Batman, you say??  

 

If you went that far with them I think it might come around to being awesome again

 

I only just remembered today issue 3 was out, so I read it. I like that Dinobot is still very much in character. This is definitely the type of thing we'd usually see him do, although I would have preferred a brutal Dinobot being softened up from being with the Maximals for a while like in the show but you know details.

I don't mind how Nyx escaped, I like how the rest of the Predacons are handled, I ask how a turtle is a villainous beast mode like a wasp or pterodactyl, but if I have one thing to give off on, it's how the other Maximals are.

A young and inexperienced Cheetor is the voice of reason, while Primal is content with sitting there twiddling his thumbs until morning. Even back in season 1 Optimus had a bit more sense as a leader to not just leave his team mates stranded and he'd only hold off a search and rescue if he was badly damaged like in Bad Spark. I know this is meant to be a younger Primal but he's still been given the command position, he should have more sense than this, did he forget the 7 Predacons completely? I just think after Power of the Primes, IDW, this and possibly Kingdom no one knows how to do Optimus Primal these days.  

 

On one hand, Primal's logic isn't necessarily wrong. Nyx was definitely chomping at the bit to use her wings to the fullest, so her simply losing track of time isn't out of the question. On the other, this is a completely unknown planet. Even discounting the Predacons (who indeed were the ones responsible for her disappearance) there could've been a wide variety of factors that could've stopped her, like a freak storm or running afoul of a wild animal that sees her as prey or, I dunno, a rock falling out of the gravitational range of those floating mountains. While I imagine part of it was to prevent the other crew members from going into panic mode, he could've at least gotten a little more concerned considering the far less innocuous factors.

And also to be entirely fair... ever since Animated it feels like no one has a clue how to write any version of Optimus, full stop. This isn't saying that the way Optimus has been written here is somehow beyond reproach, but the weirder aspects are reflective of a trend.

 

i think he is more humanized here and being set up to grow into a proper leader, much like animated(i mean how much of an a-hole was tfa OP in part 1 of the season 1 finale), which we havent been used to in a while. we either have a VERY flawed and inefficient leader like wfc or, the typical new template like the live action films and tfp; a hardcore fighter whos always stoic and detached so we cant relate to him. i mean would the writers really write him so poorly if they didnt have plan for him. next issue alone could possibly galvanize these changes upon his discover of what happened to nyx, which was partly his fault. im just trying to be optimistic and look at the long term improvement we may see.

 

Snapping turtle. Might not sound menacing, but those things will take your hand off given the chance.

 

Will Nyx & Skold still be around? I hate to see Nyx go bye-bye permanently! We need more female Maxies & Preds!

 

I think it's safe to assume so, yes. Based on the solicit the next issue will be heavily focused on Dinobot and Nyx making their escape while based on Burnham's twitter feed issue #9, when that releases, will be a very Skold-centric story.

 

Cheetor is still characterized mostly by being worried with Nyx, how harder i need to cross my fingers for him to be better fleshed out ?  
Then again, i remember being disappointed with IDW 2.0 first issues only to later end up getting an important part of what i wanted(Megatron's motivations)so maybe i just need more patience

When it comes to Nyx character im okayish with her needing help to escape, it would be a bit boring if she did it alone, it's bad enough to me that she got some traits that were originally Cheetor's yet doesn't have to deal with criticism from Optimus, though i suppose that(if the next issue criticizes him that is)this situation maybe can serve to add nuance to Primal

Now to the other player in this situation, Dinobot, i think he was portrayed too competently, in the OG show he gets ready to duel Megs but is taken out by a sneak attack from Scorponok, this helped stabilish some nuance in him, it wouldn't be the last time Dinobot would call for a direct attack only to be proven not so effective, which also ties into what SPLIT LIP said about Dinobot, he was still very much a Predacon working with the Maximals for convenience in trying to take down Megatron, also, even if he is a pretty good fighter, it kinda seemed the preds were attacking him one by one, which can only mean our conflicted lizard might have a future in Hollywood

Rattrap is fine , can't wait to see how they handle his relationship with chopper face

Hopefully they play all their cards right this time, the writers of the OG series begged Hasbro to make Airazor a fembot only to underuse her through the rest of S1, then S2 came and Hasbro executed Order 86 on her and Tigatron

 

wonder how this comic would read for someone who has this as their first exposure to Beast Wars and its characters. That'd be the true test to see how well this series stands on its own as its own story.

 

Skold is an alligator snapping turtle, the animal equivalent of a bear trap.

 

But that really didn't undo the fact that IDW 2.0 spent so much time waffling for no real reason. This series in particular feels like it's talked a lot but said very little.

Do you mean "executed Order 66," like the thing from Star Wars? Or "ordered to 86," as in to throw out food? Because I've never seen "Order 86" anywhere.  

 

I agree that IDW 2.0 did spend some considerable ammount of time waffling, but the Megatron stuff in specific came up pretty quickly after the first issues, as such hopefully Cheetor gets the same or maybe even better treatment

It's a reference to Order 86 and the 1986 The Transformers: The Movie which as we all know killed many characters due to either low sales or their toys being discontinued, a situation very similar to the one Airazor and Tigatron suffered in S2

 

Me as an example. I've never watched any BW anime series, but I managed to understand the world building from the comic.

 

just reread it and i didnt notice how stoic and stone faced dinobot is when megs flips out on him during the interrogation. like dinobot isn't actually afraid or threatened by megs at all; he still viewed him as a superior and was just humoring his outburst at the time. im impressed at realizing now how dinobot is much more a trained, reserved warrior and not so wildly emotional or overly passionate here compared to the show.

 

What Maximals and Predacons would you all want to bring back? Those from the show and those that never appeared and yet have potential?

Triplechangers like B’Boom and Transquito should join in! Along with Polar Claw with an attack bat countering Scorponok’s bee.

Iguanus and Razorbeast? I hope the lizard and Cheetor go Transmetal II soon.

Speaking of Cheetor, what are things you hope to see of him in the next future issues?

 

more characterization

 

such as?

 

Still trying to figure out whether it's being overcritical to say Dinobot leaving because the Predacons hit a new low is an inferior circumstance to the original. I'm still not sure if it's in character or not at this point of the story, and whether that even matters.

Been trying real hard not to compare this to the original cartoon. But Dinobot leaving the Preds in order to take over the Maximals via duel and then further challenge Megatron comes off as way more interesting than what we've got here. It feels like how Season 2 Dinobot would take the situation, whereas Season 1 DB was still working with Primal out of convenience.

It just smells a lot like flanderization here, and I think that's why it rubs me the wrong way. He wasn't just an honorable warrior, he was also spiteful, contested Primal on several occasions, and initially sought to wrest power from Megatron.

As for Primal-- yeah he totally should have sent someone after Nyx. It's dark out? Who cares yo. Maybe this will be a learning experience for Primal. It's going to take some getting used to. At the very least, the comic is intentionally making Primal out to being in the wrong here. The circumstances are still a bit of a stretch for me though. Like how long did they wait before they decided, "Well, if Nyx doesn't show up by this time then we won't bother searching for her." Instead of giving her like a good hour or two and then rolling out to track her before it got dark.

The part of the issue I liked the best was the way you can practically hear the voices from the cartoon when reading some of this dialogue. The worst part was how cheesy that torture scene was.

 

it was nice of dinobot to exposit his entire character motivation while fighting. that was... a lot.