Cable is a pretty popular character and after his bold move in X Sanction, I was wondering when he would appear again. In this series, Cable gets the spotlight once again. He is getting visions of the future for some reason and he decides to assemble a team to stop the threats before they happen. They won’t be working with the law, so he can’t choose someone who’s well known like Wolverine or Captain America. I doubt they would be his first choice anyway. He picks Forge, Domino, Dr Nemesis, and Colossus. (Who I was surprised about. He’s pretty big on following the law after all)
The plot isn’t very deep in this group of comics as it’s more of a case by case plot. When Cable gets a premonition, then the team goes out to stop the threat. He prefers to keep them in the dark about everything, which can annoy some of the members. Hope wants to help them out, but Cable makes sure that she stays out of it, since he doesn’t want her to become a fugitive. The Uncanny Avengers come in to stop them, but they didn’t have enough prep time. Cable finds out that an anti mutant person is going to put something in the food that the company sends out so that everyone will become blob monsters. It may not seem like a big threat, but apparently there would be a lot of collateral damage. The team goes in to stop this before it happens, but things may not go according to plan.
Forge is basically insane in the comic. Something happened to his brain and he decided to fix it. (With help from Cable) After that, he’s all right, but he’s a pretty bland character. Dr Nemesis is there, but he doesn’t get much of a role either. He’s supposed to be the “funny” character I suppose. He’s all right and at least he doesn’t take everything so seriously.
Colossus isn’t a very good character. He’s constantly getting suckered or beaten up and he makes a bold move at the end. Some may call it heroic, but it’s not a very recommended move. He has a very forced one night stand with Domino and it didn’t exactly help his character. (Or Domino’s) Domino was good for the most part, but the ending wrecked her character as well.
I guess that leaves Cable and Hope. Both of them are pretty strong characters and are definitely a lot cooler than the other heroes. Hope wants to help out and with her powers, that would be pretty easy. Unfortunately, Cable leaves her out of the loop for the most part, but I’m sure that she’ll get to appear more in future comics. Cable is still as intense as ever and he’s a pretty good leader. It reminds me of the old days when he was with the X Force. He may not be a complete hero, but he believes that he’s doing everything for the right reasons, which is better than nothing.
On the negative side, the comic was pretty slow paced. It took the whole collection to avert one disaster and it wasn’t a very big one. The cast is pretty uninteresting as well. The art is pretty good, but it did take a pretty big dip during one of the middle comics.
This comic was a decent start to the series. There wasn’t a lot of action, but they are setting things up for future arcs. I’m hoping that they add in some new members and shake some of them out of the lineup. The comic will need better characters if it is to succeed. All in all, I’d recommend this collection. The action can get a bit intense, (In a zombie way) but this is Cable, so what would you expect? Although, I do hope that things get more exciting in the next volume.
Overall 6/10
Transformers is a huge franchise and has spawned many films, shows, and games. Most of the animated shows for Transformers have been hand drawn in the past, but Prime still isn’t the first CGI show (Beast Wars) in the franchise. I’m always more of a traditional animation fan myself, but I’m always open to new methods. After TF Animated, I was ready for just about anything!
Transformers Prime is a lot grimmer than the other shows in the franchise and has a War For Cybertron feel to it. Prime modernized the designs for a lot of the characters and completely switched Soundwave’s. This show actually managed to make it past the dreaded “2 Season curse” and ended with three seasons. A movie is coming out soon to finish up the franchise, so let’s take a look at the series as a whole.
Season 1’s plot is what you would expect from the franchise. The Autobots are badly outnumbered and outgunned. The Decepticons, (Lead by Megatron of course) have amassed a large army and they are ready to conquer Earth. The heroes never seem to have a chance for the 1st season and while they can hold their own, they couldn’t defeat all of the Decepticons in a straight out battle. Luckily, the Autbots aren’t alone since Agent Fowler, Jack, Miko, and Ralph are here to provide backup support. They may be mere mortals, but they have seen their share of action. (Basically, they are here so that we can have the generic human characters on the team) The climax involves the Mighty Unicron, (Who is a lot smaller than his G1 counterpart) who is pretty unimpressive. Prime and Megatron can both take on his avatars when they need too.
The best part of Season 1 was the final battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron. The music was pretty epic and it was a long battle. It was basically the whole episode, which is rare for many (non anime) shows. Even by the end of season 3, this ranks as my favorite battle. Another solid episode was when Ratchet injected himself with Synthetic Energon and decided to storm the Decepticon’s base. It was good to see Ratchet actually fight and it shows that he does have some latent fighting ability.
Season 2 is the start of the Sword battles and both teams struggle to to collect the ancient relics. They manage to obtain a lot of useful items, like the Battle Armor and a device that lets you phase through walls. They also obtained the forge that only a Prime can wield. With it, the Autobots build the Star Saber, while Megatron (Who isn’t a Prime, but obtains a Prime hand) builds the Dark Star Saber. The Autobots get some new firepower when Smokescreen joins the ranks, but the Decepticons match the new addition with Dreadwing. (Who could defeat Smokescreen, meaning that the gap actually got wider) Season 2 was definitely more exciting than the first season, (Barring the final episodes of Season 1) but watching them try to get the relics can get old. Starscream isn’t with the Decepticons for the most part and is a loner for a while. Things don’t really work out for him. M.E.C.H. is also around and they build their own robot so that they can finally defeat the dreaded Autobots/Decepticons. The final episode of the season was pretty epic and ends the season on a good note. The Decepticons make things even tougher for the heroes and manage to deal a lot of damage. Not to mention that the Decepticons get two new warriors to add to their ranks.
Season 3 feels like the final season of the show from the beginning. The Autobots are in hiding and one of their own appears to be reaching the end of his road. The Decepticons have all, but conquered the planet and Earth may be doomed. The Autobots really have no shot, but things get brighter once Ultra Magnus appears. He may be the Autobots’ last hope, but can he fit in? The Decepticons unleash the mighty Predaking and he quickly proves to be a formidable opponent. Optimus Prime undergoes an upgrade and he’s ready for battle. About halfway through the season, things go back to the status quo, as both teams are back to square one. Megatron decides to revive Cybertron so that he can rule the planet, which leads into the climax of the season. There’s a lot of action in the final battle, although a certain Decepticon misses out on actually fighting.
Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots in the show and he’s about what you would expect. He’s always been a solid leader and that doesn’t change in this show. He’s stronger than the other Autobots and he’s the only one who can go up against Megatron in a fair fight. His upgrade in Season 3 is good, although I miss his original look. (I’ll never like Machine Guns) At one point, Prime reverts back to his Orion Pax form, but I’m glad that he didn’t stay that way.
Bumblebee is pretty similar to his movie counterpart and he can’t talk in the show. His voice box was…damaged a long time ago and now he can only make robotic noises. Ralph can understand him for some reason, but it’s one of those things that you just need to take in stride. I can’t say that I’m a fan of Bumblebee, but he’s not a bad character. I just never found him that interesting.
Arcee is vastly different from her G1 counterpart (Well, a little similar to her G1 comic counterpart) and she’s more of a fighter. This is definitely her best incarnation and she’s a quick fighter. She’s managed to take on high ranking Decepticons like Shockwave and Starscream and is a pretty good shot. She’s easily one of the better Autobots on the team and even has a rival in Airachnid. In a fight, I would still go with Arcee, thanks to her speed, but Airachnid is definitely tough.
Ratchet is the team medic and gets a pretty small role for the entire show. He mildly fights in Season 1 when he is injected with the energon and when he helped Prime fight the zombies in one of the earlier episodes. Ratchet is a decent fighter, but he’s not that quick and his attacks are lethal, but very short range. He wasn’t the best character, but he was all right.
Bulkhead is also on the team, but half of the time you can forget that he’s there. He doesn’t really bring much to the table. He’s pretty tough, but Prime is tougher. Bulkhead is not really that useful in combat and while he can fight, I’d probably take Ratchet over him. Wheeljack is a part time member, and he’s pretty tough. While his G1 counterpart may have been more of a thinker, Wheeljack is a close combat fighter. He has twin blades that can deal a lot of damage and he’s always got an explosive up his sleeve. He doesn’t always follow orders which is definitely a plus.
Jack is arguably the lead human and he gets a lot of screentime. I can’t say that I ever became a fan, and his scenes are usually a little wince worthy. His best feat was when he caused a Decepticon to back up in fear. (Or shock) Miko is the head strong one of the group, but she can’t fight as well as most head strong characters. (Ichigo, Yusuke, Ash Ketchum) Mostly, she ends up getting in the way. She does manage to deal some damage when she’s in a ship or in armor, but it’s a little hard to take seriously. Ralph’s pretty smart and he’s able to understand Cybertronian, but I never cared for the character.
Smokescreen joined up with the Autobots later on. He’s less experienced than the other bots, but he tries to make up for it by being an optimist. Unfortunately, he’s not that powerful and usually gets knocked around. Ultra Magnus joins up with the team as well, but he didn’t really impress me. Supposedly he’s pretty tough, but he was getting knocked around by Predaking just like the others.
I would mention Agent Fowler and Jack’s rival, but they’re mostly irrelevant so let’s talk about the Decepticons. Megatron is their fearless leader and he is pretty untouchable for the series. Only Prime can give him a decent fight for the most part, but Megatron is always a step ahead of him. Predaking is a good match against Megatron, but only until he possesses the Dark Star Saber. Megatron is easily the strongest fighter in the series and isn’t the type to lose in a head to head battle. I’d say that he was the coolest character in the series. This was definitely a solid incarnation of the character.
Starsceam is pretty similar to his G1 counterpart in terms of personality, but his design is pretty bland. He’s basically a generic robot with no defining colors to make him unique. I’d say that he was pretty underpowered for most of the series, but he did temporarily get a speed boost which made him a high tier threat. When he possessed the speed, he was basically unstoppable. Nobody could take him down in a fair fight, but unfortunately, Starscream failed to capitalize on this lucky break.
Soundwave is one of Megatron’s most trusted Decepticons and he tends to get the job done. Soundwave seems to be pretty powerful and never really gets to engage in a serious battle. he has brief skirmishes against Airachnid and Wheeljack, but I would have liked to see the scope of his abilities. After his battle against Wheeljack, he tends to just use his Space Bridges to avoid battles. His character design is pretty intense and I’m hoping that we will get to see him fight at some point in the future.
Shockwave is possibly the smartest Decepticon and he’s pretty strong physically. He’s definitely built for power and one energy blast can deal some massive damage. His eye is a glaring weak spot since he only has one and he makes for a big target. He was a good addition to the Decepticon ranks, but he can be easy to deceive. Knockout and Breakdown were pretty awful Decepticons. Not much more to say about that, but they were the weak links of the team. Knockout was decently tough with a weapon he stole from Soundwave, but he’s definitely someone who should be taken lightly.
Airachnid was a decently cool villain who mainly appeared in the first season. Her webs are deadly since they can paralyze whoever is hit by one of them. She’s also pretty quick and is at home in the forest. She doesn’t get that much screen time, but she proves her skills by taking on Arcee in a good battle. She commands the Insecticons who can be pretty skilled. At their strongest, one of them gave Megatron a pretty good fight. At their weakest, they go down in a single hit, so their durability definitely varies.
Dreadwing joined up with the Decepticons to avenge his brother, but he may not know the full story. He’s pretty powerful and nearly took down Optimus Prime himself. He didn’t appear for very long, but he was a strong fighter. I didn’t care for his voice that much, but the voice is definitely not the most important thing for a character. Predaking was also a pretty cool character whose voice I didn’t care for. Predaking was another character who could match up against Prime and Megatron. As a dragon, he’s pretty tough, but as a Predacon, he’s even stronger. His strength easily exceeds that of Ultra Magnus and Bulkhead and his firepower is pretty high.
Silas is the leader of M.E.C.H and he talks a good game. Unfortunately for him, Autobots/Decepticons are far too powerful for mere mortals. He builds his own robot, but in the end he just isn’t a match. Things get pretty tragic for his character and things don’t go the way that he had planned. Unicron acts very high and mighty, but he wasn’t as epic as his G1 counterpart. Maybe it was the voice or the design, but either way, I wasn’t a huge fan. Maybe I will like him more in the upcoming film.
Transformers Prime was definitely a solid show. The CGI held up quite nicely for the fight scenes and there were a good amount of battles. The show cracked 60 episodes which is pretty impressive. While the show may not be as good as the classics, (G1, Victory) it does defeat some of the others. (Beast Wars, Animated) Transformers Prime is definitely a show that I would recommend watching. It has a nice blend of action and set up. It’s a good way to become a Transformers fan and the soundtrack can be pretty good for the action scenes. If I had to name a negative, it would be that some episodes didn’t really have much in the way of stakes. (Scraplets and random Decepticons) Their was some very mild romance, but it was brief enough that it didn’t hurt the series. The show ended on an epic note and didn’t crash and burn like Cliff Jumper. You really need to watch the series if you like robot battles, or just enjoy a good story.
Overall 7/10
All right, as you guys may remember from my review of the first film, the film was pretty good and had a nice chunk of action, without getting too dark and generic. The first film had a pretty satisfying ending, so what would the sequel do?
Well, the plot is decent as Frank and his partner Marvin are framed because someone leaked an article claiming that they know about “Nightshade”. Frank wants to stay retired, but things get personal when someone makes an attempt on Marvin’s life. With Sarah goading him on the whole time, Frank finally accepts that it is time to return to the field. Unfortunately for them, “Nightshade” is pretty important, so every big organization on the planet is after them. M16, CIA, etc. There are a lot more villains that are out to destroy Frank and his allies this time around.
The soundtrack is pretty solid and you’ll remember the music for a while. The brief Death Metal music was interesting and the main theme that plays whenever they switch countries is pretty cool. The overall atmosphere of the film is still pretty light as it was in the first film.
Red 2 contains a lot of explosions and action throughout the first film, but Frank himself, doesn’t get to take up most of the screentime. This time he has to share a lot of it with other fighters such as Han. Marvin’s still pretty smart and seems to be the most capable agent in the field.
Frank himself is about the same as he was in the first film, but not quite as good. He’s still pretty tough in a fight, but he’s constantly worrying about Sarah and actually pulls a rookie (Or should I say, James Bond) mistake as he falls for someone’s charms and that person drugs him. He looked pretty bad for a while, but during the climax he’s back to the usual. Unfortunately, there are some things that you can’t come back from, and that error is one of them.
Marvin still has a lot of plans up his sleeve and he’s always ready for just about anything. He hasn’t changed much, which is good, but arguably the pressure gets to him towards the end as he makes a crucial phone call. I’d say that he was easily the best character once again, but Han gives him some pretty good competition for that title. Han was a solid addition to the cast and he’s pretty skilled. I dare say that he could possibly defeat Frank, but it would be close. He’ll definitely remind you of Storm Shadow while he’s fighting and his scenes are definitely cool. (Him popping out of nowhere with the machine gun is definitely one of the best scenes in the film)
Sarah is much braver than in the first film and she’s much more enthusiastic than Frank is about the situation. She enjoys being an agent now, but she suffers from her competition against Katya. She ends up using pretty unheroic methods to get the mission done and I don’t believe that “The End justifies the means” logic. She is still a better character than Katya, but I preferred her depiction in the first film.
Katya is the agent from Russia. She’s pretty high ranked and can get bailed out of jails within an hour. Her fighting skills don’t seem to be as good as the main cast’s, but she doesn’t get to fight that often. She was a pretty bad character and I can’t take her seriously as a “villain”
Victoria gets a small role in this film. M16 needs her to prove her loyalty by destroying/capturing Frank and his cohorts. The film really tries to show us how great a shot she is, but…she never hits the opponents. In one scene, a really loud death metal song plays as she dramatically takes out her gun. She takes out the opponents….after about a dozen+ shots. She was all right in this film, but not one of the better agents. She’s still better than Ivan, who gets a really small cameo/guest star role. It’s a pretty bad role and won’t help me gain respect for the character.
The final villain of the film is pretty intense and he manages to take on a battalion of soldiers while behind bars and not containing any guns or bullets. It’s pretty intense, but makes you feel bad for the army guys. Sleeping on the job doesn’t pay. The explosion at the end looks pretty cool and was a nice way to end the action scenes.
So, Red 2 is a pretty solid addition to the franchise. I wouldn’t say that it was as good as the first, but it was a good film. It suffered from more romance than the original and less hand to hand fight scenes, but the soundtrack kept it afloat. The car chases were also pretty intense and I think that a sequel would be fun. The ending in this one makes a sequel more likely than the previous film’s.
Overall 6/10
The 52nd Battle is now up!
“This can’t be happening!” a guard yelled as he fired some bullets in the air. He knew that he only chance was for backup to arrive and fast! “Hahahahaha,” a voice laughed as the being approached the officer. “Don’t take another step,” the guard yelled as he pivoted and sprinted towards an abandoned warehouse. The door creaked as he opened it and the boards seemed to crack with every step.
“I think I lost him,” the guard said as he sat down. That had been a pretty tough chase, but not even Iihiko would dare go in an abandoned warehouse! “Boo,” a voice said as Iihiko appeared. “SUPERMAN!” the guard yelled as he threw his gun at Iihiko. The gun bounced off of him and hit the ground.
Meanwhile, Clark Kent was eating a hot dog at home. “That Kent is so lazy,” he heard the neighbors outside muttering. “If only they knew that mild mannered Clark Kent, was actually Superman,” Kent said aloud as he turned on the TV. Suddenly he heard someone yell, “SUPERMAN!!!!” “This sounds like a job for Superman,” Clark said as his clothes transformed into his kryptonian attire. He had heard that this brand new 52 suit was all the rage nowadays and he wanted to give it a shot.
He dashed towards the sound of the voice and he saw a demon grabbing the guard. “Fight’s over son,” Superman said as he landed and placed his hand on Iihiko’s shoulder. “I’m going to take you to the proper authorities,” Superman said as he struggled to make Iihiko unhand the guard. “You are so weak,” Iihiko said as he let go of the guard and grabbed Superman.
“Unhand me,” Superman responded as he struggled to break free. Iihiko’s grip felt like iron around Superman and he knew that his efforts were futile. “What do you want with Metropolis!” Superman yelled as Iihiko threw him to the ground. “To prove my superiority and destroy all of you inferior life forms,” Iihiko said as he disappeared. “What speed!” Superman yelled as Iihiko appeared behind him and punched him through a building.
“One more punch like that, and I think that I’m a goner,” Superman thought as he quickly activated his JLA comm. “Guys…I need a bit of assistance,” Superman said into the communicator as he waited for a response. “I’m afraid that your signal won’t get through,” Iihiko laughed as he walked towards Superman. “You monster!” Superman yelled as he zoomed towards Iihiko at massively faster than light speeds.
“Tut tut Superman, you know better than to fly at those kinds of speeds on Earth,” Iihiko said as he stepped on Superman in mid flight. “Impossible!” Superman yelled as Iihiko kicked him to the ground. Superman struggled to get up, but Iihiko knocked him back down again.
“You haven’t beaten me,” Superman yelled as he shot a blast of heat from his eyes. Iihiko walked through it and grabbed Superman. “Unhand me!” Superman yelled. He figured that Iihiko would have to listen to him this time. Iihiko laughed and threw Superman in the air. “Such force, I can’t escape!” Superman yelled as he began to fall.
Iihiko was charging up a super punch. “At least I won’t get to feel it,” Superman thought as he lost consciousness. “End of the road Superman,” Iihiko said as he shot out his punch. The shockwave blew the planet up and then blew it back together in an instant. Superman was disintegrated in an instant. “This is the fate of all those who oppose me!” Iihiko laughed as he went off to terrorize other cities. Nobody would be able to stop him!
Meanwhile, Superman was in the Netherworld. “Somehow, I don’t think I’m in Smallville anymore,” Superman nervously said to himself as the zombies started walking towards him. “Don’t mess with me!” Superman yelled as he ran towards them. He would show them why he’s called the Man of Steel!
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