I finally got my hands on the new BIONICLE®: METRU NUI TOA METRU! Comic #16 and LEGO® Magazine today. The comic introduces several new characters (and some surprising old ones) to the saga. The preface mentions that Metru Nui was “a place of learning and contentment” protected by “order enforcement squads called VAHKI” and guided by TURAGA DUME. The last panel introduces the “King Root of the Morbuzakh”.
The VAHKI are revealed (albeit as tiny shadows in the background) in a panel where they are pursuing TOA NOKAMA:
Not explained in the comic is why a squad of VAHKI are threatening NOKAMA’s life.
Right next door to that panel is a panel featuring TOA WHENUA stalked by RAHKSHI. This would seem to indicate that MAKUTA must be about METRU NUI somewhere, but so far there is no mention of him. If you have not guessed it yet, all six METRU NUI MATORAN and all six TOA METRU face much peril in this comic.
Ta-Metru sees plenty of Morbuzakh destruction and KANOKA disk action too. TOA VAKAMA saves a Ta-Metru MATORAN (who confusingly looks just like NUHRII, but is not NUHRII) from molten protodermis and freezes a Morbuzakh plant with a dodging Ko-Metru KANOKA disk. Later, TOA VAKAMA rescues NUHRII from some rubble. NUHRII quickly returns the favor by saving VAKAMA from a Morbuzakh vine by using an enlarging disk.
TOA VAKAMA’s first rescue of a NUHRII look-alike is, at first glance, a tad confusing because these two speech bubbles have been reversed:
Perhaps as eagerly anticipated as the comic pages are the interstitial pages of information and advertising. The centerfold features the six TOA METRU. The back page promotes the BIONICLE® Adventures #1: Mystery of Metru Nui book, available now or very soon “wherever books are sold!”
The comic is also a treasure trove of information about the KANOKA, with two pages devoted to the subject at the very end. In addition to the powers identified by the middle number on each KANOKA, the disks have differing flight characteristics (in the saga only) because of where they were made. The dodging KANOKA from Ko-Metru in the comic is one example.
The January 2004 issue of LEGO® Magazine accompanied by the comic features “classic” Star Wars images from the earliest three films on its cover. BIONICLE is well represented within though, and also on the back cover in the “clubshop” where TOA VAKAMA and TOA WHENUA can be purchased together as a kit with a free 2004 Metru Nui MATORAN thrown in.
On the inside, NUHRII is asking for your “expert opinion” about the magazine. A couple of BIONICLE MOCs are shown in the “cool creations” section, along with a great “Seventh Toa” costume. The crowning gem though is a two-page map of Metru Nui, strewn with Matoran text, festooned with TOA METRU, and accompanied by even more KANOKA information.
For example, the codes on the KANOKA disks are worth BIONICLE (or KANOKA) points on the “all new www.BIONICLE.com”, which the comic promises is “launching this February.” Accumulate enough points and you will be able to unlock “special secret information” on BIONICLE. Rarer disks will be worth more points. To get you started, the magazine includes a “LEGO Club Exclusive Kanoka Disk Code”.
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