Felt like set up again but it ended on a promising cliffhanger. While I'm puzzled as to why Optimus is being accused of setting up potential conflict, I hated Pyra Magna a lot in this issue, she's eclipsed Prowl completely in terms of being a giant prick. Art was quite nice, best this series has been so far in terms of art. Soundwave had one little moment of being adorable as did Thundercracker. But like the first arc for Lost Light I feel as if this story will work better when it's complete, it felt a bit disjointed ironically enough. Especially with the secondary flashback story which might have worked better as it's own thing. Spoiler Also Zeta Prime said something about the Matrix that made him sound like a Roberts comic character. It was a bit out of character but it was cute, odd considering this is Zeta we're talking about.
There were a few lines that felt more "Roberts" in this issue, especially from Wreck-Gar. I LOVE Wreck-Gar's dialogue and look, it's a great take on the movie character without being entirely slavish. Rum-Maj is pretty cool as well. I enjoy Wreck-Gar stating what parts of different planets he's built from. Flashback stuff was good, not as interesting as the previous issues. Jetfire decking Prowl was mooooore than good. I hope/assume the tapes are alive if Cosmos is, but... damn. Pyra Magna is wacky. It DOES seem to come a bit out of nowhere, but they've been building the tension for a bit now. I think when you add in the religious component for the camiens it does make a bit more sense, and to be fair, Prime's been kind of a weirdo dick for like, a year now. It looks like a lot of his shit is coming home to roost here with the world leaders and Junkion invasion. OH GOD SHARKTICONNNNNNSSSSS REALLY loving the integration of Gi Joe to the book. They're so much more interesting than Skywatch or the EDC, but they're not overshadowing the bots. I actually really dig Soundwave and Mainframe having something of a friendship. Flint and Marissa sorting out their shit is great, too. FLINT IS THE BEST SUCK IT DUKE. Enjoyable issue with a bonkers last page. Next issue is gonna be action-packed! There's two issues left in the arc, though, so there's bound to be at least one more surprise before we're done. The real big question, of course, is if the Barber is simply co-opting the corkscrew ship to use for the Junkions and Sharkticons, or if the use of screw ship/sharkies is deliberately nodding to the Quintessons. I'm iffy on bringing them in but given the broad scale of the entire galaxy and council of worlds, this is probably the best time to do it. So long as they're not retconned into being the TF creators. =D
Just read this and Lost Light back to back, and it's left me well fired up. Dense, intelligent, involving stories. I love TF fiction at the moment - so even if I go on to pick holes and make criticisms, my general feeling remains that we've never had it so good. The cutting between scenes was a bit too frantic and aimless, I would say, and Pyra Magna's internal monologue was distracting. I also don't really understand why Pyra, Aileron or anyone else thinks the developing situation is Prime's fault. He's caught up in an extremely complicated diplomatic/inter-race crisis, and no solution here seems remotely safe. I was also left scratching my head over Prowl/Jetfire's plot in the flashbacks. They staged the punch-up so that gun-runners would approach Jetfire and give him contraband weaponry ... and that proves Hefter's innocence how exactly? Surely it only serves to suggest that Soundwave is either naive or lying, Jetfire is in over his head and Zeta Prime may well be right to adopt a zero tolerance approach to policing Decepticons. Also, whether or not Hefter is a gun-runner seems completely irrelevant to whether or not his death in police custody is a sign of corruption. Why isn't it just an open and shut case of whether police officers were forced to shoot him because he pulled a weapon on them? If he was unarmed, it shouldn't matter what they'd hauled him in for. Finally, it's a shame Zama had to sit this one out. Milne is fantastic and adaptable, but I'd have much preferred it if he'd been allowed to stay on Lost Light while Zama had been able to do a full arc (at least) on OP, to keep it absolutely consistent. It's all going to come down to how things come to a head next issue. This is the big one for Barber as far as I'm concerned - his past form has lent toward convoluted set-ups that fizzle out into a jumble of inexact consequences. This arc needs to buck that trend in a major way, or else all we're seeing is Barber doubling down on both his strengths and weaknesses.
Liked this one although probably not as much as the last one. There wasn't as much content but what we had was pretty solid with the classic character work being satisfying and multiple segments being offered to all the members of the cast. Good to see that Milne is still working in the franchise although I don't think the colours did his work much favor and that might be the reason why I didn't like Kei Zama's work so much previously.
I'm sure Zama needed a break for the fill-in, albeit, it can be distracting mid-arc. It IS six issues though.
I did enjoy the way that Pax's suspicions of Zeta's motives mirror Magna's doubts of Prime's. Optimus has his eye on an hugely difficult prize admittedly. But he is gambling with Earth, gambling with Cybertron, gambling with unknown quantities in the Junkions and gambling with the blind devotion of those who idolise him. And all around him, those who doubt his path or those who cross it are playing their own game. And unless I'm missing something, that threat is either side of the big guys tunnel vison. He's playing (or thinks he's playing) everyone with the sort of arrogance that felled his former mentor, and it's painful to see the parallels, even if Prime's machinations are not vindictive.
Cosmos is alive, thank the lord! (though who knows for how long given the shape he's in...) Also, I think more needs to be said on how delightful Arcee using D.0.C. as a sparring partner is. I believe the point is that, if they can prove Hefter wasn't involved in gun-running like the police said he was after they killed him, it'll also throw their claim that he was armed into considerable doubt, especially with Ratchet's autopsy confirming that his wounds didn't match the official report. I think that Orion, Prowl, and Jetfire also believe that Hefter being innocent of gun-running will show that not all of the Decepticons or their sympathizers are involved in illegal activity, and that Zeta would be wrong to do a zero tolerance approach (although I'm sure Zeta will disagree, especially when they'll probably run into Soundwave picking up guns...).
Its a bit forced but pyra going full "holier then thou" instantly makesbher more intresting then what weve seen from her befor. Not likable mind you but iam now paying attention to her speech bubles
The thing I see people in other forums want to think is Pyra Magna is 'automatically' right, but I see her as embodying those who would set up religious hegemony. That is not 'automatically' a good and right thing, doubly so when the Camiens are equally shown to be intolerant of other peoples' faiths (because of their Camien-centralist viewpoint everything is in relation to them, kind of how like humans do to each other). That Optimus is frank and forthcoming with his followers about his dangerous plan is why I think it's going to ultimately work out in his favor. That Pyra Magna thinks of Optimus like how Orion thought of Zeta only punctuates that.
It's sad that despite being friends with Thundercracker, Marissa still thinks shit will hit the fan. What's sadder is that she's friends with a Decepticon, and that she's probably right.
Thundercracker should be Earth's representative to the council. He has a deep understanding of humanity and its culture, and hasn't been corrupted by the taint of Autobotism.
Man, Marissa sure is being bleak about everything... Well thanks to the Annual preview we know that Spoiler Optimus and Pyra will work their issues after this arc. And man, that is a lot of Sharkticons...
I actually enjoyed this issue for once. Pyra Magna is a frustrating character for some reasons, but also an intriguing one. Finally. Her realization that not only is her idol of worship not a true believer, but that he's using the belief of others to manipulate them into following his whims, understandably awakened a sense disgust towards him. She sees him as a false-prophet of sorts, trying to scam others out of their cash, and though Optimus means well in everything he does, he is still playing a dangerous hand, and I can definitely see where Pyra is coming from. And while Pyra is right to feel betrayed, there is also quite a bit of vanity in her way of thinking. She puts herself on the same level as Optimus, despite Optimus clearly having the more experience as a leader, and thinks that having the skills as well as the belief makes her better suited to wield the Matrix. She retains her modesty, to even herself, but it's clear she's a bit biased. One thing I really like about this issue is the fact that it starts with Zeta describing how the matrix can be used as a tool to manipulate the masses, which Optimus disagrees with, only to show that present day Optimus is doing the exact same thing. The only real difference (if there is any) in the matter is that Optimus intends on using his influence for the greater good. Which he is, undoubtedly, and though he is modest about himself, there is still that parallel with Zeta. It's just... good writing. The only criticisms I have for this issue is A: some more scenes that feel somewhat pointless like some of the Thundercracker and Marissa stuff, a page devoted to Soundwave basically just to say "Cosmos is probably alright. Also look, a Joe." (though the elephant line did make me smile), and most of the past stuff which I'm still kind of trying to see the point of; and B: the fact that Rum-maj's motivations are kind of eh. But I guess they don't really need to go anywhere beyond where they're at now, as the whole situation is to show Optimus' assumption that everything can be worked out through words, and that violence doesn't have to be an option has bitten him in the ass big time. Still, Rum-Maj comes off as kind of an idiot. She'll definitely cause a ton of damage, but there is no way she's going to destroy earth. I don't mean that from a "the writers can't destroy earth" standpoint, I mean that from a "earth has GI-Joe, Mask, several Transformers, and the military of multiple countries that can easily mow down a couple hundred Sharkticons" standpoint. Maybe she knows this, and only means to fuck them over as much as possible and still get away, but maybe she's just not smart. I guess she doesn't need to be, though.
Holy shit, I'm loving this new ongoing, especially with Milne's art, that Zeta Prime design is amazing. Glad I dropped The Lost Light in favor of this and TAAO.
Honestly, I'm not really liking with the way how Optimus is being portrayed in this comic series. I mean, I know he's not the "perfect" leader we like to think of him as, but... he's taking a huge gamble with manipulating people's beliefs in him. Makes you wonder whether it was better that he didn't come back as Optimus Prime and instead remained as Orion Pax. Of course I can't say shit because I can't read the comic book series like almost everyone else can. What right do I have to talk? I can only say with what I've been reading in the summaries on the TFWiki because I have no comic book store near me.
