Spotlight: Kup (Spoilers)

Oh man. Again, an amazingly written issue.

First, the art. At first the art took me be surprise a little. It was very different than what we had in past IDW Trans comics. A somewhat rough, sketchy feel. But I dug it. Then you realize it's there to convey Kup's mind, as you learn fairly quickly that he is not all there in the head. When the second act arrives with Springer and Perceptor, we get the traditional clean feel. Very cool touch Mr. Roche!

I really liked the scenario of Springer risking it all to save someone everyone else forsook. Apparently Kup was the man, even training a younger Prime back in the day.

They also used a very retro design for Kup, almost 60's scifi, and made it a story point that he was old and stubborn and refused upgrades over his life. Very cool. In one frame, his pipes are even shootong out black smoke as he drives. Also at the end are several pages of sketches my Mr. Roche, very cool extra.

For once in his life, Kup is a deep character, and this troubled, insane version of him is going to seek out my attention.

I think that this was the best spotlight issue so far. A very different take on a character, and a completely different style, too. The cameos were great, and it really pulls you into the story. Kup has never been my favorite character, but now I want to know more about him.

First off,,,,,,DAYUM! the "specialist" is HUGE (you'll have to read it to find out who)

That was a head slapper, at first I was like who could it be? HIM?!? Oh shoot that makes PERFECT sense.

Good use of established charachters.

2nd, anyone recognise "Mr. one arm"? I'm not sure of all the various Japanese TF's so anyone recognise him?

3rd, Poor Outback,,, but then, How old is Outback? Kup seemed to know HIM, they crashed together, so when did HE go missing?

4th, the crystals, more of Shockwave's handiwork?

Verdict: Almost the closest to a Twilight Zone episode of Transformers yet. Especially loved the ending. And how truly small Kup looked in the end.

[quote=Infosaur]2nd, anyone recognise "Mr. one arm"? I'm not sure of all the various Japanese TF's so anyone recognise him?
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I think the one-armed person is...

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... Fort Max. His helmet looks almost exactly the same (the cross design, the "wings") and I think what threw people off is the armor he's wearing--it's the "outdated armor" he's talking about.

And yeah, the "specialist" moment was sweet.

Nah, the one armed dude looks nothing like Fort Max, look again. It IS however the spiting image of Siren. Definately Siren.

As for the issue...

GREAT issue. One of the best from IDW I'd say, (and I like their stuff in general). It told a stand alone story that was moving, meaningful and cool. We had emotional conflict and physical conflict, and unanswered moral delemas, just good, meaty stuff. I'm all for continuing storylines, but a done in one story like this can go so much more into depth with character development and when done right is really satisfying.

The art was also great. Roche has a really dynamic animated style (love the full sketch of Kup at the end). It's very nice and fun and a great change of pace. He made Kup's mad-world suitably unhinged and nightmare-ish, Springer and company looked cool, animated and dynamic, and the savior of the day ariving was just an awesome shot of someone who doesn't get near enough air time for an '84 character.

Final thoughts: Loved the issue. Prowl really is a DICK. Roche needs to draw more TF comics.

Yep, best Spotlight thusfar. The art, which I didn't care for initially before I got the 'point' of the rougher style, provided the perfect atmosphere and made the scenes with Kup sufficiently creepy. I liked how it didn't just focus on Kup, despite his name being on the cover, but we also learned more about Springer and Prowl, as well as some general history (Kup training Prime, etc). I guessed the "twist" as soon as the holographic Springer showed up, but the rest of the story and the appearance of the "specialist" was worth all of it. Looking forward to more TF art and writing in the IDW from Roche in the future.

Three random points:
- TFs seems to be less durable in IDW's universe. I was honestly surprised when the story didn't end with Kup back on his feet/getting repaired...and Outback seems to have stayed dead permanently. It lends some more weight to the story when the TF characters can actually die or be seriously damaged, as opposed to just being able to be repaired back from virtually any injury.
- Liked that Outback, a named character, died. Again, lent weight to the story and I prefer it to just killing off cannon fodder...like the Random Anti-Rad Armored Autobots.
- Didn't see it mentioned, and not sure whether IDW-universe TF teleportation technology has been addressed enough to cover this, but why was "teleport Kup up to the ship" not a strategy? Even a throw-away line to cover this would have been nice (can't have been the radiation, since multiple orbital jumps were made). My speculation would be that TFs need to have a special beacon/signal/device on them for the teleporter to home in on.

Don't forget everyone, Roche also wrote this one. Did everything but colored it.

I think they did kind of explain it. Not directly, but in a round about way, I think it was explained when they said Kup was too stubborn to upgrade over the years and wasn't compatable with current Transformer Tech. He probably, like you said, just didn't have the proper hardware and software installed. That makes sense.

Overall, I really loved the issue. Not quite as good, IMO, as SHOCKWAVE, but SHOCKWAVE is one of my favourite characters... Really loved the creepy art and the whole story. Outback's corpse being his only friend was pretty cool. Wonder what his joke to Kup was?

I hope to read and see more from Roche. He seems to have a great grasp of how to tell a story.

April 5, 2008 ... the best day of my life!
BOO'S STUFF FOR SALE! IT'S ALL GOTTA GO!!!

"Have you tired the Universal Greeting?"

Actually I'm kinda sad that it was the Autobots who ultimatly trashed Outback. I guess he was dead/dead, not "sorta dead"

And Kup killed a LOT of Autobots! Not to mention that crash survivor on the first page. I hope he (Kup) was worth it.

Crap, I need to get this then.