I really enjoyed this issue, loved Prime and Megatron sharing old war stories of them, each one trying to top the other, it really gives you a look at their shared past. I really wish that the rest of the TF ongoing could be this damn good.
Ohhhhh yahhhhhhh .... I didn't even clue into the Sherman Dam reference . This writer knows his stuff ....... Only two weeks till we get more
The artistic error of Optimus appearance in the flashback is the only real downside to this issue. I think this ranks of there with Code of Hero in terms of "Best entries" Into TF canon.
I kinda hear you, but we've already accepted humanoid robots with a civilized society and morality. Once we accept that, I am not offended by further comparisons to human civilization. Also, nobody said he's innocent until proven guilty, IIRC the Autobots were afraid of how other civilizations view them if they didn't handle Megs with impartiality. it's less a belief in the principle than it is a desire to restore their prestige galatically. I also dug the conversation bt ratchet and perceptor. The black hole reference was a nice touch, as was megatron's insistence that his name is not megaton. A little nod to the tech spec-ies and the budianskies in the fandom Pretty heavy Megatron is able to prove that in the end, Optimus is no better than the autobots who oppressed miners before the war.
I loved this issue. The back story between Prime and Megs was great, and I was very happy to see them go back to the Megatron Origin days in the flashbacks. I can't wait to see how the rest of this plays out next issue.
See, it's not that there are comparisons to be made between Cybertronian and "Human" civilization that bugs me. It's that there are NO DIFFERENCES between them. Like, at all. No new ideas. No culture shock. Everything is exactly the same. And somehow it's just a bit irksome that Cybertronian society 4 million+ years ago just happened to be identical to late-20th century North America. It's not "parallel evolution". It's not even that they resemble human culture... we have more thought-provokingly different, diverse, culturally "alien" societies here on Earth. As far as metaphor goes, there is just NO stretch whatsoever. It feels forced. Just imagine if another sci-fi world were populated by humanoid non-robots, and given such an unimaginative treatment... it would be laughable and painfully transparent. I realize it's a sort of parable, but on the other hand, as science-fiction it's rather lazy world-building. I know that sound harsh, because at the moment everybody is showering Roberts with a lot of praise for this issue. Honestly, I'm really liking what he's doing... but I think it's still fair to point out a few of the weaknesses. And also, it's not to say that it started with Roberts... the rampant dull and simplistic parallelism was an issue back in Megatron:Origin too, Spotlight:Blurr and a few others. It's a bit much. I'd like to be reminded every now and again that Transformers ARE aliens after all... and might actually have SOME culturally distinct practices considering that they've been around for so long and have such radically incomparable biologies. I wasn't referring to the Megatron-as-war-criminal hot potato situation, which is still a bit ham-fisted, though I really appreciate the fact that Roberts seems to be tying up a lot of the half-assed loose ends that have been floating around for a while (like addressing who the hell IS this Tyrest guy, and why is he important?). No, I was referring to when Megatron got arrested back in the day, and he's citing his rights, about how he hasn't been formally charged with anything yet, and that he's entitled to legal counsel and a "communicube". It was just a bit too literal. Heck, there are democratic nations in Europe and Asia that don't afford you that. It's all just a bit too familiar and "American", and it pulls me out of the sci-fi just a bit. Yeah, those were cute. Ditto the "Sherma Bridge" thing, though I also groaned a little at that one. You think so? At what point? When Prime tried to electrocute him? I think there's a difference between oppressing the working class, and almost executing a mass-murderer. It is interesting when you view IDW's take on Transformers as a whole... there are certain themes that tend to be consistent, and one of those is the sense of protocol and oversight. Despite all the death and destruction over millions of years, it's actually a pretty shockingly civil civil war. It's no longer just 2 warring tribes... it's a whole system of checks and balances, of bureaucracy, of intergalactic standing and rules of engagement. We saw it in Furman's Infiltration/Escalation arcs, in any of Ultra Magnus' appearances, in Maximum Dinobots, in Last Stand of the Wreckers, etc... there really does seem to be a set of "rules" that are considered applicable to the whole scenario, which I do find interesting and different (even if it does echo our own geo-political context). zmog
This story is starting to feel like that part of a rollercoaster when its just about to start going down (I mean that in a good way). I cant tell is Roddy disappointed in Optimus when he shocks Megs or like "yea thats better." I cant wait for the third party Impactor..... Is Sunstreaker apparently walking again? Good. I can see why Optimus has been acting like such an asshole lately. He's got a ton of stuff to deal with. Looks like he's gonna have a breakdown any minute. Gave me back a little of the lost sympathy for him. I had been starting to view him as a suicidal war machine.... Megatron's a poet. Is that new? I like it. Also, as voices go, do you guys read him as G1 or more like the Armada voice? It seems to flucuate for me. When he speaks all pompous like, I just gotta picture the Armada one, I forget his name right now.....oh David Kaye right? took like 7 seconds lol I think Megs is working for some sort of higher Decepticon orders? The parts in some earlier issues with the purple boxes , it seemed like someone else was speaking about him. Unless thats how he speaks in his mind? **EDIT: also, I think I see it as this: He is trying to make Prime look bad in front of Tyrest and the other councils? But yea, can you guys feel the "ride" about to pick up, cause this is awesome-o!!! edit: Prime yoked the shit out of Bumblebee *again*.... kinda lol....
This is actually something that has been bothering me a little bit, though I won't say it's inconsistent with the way he's been portrayed generally in IDW (except for AHM, where he was a much more inspirational, reliable character). Basically, IDW Prime is a jackass. All the confidence, all the self-control, all of the reassuring wisdom that is typically associated with Optimus has pretty much been absent from him since the beginning of the line. More or less, of course, since he's gone through a few different writers, but fundamentally it's really hard to be sympathetic for him. He keeps dicking Bumblebee around with this "I'm not the leader, but now I'm going to lead... but I'm not the leader, but you can follow me if you want to follow me because I'm going to give orders and do whatever I want anyway, but I don't want the responsibility of leading" bullshit, which is just as asinine as his "I'm ineffectual and directionless, then Ironhide dies, so I quit and sulk in an army holding cell while doing ABSOFUCKING NOTHING to improve anybody's situation" routine from the ongoing. Meanwhile he treats Megatron like his oldest buddy in the world, even though that guy has murdered MILLIONS if not BILLIONS of innocents and his sympathy ship should have sailed LONG ago... but we get ZERO interaction between him and Ironhide, despite the fact that Ironhide's death supposedly put him on this path in the first place. I understand that we're supposed to see him laid low, at his breaking point... a symbol of how even a paragon of virtue and idealism can be defeated or corrupted, but it really doesn't carry all that much weight, because when it comes down to it, in the past 6 YEARS, Optimus hasn't done anything to win our respect in the first place. I realize that we're dealing with established iconic figures, so the writers can lean on the associations the fandom already has with the characters to some degree... but at some point, I look back and realize that if he wasn't called "Optimus Prime" and didn't look like this familiar childhood hero, then I really wouldn't have any reason to like the guy. They've managed to engender about ZERO empathy for his character, which I think has created a bit of a problem at this point. If he dies and Rodimus takes over, will anybody care? zmog
wow man, you have a good way of expressing your thoughts. I came back to say I just noticed Drift doesn't seem too happy at all , as he's there with the Autobots watching. He hasn't had a look like that on his face for quite some time.... I was also wondering, isnt Arcee on her way to the Autobots? Is she goin to Cybertron or Earth? Or did they just leave that out? Oh , maybe she'll show up in a time of need with upgraded/healed Fort Max and Spring-O from Garrus-9?
Brilliant issue. I loved the glimpses into the past, loved the Op/Megs battle stories, loved the discussion of whether or not to execute Megatron. And the pacing is beautiful; compared to the earlier issues of the ongoing, this is practically a novel. So much story and character was packed into those 22 pages. And the dialogue! Dear Lord, the dialogue. So many speech bubbles...it's talky talky talky and I LOVE IT. And Milne is rocking the art. Some of Megatron's facial expressions were amazing, and this is one of those rare times when I wish Optimus didn't have that faceplate, because he could have done some epic emoting too. I cringed at that line about executing Megatron by making him swallow a scraplet...I immediately pictured a Prime scraplet, which would be a horrifying death indeed. Strange that Autobots use such painful sounding execution methods, when surely there are more humane (uh, Transformerane? Cybertrane?) ways to do it. Don't forget the terrible judgement he's displayed since the beginning of the Ongoing...staying on Earth when there's no real reason to, trusting Spike and giving him lots of power, abandoning his responsibilities as leader, etc. This version of Op is a very bad decision-maker, which is a bizarre trait for someone who has been the general of an army for millions of years.
Isn't she with Galvatron's Cybertron liberation army? I can't really keep it all straight anymore. And let's not forget that Grimlock has been MIA for a while (and ostensibly presumed dead after the massacre at G9). Anybody wondering if the supposedly deep, resonant, important, meaningful fallout from Jazz shooting that human has completely been lost in the shuffle? Is it just another plot point that Costa threw at the wall, and then never bothered to develop? Haha! I know, right? Hard to imagine comic book guys praising Transformers comics that are all talk and no action, but there it is. This issue felt sooooo long, but in the right kind of way. So much seemed to happen. With most other writers at IDW (coughcoughCOSTAcoughMCARTHYcough) this would have been spread out over no fewer than six issues, which is kind of sad, isn't it? Also better than Furman, who would be just as talky, but the dialogue would be over-inflated with florid super-science and verbose monologuing and be largely anonymous and irrelevant to character. No... I like what Roberts is doing, and I want to see more of this... very much so. Oh, absolutely... I was thinking of all of that stuff in particular. Nothing he's done makes any sense, especially since the beginning of the Ongoing. zmog
I have to agree here Optimus Prime in the current ongoing is a off kilter , my way or the highway Dbag to the autobots . Previous to that in AHM , no . In the Optimus prime spotlight he was as he should be , Omega supreme was the Dbag in that one . But for prime to be an asshole like that to BB and flip flop on roles in 22? Hmmm , I'm going to let it slide . If this is a very very tasty bit of what's to come I'm not going to poo poo it until something totally rotten and stupid happens ( I'm looking at you Hod ) The sheer beauty of the issue is despite the coffee talk between Megs and Prime , despite Megs in shackles of sorts Megs knows he can totally fuck with primes head and control him . Megatron is playing Prime like a piano and at the moment there's nothing Prime can do until Megatron is dead or out of the picture . Were being shown for good or for bad Primes temper is not in check when it comes to this ..... And I'm thirsty to see where were going with this .
There is a slight similarity with Batman's 'The Killing Joke' during Prime's & Megatron's conversations, where they re-tell all their old battles then sit there and chuckle together. That is a nice touch, as that is one of the best comic book stories going. I love the art, and it is a cracking storyline, let's hope it continues.
While I really must say that I appreciate this portrayal of Megatron as an insidious plotter and mastermind that befits his status at the top of the Decepticon food chain (rather than simply a thug or a cartoonish despot like his old G1 version), I really do feel like Prime should be holding his own a bit more. They've been playing these games for millions of years and Prime is supposed to be one of the smartest, most capable guys around. Even pushed into a corner, I would not have expected to see Megatron pull his strings quite so easily. In that sense, Prime is feeling a bit like an amateur... the naive dupe. I'm not sure if I find that Prime's characterization is really hitting the right spot yet. I think this kind of storyline might have worked better with Megatron playing Hannibal Lecter to a younger leader like Rodimus or Bumblebee or even someone like Springer. Someone who is clearly out of their depth. On the other hand, it seems like Prowl is one of the few who CAN play mind games with Megatron. I'm curious to see where THAT little incident is leading... zmog
I could be wrong, but I think the cover with Arcee holding Galvys leg is misleading , what I would have called a "fake cover" as a kid. The last I remember, she was left for defeated by Galvatron an them, after they left, she climbs out of a pit all broken, and says "must warn autobots. galvatron...crazy" guess we'll see....and yea, I wanna know the true fate of Grimlock.... and I thought Jazz got off a little easy, but it happens with human cops as well.... Does anyone know what is the lineup of Autobots still on Earth? Magnus, Bee, Prowl, Omega's base..... Anyone else? Everyone seems to be with Prime's crew
Question There's a guy on another board saying that he hates Roberts for coming in and dropping all these obscure little TF references and calling back to Megatron: Origin. He says that if Costa ever did that, the fanbase would be bitching him out and calling him a hack, but since it's Roberts, he gets a free pass. I need to just put some of his quotes up here. And some other good stuff If Costa's writing isn't decompressed, then I'd hate to see what is. But that aside, the question is- do all the little references make or break the story for you? Would you be bitching at Costa for calling back to Megs Origin? Is this just a Costa fanboy that can't handle losing his favorite writer for someone better?
I hate when people do that. It goes on in the movie boards too, and makes no sense. It's like saying, "If Pat Lee originally drew Kingdom Come, everyone would hate it, but since its Alex Ross, he gets a free pass!"
Ultimately, just hammer out the stories. They don't have to all be keepers, history will judge that. I feel IDW is putting the quality into books, that's all I need.
