
There’s a misunderstanding these days when it comes to reviews. Most of those “misunderstandings” is on purpose, mind you. Directors and celebs will lash out at a negative review, as will some game developers upset that the review will ruin them. A false review will, but so will a false positive review. They see a review that was gimmicked to give a false description and they might get something thinking it was great only to find out it was terrible, and there are more of those out there thanks to “shills” in media, social activists, and brand loyalists who forgot why they became a fan in the first place than there are those who will gimmick a review to the negative just for hate clicks.
However, nobody says you have to agree with the reviewer’s opinion. In fact, I’ve had reviews that gave me the opposite opinion of what I ended up having. For example, watch Optibotimus’ review of the Mini-Con Assault Team, and then compare it to my written review of the same toy. As he reviewed the trio on his video and showcased what he didn’t like about it, I was actually getting MORE interested because I didn’t see things the way he did. So I managed to find it on clearance and it’s one of my favorite Combiner Mini-Con teams. And if you read my other site, you know I love me some Mini-Cons. They’re like Micromasters you can use to arm the larger Transformers. Too bad they aren’t compatible in any form with modern Transformers. But I can put translucent explosions all over them if I want. 😛
However, we aren’t here to talk about Transformers toys, but Transformers comics. Skybound has been killing it with their Transformers comic run, as part of a shared “Energon Universe” alongside G.I. Joe (of course) and an original series called Void Rivals for some reason. The Jetfire cover there is actually a variant cover from that series’ first issue. The adult Transformers fan community, or at least people I follow who are either all-in on Transformer discussion or as a side discussion for media and culture, love this series after a disappointing IDW run. At least the late run for some if not the rebooted universe to maintain the license after they couldn’t tell any more stories in their existing continuity. Other fans, like myself, weren’t happy with the direction the first continuity went, and I had issues throughout that I ignored for…I admit it…brand loyalty. I admitted them but like the first Bay film I wanted it to be better than it was. Dreamwave’s short-lived run remains my favorite, though the pre-Furman US comics will always hit my nostalgia.
However, what I’ve seen of the Skybound comics doesn’t interest me. Oh, the art is impressive and the writers seem to care about what they’re doing, but what I saw wasn’t clicking with me. And then I saw Linkara’s review of it on Atop The Fourth Wall and confirmed just why I’m not into it, while Lewis Lovhaug himself had mostly praise for it among his usual snarky comedy bits. Allow me to show you his review, which I remind you is positive, and explain why when it was done, it ends up being a reverse of the Mini-Con Assault Team. The video runs 30:01, so have a seat.
Continue reading →
Tell others about the Spotlight: