It’s interesting to look back at my review for the first issue and review my speculation about just how Ironhide had been returned to life. I’m glad to see that none of the standard sci-fi avenues for resurrection were correct, and indeed that this isn’t actually a resurrection at all in the standard sense of the word. It’s more like buying a new computer and installing an older operating system on it, or something to that effect. Ironhide’s comeback is something uniquely possible because the Transformers are mechanical life forms. So, issue four. Ironhide goes out to kill every remaining member of the Swarm on Cybertron, all by himself. I have to admit that I still have something of a problem with this, given how much trouble a whole squad of Autobots had with them back in “All Hail Megatron”. I could come up with a couple of explanations, such as Ironhide’s new body being a lot tougher than the standard Autobot body, or that he’s fully charged by Alpha Trion’s battery pack, while the Autobots stranded on Cybertron were operating on low power. It still seems unlikely that one bot could prevail where fifteen or twenty really thought they were going to be overwhelmed. And I didn’t exactly get the other shoe that I thought would drop. I was half-convinced that Alpha Trion had some hidden scheme in place, and the cover where Ironhide has obviously attacked Alpha Trion briefly convinced me that I was right. But I wasn’t… Alpha Trion was absolutely on the level and serious about wanting Ironhide to take out the Swarm single-handed. I’ve explained why I thought this was unlikely, but apparently Alpha Trion is just crazy enough to think such a plan is viable. And to be fair, he was right. It did work. But that aside, its fun watching Ironhide smash the mutant Insecticons and watch purple goo go everywhere. It’s really fun when he finds the wrecked Wreckers spaceship from AHM and turns the batteries on the Swarm quite enthusiastically. And then he takes out presumably hundreds of them by self-destructing the ship. Also fun is Ironhide’s indignation when Metroplex stomps the remaining Swarm into pulp. “Why didn’t you just do that to start with?” AT’s explanation for why he didn’t makes sense. And his explanation for how he knew to bring Ironhide back is hilarious. Several things in this storyline exist not only to service the story, but also to tie up some loose ends from “All Hail Megatron”. The Wreckers’ spaceship is one such loose end, the Swarm is another, and obviously Sunstreaker’s return would be a big one. But there’s a final revelation that really solves a major problem with “All Hail Megatron”. The radiation present on the planet during “Stormbringer” was lethal after prolonged exposure, but it’s just about gone by the time the Autobots are stranded, despite Jetfire predicting that it would take hundreds of years for the planet to repair itself. It turns out that Alpha Trion is responsible for cleaning up the atmosphere, and that his planetary recovery project has been going on for some time, long before he brought Ironhide into the picture. It’s a retcon, but one that ties up a big plot hole, so I’m glad to see it. Good for Mike Costa, who’s clearly read Furman and McCarthy’s storylines and has made the attempt to adhere to past continuity, and to use that continuity to tell new stories. Overall: I’ve enjoyed this series far more than I thought I would four months ago. I had assumed it was going to be a flashback storyline since Ironhide was killed in ongoing #1. Instead we’ve gotten an Ironhide that’s missing 4 million years of memories, mad genius Alpha Trion, and the restoration of Sunstreaker. This has been an excellent little series.
Yeah, I'm loving Alpha Trion too. In previous appearances (with the exception of Shattered Glass, in which he was a completely different dude), A3 has always struck me as an incredibly boring character. He was a wise old sage, and that was more or less it. Very one-note, and not someone I would have been interested in reading about here. This A3, on the other hand, was freakin' awesome. He was the same living legend as before, but unlike his predecessors, he was very self aware about it, and got off some great lines because of it. He also seemed a lot more capable than the versions of A3 we've seen before (G1 cartoon, post-Forever is a Long Time Coming and the Dreamwave version stand out as being rather useless in a fight and getting their asses kicked, although to be fair, Dreamwave A3 WAS in a tube for the entire time the company was making TF books). Through his handling of A3, Costa has made me enjoy a character I never thought I would have originally. Kinda like what Furman did with Wheelie way back in his Spotlight. I'm very interested to see what happens between Ironhide and Sunstreaker now, and hope that 'Streaker's guilt over Hunter's fate is brought up. Shane's treatment of Hunter was a bit cruel, and I'd like to see 'Streaker at least acknowledge that he was sorry for what happened to this major-character-turned-plot-device. RE: the restoring Cybertron project, has anyone considered that A3 and Metroplex may very well have been on Cybertron while AHM was taking place? There's another story in there somewhere that I'd love to read. A great mini, overall.
Yeah, I note that in the interests of ending the story without opening a whole can of worms late in issue 4, Ironhide still doesn't let Sunstreaker tell him what happened. I'm sure it will come up in future, and when it does it won't be pretty. They had to have been there somewhere.
I like A3! I'm very happy to see him admit that the isolation inside Metroplex has indeed gotten to him a little, but at least he seems aware of the fact and it allows his character to be a little snarky, yet giving it a humorous excuse. I think he's likable. It's going to be interesting to see how Ironhide's and Sunstreaker's relationship pans out. I hope Sunstreaker gets a chance to explain himself to Ironhide before someone else does. And as I've said before, I hope there are severe consequences for Sunstreaker's actions, as his undermining the Autobot's entire mission in life is not something to be understated.
I've given the issue 2 thorough reads & one skim through & I like it. There are some problems I have with it but the pros outweigh the cons. The highlight of the issue for me is that splash of Metroplex, but some of A3's lines come pretty close.
This really felt like a book Costa wanted to write. He's joined Nick Roche in taking handfuls of hanging plot threads and utilizing them very well, and I -really- hope we get to revisit Sunstreaker and Ironhide's cleanup of Cybertron when the Ongoing (apparently) shifts over to "Rodimus in space". My new crackpot theory is that A3 is Ironhide from a few million years into the future. Similar head designs, and that line about being the only other Cybertronian to save the planet put the idea into my head. I don't expect it to pan out but it's fun to muse on.
*sigh* I did not have much replies to my suggestion in the last thread, so I'll repeat this: What do you people think?
It was a good little miniseries. I really like the art style and the story was straight forward - reintroducing some characters and setting a new status quo for Cybertron. Rambo Ironhide was a bit much, but why not... its not out of character and he needed to stand alone. I'm disappointed that Metroplex is just a body guard, I was hoping for something bigger in terms of justifying a robot that big. He looked a bit on the scale of Omega Supreme though. A fun comic.
You know, that might not be such a stretch. After reading it this evening, and the way they do the close up on the face when he says it, A3 could be Ironhide from the future, thus knowing when he was going to die, etc; as that excuse about "How did you know I was going to die" was lame Maybe Metroplex has the ability to transcend time and space.... Hmm, early Beast Wars Transwarp Cruiser anyone?!?
Yeah, even last issue I noticed that they had similar facial structures. A3's last line definitely has me convinced that he's a future Ironhide. As for the comic and the series, I thought it was a solid B. I loved the art, especially the splash page of Metroplex. Some of the Insecticon fight scenes seemed a little redundant after the 5th or 6th page of them. Ironhide has never been one of my favorite characters, but he was an enjoyable protagonist in this series. My only complaint is that it didn't really feel like an ending. I'm hoping they don't wait too long to follow this up either in the ongoing or somewhere else.
I was hoping that we might have seen the decepticons that got stranded on cybertron in AHM. As an issue #4 is alright. Most of it is a fight scene and the rest is A3 explaining stuff. It wins no awards for subtlety really. I like what they did with sunstreaker ( Spoiler wheelchair bound ). As a series it was a strange one. On obviously the entire point was to bring back Ironhide and tie up loose AHM related plot points, but some of the rationale for this isn't really that convincing. Ironhide isn't a particularly strong fighter compared to the other autobots (to be honest my choice for his Rambo role would have been roadbuster). The ending is kind of unsatisfying as well - it doesn't really tie up, and not in the kind of way that leaves you wanting more either. That said the art was nice and so was the characterisation of ironhide and A3
I really enjoyed this. Such a quick read, but colour me entertained. It felt like a much more personal story due to such a small cast, despite all the explosions, which oozed violent awesome as well. Maybe impressing me is easy, but I feel it looked great, the dialogue is fluid and it had the power of retcon. I do want to see a return to this story when some time has passed. But no rush, with things as they are at the end, there's plenty of room left for speculation on what this could all mean in the IDW universe. A3 is playing a bigger game. It felt like a very long Spotlight issue, which is not a criticism, it was nice to read a series like it. Without doing too much it has made an impact on the Transformer universe without needing a million powerful robots to do it. More of this!
I. Freaking. LOVE. Alpha Trion. Best thing Costa's done so far during his TF run. Fresh, great take on a classic character-- we need more of this. In two issues he's shown more character than 90% of the other characters in the IDW-verse. I do agree the whole "Ironhide to take on the ENTIRE swarm" thing seems a little weak, but Alpha Trion seems a little crazy, so I could see him coming up with something like that. I also rather enjoyed the ending, closing some things up while leaving so much completely open-- a definite "WTF?" moment, but in a good way. The retconning was also appreciated as well for such gaping plot holes as the whole Cybertron atmosphere thing. 2nd best series IDW has done since their AHM "soft reboot", only being surpassed by Last Stand of the Wreckers, IMO.
a wrinkle in the idea of them being the same guy. ironhide is a selfless bot who laughs at the sight of danger, while alpha trion is an egotistic coward
Well, if he's from the future then I'm sure his attitude can change drastically depending on events that take place.
I just hope Sunstreaker just doesn't become Chip oh GAWD imagine SS struck in endless Hope speeches. But yes this a great series, now if only we can get the same in ongoing
thought the last page was pretty powerful. also, i was pleasantly surprised with the whole issue, it was better than i had predicted. I thought Ironhide blowing stuff up was pretty funny. I'm glad Costa didn't spend much time on the rambo styled battle scenes and kept it lighthearted. Looking forward to what other secrets can be found on cybertron. Maybe monstructor will roll through with bludgeon at some point? heheh art was great as usual, shame this is coller's last run with a TF book. Anyone know how well this mini was selling? Compared to last stand, ongoing, and bumblebee?
