“Am I in time for Judge Judy?”
Transformers Armada #4
Dreamwave (November, 2002)
WRITER: Chris Sarracini PENCILER: James Riaz INKERS: Rob Armstrong & Erik Sander BACKGROUNDS: Edwin Garcia COLORISTS: Alan Wang, Ramil Sunga, & Felipe Smith GRAPHIC DESIGN: Paul Villafuerte LETTERING: Dreamer Design EDITOR: Matt Moylan
The kids and Mini-Cons just barely escape Megatron while the other Decepticons scan new vehicle modes. Back at home the Mini-Cons do likewise and find themselves and the kids on the run from all of the Decepticons. Lucky for our heroes the Autobots finally arrive (interrupting a school field trip to the All-Spark dam) and prepare to fight the Decepticons.
What they got right: Everybody is on Earth and we get to see how new alt mode scanning is done in this continuity. The scene at the dam was amusing, although I did groan at the name of the dam. And Carlos is still the voice of reason, making him the exact opposite and better than the one from the TV show. All three kids have understandable reactions to what they’re getting dragged into.
What they got wrong: Is everybody snarky in this new continuity? Also, they had a chance to have Sureshock use a scooter closer to his actual alt mode (since Sparkplug scans a nearby car while High Wire and Grindor grab the usual BMX bike and skateboard) but he still scans a Razor push scooter and comes out with a motor scooter. For that matter Starscream is the only one who finds a vehicle that looks like his toy’s alt mode but Cyclonus and Demolishor do not. (Starscream grabs a “download” for Megatron so we don’t get to see the tank he scanned for him.) Finally, last issue indicated this was taking place on Saturday. Why is there an elementary school field trip on a Saturday, or was it just my school that only had field trips on school days?
Recommendation: I’m still into the story. It’s worth checking out and still better than the cartoon.
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