Bionicle 2015 Discussion

[The Outsider]

The problem is, it sounds forced and stilted. If he only mentioned Lewa's appearance and weapons at them moment and only talked about his dual mode's abilities when he used that function, it would sound a lot better. Show, don't tell.

But it's even worse with the other Toa, because Vizuna never met them and yet goes on lenght on their dual weapons functions; and why is knowing Tahu has a lavaboard useful when he's nowhere near lava at the time?

[Bigger Fish]

At least it isn't Star Wars Aftermath!

Lewa wibbles and wobbles through the air, careening drunkenly across the Matoran rooftops - he zigzags herkily-jerkily out of sight.

(Passage from Star Wars Aftermath slightly modified by me.)

Edited December 13, 2015 by Bigger Fish

[Quisoves Pugnat]

At least it isn't Star Wars Aftermath!

Lewa wibbles and wobbles through the air, careening drunkenly across the Matoran rooftops - he zigzags herkily-jerkily out of sight.

(Passage from Star Wars Aftermath slightly modified by me.)

XD

That sounds much more entertaining, at least.

[DraikNova]

Yeegh, that's pretty bad. It sound shoehorned in.

[Dr_Chronos]

Like all the months before, we get a cool diroama for the featured Toa.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Dr_Chronos

[Takanuinuva]

Just a question. Coming of the Toa is the Graphic Novel right? I don't want to buy it only to find out its an activity book.

[DraikNova]

That diorama would have been perfect if it had just a slight suggestion of a slope at the back. Otherwise, pretty cool.

[DuckBricks]

Unless I missed this posted before, the graphic novel cover was revealed...

[MakutaOfWar]

Unless I missed this posted before, the graphic novel cover was revealed...

This was revealed in October on Amazon I believe.

[DuckBricks]

This was revealed in October on Amazon I believe.

Huh! Sorry, I'm really late. Apologies.

[MakutaOfWar]

Huh! Sorry, I'm really late. Apologies.

Well people should have a reminder anyways since it's only a week from release. :P

[Fulcrumfan91]

Has anyone noticed that episode 18 of the animations is gone from bionicle.com?

[Dorek]

Has anyone noticed that episode 18 of the animations is gone from bionicle.com?

Still there for me. Episodes have gone missing in the past before, though, only to reappear, so I'm not worried. I more wonder when the website is gonna update...

[Dorek]

Sorry, double post, but this is too good not to share: LEGO has kindly given us a 7 page preview of the upcoming graphic novel! There's a few more images included that I'll get to later (all in glorious hi-res) but the real meat is these pages. I'm loving the artstyle.

[Voxovan]

It looks amazing! There some continuity and coloring errors in the last pages (Narmoto having Vizuna's colors and Vizuna saying the line that was spoken by Narmoto in the book), but it doesn't bother since MAN THIS IS SO GREAT. Loving the art style, loving the writing, loving that we can finally have a better look at the villagers', well, villages (and it turns out that not all islanders where the same masks!) and well Skull Spiders actually do something at last. Can't wait t osee more, I hope it'll get released in my country as well, I'd love to have a physical copy of it in my collection.

EDIT: The Mask of Time used by the Protectors looks oddly familiar...

Edited December 22, 2015 by Voxovan

[MakutaOfWar]

Well, the writing irks me but what was I expecting. Few things to note;

Villagers are starving, send food.

More emphasis on Villagers/Protectors having offspring(are you all happy?).

Three or four celestial objects in the sky, almost looks like the larger is orange/brown and another green(Bara and Bota?), with possibly another third one.

Oh, and the Mask of Time.

Edited December 22, 2015 by MakutaOfWar

[TwistLaw]

Sorry, double post, but this is too good not to share: LEGO has kindly given us a 7 page preview of the upcoming graphic novel! There's a few more images included that I'll get to later (all in glorious hi-res) but the real meat is these pages. I'm loving the artstyle.

It's... ugly.

I'm very disappointed by these comics. If you don't wanna be faithful to the sets, at least do like they did in the animation. Totally gonna skip this, give me more books at least.

By the way, where the hell do these masks on the villagers come from?? Again, not being faithful to the sets is always a bad move.

It partially was with MoL, it definitely is with Gathering of the Toa.

[Voxovan]

Again, not being faithful to the sets is always a bad move.

Disagree. Besides, those comics are faithful enough. If characters were exact copies of the sets, then that would be a bad move - when I read a comic, I want to see actual characters, not toys.

And well, the masks on villagers obviously come from Ekimu. They are similar enough to the Protectors' masks, and it was never really stated the all masks have to be identical - that was a thing only in the animations, and the creators surely didn't have time and budget to come up with a slightly different design for each mask worn by every single villager.

[TwistLaw]

If characters were exact copies of the sets, then that would be a bad move - when I read a comic, I want to see actual characters, not toys.

When you read a comic, but when your average kid (again, target audience) reads a comic he would prefer something as close as possible to what he can see with his own to eyes. Besides the problem here is that this artistic interpretation just looks bad, for sure something far below the standards we had in G1 comics. I loved this year's animation, even though they didn't represent the sets exactly as they looked. Comics in that artstyle? Anyday of the year, here's my money. An artstyle that has a derp moment at every page? No thanks.

(last but not least, G1 comics were extremely close to real sets yet they succeded greatly at giving us an overview of the BIONICLE universe)

(thus demonstrating that you can make a toy look like something that could really exist, à la G1 commercials)

[Voxovan]

When you read a comic, but when your average kid (again, target audience) reads a comic he would prefer something as close as possible to what he can see with his own to eyes. Besides the problem here is that this artistic interpretation just looks bad, for sure something far below the standards we had in G1 comics. I loved this year's animation, even though they didn't represent the sets exactly as they looked. Comics in that artstyle? Anyday of the year, here's my money. An artstyle that has a derp moment at every page? No thanks.

(last but not least, G1 comics were extremely close to real sets yet they succeded greatly at giving us an overview of the BIONICLE universe)

(thus demonstrating that you can make a toy look like something that could really exist, à la G1 commercials)

I said that those comics are faithful enough to the sets and they sure are, and I think most children would actually prefer something that seems more "alive" than a copied and pasted model of a toy. I remember that back in 2008 and 2009, when I still was a kid, it always bugged me that the characters had the obnoxious red and blue pins visible on their bodies, Glatorians hands were always clenched fists and the characters held their Thoranx launchers in 99%, if not all, panels just because that's how it is in the set. The characters in the new graphic novel have actual hands, actual face expressions and feel more lifelike.

And lol no most of the comics in G1 were extremely ugly, especially during the Ignition saga. This graphic novel is way better than anything we've gotten so far in my opinion

[TwistLaw]

I said that those comics are faithful enough to the sets and they sure are, and I think most children would actually prefer something that seems more "alive" than a copied and pasted model of a toy. I remember that back in 2008 and 2009, when I still was a kid, it always bugged me that the characters had the obnoxious red and blue pins visible on their bodies, Glatorians hands were always clenched fists and the characters held their Thoranx launchers in 99%, if not all, panels just because that's how it is in the set. The characters in the new graphic novel have actual hands, actual face expressions and feel more lifelike.

And lol no most of the comics in G1 were extremely ugly, especially during the Ignition saga. This graphic novel is way better than anything we've gotten so far in my opinion

Oh yes, Ignition saga looked pretty bad for me too, just trying too hard to fit in the edgy atmosphere of the year.

The characters in the new comic sure look more alive and all, but at the end of the day the one and only problem I have right here right now is that they could've been drawn better. in my opinion

[Quisoves Pugnat]

Sorry, double post, but this is too good not to share: LEGO has kindly given us a 7 page preview of the upcoming graphic novel! There's a few more images included that I'll get to later (all in glorious hi-res) but the real meat is these pages. I'm loving the artstyle.

Way cool! Thanks, Dorek!

The art-style's a bit basic, but it's definitely more than passable. That shot of the Temple on the hill is gorgeous. And the dead Skull Spider looks adorable.

Also, Vahi. Interesting. That at least explains the easter-eggs in the animations.

[DraikNova]

I'm hoping that that Vahi is just a stand-in.

[Dorek]

Also they were eight pages I omitted one sorry. Back in now.

I don't think anything's realistically going to change from now until release, which is only a week away. Possibly some coloring, but the Vahi will likely be permanent. But then, it doesn't bother me so much. It's like the ones we've seen already; an easter egg. Whenever they release the final version, it will be in the new mask style.

[Aanchir]

The art style is OK-ish, and that's really the best I can say for it. There are a lot of parts that look sloppy and inconsistent, and not in a purposeful or expressive way. The Mask of Time literally looks like a bit of G1 stock art 'shopped into a panel with an entirely different style of lineart and shading. Even if the artist had so much as traced over it in pen using the same lineweight they used for the characters it would probably have looked better. As it is, it just looks like a conspicuous placeholder. From a logistical standpoint it would probably have been better to do as the animations did and simply keep it out-of-frame.

Also, Korgot inexplicably turns into a skeleton on page 8 (she looks fine on page 7). And Narmoto is colored in Vizuna's colors in the last panel of page 7. Pages 2, 4, and 6 are probably the most consistently decent-looking pages from this sample. I know Bionicle characters are generally more work to draw than minifigures, but these pages are not up to the level of quality I've come to expect in LEGO comics, whether from Bionicle or other themes. And it's definitely nowhere near as good as the fantastic cover art led me to expect. I can only hope the artist gets better at this with experience, and that it shows in the later pages of the book.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Aanchir