Except your entire theory hinges on a misconception. Shock wasn't going bugeyed, his eyes are just circles like Rung.

Yellow is a common eye colour, (in this case most likely chosen to keep the assailant's allegiance a secret so as not to spoil the twist about the senators) and green just happens to be both their face colours. There's no hidden message there.

 

I loved this issue, it took me awhile to actually get it due to the storm but it was worth the wait!  Now perhaps I am being paranoid myself here but I do see a connection to "the institue" and the abandoned P-6 that the Scavengers found.

 

Could be. At minimum I do think it was a panel reusage type of thing though, when you put the panels side by side its the same tilted angle, teeth are showing exact same way except the frown is turned upside down, and the faces themselves are drawn very, VERY similarly (in Fallout/Streak's case his eyes did have to change to accomodate this panel similarity as he was shown earlier with non-round eyes). On top of the yellow/green stuff. May not be any hidden message but it does seem like the same playing with panels schtick that we've seen a couple times now, such as the "spread out hands converging to smash someone's head" that we saw from Overlord in LSOTW to Fort Max a few issues ago to Optimus last issue.

PS - I love that I initially mixed up Shock and Ore and had to edit, I guess that means I'd fit right in with the Lost Light crew LOL.

 

Except physically holding the panels side-by-side, they share not a single line in common. If it was panle reusage it invovled completely redrawing the panel from scratch regrdless.

More likely the answer is that Alex Milne draws a lot of panels and is bound to reuse composition by accident considering both panels are merely headshots.

 

Hm. Makes me wonder if that time travel machine from RiD is involved...

 

And if this has anything to do with that future message.

It's almost as if fate had bound Tailgate for the stars...

 

I wouldn't be surprised at all. It has to be connected... if it was purely random, I'd be pretty disappointed. I mean, sure... it was a device to introduce a character (as I recall, not a character that Roberts had initially intended for that role), but it feels pretty mysterious and contrived.

zmog

 

Man oh man. I thought I liked the politics of RiD, and I do... But prewar Cybertronian politics? Holy shit, I'm eating it up! I'm so torn between wanting to stay in this world forever, and learning what's up with the LL crew. Perhaps we need THREE ongoings...

I'm relatively new to reading such dense comics. Although I'm 26 and a half  )), I started reading comics starting with the -ation series in TPB in 2008. These modern IDW books kick all that's come before out of the water. But I guess everything needs to start somewhere before it gets better.

I want to say thanks to those who read with a very sharp eye and remember things from the past. I certainly wouldn't have caught a lot of the references you guys mention in these threads.

Milne and Burcham are on their freakin' game with this issue. I honestly think it's one of the best drawn TF comics out there. I love that Milne has combined his "standard" TF style (I'm looking at Drift) with what Roche established long before. In fact, maybe it's because I thumbed through the Drift story while picking this up, but this issue seems to lean even more toward his original style. Absolutely love it, and it really shines in certain panels with certain bots.

Some random thoughts and then I'll stop gushing...

-Magnus was on recon? What was he doing?
-Loved the scene with Drift and Cyclonus... not only do I think those first two panels were awesomely drawn (the ones with the sword), but it was a nice character moment for Cyclonus.
-Orion Pax is a bad ass mother--shut my mouth. It makes me wonder how Roberts would've handled the beginning of the TF Ongoing if he were forced to follow Costa's general script but could execute any way he liked.
-Again, absolutely love the combo of crime-mystery with politics here. I'm digging the forged/constructed-cold and alt-form special interest groups.
-Love the idea of the Institute brainwashing 'cons under Proteus.

:sigh: I'm going to stop here. Someone above--I think Split Lip--mentioned Roberts shouldn't just be doing comics but other forms of media. Man, what I'd give for an "adult" Transformers cartoon based on this stuff. Something slow, detailed, and character driven. Lots of good dialogue. Put it on the Hub at 11:30 PM. It's purpose isn't to sell toys (although I'd certainly buy them) but good quality TF drama.

A dude can hope, can't he?  

 

Split Lip, and every smart person in the world.

Because that idea is smart. It's practically wrapped in bacon it's so smart.

 

Hahah yeah I meant just in this thread.

And bacon-wrapped Roberts would be deliiiicious!!  

 

I'll give theories a go, though maybe this is a long shot and kind of based on the presumption that Red did himself in.

Kaon also strongly resembles the mechs at the institute, and he has no eyes. In Last Stand of the Wreckers in the TPB epilogue (was it in the regular issues?) Rung states that he diagnosed a paranoid cadet who believed his optics had been hacked to see what 'they' wanted him to see. Earlier in the series Red Alert meets Rung under the Sherma bridge where 'they' can't hear. It seems like 'they' always means the Institute. I don't think the paranoid cadet was Red Alert given the time differences, but given that many of Rung's behavioral diagnoses at the end of LSOTW are based on cases where the bots diagnosed have a good reason to act the way they do that have before or since been expounded on (ie First Aid checks badges obsessively because he was asked to by Springer) it seems quite possible to me that the cadet's optics WERE in fact hacked and he wasn't just being paranoid. Same so for Red Alert, tho from that panel we know now something was done to him.

Right after Red Alert put the data slug with Rung, it was taken, and then just after that Kaon says his scans picked up Overlord. So is it possible that Kaon is directly connected somehow to Red's 'sleeper mode' (if Red is the one behind this)? Maybe Kaon can channel in to hacked bots' optics or audials? Though one wonders how Kaon as a decepticon would have been affiliated with the Institute.

Although, if it is Red Alert who does himself in, then who makes the security camera in the medbay go all creepy? Although when that happens Red is looking down so we can't see his face. Maybe he temporarily tripped into sleeper mode that moment, and who better to control the security cameras than him? At the time Red puts the slug too it says four minutes until the next ward inspection, which I take to mean either a medic came in immediately, or Red himself turned right back around and sleeper Red removed the data slug before the ward inspection could start. Cuz I mean, if Red didn't take it and an inspection happened, surely one of the medics would have noticed. Hmmm.

Anyway, all that aside (are these still considered spoilers even though I'm talking about older issues?) this issue was amazing! It's the best Transformers thing ever. Especially like seeing the arc of Prowl's character and how he and Chromedome interacted with one another. Man those two go back. No wonder Rewind is jealous! I still can't wait to see how Chromedome ended up with those hands. I won't gush on because everyone else has already said it, but wow, so fantastic.

 

Fantastic issue. Just getting better and better. Long may it continue.

 

Great issue, and is it just me or is that first jet Prowl & Chromedome chase the playing piece from the second TF board game? If so, that's just amazing.

Love this comic  

 

I've recently made a huge haul on MTMTE 1-9 with 10 already on the way. I've already read the first issue, and boy, are the comments ever true!

Wish I could be part of the discussion, but I guess I have a long way to go. Thanks to some TFW2005 members who persuaded me into reading this. I'm also planning to purchase RiD after catching up on this one so hurray for me!  

 

It looks like you are 100% correct. I found this image here:



This, of course, makes me LOVE this book more. I think I need to marry this comic book.  

 

Welcome aboard. You'll be contributing in no time... it's not like you'll be able to take breaks between reading issues. One does not simply CHOOSE to stop reading MTMTE.  

zmog

 

Trust me it gets EVEN BETTER the second time you read it  

RiD is also a good book, and in fact had we gotten it earlier it would probably be a much bigger fanfavourite much like MTMTE is now, but it has the misfortune of coming out side by side with the greatest piece of Transformers fiction ever.

 

So for some reason it only occurred to me today that I could just buy this digitally until I can pick up a physical copy. Good going there, brain.
Anyways, just read it again and as per, fantastic stuff. I don't think I'll ever adequately be able to express my love for this series, I was incredibly happy to see it on CBR's Buy Pile for last week, and it being the only Pick of the Week, as well.

A few of my highlights (y'know, other than literally everything):
The interrogation scene, Drift trying out his 'bad cop' routine, thinking he's the coolest dude ever in front of Rodimus, and Cyclonus having absolutely none of it. Everything from the dialogue to the art was perfect.
Loved Cyclonus' frankness with Rodimus regarding Red Alert and what he thinks about the Autobots.
Swerve and Tailgate getting way too excited about how awesome Orion Pax was, and the whole "story time" thing, really. One of the many, many things that makes this comic great is the dialogue. The way you've got people interrupting to comment on the story at hand, someone having to steer the conversation back on course, etc. it just makes it feel more "real" (well, as real as giant, alien robots get), like how you'd tell a story amongst a group of friends in real life. I also like how Swerve is spilling his drink over Whirl's arm in his excitement about jumping off roofs. Rooves. Roofs.
I thought it was funny they made Roller this big, hench guy. Cool design too.
Whirl being Whirl.
The Senates awesomely devious plan. I'm a big fan of these kind of far-reaching conspiracy stories, so I absolutely loved seeing it all start coming together with Chromedome and Pax figuring it all out.

I had a feeling The Institute had something to do with brain-washing.
I hope Rung doesn't turn out to be involved with them, I know the 'bots at The Institute have similar body-types, and it would kind of make sense him being a psychologist and all, but he really does seem like too compassionate and innocent a character to be involved in anything like that. Unless... he was somehow brain-washed as well!

So, yes. Fantastic issue, James Roberts is a brilliant human being, Milne is an artistic genius, and Josh's colours are really bloody nice as well. More Than Meets the Eye is the greatest anything ever, please can I have Part 3 now.

 

Rung has the brightest spark.
The Senates considered him as a big threat.
Rung is brainwashed by the Institute.
(gasp)

 

Wait, which jet are we talking about? The one that hits the ironic billboard is a Thunderbolt fighter from Babylon 5, as TFWiki helpfully points out.