Starting with a bit of bad news: TF Genesis II has been officially
cancelled. Some of you might remember the trouble 88 MPH Studios had
with the original TF Genesis art book--it was very late, arguments
with artists when artwork that had been previously accepted (I
believe) was rejected, trouble getting copies out to people who
ordered through the website, etc. The project grew so big that 88 MPH
planned to do a "Volume II" that would focus on official art, toy art,
promotional art, etc. Unfortunately that's not going to happen now.
The first volume, published with the help of Image, is a hard cover
fine art book that focuses on works done both by official TF artists
such as Guido Guidi and Dan Khanna, and the finest calibre of fan
artists such as Makoto Ono. The result is 116 pages of beautiful TF
art.
While the book contains everything from G1, G2, and Masterforce to
Beast Wars, Beast Wars II, Beast Wars Neo, Machine Wars, Beast
Machines, RiD and Armada, the vast majority of the images are Classic
G1. Furthermore, unlike the previously reviewed DW Poster Book, most
of these images haven't been published anywhere else. The handful
that have are, for the most part, Dreamwave posters and lithographs
(so unless you've had the money to buy all those and the wall space to
hang them, here's a cheaper and more space-efficient way to own the
artwork). I've found only two images that were taken from comic
covers: the three-part gatefold to War Within #1 and the three-part
gatefold to Armada #1.
There is only one downside to this collection IMHO: too much Megatron
and Prime. Who'd have thought I'd ever say there was such a thing as
too much Megatron? Still, I would have sacrificed a few Megatron
images in exchange for, say, Deathsaurus, Thunderwing, Elita-One and
Motormaster, all of whom got left out of this book. On the other
hand, there were some good nods to more obscure characters including
Jhiaxus, Straxus, Topspin & Twin Twist, Overlord, Star Convoy and
Trailbreaker.
The book was made in relatively limited numbers, and retails for $30
US or $40 CDN, though the price has gone up in some places due to the
short supply. If you see one, I'd highly recommend getting one, as it
is a very nice set of breathtaking images.
--Enfilade
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