), David Cheung & Josh Perez (“Ultra Magnus… to the Rescue?”) and Espen Grundetjern (“Ain’t no Rat”)
Lettered by: Ben Lee (“Welcome to the Jungle”, “Perspective”) and Shaun Linsao (“Ultra Magnus… to the Rescue?”, “Ain’t no Rat”)
Editor: Adam Patyk
Publisher: Dreamwave

Dreamwave’s take on the Transformers franchise has certainly come a lot farther than anybody could possibly have predicted since 2002. From the original Generation One mini-series, Prime Directive, crashing into the top ten and ruffling a few Marvel/DC feathers, Dreamwave has grabbed the ball and ran, Forrest Gump-style, well over the finish line. There was a sequel, War & Peace, two prequel series courtesy of The War Within and a third due in September, an ongoing Generation One series, a sister title set in an alternate universe named Armada that subsequently morphed into Energon, a mandatory and non-canon Transformers/G.I. Joe cross-over, two sets of More Than Meets The Eye profile books for each universe, a new mini-series focusing on an over-looked subgroup named the Micromasters, and now this Summer Special as a way of commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the robots in disguise. Whether the casual reader or the hardcore fanboy likes the comics or not is irrelevant at this juncture – that is one damn impressive list of material and respect must be shown to a relatively small company for branching out in so many ways instead of merely resting on nostalgic laurels as so many others have done with ‘80s revival titles.

The book itself contains four separate stories set in four separate Transformers universes, spanning from the classic Generation One, to the contemporary Energon, onto the cult Robots in Disguise and finishing up with the refreshing Beast Wars. The reader also gets the chance to vote for which series they would prefer Dreamwave to tackle next – Beast Wars or Robots in Disguise. Again, it’s good to see that they are moving forward and tackling new material to keep things fresh. For now though, let’s take a peek at each of these stories…

First of all comes the Generation One story, Welcome to the Jungle, which is written by the same Mick & Patyk team currently tackling the ongoing series. It ties directly into events going on in the background of said title, continuing the slow-build of Megatron’s return to Cybertron (currently scheduled to be in issue #9!) following his apparent demise in War & Peace. If you recall, he was taken down by a ferocious shot courtesy of new Cybertronian leader Shockwave and his body cast into space courtesy of Starscream in a scene lifted verbatim from Transformers the Movie. Luckily for ol’ bucket-head, he was found by Wreck-Gar, who fully restored him to working order on the planet Junk and was duped into building a fleet of Seeker clones, i.e. the same model as Starscream, Sunstorm, Skywarp and Thundercracker. Megatron summarily decapitated poor Wreck-Gar once he had served his purpose, and began his vengeful journey home. Here we see him making a stop off on the planet Beest, where the Predacons have apparently been residing for years. Their circuits were damaged, making them believe that their alternate beast modes were in fact their true identity. The story focuses on the fight between Megatron and the leader of the Predacons, Razorclaw, as they duke it out one-on-one in a thoroughly Hemingway manner. It does a good job of building up a sense of just how dangerous a faction the Predacons are, as long-term fans are only too aware. True, there are a lot of unanswered questions raised here but these should hopefully be addressed by the time the ongoing series gets around to dealing with Megatron’s return. As it stands, this is an effective way to bring in the biggest bad-ass the Decepticons have to offer into the Dreamwave fold, namely the Predacon’s combined might of Predaking.

Next up is Simon Furman’s Energon tale, Perspective, which we are told sits outside of the regular series’ continuity. Basically, it’s the Rashomon approach to Megatron deciding which one of his lieutenants is the most worthy of his respect. He had dispatched the three Decepticons in question to try and steal plans for the construction of Omega Supreme but all three of them failed. Now he sits on the Decepticon’s orbital command HQ and listens to three very different explanations that are all packed with lies. Snow Cat claims that he was employing stealth tactics (he wasn’t), used a special infiltration kit to break into Ocean City (he blew the bloody doors off), disabled the security grid (he didn’t), found the plans he was looking for (he crashed into them), and was then forced to flee because of a sub-sea earthquake. Slugslinger claims he couldn’t have been noticed as he was flying under the radar net (he was making too much noise), managed to bypass the locks on the door (it opened itself), entered boldly (nervously), he managed to find the plans (he never), and that they were wiped out by an electrostatic security perimeter (he was flushed out of the city by an active waste disposal chute). Sharkticon claimed he had no problems coping with their underwater defenses (he did), snuck easily into a pipeline (he struggled), and was stopped by a strategic lockdown protocol (Kicker used the Star Sabre to send him packing). In the end, Megatron decides that Slugslinger’s excuses were the most inventive and hard to dispute and that, as these are the most coveted Decepticon traits, this is worthy of promoting him to senior lieutenant. It’s a nice little tale with a very cunning aim that recalls some of Furman’s better black-and-white stories from Transformers UK and is easily the best one featured here, proving once again that he is better suited for writing character stories rather than galaxy-spanning cosmic threats.
Next is a brand-new take on the Robots in Disguise saga from the Mick & Patyk team, entitled Ultra Magnus… to the Rescue? For those not familiar with the RID universe, this tale actually does a very good job of introducing the basic elements. For one thing, the main enemy faction is called the Predacons, with the Decepticons as a separate unit that is eventually brought under the command of Megatron as well. The good guys are still called the Autobots and they are still led by Optimus Prime, but this time around his brother, Ultra Magnus, is very much a lone wolf. Somewhat resentful of his brother’s success and popularity, he has struck out on his own despite having very similar beliefs. He is simply not a team player. Over on the bad guys’ side, there is a power struggle going on between Megatron’s two lieutenants. On one side is the Predacon, Sky-Byte, who transforms into a flying shark and feels the need to spout haikus at inopportune times. On the other side is the Decepticon, Scourge, a.k.a. Nemesis Prime, who is essentially the evil mirror image of Optimus. Throw in the fact that the Autobots are actually a secret police force scattered throughout the galaxy in hiding in order to stop the Predacon/Decepticon threat and actually remain in disguise, scatter a few hefty pinches of slapstick humour here and there, and you’ve basically got the essence of the short-lived cartoon series. It’s a love-it-or-hate-it treat that split the fanbase down the middle but if you like it then this short story highlighting the antagonism between Prime/Magnus and Scourge/Sky-Byte will be very much to your liking. Kudos to Mick & Patyk for nailing the characters on their first attempt.

Lastly, we come to the Beast Wars story, Ain’t no Rat, which is again written by Mick & Patyk. It is the only clunker to be found here. The story actually takes place after the Beast Wars have ended and the victorious Maximals are returning home to Cybertron with the fallen Predacon leader Megatron as their prisoner. Rattrap is left to pilot the ship as the others go into stasis to recharge but he too soon succumbs to a slumber and has a nightmare in which… something happens. I really can’t tell what. There’s something to do with a cloned Predacon named Dinobot 2 attacking him, only to be fended off by a bunch of weird looking Maximals that have no prior connection to Beast Wars that I can see. For an introductory piece Dreamwave really dropped the ball here, offering up a slice of complete gibberish to the casual reader and only catering to people that have followed all three seasons of the TV show and that have a pretty good indication of what happened in the follow up show, Beast Machines. This is balanced out somewhat by the story having the best artwork out of the entire book courtesy of Figueroa, To and Grundetjern. The shot of Megatron being pierced to the side of the ship as it rockets through deep space is simply magnificent and well worthy of a poster. The depictions of Dinobot 2 and the unnamed dream-bots are chilling in their own right but as part of a cohesive story they still fall flat as we neither know nor care about them and barely give two hoots about Rattrap himself. It’s something of a missed opportunity and the conspiracy theorist in me would suggest that this was done deliberately to swing the vote in favour of Robots in Disguise…

All in all, however, this is a very entertaining read. As you would expect the stories themselves are not particularly taxing but they are not meant to be. Welcome to the Jungle carries on waving the banner for the flagship title in Dreamwave’s arsenal, Perspective is another sharp piece of characterization from Furman, Ultra Magnus… to the Rescue is a fantastic introductory piece, while Ain’t no Rat at least looks like it means business. For Transformers fans, this is definitely worth picking up.