A lot of development within this issue: Spoiler Jumpstream is saved by a group of cybertroians, lead by Bumblebee, who donate their energon to enable her to teleport back to the present. Sunstrom is still in a state of shock. Provoke is awaken, and Cyclonus goes to see her. Jumpstream’s teleportation to the present has caused her to fall into a coma…and allowed Skywarp to return. Highlights: Next issue focuses on Swindle, so that should be interesting to see what he’s been up to.
Spoiler Yeah....definitely don't trust Provoke right now. I know TFwiki seems to be suggesting she, Sunstorm and Skywarp are all Exarchon vessels and I could see people thinking that. My thoughts: Provoke almost definitely is. Everything with her discovery and the way she reacted to Cyclonus seems off. I really want to see how his ghost crew reacts to this new development, if we get to see it. Sunstorm is going crazy and was interacting with Vortex and Onslaught, two characters we very notably see either as Exarchon or directly in his service. But I don't think he's Exarchon's vessel. He has a habit of getting grandoise visions and peeping behind the veil. I think that's probably what's going on with him. An apocalyptic future is looming over the horizon and it makes sense to have Sunstorm setting these visions, acting as a sort of doomsday prophet. Skywarp was in Exarchon's service and I could see Exarchon being banished into unspace, isolated to only one body (Skywarp's) but I feel that diminishes Skywarp as a character. To me, Skywarp's return more echos the Fallen's arrival heralding the coming of Unicron.
Really enjoyed the issue. More and more looks like the Exarchon is the big bad from this story arch. A nice addition instead of just a retread of Decepticons vs. Autobots. Curious to see what Skywarp has in store for us going forward!!
One thing this issue makes very clear is why every cybertronian faction united to fight against exarchon. His endgame seems to be the elimination of the cybertronian race. (And also why they would join exarchon... the opportunity to be completely unfettered, at least until they're completely fettered.) What would he be beaming Energon into space for?
I recall seeing people complaining about Angel Hernandez's art in the news thread, but reading both this issue and the previous one, I think the use of his more distinct artstyle was intentional. The pages he draws are the ones with Jumpstream in future Cybertron, which are deliberately meant to contrast against the "normal" Cybertron, which are the pages drawn by Anna Malkova. Idk, makes sense to me.
Ugh as if the art can’t get any uglier. It’s might a little worse than the artist who did primacy, monstrosity and other associated story that artist did. For the love of Primus IDW change the artist!
Angel Hernandez is definitely my least favorite Transformers artist of all time. That said, I do applaud him for seeming to have improved between his initial work on this title and its current work. It still isn't my cup of tea and his backgrounds still are very indistinct but it's obvious, by virtue of that Improvement, that he gives a crap
??? Define "detailed". Also I think you might be conflating Livio the line artist with Livio the colourist. His paintings choices often don't do me any favors for his line art, but I would say he is better at consistently rendering on model characters and does overall more impressive looking work. Like, he has some actual fans.
This story arc seems a bit short. I would've had an additional issue between the end of this and the beginning of it, with at least one bit explaining how Exarchon managed to rise to power so quickly or what made him what he is. But Ruckley may be hiding this up his sleeve. Especially with that "future" twist.
I welcome any shakeups to the same old Autobot/Decepticon war and I think Skywarp will bring Exarchon back with him somehow.
every time Livio works on something, it looks like crap, whether it’s the line art or the colouring. Him having fans doesn’t make his work not look like crap. He doesn’t draw on model and his work is far from impressive.
Another thing I noticed indicating the future rather than alt timeline (or possibly an alternate future) is the Seeker jet modes are Earth modes.
Skywarp had his back to the reader when he got blown out of sky. Then he preferred to turn around mid-air and fall face-down?
Maybe that is the point. Doesn't change that fact that Malkova's art is infinitely better. Also, while I still prefer the 2005 IDW continuity for reasons I've stated many times, this new continuity is still pretty enjoyable. IDW1's golden age and character arcs may be way better than IDW2's, but this one is much more streamlined and has tons of potential. Let's hope that the current team keeps up the good work and doesn't leave any loose ends unraveled.
I don't think that Skywarp was with Exarchon in the first place. The wiki says that Skywarp was in Unspace, while the only appearance of Exarchon was in the future. I feel like Exarchon is just hiding on modern Cybertron and Skywarp is just going to find him.
