Beast Wars Issue #1

 

WARNING: This post may contain mild spoilers for the recently released Beast Wars comic series.

IDW comics have a long history with Transformers comics, having published several comics since 2005's 'Infiltration' series. To mark the 25th anniversary of Beast Wars, IDW has began publishing a new Beast Wars comic series written by Erik Burnham, who has previously written IDW's Transformers crossover with Ghostbusters.

This is not IDW's first Beast Wars comic, as they have previously published two Beast Wars miniseries in the mid-late 2000's written by Simon Furman. However, those comics took place within the same continuity of the TV series whereas this new comic is a complete retelling of the conflict between the Maximals and Predacons.

The first issue esentially serves as a new version of the show's opening episode with some key differences to keep the comic from feeling like a complete copy. Rather than opening with the Maximals and Predacons in combat, we instead open with Megatron and his group of rouge Predacons stealing the Golden Disk from Cybertron.

This additional backstory serves it's purpose of reintroducing the concept of Beast Wars to audiences, particularly those who are unfamiliar with this particular era of Transformers history. It also puts a new spin on the story for those who are familiar with Beast Wars so the story feels fresh. This time around, Megatron is initially going by the name of 'Galavar', and he begins by informing his superiors in the Tri Predacus council of his intentions of stealing the Golden Disk and then escaping Cybertron, only to then tell them that his operatives have already done so once the council refuses him permission to do so. This paints the picture of this version of Megatron being just as bold as his TV counterpart and, as a twist, has him adopt the name of Megatron after his G1 predecessor.

The Tri Predacus council were a group introduced near the end of the second season of Beast Wars - their early introduction here sets up the state of Cybertron and the Predacons at the time, establishing that while the two factions are at peace, the Tri Predacus council are planning to eventually seize control. 

We get some characterisation for some other Predacons as well. Dinobot, while being a Predacon, is shown to have a sense of honour when he prevents Terrorsaur from needlessly killing a foe when stealing the golden disk. This is setting up his eventual defection to the Maximals. The aforementioned Terrorsaur is also characterised as being pretty bloodthirsty which is an interesting take on the character who didn't go much further beyond 'Starscream stand in' in the TV series.

On the other side, we have the Maximals. Optimus Primal this time around is vastly different from his TV counterpart. He seems a lot younger, and yearning for adventure rather than transporting statis pods and science equipment round the galaxy, even if he is happy to be the captain of a ship. We also learn that he was kicked out of the Maximal peacekeeper acadamy for some undisclosed reason. This is incredibly similar to the characterisation of Optimus Prime in Transformers Animated, which is a pretty neat callback.

Speaking of Transformers Animated, the character designs really remind me of those from Transformers Animated, giving us more stylised versions of the characters from the TV series. This is a welcome and distinct design choice that allows this comic to have a distinctive style from the TV series.

Rattrap is very much the same as his TV series counterpart - being incredibly snarky and critical, effectively providing a sense of comic relief. We also get Nyx, a new character created for the comic and based on the original Optimus Primal toy which took on the form of a bat. She is the pilot of the Maximals ship, and so far, she seems to be a really fun character. She doesn't take any crap from Rattrap when he complains about her piloting skills, and then when their ship crashes and they take on their new animal forms, she seems incredibly excited about her new animal form which I thought was a neat character trait.

One great thing that this comic series appears to be doing is adding two new female characters to the cast. Nyx is added to the Maximals, and Skold (a snapping turtle is added to the Predacons. This is great since the TV show only had two female characters - Black Arachnia and Airrazor, and even then, the latter was barely in the show. Skold doesn't really feature as much in this issue, but the plan is supposedly for her to develop and come out of her shell more as the series goes on. The addition of these characters also helps to keep the reader unsure of where things will go since these characters weren't in the TV series, meaning that there's no way of predicting what will happen to them.

This first issue is a great start to the new comic, and does a good job of introducing things to new audiences discovering the series for the first time alongside providing enough twists and changes for Beast Wars veterans to appreciate. The comic ends with the two ships crashing on a prehistoric planet, and their crews taking on their new animal forms. While the story so far has been pretty similar to the Beast Wars TV show opener, from here the story could go in any direction, and I'm excited to see what form that will take.

Beast Wars Episode 5 - Chain of Command

 

In the opening two parter, the Maximals came across a stone structure that the characters refer to as 'the standing stones' (which is, of course, Stonehenge). It was noted by Rhinox that it wasn't built by the Maximals or the Predacons. This was the show's first hint of some kind of third party being present on this bizarre planet they've ended up on. This episode doesn't delve into that so much, but it does confirm the existence of this third party.

During a battle between the Maximals and Predacons at the standing stones, a buried energon crystal is stuck by an attack by Terrorsaur which causes a beam of light to shoot up into the sky. Later on, some kind of probe lands in the same spot, so Optimus Primal and Dinobot go to investigate the probe. However, upon arrival they are ambushed by Megatron and Waspinator. Before the battle can ensue, the probe awakens and they all end up in stasis lock with Primal vanishing completely. With Primal gone, the Maximals need to decide on who will take command, while Megatron uses this opportunity to his advantage and fronts an all out attack on the Maximal base.

I like that this episode features the characters investigating the "standing stones" as the show calls them, since that was obviously a point of interest/concern for the Maximals when they saw it in the distance. Of course, upon inspecting it, Rhinox determines that the planet's energon is unnatural since it doesn't line up with the geology of the planet.

At this point, I need to bring up something I wasn't aware of until after I posted last weeks post - the order that the episodes were broadcasted in (and the order that the episodes are featured in on the DVDs) was not the order that the episodes were produced in (at least, for the first season). For the most part, this is fine due to a lot of the episodes this season being more episodic in nature, but there are some discrepencies (such as having two Cheetor centric episodes that are pretty similar to each other in a row), and one of them relates to the placing of this episode.

In terms of the show's production order, this is the third episode. This makes a bit more sense since it means that, after finding the standing stones in the previous episode, one of the first things the Maximals decide to do is investigate this. Having it as the fifth episode is fine, as it isn't a massive discrepency, but I prefer it's placing in production order as opposed to broadcast order. However, since I've already started viewing the show in it's production order, it makes sense to stick with that for the duration of this retrospective.

The main focus of this episode is the Maximals being out of their element without their leader. This initially leads to conflict between who will take command. Dinobot, upon reawakening from statis lock after the incident with the probe, immediately tries to take command only for Rattrap to challenge him on this. Dinobot is fully prepared to kill Rattrap to take command, and Rattrap is happy to do the same, seeing as Dinobot is still essentially a Predacon. However, Rhinox stops the fighting and determines that the leadership should be determined by a secret ballot. 

I like the friction between Dinobot and Rattrap, which is something that persists and evolves throughout the series. Rattrap is obviously still incredibly mistrusting of Dinobot, going as far as to suspect him of killing Optimus in order for him to take command. Dinobot of course doesn't take kindly to this. Later on in the episode, Rattrap gives Dinobot an order to reactivate the shields of the Axalon, but Dinobot refuses as he's focused on taking down Megatron. This highlight's that Dinobot isn't with the Maximals out of loyalty, but because he simply just wants to destroy Megatron. 

Rhinox gets some chances to shine this time around as well. He's largely been a background presence up until this point, mainly characterised as being a voice of reason to calm the Maximals when Optimus isn't around. Here, his role as someone more technically minded is fleshed out a bit more as he's the one who points out that the planet's energon isn't natural, and when the Predacons attack the base, he stays behind to contruct a devide that will extract Optimus from the alien probe. This is also the first instance where he gets to utilise his signature weapon - his twin chainguns (affectionately referred to as 'the chainguns of doom' by the fandom).

The victim on the recieving end of Rhiox's chainguns this time is Waspinator. This is the first of many instances where poor Waspinator gets obliterated in some form or another, which will become his signature character trait as well as a source of humour throughout the show. 

This is quite an action packed episode with four big action sequences throughout the episode. Much like a lot of the action in Beast Wars, the action sequences are fun to watch due to their fast paced nature and the way they are filmed/rendered as if it were a live action sequence. The best of these sequences is the battle near the Axalon when the Predacons decide to capitalise on Primal's disappearence. This is particularly tense since the Predeacons have weakened the shields of the ship, and if the shields go completely offline, the Predacons are then free to destroy the ship. It gets particularly tense when Rattrap is forced to bring the shields back online himself due to Dinobot disobeying his orders and continuing to fight Megatron.

The most intriguing thing about the episode is the aliens themselves. We aren't told what they are, where they come from, or what their motivations are at this stage. By the end of the episode, we just know that they are aware that the Transformers are on the planet and that they're aware of their destructive capabilities. Will they come back to the planet? If so, when? Whose side are they on?

This is one of the better early episodes of the show thanks to the character dynamics as well as the mystery surrounding the aliens, planting seeds for future episodes to build upon and adding a new ambiguous layer to the show.

Next week: Terrorsaur gets a taste of power in 'Power Surge'

Beast Wars Episode 4 - Equal Measures

 

Last week, we had a Cheetor focused episode, which made sense since his youthful personality made him the perfect audience surrogate for the show's intended demographic. This week we get... another Cheetor focused episode where Cheetor's recklessness gets him into a sticky situation. The placement of this episode is a little bit odd, seeing as we've had two episodes asides from the pilot that involve Cheetor getting into trouble. However, this is another episode that is salvaged through the characters and how they interact with each other.

When a planned mission to disable the Predacon's crashed ship to gain a tactical advantage is put off on account of an incoming storm, Dinobot convinces Cheetor to undertake the mission anyway. The mission quickly goes awry when lighting strikes a surveilence post that Cheetor ended up accidentally placing close to an Energon vein, transporting Cheetor onto a control panel in the Predacon ship. After a brief scuffle, Terrorsaur ends up transporting to the Maximal ship. Cheetor isn't out of danger though, as he soon finds himself in the sights of both Scorponok and Waspinator.

Plot wise - this episode is very similar to last weeks. There is some discrepency with the way that last week Cheetor found himself held captive by Tarantulas and was nearly eaten, and this week ends up taking on another stupid risk that results in him having to deal with the Predacons. You'd think that he would have learned his lesson from that, but this episode sees him being just as reckless. Like last week, the thing that makes the episode so watchable is the characters and the dynamics they have with each other.

With this being another Cheetor focused episode, it makes sense to start by discussing him. At the start of the episode, he just wants to prove himself and overestimates his abilities. He feels that Optimus treats him like a kid, which frustrates him as he wants to be seen as equal to his fellow Maximals. While he feels that he would be able to complete the mission, Primal forbids it due to how dangerous it would be. This is something that Dinobot is able to play into - after Optimus forbids them from going on the mission, Dinobot preys upon Cheetor's ego in order to get him to partake in the mission anyway. This is enough to get Cheetor to disobey Optimus and plant the surveilence posts. 

This time, the main Predecon of the week is Terrorsaur, who ends up trading places with Cheetor and ending up on the Axalon. He doesn't get super fleshed out, but from what we see of him, we get a sense of his personality and his goals. When he comes across Dinobot upon arriving on the Axalon, his first move is to try and talk Dinobot into an alliance, with the aim of taking on Megatron together and then taking command of the Predecons. This essentially makes Terrorsaur this show's version of Generation 1's traitorous Decepticon Starscream, who similarly had aims to take over command from his leader Megatron.

The other Predecons don't get much focus this episode, with Tarantulus being absent altogether and Megatron only making an appearence at the very end of the episode. For about half the episode, Cheetor finds himself on the run from Scorponok and Waspinator. Here, they just take the form of grunts that Cheetor needs to flee from. Waspinator will eventually become the show's main source of comic relief, whereas Scorponok won't get more characterisation outside of him being loyal to Megatron.

Although he doesn't get as much focus, the most interesting character in this episode is Dinobot. This episode positions him as more of an anti hero willing to take out the Predacons by any means necessary - only working with the Maximals as their aims are somewhat aligned. At the beginning of the episode, he is frustrated that Optimus is calling off the mission since he wants to completely destroy the Predacons with a bomb that he's constructed. This heavily clashes with Optimus who's only aim is to gain a tactical advantage by destroying the base rather than outright destroying the Predacons. Dinobot heavily objects since if the situation was reversed, Megatron would not hesitate to destroy the Maximals.

Having noticed Cheetor's willingness to partake in the mission regardless of Primal's orders, Dinobot then decides to play into this and puff up Cheetor's ego enough so that he'll disobey Optimus and go on the mission anyway. Then after Terrorsaur ends up on the Axalon, he is more than prepared to kill him, but then decides not to as it's more interesting how Terrorsaur ended up there. He feigns an alliance with him in order to figure this out, and then once he does so, he immediately ejects Terrorsaur from the Axalon. He then informs Optimus of what has happened, and Dinobot convinces him to use this link between the bases to send his bomb to the Predacon ship.

Optimus in this episode is shown to be the all knowing leader that he's already been established as, but it's also clear from this episode that he cares about his crew - feeling that going out in a storm for this mission would be incredibly risky, and not wanting to put his crew at risk unneccesarrily. We also see that he merely wants to capture the Predecons rather than killing them, which causes friction with Dinobot.

In it's own right, this is a pretty entertaining episode. However, it's placement in the show's episode order is a bit jarring as we get two Cheetor heavy episodes right in a row and they both have incredibly similar premises, something which hurts this episode a bit more. In spite of this, the character's interactions with each other manages to make this episode worth a watch.

Next week: The Maximals need to elect a new leader after Optimus goes missing in 'Chain of Command'