Secret Mission #3 and #4 Review

[Master Inika]

Hello, I have recently completed the third and fourth books in the Hero Factory Secret Mission series, Collision Course and Robot Rampage.

Being Greg Farshtey's most notable contribution to Hero Factory, they bring to Hero Factory much of what made his BIONICLE writing so good. The characters feel more real and fleshed-out than they ever do in the TV show or comics, and the concepts and locations the books deal with just feel more mature. At the same time, it feels like Greg had little oversight in writing them. The books only tangentially tie into the main story, and there was only one part (when Furno's sword and shield were mentioned) that I was actually reminded of their toy forms. Aside from basic things like color, Greg doesn't describe the actual characters who exist as sets very deeply. He is more interested in describing the non-set characters or environments, which are described very well. Really, if I were reading them without knowing what the toys looked like, I would image much more human-looking or cyborg entities.

It is strange to think that these books took much of the energy from Greg that would have gone to BIONICLE had that series continued. It feels like a last hurray of sorts for Greg's gift for action-adventure. The characters brood much like Vakama Hordika or Sahmad. Greg's writing almost chafes against the more kid-friendly direction HF as a whole went in, and I can find most of the books online for cheap, so it seems like the target demographic did not gobble these up the way that we consumed BIONICLE. It is unfortunate, because they really are interesting and well-written books. I am awaiting the arrival of #5, even though I already know it ends on a cliffhanger and the Galactic Conspiracy storyline goes unresolved.

Based on 3 and 4, I would recommend buying these books. Especially now that Greg is no longer with LEGO, they offer a historic glimpse into a time period I would say began in earnest in 2004, when lines like Alpha Team Mission: Deep Freeze and Knights' Kingdom II were introduced alongside BIONICLE as LEGO's color-coded heroes fighting ultimate evil. If you grew up around that time, you will find the Secret Mission stories rewarding to read and nostalgia-inducing for the end of an age.

[Lenny7092]

Nice review. Anyway, here’s what I think about the first four Secret Mission books: 

The books felt the same way as the Bionicle books in 2003-2010. These books only tell the minor events in the Hero Factory story rather than major events seen in the TV episodes. The books could have made good episodes. I must warn you that that the books have some contradicting facts from the TV episodes and some other content. It’s nice to see Bulk using his brain a little more. In the TV show, he is a fun-loving guy who is a little gullible, but I am sort of fine with the books’ way of showing Bulk’s personality. 

Secret Mission 1: The Doom Box takes place in weeks after the events of Episode 9: Breakout Part 2 in 2012. It’s about Core Hunter, one of the Breakout set villains and who was once a Hero, like Von Nebula, trying to reassemble a dangerous weapon that could destroy the Galaxy. The Heroes had to put Mission: Catch ‘Em and Cuff ‘Em aside to stop him. In the end, when Surge redirected Core Hunter’s Doom Box powers to him, Core Hunter fold onto himself and disappeared (I was hoping he survived the ordeal because no set villain would die. Spoiler Alert. I’m glad Secret Mission 5: Mirror World in May 2013 and Face Off: Makuro’s Secret Guidebook in August 2013 revealed that he is still alive. Read those things please, Master Inika.). The book showed Surge’s fear of turning evil, which is something that the show never showed. He wasn’t doing something comical, like in the show. The fear was mentioned in that booklet in July 2010 called Hero Factory Promotional Magazine. Surge didn’t overcome his fear. He just faced it. It’s nice to see that. It’s also nice that one of the villains who created the Doom Box, Arctur, reformed and helped the Heroes stop Core Hunter. He sacrificed his life in doing so. It’s nice to see Core Hunter in the book. 

Secret Mission 2: Legion of Darkness takes place in the Hero Factory’s early days. It also showed all of the Breakout villains except Core Hunter being in a gang called the Legion of Darkness. It’s nice for these solo villains to have banded together, like Von Nebula’s gang and the Fire Villains. The Legion is basically like the Piraka and the Barraki (the Piraka and Barraki should make friends with these guys). It is also nice to learn about Thresher and Von Ness a little more. Von Ness did his sins in the events of that story before the one in New Stellac City, which made him a villain called Von Nebula. It is also nice to see Thornraxx and XT4 showing up, and to learn how XT4 became a villain. 

There is one thing that I’m confused about Furno, Breez, and Surge: In a news story in early 2011, they became veteran Heroes after defeating Von Nebula and his gang before they fought the Fire Villains. However, in SM1 and SM2, they are still called rookies and are still treated as such. 

Secret Mission 3: Collision Course (January 1, 2013) takes place after the events of Episode 10: Brain Attack in mid-March 2013. It is about the Heroes trying to stop a giant space ship called the Valiant from crashing into the Hero Factory. A swarm of Brains, who are implied to have come from the very swarm from Episode 10, possessed many crew members in the ship and made the ship fly straight towards Hero Factory. The ship’s captain, Aquax, is Stormer’s good friend from his past. The Heroes were struggling on figuring out how to stop the ship from hitting the Hero Factory. It’s a lot of stress in the characters here and there. I didn’t expect the Heroes to reluctantly want to blow up the ship with innocents in there. Stormer wasn’t honest about his involvement in the ship. Breez was concerned about her worthiness for her team. Xera betrayed his crew because he believes there is something wrong with many people’s minds. Bulk was about to quit his job when Stormer stopped him because Bulk was right about Stormer worrying about Aquax. There is something contradicting in the book: Stormer did not know how to remove a Brain from its host when in Episode, he learned how to. Evo in the book also did not know what the Brains are when in Episode 10, he fought them. Stormer had his Breakout weapons in the book rather than his Brain Attack ones for some reason. The Heroes could have removed the Brains from their hosts rather than forcing the Brains to remove themselves from the hosts. The Heroes have the strength and equipment, shown in Episode 10. 

Secret Mission 4: Robot Rampage (March 1, 2013) is a direct sequel to number 3, and takes place in a week after the events of number 3. It is about Furno and Bulk trying to save Stringer from another swarm of Brains, who were implied to have also come from the swarm in Episode 10, in planet Tranquis VII. Along the way, they discovered a secret conspiracy preparing a weapon that could threaten many planets in the galaxy. These people have a grudge against Hero Factory, and they do not trust Hero Factory. I’m glad to hear that Mission: Catch ‘Em and Cuff ‘Em is completed, as all villains who escaped from the Hero Factory’s prison are recaptured (took Hero Factory long enough to get all of them back behind laser bars). That’s what Furno said. It’s also sad to hear that many robots in the galaxy do not trust the Heroes because of the Breakout. Karter is a conniving villain who has no respect for Dumacc, the scientist who was managing Project Sunstorm. Dumacc was gullible, but it’s nice that he reformed when he saw the true evil nature of the conspiracy. He helped the Heroes fight the Brains. There is two things that I’m iffy about. In the episode, Furno learned a way to remove a Brain from its host, but in the book, he did it differently and remembered doing it in the events of the episode. That’s felt wrong. Also, the Heroes have captured the Brains in stasis containers, but they never removing the Brains that still had their hosts. The Heroes put the hosts in more containers to prevent them from causing another rampage. Why not remove the Brains from the hosts right away, too? They know how to do it (Spoiler Alert: I think they did, as mentioned in SM5). 

So, there. These books are fun to read, and it’s nice to see some character development that the episodes never showed. If Greg were to write such stories in the episodes, that could be better. I wish we see more of some characters, like Surge, Stringer, and Nex. 

Next for you to read is SM5. Plus, the DK Readers books and the guidebook. They’re worth the read. I hope you wouldn’t be disappointed in these books.