The Death of Optimus Prime

    And here we are, after weeks of teasing I’m finally going through with my Transformers review. Initially I was going to do a write-up not of the live action Transformers movie that I totally loathe (but I will give credit to Michael Bay for the two things he’s good at, explosions and interesting camera angles. The latter however gets ruined by the fact that the shot is either too cluttered or too sparse but I digress) but of the 1986 animated movie that I think was so much better than the live-action blockbuster that came out this century. However, I decided that instead of doing a straight up review I would do a compare and contrast of an event that occurs in both the animated movie and the live action trilogy. That event is The Death of Optimus Prime.

    A quick synopsis for the four or five people who may not know: Optimus Prime is the leader of the  He is the pinnacle of what the Autobots are supposed to be: brave, thoughtful, and honorable. If you ask someone about Transformers I guarantee you the first name that will pop up nine times out of ten will be Optimus Prime.

 Autobot faction of Transformers and the main character of the franchise; he has the ability to transform himself into a big red semi-truck which is one of the most iconic aspects of the character.

    The Death of Optimus Prime has been a watershed story in the cartoons, comics, and movies that have made up the franchise and the story has been told in several ways.

The Man...Bot!

   In the Transformers animated movie Prime’s end came to pass in his final battle with his arch rival, the Decepticon leader known as Megatron. Megatron and his crew launched an assault of Autobot City, the Autobots outpost on earth. Over the course of a day the city was ravaged and many Autobots were destroyed in spite of the efforts of the city’s inhabitants. It was when the Decepticons began to close in did Optimus Prime appear and began to mow down (literally in some cases) the Deception forces until he finally got to Megatron himself and the fight began.

     This fight was easily the most brutal fight in the then short history of the animated series; you could see the cracks forming in their bodies from the beating, Prime gets impaled by Megatron at one point in the fight but soon Optimus gets the upper hand. Megatron starts to beg for mercy but this is a ruse to get Prime closer to use a gun he finds under a piece of debris, but then Hot Rod, one of the new Autobots introduced in this movie, tries to intervene and gets used as a hostage as Megatron fires a few well place blasts into the same area where he had impaled Prime before.

    Megatron then stands over Optimus ready to deliever the coup de grace when Prime delievers the final blow and sends Megatron falling a few stories and the crashes to the ground. With Megatron defeated, the Decepticons retreat and the Autobots are left with an utter disaster on their hands; chief amongst the casualties is Prime himself who soon dies from his injuries. To do this review I had to re-watch the movie and the death scene is a lot tamer that I remember, there is a rate of decay when Prime passes but in my mind I remember quite a bit more desiccation than what was there. I guess it’s another example of a memory from long ago being built up more in one’s imagination, still a very heartbreaking moment for any fan of the show.

Now that's a main event!

    Now we come to Prime’s death in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, where Optimus is targeted for death by the Fallen, the founder of the Decepticons . Apparently Prime is the only one capable of destroying the Fallen and wants Optimus out of the way to prevent that and to prevent his interference in the capture of Sam Witwicky. The Decepticons, led by Megatron, attempt to kidnap Sam and get Optimus Prime out in the open. When Prime gives chase he’s attacked by Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor in a battle that’s just as brutal as the animated movie. You have Prime ripping Grindor apart and Megatron running a spike into Prime’s back (as much as Megatron likes his guns he also seems to like sharp and pointy things as well). Prime dies as a result of the battle, but he doesn’t get the kind of on his deathbed scene that he got in the animated movie.

    The aftermath of Prime’s death drives both stories, in the animated movie Prime’s death leaves a void and it takes the rest of the movie to not only fill that void but to deal with threats that threatens to wipe out all the Transformers. It has far reaching effects that change the dynamics of the show for years to come. In Revenge of the Fallen, the quest to resurrect Prime is one of the main plot lines that drive the rest of the movie to its conclusion. It’s only when Prime is resurrected that the threat gets resolved, the Fallen is destroyed, and the Decepticons retreat.

   I have to admit both movies make Optimus Prime look like a badass and it take a lot to send him packing to the afterlife. But which take was better? I obviously have my opinion but I think I’ll leave that decision to all of you, what do you think? Which was better?

Superman: Secret Origin #6

     Well folks we’ve made it to the finish line, we’ve made it to the final chapter of Superman: Secret Origins. The fact that I’m doing this a mere two days before the release of Man of Steel had nothing to do with design and everything to do with my laziness. So this is where I would attempt a little bit of insight but if you’re like me you probably want to get this over and done with so let’s get to it…..oh and the Transformers movie review I promised will be up soon, promise.

    So our final chapter picks up where last chapter left off with the Army led by General Sam Lane has invaded The Daily Planet to collect any and all information regarding Superman. Lane tries to play the “I’m your father so you should trust me” card with Lois Lane who fires back ed to be a bombshell by asking Lois why Superman never told her that he is an alien and by that standard: a monster. Back to the xenophobia again.

    Elsewhere, Lex Luthor has just finished his operation on Sgt. Corben after his battle with the Last Son of Krypton, Luthor proclaims success by shouting “He’s Alive”. We then find the Army in the sewers when they come across Superman who puts them out of commission in about 5 seconds and then takes the fight to the streets of Metropolis where he smacks the soldiers around like its nothing. Back at the Planet we find that General Lane’s bombshell has had no effect on the paper’s staff so he then tries to tell them that it’s all hopeless for them since he has the one thing that can kill Superman, Kryptonite.

    This spurs Lois and Jimmy into action, Jimmy then blinds the soldiers with multiple camera flashes while Lois escapes but not without General Lane noticing her ducking out. We return then to Superman’s fight with the Army when a cab gets thrown into him courtesy of Sgt. Corben who fresh off his life saving surgery has the Metallo armor completely grafted onto his body. The Army stands aside to watch Corben get his licks in but Superman quickly turns the tide back in his favor by sending him flying into a tank.

Hey Tony Stark, I think you better call your lawyers about this one

     Corben is enraged by this and even starts turning on his own people, it’s then that Lois enters the picture asking Superman to leave for his own safety. She tells him that his adversaries are willing to kill him because they’re afraid of him. Corben fires back by saying that their not afraid but that Superman is a threat to them and that he could change everything, I don’t have a reference book with me but I’d say that statement is a pretty good statement of fear. Superman charges at Corben and manages to knock off the Metallo face plate that reveals a face that if this were a video review I’d queue up a scene of the Bride of Frankenstein screaming in terror.  By the way if you’re keeping score that’s one Frankenstein reference for the comic and one for me.

   Lois runs out yelling “leave him alone you monster” right at Corben who in response unleashes a green energy blast from his chest. Superman gets in the way of the shot and has a very hard effect on him since the blast had Kryptonite in it. Superman then launches a manhole cover into Corben’s chest and uses his heat vision to melt it into the Metallo armor. Do they make manhole covers out of lead because that’s the only thing that makes sense to me for why the Kryptonite doesn’t have any effect on Supes when he’s up that close? Superman then flies Corben into orbit where he passes out due to lack of oxygen.

   General Lane then arrives just as Corben falls at his feet, Lane orders his soldiers to arrest Lois and Superman, but the men are hesitant to do so and when they make their move the crowd stands up for Superman. Supes then gets between the two sides and implores them not to take things any further, when asked what he wants he says that he doesn’t want them to look for a savior and to use their own gifts to make things better for everyone. I cleaned it up a bit so I could spare you folks the cavities this kind of sweetness could create, it is an uplifting speech but I think you should read it for yourself.

    With that situation calmed down Superman turns his attention to Lex Luthor who screams at him that Metropolis is his and Superman can’t take it away from him. Supes replies that it doesn’t belong to him, it never has, and that he won’t let Lex ruin it for everyone else. We return to the Daily Planet which I suppose would be a few days after all the action where thanks to their coverage of Superman the paper is back on top. Lois comments on Clark’s latest story and just as she’s about to acknowledge that Clark’s her competition she finds a note on her desk.

   Lois runs up to the rooftop to find Superman fixing the Globe on the top of the building. Supes thanks Lois for making him feel at home and Lois talks about how his presence has lightened his outlook…..again I’d read it for yourself because I think I’d need to floss if I gave a blow by blow review of this moment. Just as things start to get close Jimmy comes up and interrupts things which give Superman the opening he needs to exit stage left.

   We then see Lex Luthor heading out for his daily ritual to find that there’s no one there singing his praises and asking for his help. We end this issue as we began the Metropolis arc with a new transplant looking up in the sky, but Superman had changed things since the old lady Clark had bumped into before is not giving the kid hell for looking up into the sky as we see the whole city looking up to Superman flying above the Metropolis skyline. FIN

    ……..And that’s it, we’re done! All in all a pretty good series, yeah it has it’s moment of cheese and a few things about the plot that are debatable to whether they’re necessary but it’s a really good retelling of the Superman origin and one that I give a high recommendation to anyone interested in Superman.  As great as it was to talk about this series I think I’m going to stick with single issues for a while until I find a series that’s worth going through as much as I’ve done here. Thanks for sticking with me.