#fitsfancomic

I finished the comic, I'm gonna cry from relief. Now off to printing!!

So @akapen011 recently released his Transformers fancomic Fire in the Sky, which is, in his words, a "gayer, angstier" of the G1 episode of the same name. I've been excitedly following the development of this fancomic for a few months, and it was finally released as a physical copy last week during the 2023 TFcon, and digitally this Sunday!

I have been asked to review the comic, so I'll do my best. Please keep in mind that I'm not a professional and that this is a casual review :)

With all that over with, let's get started!

Plot

The fancomic loosely follows the plot of the original G1 cartoon episode, which goes as follows:

Earth is rapidly cooling down

This kinda freaks out the Autobots, bc there is fucking snow in the American Southwest... that's not very poggers!

They head over to the Arctic, and guess what? The Decepticons are syphoning Earth's energy from a green crystal in the ground! Somehow!

Meanwhile, the Decepticons found a Really Big Guy in the ice, and Starscream recognizes him as his old colleague Skyfire

Starscream explains that he and Skyfire used to be scientists/explorers before the war, Skyfire got lost in a storm and Starscream couldn't find him

Skyfire wakes up, joins the Decepticons out of loyalty to Starscream

Skyfire attacks the Autobots, then rescues the human characters who tagged along for some reason (Spike and Sparkplug)

He takes them to the Decepticons to prove that they're not the bad guys

They're the bad guys

The humans are imprisoned, which troubles Skyfire

When some of the Autobots are captured, Megatron orders Skyfire to kill them. He refuses, and is shot by Starscream in a fit of rage. Starscream then shoots the Autobots...

But it's okay! They were just pretending to be dead :) they repair Skyfire and head on their merry way...

But the Decepticons attack! Prime and Megs fight. When Megs orders Skyfire to attack the Autobots, he refuses and attacks the Decepticons instead!

Him and Starscream have an aerial fight which ends in the crystal destroyed and Skyfire buried in the Arctic ice again, presumed dead. The Decepticons flee, and the Autobots mourn Skyfire's sacrifice at least until they resurrect him 2 episodes later lmao

Now, as with many things in the G1 cartoon, there's a lot of issues. The episode, though it has a lot of potential, is written haphazardly, and a lot of potential outlets for emotional exploration are left untapped. Not to mention that some characterizations make no sense; why would Starscream, who is shown to care deeply about Skyfire when he is first found, shoot him when he disobeys the orders of Megatron, who he despises? Why didn't the Autobots just dig Skyfire out? Etc., etc.

However, in his rewrite of Fire in the Sky, Akapen makes some minor tweaks to the plot that, in my humble opinion, make the narrative far stronger. I won't spoil too much of the story, but suffice it to say that the characters and their motivations--especially Starscream's--are a lot more well-rounded and complex. Plus, I can promise that the comic certainly delivers on its promise of angst--the ending had me turning off my monitor and pacing around the house with a blank expression muttering nonsense under my breath for a good five minutes, and I guarantee that is the greatest honor I can bestow.

Writing

I've put this in a separate category from plot, because while plot and premise are the meat and potatoes of a good story, the way it is written--the dialogue, the ways characters interact with each other, the subtle intricacies of symbolism--are the spices that can make or break the meal. The original 1980s Transformers cartoon is notorious for having an interesting premise (what could be cooler than an eons-long civil war that's ripped a planet apart?) and incredibly bland spices (shoddy animation, poor writing, and staunch refusal to actually explore any of the implications of the aforementioned eons-long civil war), which overall leaves its value as a story based mostly on fan interpretations and nostalgia.

Akapen's Fire in the Sky, however, is abundantly seasoned with vibrant and intriguing spice. In sixty-eight pages, it manages to fit in superb character interactions; actually engage with the implications of the war; and portray the characters as three-dimensional, interesting, and overall enjoyable people to study.

Visuals

For most of this review, I have kept up a veneer of professionalism. This is the part where that shoddy disguise falls away. Akapen is one of my favorite artists, and it's obvious why--his art style is absolutely delicious eye candy! His line art is soft without being washed out, and I feel like I don't see enough traditional TF art....It's so Fucking Good...

Anyway, the comic is black & white with grayscale shading, and it looks amazing! The panel layouts are amazing too--there are so many pages with incredibly dynamic layouts, and I love them so much! Examples below:

These are the three best examples of dynamic page layouts in the comic, at least in my opinion. Akapen does an amazing job of using shape and design to highlight the emotion of the current scene, and boy does it show!

Also the way he draws faces is just....ough...OUGH..OUGH..!! *takes 15 screenshots and runs away*

I AM GOING FERAL.! THE EXPRESSIONS ARE SO FUCKING GOOD I AM GOING TO PUNCH A WALL

Since the con is almost over and I can't resist waiting to upload this anymore, here you go, guys, the Fire in the Sky PDF!

You can download it for free or leave a tip if you want!

Please feel free to reblog this with your comments, yell at me on dms or comment on the page itself!

Also please tell me if anything's wrong with the download.

Enjoy!

Homosexuals.

Happy valentine's day ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I made it a campaign so it'll be easier to collect your address for shipping. There needs to be at least 25 people who buy one for this to work since that's the minimum amount of copies that can be printed.

If you have any questions please message me or send an ask!