Still reading it right now. But I now remember who Windblade reminds me of while being drawn from the current artist: Olivia Oyl The cover was great! Wish the whole comic would still look so cool. OK, I continue to read now. edit: Done. I really liked this issue. While I still would prefer Sarah Stone for the art, I did not dislike it so much this time as before. Some panels even looked good. Like when the Talon arrived. That was cool. And them flying to his head. I wonder if Onyx Prime would look like Optimus Primal or Big Convoy. I got a feeling it could be...
I enjoyed this issue and the last line had me laughing. The fact that Chela is one of the only fully functioning Titans makes what happens to him even more sad. I also loved seeing Cheetor being a pre-teen and not a super serious ambassador. I also think that the art is fantastic for this sort of story.
Anyone that knows anything about me would rightly guess that I've been looking forward to seeing the inside of this Issue for a while now. When the cover first came out, I was really excited to see Tigatron tearing through an Autobot logo. But then the preview hit the net, and between the use of Manta Ray and the artwork style, I was suddenly not as gushing in my excitement. But nonetheless, I trundled down to pick up a copy of it today. Spoilers, obviously, as I work my way through the Issue. Firstly, two of the 3 Covers are magic. The aforementioned Tigatron (subscription) cover is very nice, as is Priscilla's regular cover with the setting sun. The retailer incentive cover, however, is a waste of ink. But the most troubling thing for me is that none of the covers have any relevance to the story held within the 20 pages. I say 20 pages because the first two pages are wasted with a recap of last month's Issue, as well as a needless roll-call which has no bearing on the story. Opening on Eukaris, Airazor's (simplified) design is an enjoyable homage to the original. Tigatron's Transmetal-inspired body isn't as welcome. This is the beast-planet after all -- give us some fur. But then there's Animated Blackarachnia, which is just a great disappointment. Where's the original?! Tigatron's dialogue is a little off for me here. He calls Airazor "my love" and then tells her to "fear not". These lines are more reminiscent of Silverbolt in my mind. A spider that sees the future doesn't know why Tigatron and Airazor have arrived? Time jumps around for the first half of the Issue. This is annoying. The artwork doesn't improve as we stand around in the sun. The inclusion of Sonar is nice, but I don't see why Claw Jaw was overlooked for a piece of cheap McDonald's merchandise. Given the scope of the part during the Issue, it really could have been anyone. Ms. Scott has said the reason for Manta Ray's inclusion was for a larger female contingent in the Issue, to show that females existed in equal number on Eukaris. Personally, I think that was communicated well enough with Airazor, Blackarachnia and Sonar. And then, on Page 6, Rattrap jumps through a Space Bridge that has the same colour as the sky, as if the thing doesn't need to power-up at all. Hm. Keep an eye out for Cheetor being on Dinobot's far left for two panels, then all of a sudden is directly on his right. Then there's Rattrap on Page 7. So we're not even drawing characters anymore? They're just blobs? And what's with this use of random question marks above characters heads? I'm not a fan. Then we're back on Cybertron, with a similarly colour-fading backdrop, and being introduced to a new breed of Transformers from Devisiun. This is probably the only time this whole planet will be given in this miniseries. At least we're back into the present in the timeline. We're back on Eukaris, and then a mountain explodes. It's a Metrotitan in the shape of a giant bird, who apparently brought the beast-bots to Eukaris all those millennia before. But then it attacks for no good reason. Windblade tries to talk to it, then Starscream shoots it in the brain and kills it. Instead of being outraged that their ancient conveyance and protector has been killed, the bots of Eukaris seem pleased. Um, what? The End. So, this was an abomination of a story. Two pages are wasted at the start, then the end is rushed as we kill a giant bot with a single shot (by Starscream no less, who was seen to survive being blown in half by Megatron in Infiltration all those years ago. Consistent). Airazor and Tigatron are called emissaries instead of delegates. Wink wink. Uh. Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting from this Issue, but this wasn't it. I'll read some others' thoughts on the whole thing, try to find some positives and get back to you. The emotion is still too raw.
Well that was certainly an interesting issue. It went by really fast. That Titan was easily the art highlight of the issue. That's the last thing you expect a Titan to look like. Up next, Elita One and the final issue!
Heres how I see it. This series is clearly being written with the goal of introducing us to some colony worlds and moving on because the series is coming to an end. Scott doesnt have the time to put any real depth into these issues. Its like a whistle stop tour and we are off to somewhere else. If this was an Ongoing she could take her time. She has one more issue to wrap things up for either John Barber to add to or wait until her new series next year. I really cant see that one lasting too long either. The standard just isnt there. Ive supported her work but I can understand why it hasnt done so well.
I'm not sure how I feel about this issue. I didn't hate it but it had some flaws that needed some ironing out. I think my biggest irk was the introduction of the Titan, it needed way more build up and a better payoff. I also don't get why the Beasties are totally chill with their Titan being murdered. And Chela was gorgeous! I love the idea of a Beast Titan (and a bird at that!) So I feel doubly cheated that it only stuck around for a few pages before getting one shot to the brain. Still I like seeing the Beast bots again and the tension between Starscream and Windblade is about ready to snap.
You see the potential is there it just needs someone else to take it over the line. Sorry to say that.
Some things add and make sense within the continuity: - beastformers probably know about combiners and combining because their ancestors are refugees from Nova Prime/Galvatron's onslaugh, hence they remember Enigma in use. - no wonder they hate standardformers and Cybertron on default. They may not be the only colony with this mindset... - so at least some exodus of Primes and colonies are caused by Galvatron killing Nexus Prime? I bet at least some colonies will be extra happy when they'll learn who's in charge of the Decepticons right now, lol. Titan was pretty, but it all went very fast. It looked too small, though. I think this art style doesn't work very well at capturing scale of things. Backgrounds are quite empty, so there's no reference to show how big or small something is. I like how Starscream instictively jumps to killing things. Very Decepticon and quite Cybertronian.
Whats funny is that IDW always stressed or at least tried to tell us how hard it was to kill a transformer and a Titan no less gets taken out with one shot? Im not buying it.
Except there's no contradiction with anything that IDW was showing to this time. A brain is exactly one of these death spots and it's not really armored. The problem is rather how easy it was for them to get to the brain chamber, things like that definitely should have stronger defences. But then, WB is a city speaker so maybe she knew some shortcuts. There's still one issue more to go.
Really I think the most disappointing thing about the issue is that Injector and Airhammer are nowhere to be found. With the way they seem to be setting up this planet's tribe system, Fuzors seem like the best storyline to use for it. Maybe they're saving it for later but something tells me they've abandoned it.
That was something I was going to add. Surely a titan would have a reinforced cranium to protect the brain module from a fairly standard weapon? Its not like Galvatron fired his particle cannon or Roadbuster used a pathblaster (FOC, Time Wars).
They were inside his cranium. This gold spiky sphere is how TF uncovered looks. It's consistent with placement of Metroplex's brain in MTME annual or exposed brains drawn in MTME. Or WB first mini. What Starscream was firing at was a raw, exposed brain module. Which is the same as for every other TF, only bigger. It's more like a functioning titan should have some kind of antibodies or drones guarding its interior. Otherwise metrotitans are terribly easy to kill...
The story was a little too ambitious for the art this time. Like, both were fine in and of themselves, but we did not get the sense of a bird the size of a city. Or even a battleship. Having said that, Titans being worryingly easy to kill is an element of consistency, since the Titan Hunters chalked up at least a few dozen despite being a bunch of nincompoops, including an accidental kill by Waspinator solo. And yeah no one has survived a direct hit to the brain before, they were very careful to guard Metroplex's in Dark Cybertron. So it comes off a little rushed and a little pat but it doesn't tug at any threads in the overall story. I can't believe I didn't see Rattrap being the first to reach Eukaris coming. Oh and Micromaster Combiner Jetfire&Jetstorm are THE CUTEST.
Yeah I still am not buying it. Remember Rung had his head and by extension his brain completely destroyed in issue # 6 of MTMTE and he survived.
A lot of those titans taken out by Lockdown and Co and waspinator were weak and low on fuel so they werent at their strongest at all. they were easy targets for a team of Cons who even being incompetent had the firepower to do the damage. We havent seen a fully powered Titan since the -acy issues when Metroplex fought Trypticon and Metroplex in DC was weaker then he should have been. Its still way too easy imo to kill them. Not just destabilize them but kill them. Starscream shouldve reduced the titans abilities but not kill it.
Rung is hardly the standard to rate other TF'S by. Even Ratchet the cynical atheist said it was a miracle Rung survived.
Rung was definitely disabled and survived after an intense medical care by Ratchet. Thundercracker also was lying in coma for some time. I wouldn't say that titan after a millions of years of slumber must be in the top shape. Or very high on fuel. Also, it may not be entirely dead. But sure as hell it's not in shape to move and fight. And there's no miracle worker like Ratchet nearby. It was hinted more than once that Ratchet might be the best TF medician. BTW, counting muzzle fires on panels, Starscream fired a total three blasts. That's quite a cannonade on a stationary target at a basically point blank distance.
As Ive said a lot of the Titans shown in IDW have not been at full fighting capability. I also agree about Ratchet as being THE best autobot medic and maybe there is a lot more going on with Rung as well/
