Spotlight Hoist:
This is not a bad comic over-all. But, it is not as good as the Trailbreaker/cutter "Spotlight".
It was fun to see Hoist shooting on Swerve (and by extension the rest of the Lost Light's crew). At the very least, Roberts is admitting it that the cast is one of the most reprehensible since "Seinfeld".
JAMES ROBERTS: So far, there are two big gaps in MTMTE where you can squeeze any number of “lost” stories: the gap between issues #5 and #6, which is where the Hoist and Trailcutter SPOTLIGHTS take place, and the gap between issues #12 and #13. So for any fanfic writers out there: go fill those gaps! I didn’t deliberately create those gaps, incidentally, but I’m glad they exist.
Fuck you James. I almost considered going back and buying MtMtE in compilation form after cleaning out my pull-file. And, this comment here just about kills that desire. There is a serious problem when the guys who write official content are promoting fanfic. Seriously. It is bad form. And, Transfans as a whole do not need to be encouraged in this regard.
That being said, the last few "Spotlights" are good jumping on points for new/young readers. And, they are one of the better efforts at reaching new customers that I have seen.....ever.
Hasbro's efforts with the "GI Joe' comic packs were not going to work. Most of the people buying Joe figures back in '08/'09 were older. They would have the original comics that were reprinted. And, only a few of the new content books were really any good. On top of that, people buying those packs would either be reading comics or not.
The "War Within" and "Target: 2006" themed TF comic packs from a few years ago were a poor execution of a lazy plan. Besides the fact that the comics were mis-matched to the toys in most cases ("War Within" being packaged with the "Target: 2006" figures and vice versa), the comics were not even appropriate to the toys. Even if a kid got both comic packs, the figures (being half-assed recolours of existing moulds) looked nothing like their counter-parts in the included comics. How is a blue recolour of 2006 "Cybertron" Starscream supposed to be an appropriate representation of 1985 Dirge? Is a green recolour of 2006 Evac a good representation of pre-Earth Springer?
But, these comic packs might actually get people to buy comics. At the very least, IDW and Hasbro are making a legitimate effort this time.
Seriously, tired of the Whedon-derivative glibness that almost every character needs to spout in mainstream TV and comics.
It depends on the tone of the store, and what the alternatives are. I am not a fan of Whedon in the least. But, I will take glibness over the pointless bombast of the Silver Age.
Dom
-just wishes that the Thundercracker figure was gong to be better.