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Ok, first, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, DREAMWAVE IS OUT OF BUSINESS!!!!!!! Fortunately the license was picked-up by the same folks who bring us ''GI Joe', so all isn't lost.
Alright, back to our regularly scheduled Ramble. Gen-Xers remember a loooooooooong time ago (Almost... 20... years... lord, I feel old) Marvel comics had the license for the amazing Autobots and dastardly Decepti-creeps, and came out with a guide to all of the 'bots... and boy it SUCKED! Horrible art, haphazard biographies... it was just miserable. Say all you wan about 'Oh, it's just for kids', that just doesn't wash. Kids can be VERY discriminating and know what's good, and what's junk.... All things being relative, of course, like Pokemon.
So Dreamwave resurrects the Transformers comic line with some really good stuff and naturally you GOTTA have a Transformers guide. Well, a lot of us remember the old guides, and probably almost had a stroke thinking how horrible these things could be. Oh, the humanity! But then we READ the new ones! Doh! They flew off the shelves like lightening. I was lucky to miss issues 2 and 3. Sigh. Well, the marketing wizards at Dreamwave decided to cram everything into tradepaperbacks! Woohoo!!!!!! Should you get these? Are you kidding?
First, what catches your eye on these books is the art. During the Marvel comic run and the old 'toons, the robot forms were drawn simply with absolutely no concern as to how this thing would turn into a vehicle. Whatever, just give it limbs and a face. Not so simple here. Each character looks like it could actually transform into it's given vehicle. No more cop-outs with sticking on generic square, robotic-looking panels on a humanoid form, this is meant to look like a transforming 'bot! In addition, the level of detail on each character is astounding, capturing panel lines, even cracks in the surface from eons and eons of combat.
The text is equally amazing. Each entry is separated into a 'Bio' section that talks about the character's background, a 'weapons/abilities' section, and finally a 'weaknesses' section. Pretty straight forward as to what each part is. I wish there were more detail on the ability of each character. Then again I'm a source-book junkie. Sigh. What makes this fun, as opposed to just a dry encyclopedia, is the writing style changes form character to character. Sometimes it's a straight-up reading, like something from an encyclopedia. However, others are told from the voice of characters, such as Megatron bemoaning the fact he NEEDS Starscream, or Kup talking about how Hot Rod seems oddly fascinated by Arcee. These small changes make what could be really dry reading a lot of fun.
Finally the breadth of characters involved is huge. I do believe EVERY Generation 1 character is represented, even some unexpected ones such as Powermaster Optimus Prime.
All in all you have an outstanding read for any Trans-fan or just a plain fan of technology. No more half-baked entries that sound like they were written by your 2 year-old cousin. No more art that LOOKS like it was done by that same cousin... while on a massive sugar buzz. This is high-end stuff that is a joy to read and look at. AND, since the Transformers license has been scooped up... that means more are on the way! Enjoy!