proper bionicle handleage

Tahnok Tuesday

She is learning.

Tahnok Tuesday

TAHNOK TUESDAY

Dissected

Could a Goemon Monday and a Tahnok Tuesday be friends?

Sources say yes

French Tahnok Tuesday

You are named bionicle so i am showing you a bionicle

FUCK YEAH

BIONICLE Retrospective

2002: The Bohrok Swarms

Part 1.2: To Trap a Tahnok :REMASTERED:

It's a shame I couldn't get this one to go up on a Tahnok Tuesday, but doing that would mean waiting almost an entire week to post this and ehhh... I don't wanna.

So, the thing about 2002 is that, more than any other year of Bionicle, it is deeply repetitive. There's a lot of material for 2002, comics, mini-comics, web animations, a posthumous book. But a lot of it tends to cover the same events again and again. So when something like To Trap a Tahnok comes along, something that has its own completely unique story to tell, it's a breath of fresh air.

This comic does a lot of things I really like. Mostly little things, to be honest, but I'll start with a bigger one because it's worth mentioning. Because it is an original story unique to this medium, To Trap a Tahnok does not suffer from the same pacing issues as The Bohrok Awake did. It's not slow by any means, but each scene transition; which this issue actually has, already giving it a leg up over the breakneck velocity of its predecessor; happens comfortably, with none of the sequences feeling too cramped or too drawn out, making this issue an engaging but not tiresome read.

What I truly enjoy about this issue though, are the snippets of character work and worldbuilding it provides. I've mentioned in an older post how much I enjoy the mention of time passing at the beginning of this comic, a week since the Bohrok's emergence, to be precise. This little nod to the passage of time is a positive addition for a number of reasons. It establishes how long the Bohrok have been active, of course, which can give readers a good impression of the state the island is likely in, given how much destruction the Bohrok have been shown to be capable of in a short span of time. It also plays into the sandbox formula used in 2001. From this point on, the story is suggested to unfold relatively quickly, but that's a whole week's worth of adventures for young fans (or less young fans, as the case may now be) to dream up and act out with their own toys, pitting the Toa against the Bohrok in their quest for the Krana.

Speaking of Krana, this issue gives us our first look at Krana'd Lewa, and while he doesn't do anything, only briefly appearing at the end, this is another reason why the established time jump is important. We don't know how long Lewa was in that Nui-Rama hive wearing an Infected Kanohi, though his brief moment of clarity and the fact that he'd already finished collecting all his Kanohi by that point would suggest that it hadn't been very long. Here though, we know for certain that Lewa has been wearing this Krana for a week. No wonder it will have a much more lasting effect on him than the Infected Kanohi ever did.

Moving away from that one time mention though, I also want to commend the continued quality of the character work here. The Tahnok themselves are a main draw here, putting their dogged determination and surprising resourcefulness on full display, as well as showing off some of their Krana powers, something that doesn't seem to happen that often, honestly. We also get what is technically the first appearance of the Bahrag, though only their thoughts. They're not much more than generic ominous villains in the shadows at this point, but even this early their speech patterns are established and we get our first mentions of the "before-time" and the "restoration" of Mata Nui, which are also our first hints towards the Bohrok's true mission and its technical nobility. I do wonder how the Bahrag are aware of the island's name being Mata Nui, though. Perhaps "Mata Nui will be as it was in the before-time" actually refers to the robot, meaning Mata Nui, or rather the GSR, will be scoured clean and returned to its original state.

The Toa do quite well for themselves here too. I only noticed when I made the original version of this review, but all of the Toa put in an appearance in this issue. Lewa, naturally, is sidelined, but the rest each have an opportunity to contribute to the plot in some way. Gali and Pohatu are the main focus, an uncommon pair it's nice to get to see working together, while Onua and Kopaka both briefly appear when Pohatu explains their contribution to his plan, showing off more of that delicious teamwork from last time. Kopaka also goes on to show up in Tahu's scene, showing some good character development for both of them. Tahu is continuing his habit of delivering rousing speeches, this time to the Ta-Matoran, and it's not a bad one. "Remember -- your bravery, your wisdom, your spirit, make you as mighty as any Toa!" Wow, sure would be a shame if one year after this comic was published it was retconned that Tahu virtually held no respect for his Matoran at all by this point. Wouldn't it be wild if that happened? *ahem* Anyway, we also get Kopaka calling Tahu "my friend," and that's just delightful.

Back when I last looked at To Trap a Tahnok, I really liked it, a lot more than I expected to. I still do quite enjoy it, though I don't think I'm quite as enthusiastic over it as last time. Which isn't to say that I think it's worse this time around, I think it's more that I went into it this time knowing I liked it, so I wasn't as surprised. Still, I'm impressed by just how much Greg managed to cram into this issue without it feeling bloated or weighed down. It's well done, and the unique story is appreciated.

And that's as far as I got into 2002, so everything from this point on will be new ground! You might think that might mean I'll be slowing down, and I might, but it'll only be to pace myself. I've actually had several more retrospective posts basically done and sitting in my drafts since...January, maybe? ><' So after some minor edits, there's plenty more on the docket for the foreseeable future.

Next up: Into the Nest

Tahnok propaganda:

"ITS TAHNOK TUESDAY"

Tahnok hates cops.

Tahnok Tuesday

the hunter has become the hunted

Tahnok Tuesday

Oh no! Mata Nui has fallen asleep!

Tahnok Tuesday

That's a lovely painting, who are those hypothetical people?

Tahnok Tuesday

Tahnok. TAHNOK DON'T.

Tahnok Tuesday

yep. its

Tahnok Tuesday

Clean it all.

Tahnok Tuesday

It's actually really easy to hack your great spirit robot

Tahnok Tuesday