So, apparently it's out on Comixology, but iBooks says it will not be released until Saturday, 27th. Weird!

Everything from this point on is SPOILERS. Don't want to get spoiled, read the issue first before joining the discussion!  



Sarah Stone is back on art for this issue, and seeing how it involves much of the same characters, this does kind of feel like Windblade issue #5 - not that that's a bad thing, per se.

Overall, I thought it was an enjoyable issue, with one major remark: being told from Wheeljack's perspective, it goes through all the same hoops again of explaining who is who and what is going on on Cybertron - perfect for new readers (who inexplicably decide to use this issue as a starting point?), but might feel like a waste of pages for everyone else.


-Combiners are still way too big compared to their parts. I know there's mass shifting involved, but that's a pet peeve of mine - wish their sizes would be more scaled down. Oh well.

-Slingshot of the Aerialbots is confirmed dead, and we are introduced to Powerglide and ALPHA BRAVO! So yes, everyone who guessed the comics would introduce the new Combiner Wars toys: you were right!

-The bad stuff Chromia did is hinted at twice. Understandably, it's kept vague intentionally, as the entire point of not telling anyone was to 'keep the peace'. Still think Chromia should be locked away though, definitely not still walking around Windblade - but glad it's not forgotten.

-turns out Scavenger is reporting back to Starscream. I was under the impression he was intentionally leaking intel to the Earth-based Cons as per Prowl's instructions, but I guess not? (or both?)

-the singularity (from the end of Dark Cybertron) still exists. It's a tiny 'black hole' (not really a black hole, it seems). Might not have any importance for future issues..or might still contain some sort of pocket universe?

 

Good issue, still more invested in the Cybertron characters than those on earth to be honest. Oddly I think Barber even writes them better.
Completely at peace with Chromia, just want to see her being a snarky badass as much as possible.
I really enjoyed thinking Starscream was losing his mind only to find out he was talking to a small hologram Scavenger.

Ms Stone needs to do more RiD art, and MTMTE. Really hoping RiD starts to go between Cybertron and earth more often.

Of course now I need to decide which Wheeljack figure will be the best to represent him alongside Windblade et al.

 

Doesn't feel too inexplicable to me - after all the promotion the Windblade mini got, and the very high digital sales it received, stands to reason that it picked up some new readers who didn't make the leap to the ongoings. With this basically being "Windblade #5", with the same artist, it's logical to think that some of those readers will be using this issue as their "in" to the ongoings, and it makes sense to have it serve a backstory-establishing purpose.

 

Dang,

Spoiler

Slingshot's dead?

 

I wasn't too sure on that; Wheeljack said you could "see his spark", and if he was dead, there wouldn't be a spark to see. So maybe he's just like dyING, or beyond repair.

 

I'd guess it's likely this issue will be used as a pack in with the Combiner Wars toys just like some of the Dark Cybertron lead in were used

 

thought the issue was great. art, characterization, pacing, everything was excellent.

I think Sarah Stone's really benefited from having more time to complete. side of the work in windblade felt rushed, but every panel here was nice and crisp. correct me if I'm wrong but the windblade mini was her first experience drawing a'professional' comic with deadlines and all that? maybe in hindsight it makes sense that issue 2&3 came off less polished than issue 1. but here so far so awesome.

 

Hate that Slingshot's dead. Alpha Bravo... meh. I'm a little disappointed that Starscream isn't losing his shit, because I thought it would be an interesting aspect to a character to have the guy who receives what he's longed for, starting to lose it for various reasons that I can think of.
Then again, it's sort of a trope in itself these days that that happens, so maybe it works better that Starscream finds himself settled well into the role he long sought, that would be a bigger twist these days.
(all this is just top of my head as I'm writing it stuff)

I love Sarah Stone's art, yes indeed more of this thank you.

I do love the use of the new artist that is vastly different from the regular RID artist to give a good visual unfamiliarity to a book about someone coming back on line to a completely different situation than the one he knew.

I don't know how to really feel about Chromia, her actions in Windblade are very off putting and not sure why Windblade still trusts her... she did hurt people, so she obviously doesn't see Cybertronians as equal.

I am a bit confused as to the angry fruit throwers, who are they? Where the hell are they?

I'm just meh on the upcoming Combiner War and Alpha Bravo. Why can we not just have Slingshot? Can we not just get the proper combiners in a generations style? COME ON HASBRO!!!

But, you got time. Win me over AB!!!

Sort of done with Ironhide being a grumpy gus. You have Sky-Byte, freaking utilize him, he has character to spare and I would love to see him used more.

All in all, this issue touched on things that needed to be done I guess? Nice to have Wheeljack back, ennui not withstanding. I don't know, maybe I'm just trying to figure out why a recap issue is happening five issues after season 2 launch of RID.


it's okay.

 

I quite liked this issue. Sarah Stone continues to impress (in my opinion). I can see where some are getting the "recap" issue feel from it, but it seems like it's mostly recapping events in Windblade & Dark Cybertron, both of which some people skipped, so I don't mind it, plus it fits naturally into the story to have people explaining things to Wheeljack.

 

Stage Ready! Set Combiner Wars Go!!!! (I wonder if this means we're going to get a Prowl-estator too now). and thank you Hasbro for the forced foot introduction to the new guy... hopefully it'll be worth it.

Spoiler

Rust in Peace Slingshot

I wonder if this 'kill off' is a jab at his Generation Two toy being so notoriously breakable.

I kind of wanted IDW's Bulkhead appear and greet Wheeljack like he does in Prime. I know they're both engineers/mad geniuses in this universe, but it'd have been great to see a familiar fan-pop interaction, especially with Sarah's art.
I know Bulk's in the pre-war books, it'd be nice if he'd show up alive and well now..

 

Well, seeing as how Wheeljack is the best, this issue can't be that bad. The exposition was not 100% graceful, could have been minimized.

The toy tie-in stuff was handled in...pretty much the clumsiest way that such things ever are. Cost of doing business I suppose...but I was pretty prepared to think Alpha Bravo (which IS a great name) was just a new alt mode for Slingshot.

That singularity has got to be brought back up for a reason. Ditto Monstructor...wondering how he got away.

Can't wait for the next issue, THE NIGHT WILDRIDER DIED AND WAS REPLACED BY A SIMILAR GUY WITH A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ALT MODE!

Oh but 10/10 for Wheeljack's party hat alone.

 

Wait wait wait, Starscream isn't talking to Scavenger, he's talking to Scoop isn't he. We saw that Scoop is hanging out with the Cons now in one of the recent issue of RiD.

 

Actually it kind of makes sense to bridge Windblade and RID with this issue while not spoiling a lot of the former since the Windblade trade comes out next week. It's a nice bit of synchronicity for those who want to get into the line.

So now I'm wondering if the next assortment in the Combiner Wars line will be Prowlvestator (with a Commander Class Prowl forming the head) and Monstructor (possibly six Deluxes instead of a Voyager central component).

 

OMG I'm not crazy!

 

Yeah probably not Scavenger because 1.It looks nothing like Scavenger's current design (it's pretty much Scoop's current toy body from behind) and 2.the picture is taken from the viewpoint of fighting Prowlstator.

I quite enjoyed this overall - it's nice to have a short break from the Earth storyline.
(The issue is perfect for new readers to jump into RiD/Transformers - that's the name now right? )

 

Really good issue. I love seeing Stone's art, which was great in this issue, and I'm very happy to see Wheeljack back again. He's been missed  

I was thinking the same thing until I remembered that the first time Wheeljack saw Starscream talking to himself he had scanned and found no comm frequencies so I'm not so sure he talking to anyone else that time. Looks like Starscream and Scoop are back on speaking terms at least.

I really like how Starscream has been portrayed lately. He's changed, somewhat, but he's still recognizably Starscream. At first, I'd figured that Starscream's enthusiasm for seeing Wheeljack back online was more because he needed help for his combiner project but it does seem more genuine than just that, like he's glad that there's someone on his side. Hopefully it doesn't end up as Metalhawk 2.0...

I'm hoping the writing going forward will get the bad taste of that reveal out of my mouth. I wonder what Wheeljack would think if he knew the identity of the bomber... He mentions clean slates but specifically states during wartime...

 

I am not going say anything it strange that Slingshot was mentioned and not the other Aeriallbots.

 

This issue is definitely a nice jumping point for anyone that didn't read the Windblade mini. I didn't even think about the Powerglide and AB being Superion's new parts in the upcoming toy. Still this whole issue is nothing but a Segway to the next big story. As for that singularity, I think that's Barber's back door for any sudden, but inevitable reintroduction of Shockwave and maybe even Bumblebee.

 

Had an interesting thought about Chromia. What if Chromia is sexist against male mecha.

I hate agree with Starscream, Prowl is dangerous.

I agree with Shockwave and Bumblebee. I think there is going be major shake up who is who side.