Oh man, Spike's a lot different compared to when we last saw him.

Now, let's get into some of the details:

Spoiler

GB Blackrock is African-American Bill Gates, apparently.

Poverty Flat was the town Prowlastator crushed, no? Anyone else thinking that the feds silenced the civilians?

  Mini-Constructicon, we will never know how you managed to survive over a decade on Earth.

Weeks have passed since Bikini Atoll, and the EDC are still hunting Autobots. Great\n

Ugh, more 1986 references. Even better\n

Prowl set up a Google News alert email?! WAT

Nosebleeds.

Optimus going off to be a part of the Punishment mini-series and then Combiner Wars, apparently.

Yay table flip!

"Get out of my head." What's that supposed to mean?

Did one of the Constructicons just wipe away a tear?

Jimmy seems pissed about being left out for the past few years and his buddy being dead.   Hunter O'nion. Now where is Verity Carlo?

GB Blackrock building EDC tech. So now he's Tony Stark, but less cool.

Alchemist Prime namedrop. Guess they're being heavily influenced by the Covenant of Primes book. Gotta wonder, do the 13 Primes believe in the gods like Adaptus and Mortilus?

Okay, spoiler tagging done. One thing I noticed, though: cover's been changed from a WWII Rising Sun to a moon. Was that WWII imagery offensive to some people?

 

Another setup issue i guess. The story didn't appear to be unfolding much but what would be idiotic is that Spike has managed to get a hold of the Enigma.

I mean look at it this way, Spike's knowledge of the enigma could have only come after his kill of Scrapper. What technology did Skywatch have that could have possibly deduced this fact? I mean Prowl is literally infused with their brains and he didn't appear to have any of this information until the last issue.

The other thing i do not understand is how will does he know Transformer Anatomy enough to be able to decipher that a combination of transformers is a feat of strength and that he could have possibly singled out the one thing that might have allowed the combination possible. ( I know all of the above is still a "Maybe " as no one is sure about Spike's among of knowledge but the chance of some stupid explanation has gone through the roof)

Plus the steve jobs wannabe......................got no words on that front.

It would seem like Griffith was doing the art for this issue in a hurry. Some panels are great while others are so-so.

I mean its gotten so incredibly annoying to have to wait for a month and it turns out to be let down after let down.

The one and only thing i liked about this issue was the information pertaining to Alchemist Prime. I first thought that since Galvatron is a very pragmatic individual he probably doesn't believe in superstitions which would mean that the Primes of old also duped the Titans along with Cybertronians. However the titan we see in the annual appears to know Starscream's name. And before you argue that yes Prowl took his name while in the cavern, the titan had not awakened at that point.

Lastly Prime's detachment with his autobots appears to be quite forced. I don't know man. I don't even get what the point of the Enigma is. I'm not sure how the IDW/Hasbro comp works but right now this shit seems to me that they hijacked an entire story to sell some combiner toys.

Every freaking issue since 28 or 29 (excluding 34) seems to be a rehash of the previous one. Panel on Galvatron being all warrior, Optimus and Prowl bickering, Prowl disobeying orders, small skirmish b/w the autobots and the EDC.

Fuck man we need to get off earth. P.S where the hell is my generations Sky-Lynx announcement? jedud.

 

I wonder if Starscream talking to voices in his head (The time before he is talking to scoop when it is unsure if there a open communication or not) and Prowl little episode in this are related or not, nothing up to this point would indicate any possible way that they would share some sort of connection but seems weird two different characters in as many issues are having these sort of episodes. Though I do admit I think I'm probably reading to much into it.

Seems like a good setup for the next few issues, and I'm still betting on a Pink and Sideswipe confrontation about the death of Hunter since Sideswipe was the bot who turn off Hunter's life support.

 

Heck, Blackrock's ALWAYS been a cut-rate Stark.

 

Thought it was an ok issue. Definitely another set-up, which was my issue with S1 RID (and S2 MTMTE)...it all feels like it's building to something, but not sure if it will deliver...

Some genuine funny moments here, with Sky-Lynx and Sideswipe, and later on with the Constructicons.

Spoiler

Scoop being with the Decepticons...well, it's not like it was a mystery, and we already knew about it, yet I feel him walking among them was kept intentionally vague (appearing in a panel somewhere, Starscream talking to him through holo-chat but not being able to see his colors). For him to just walk into Galvatron's room feels kind of like Barber abandoning the slow reveal because it wasn't working...or something.
Do find it very unbelievable they'd just let him walk around, but ok.

Don't mind Prowl using Google Alert. Come on, it's smart to use local tech if it helps you, and saves you time figuring things out yourself. One thing I've always disliked about IDW Transformers is the total apathy towards Earth, even though they spent years here, disguised as our vehicles. Prowl using Google, or Bluestreak talking about Earth movies and using a cellphone are touches I love.


I think people that were suggesting Galvatron is actuailly Megatronus/The Fallen might be right. How does he know that stuff about Alchemist Prime if he's 'just' a regular warrior? Did the Primes televise all this shit back in the day? Does seem like he has a closer connection to the Primes.

Prime leaving does feel totally forced. Incredibly stupid move, even if ' things have been quiet for weeks'. Sure, Prime. All factions are sitting on the edges of their seats, and can possibly strike any moment.

Jimmy having feelings of abandonment or anger feels weird. I do think he'll turn around again as soon as he meets the Autobots. I hope.

Might seem like I'm negative about this issue, but no. It's passable. it has fun parts. Not star material, but a completely fine comic that I feel is still a lot better than Costa's Earth run.



Wrecker217, where did you get Blackrock is African-American? He seems a bit tanned, but don't think he's 'black'. Personally I can't help but feel he looks like Tom Hanks impersonating Steve Jobs!  

Besides, I find the term a bit offensive, which is totally not your fault by the way. Suggesting that people who might be 9th-or-so generation descendants from African slaves from long ago, who have never seen Africa, are somehow not ' full' Americans, while caucasian Americans who might have European roots don't get some silly prefix.

PC gone wrong.  

Yeah he always was, all that was done here was update his job for the modern era. What used to be oil is now computers and tech, the same way superhero origins moves from ATOMIC™ radiation to genetic modification.  

 

Hmmmm Megatronus becoming a lone Warrior called Galvatron, it's possible if they wanted a nod to Megatron/Galvatron history, but Alpha Trion is a prime as well, or was, and did not recognise him as such. So unless he changed himself so much he was unrecognisable to Trion, I would say he was just a top Soldier for a prime who was privy to a lot of details.

 

I am so going to bake myself a cake if it turns out Galvatron is Megatronus.

 

I think there is more chance that Megatron is a reborn Megatronus, especially since he doesn't have a serial number or whatever number he doesn't have compared to other Transformers, than Galvatron being Megatronus.

 

If he turns out to be Megatronus, he definitely rebuilt himself into Galvatron (or maybe was turned into Galvatron by Unicron? Probably not). Nobody recognizes him, and they all think he is working for Megatronus, something which he violently denies.

Which might be the point: he could be Megatronus rejecting the other Primes and their plans for Cybertron.

Didn't Megatron not have a serial number because he's part of the lowest of lowest classes in the system? He's super-disposable, so he doesn't even deserve a number. Rolls off the assembly line with thousands of others like him that get shipped off to the mines, to work all their lives and then die.

I REALLY hope Megatron is not Megatronus reborn. That would be just as stupid as how in the Aligned continuity Optimus is likewise one of the Thirteen. A disservice to Megatron and all he has achieved on his 'own' accord.  

I feel linking Megatronus to Galvatron is much smarter: it keeps Megatron and Galvatron as different entities in IDW, but at the same time makes their connection stronger. It makes Galvatron's link to the Decepticons stronger a group he's likewise always rejected yet was always associated with. It makes the potentially trainwreck of the Thirteen Primes' history slightly more interesting by suggesting that the Fallen is neither the pure evil from Dreamwave or ROTF, nor the 'tricked, tragic hero' from Aligned - he's still a jackass with a superiority complex, but he's going up against other jackasses.

I would like that, personally.  

 

I think there was more to it than that with that number than just because he was a disposable class of bot, have to re-read the comic now and see where it was mention, driving me crazy now on what it was  

EDIT:
Found it in issue 22 of the Transformers Ongoing series, when Megatron was locked up and before he was beaten up by Whirl Springarm read his details:
Function: Manual Laborer
Creation Date: 1st Cycle 012
Serial Number: 071-980
Batch Code: Unknown

Even here Megatron didn't want to answer if he was Forged or Constructed Cold so not sure if there something bigger going on with that or if he just doesn't like answering it.

 

This issue was ok, some good things but felt mostly like set up. More on the 'something's not quite right with Prowl's head' part of the plot. His friends are such bad influences  . Highlight of the issue for me was definitely Prowl flipping the table. Also, funny how Soundwave's cassettes are so quick to do bad things with dad gone.  

Seeing Jimmy was a good sign I think. Bring back Verity and point her in the direction of the Lost Light.  

 

I'd love to see her reaction to Magnus's holomatter avatar.

 

Just had a scary thought on the first part. What if Prowl combining with the Constructicons is causing the whole lot to become more similar mentally? The original six were similar... but now prowl is kind of the odd man out in terms of thought processes, which may be causing them to kind of even out.

What if, instead of one Prowl and 5 constructicons, we're going to end up with six half prowls and 6 half constructicons?

 

Doesn't like answering it. The fact that it's even a question, the fact that it remains relevant in the present day is something that utterly disgusts him.

 

Series finally gets back to things after a couple of months of set ups and stalls.

Like this one. Lots of good set up. Also, Jimmy working with Spike is crazy. Really want to see Verity again. Cause her and Jimmy MUST have had some kind of divide, since she was friends with the autobots long after AHM

 

I was surprised when this issue ended...as in, it did so abruptly. Rather than being self-contained like the last issue, everything is just on its way to something else.

Shame that we still don't know what the Mini-Constructicon was doing where it was, or why, or how it was connected to the Onyx Interface. How did that idiot manage to sit out the entire war only to be capped now?

I like how Spike is anti-Decepticon, yet still somehow incredibly hateable. Adds a new ripple. Obviously loving to see more Pink.

The only really standout moment in the issue was the Constructicons cracking up. Oh and generally the parallel between Prowl and Galvatron as the polite poison pills of their team is great.

 

Me too!!

Maybe it is happening. Mixmaster (I think) questions Prowl's plan. The others dismiss it as a joke but I got the impression he was serious.

That's what I think. It's a matter of principle.

 

Well, I can't help but wonder what connection to the Machination Blackrock has.

I can't help but shake the idea that he's gonna tie in to Scorponok's plans from back in the day considering Skywatch and now the EDC kinda have the same goals that he did. And we never found out what the Autobots did with Dante, or where Scorponok got to after Garrus-9.

HAVING SAID THAT, I've been banging the Machination drum since the Costa days, so if my speculation turns out to be fruitless so be it.

 

Am I the only one who's calling this retitled series "Adjectiveless Transformers"? You know, in the same way Claremont and Lee's relaunched X-Men series is often called "Adjectiveless X-Men" in contrast to Uncanny, New, X-Treme, etc.