Someday I have to learn to draw the Autobot symbol.

Click on the above comic to read the full history of this comic. (Not that it’s a big, meaningful one or anything.) And if you don’t recognize Leon’s outfit, he’s dressed as Knuckles. With the Autobot symbol on Jake’s shirt, and the mention of G-Man (Jake’s current favorite comic), we have all the comics obtained this week. But where they any good?

Spoiler-blocked versions can be found at ComiXology, but you don’t get Jake and Leon there, so choose your poison.

G-Man: Cape Crisis #4

Image Comics (November 2009)

WRITER/ARTIST/CREATOR: Chris Giarrusso

COLOR ASSISTS: Dave Giarrusso

EDITOR: Branwyn Bigglestone

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Michael Marasigan

Great Man wakes up to find out he’s dead. Actually, he, Glendolf and G-Man end up in the spirit realm. It still scares some sense into Dave, who not only gives people their money back, but is relieved to hear that Mikey survived. Unfortunately, he’s on the run from monsters until he comes across one of his hero friends, the Marksman. We also find out that Red Girl Princess Roja wants to go out with Great Man for…anything with butter on it, and that there may be a way to restore G-Man and Great Man’s powers.

Back-up features include more with “The Mighty Skullboy Army”, “Patrick the Wolf Boy”, and “Pix“, plus another Gregg Schigiel comic, “Safari Junior High School“.

What they got right: Leave it to this comic to take a dramatic moment like Great Man realizing how badly he screwed up and not only fit it seamlessly but still make it fun. The whole comic’s fun. I actually like this better than the Mini-Marvels, because Giarruso is free to create his own world rather than build off the Marvel Universe. He does a great job of making the oddest stuff believable. And he’s still making me buy an Image comic four issues in. That takes talent, people.

What they got wrong: I’m glad nobody makes me write something here, because I’d be in a lot of trouble otherwise.

Recommendation: If your not picking up and enjoying this comic, then you hate fun. Do you hate fun?

Sonic Universe #10

Archie Comics (January 2010)

WRITER: Ian Flynn

PENCILER: Tracy Yardley

INKER: Jim Amash

COLORIST: Jason Jensen

LETTERER: Teresa Davidson

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Paul Kaminsky

EDITOR: Mike Pellerito

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Victor Gorelick

Knuckles, Mighty, and Julie-Su find their way out of the deathtrap and to a warp ring that takes them to the surface of Downunda. There they also find more ruins like outside Finitevus’ base. Meanwhile, Ray and Vector are able to scare off the winged dingo robots as chains grab the island. Finitevus suggests he and Knuckles team up if they are to save Angel Island.

What they got right: Flynn is putting together an interesting mystery, the kind I used to love when Knuckles and the Chaotix had their own comic (which they should have again). Actually, we have two mysteries. If Crocbot is still scrap metal, then who’s attacking the island from Downunda? And what is with the ruins, and are they connected or a completely different mystery? And of course the art is at their usual level of good.

What they got wrong: Hero and villain teaming up against another villain? Aren’t we already getting that in Sonic the Hedgehog? I hope this isn’t the beginning of a rut. Or is the Iron Queen just that evil?

Recommendation: You don’t have to be a fan of the game to enjoy this comic, but you might want to hunt down a primer to catch up on a few things.

click for double-spread cover

The Transformers (Ongoing) #1

IDW Publishing (November 2009)

WRITER: Mike Costa

ARTIST: Don Figueroa (which is why I reviewed Macromasters last night)

COLORIST: J. Brown

LETTERER: Chris Mowry

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Carlos Guzman

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Denton J. Tipton

EDITOR: Andy Schmidt

COVERS “A” (shown) & “B” by the usual art team

GRAHAM CRACKERS and NEW DIMENSION covers by Don alone, and Retail Incentive cover by Tim Doyle

Two years have passed since the last series, All Hail Megatron. In that time, the military have taken all the data from Skywatch (what about the Machination?) and engineered it into weapons capable of taking down Transformers. Unfortunately, they’re targeting Autobots as well as Decepticons. Now Prowl has been taken, so Hot Rod convinces Optimus to allow him to take a raiding party to get him back. However, Ironhide is killed during the escape. Optimus now believes himself unfit for command and abdicates the position without selecting a replacement, later turning himself in to the military.

What they got right: Despite what I’m about to complain about, the story itself is well crafted. This is Costa’s first trip into the TFU, having been chosen due to his work in the G.I. Joe comics for IDW. He makes the situation believable. I also enjoy much of Figueroa’s art (as usual), and his mechanical designs are up to his usual talent.

What they got wrong: On the other hand, I don’t understand why he’s bringing in the movie style faces. It really doesn’t work on Hot Rod, and many of the other mechs don’t fair much better. However, my biggest gripe is a situation I’m pretty much tired of. While I don’t expect the humans as a whole to start trusting all robots, even the Autobots, shouldn’t the military realize that there are two factions? At the end of All Hail Megatron (before we got into the nightmare “Coda” issues), Sparkplug was sitting and talking to Kup, and Spike wasn’t exactly using the “Shockwave gun” on the Autobots. He was warning them that the Autobots were going to have a tough time making friends. You know what I liked about Animated and one of the few things they DID get right in the second movie? Autobots and humans united against a common foe–the Decepticons. We never seem to get that in the comics, and I’ve pretty much had it with the Autobots being hunted like their Decepticons while the ‘Cons get away because they actually fight back or are able to get away in the confusion. This trend in the comics version has to stop!

Recommendation: It’s OK thus far, but I’ll have to check further issues to see where Costa goes with this storyline. I also wish Don would get back to the normal Transformer faces, or at least tell us who to blame for it.

Best Scenes of the Week

G-Man: Cape Crisis #4

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go with a dramatic moment…

Don't worry, kids. He's not really where he looks he is.

or a comedic one.

"How many times do I have to tell you NOT to tell food they're about to be eaten?"

So I took the easy way out. I love having comics so good I can’t choose one moment easily, don’t you?