The foundation for War’s End is here: Spoiler Cyclonus deduces that Provoke is actually Exarchon, and so fights with it. He ends up ripping and slicing Provoke’s spark. However, Exarchon has possessed Flatline, and meets Shockwave, who is repairing Skywarp. The battle in Swindle’s area ends up with the Autobots winning, and also sees Deathsaurus breaking free…and a dead, Rukus who had a conversation earlier with Headlock. Highlights: It’s almost time for the big event…can’t wait!
Great issue. They are advertising "War's End #1", this makes me think they have a deadline to conclude the story before they lose the rights? If they play their cards well for the next few issues, this new IDW run might be remembered slightly more fondly than Mike Costa's.
Seems like IDW2 and Shattered Glass comics are the only things that can keep my attention these days, even though the latter series will be ending soon. So happy that we are moving past the 'Provoke is acting Shady/is Exarchon' plotline and we'll be seeing Cyclonus taking action and being part of a bigger story now. I'm a bit conflicted with Exarchon's new body suit now. On one hand Saurus's frame is indeed a kickass body to have and on the other hand I was looking forward to a rematch between Cliffjumper and Non-possessed Deathasaurus.
Okay this was pretty cool, and the ball is rolling. Nice to see Skywarp confirmed to have survived. I loved Shockwave's reaction to Exarchon, and Exarchon now posessing Deathsaurus is pretty badass. It was nice to see Griffith doing art again. I was never the biggest fan of his work in IDW1, but I appreciate his rougher style way more than the kind of fluid, cartoony style we've seen in recent issues. It makes it feel like a real Transformers comic in its own way. I think Cyclonus' internal monologues with his hallucinations continue to get really tedious and unnecessary, but it's good to see him act on Provoke in a dynamic way. The fight scene was pretty much what I expected, but I've got to admit I dug Ultra Magnus telling Smokescreen to make smoke and Smokescreen just goes "I am" and starts shooting a million cannons at the Decepticons. It was also nice to see some of the original cast reunite with Chromia, Windblade, and Bumblebee all in the same group. I wish there was more to Windblade and Bumblebee's reunion but at least it was acknowledged that they were friends. It's a shame Elita One didn't have any lines this issue, but I'm sure we should be seeing more of her soon. Some of the dialogue was a bit iffy. Especially during the fight scene it sounded like Ruckley just needed them to be saying something while punching each other. Also Swindle going "Why am I looking at a dead Ruckus" didn't sound right. Maybe because he is just describing what we can already see in the panel. Show not tell I guess. Whereas the last issue felt like we were meandering this ending with an Exarchon controlled Deathsaurus really progressed the threat level.
Ya know what? Considering his neutrality and that he was helping the Autobots mostly, I'm kind of annoyed they just abandoned Swindle. Yeah, yeah, the 30-something year old rules mean he has to be a Decepticon eventually, but I liked the idea of neutral bots and also though that you know... Autobots would look out for a neutral (though obviously a bit naughty) that put themselves in harms way.
So... Spoiler Are Cyclonus' friends hallucinations? Provoke suddenly joins them after he destroys her spark and kills that iteration of Exarchon. Is it possible he really is seeing their spirits? I mean, it wouldn't be new for this franchise, Starscream's ghost exists after all. Maybe once Exarchon is definitively destroyed for good, they'll all disappear, now at peace with the war against the Threefold Spark finally over? Glad to see Skywarp survived, albeit severely damaged. This version of him was a delight with every bit of panel time he had. So I guess Deathsaurus' vendetta against Cliffjumper is just an aborted plot thread...If I had to guess, it's because they have to wrap up the main story, so there's no time for wherever that story was gonna go, if anywhere. Doesn't seem like it would have made main story-arc material anyway.
I think it got worse honestly. I don't even think there was any macho banter in the first fight scene Sixshot was in. Now it's all really, really, generic fight scene dialogue that seems incredibly dated. There is also a lot less deception in the current storylines than there were before, so a lot of the character interactions are pretty much taken at face value, whereas before you at least got to see characters trying to conceal with their dialogue rather than reveal, now it comes off as being way more generic. I also wonder if Ruckley even realizes how info-dumpy most of his Cyclonus scenes have become. Like every time he appears it really is just a bunch of grey blobs narrating what's going on in Cyclonus's life at the moment. It was a cool concept at first but the only way it has developed is Paragon now happens to be there, fulfilling the same role as the rest of the team.
I was looking forward to Cliffjumper vs Deathsaurus part 2. But this Exarchon stuff should be good as well. I'm just not a fan of this artist.
Yes, the dialogue during the battle is cringe. Catgut: “Gonna sting ya little yellow! Sting ya!” Ultra Magnus: “Make smoke! Make smoke!” Smokescreen: “Making smoke!”
I liked this issue a lot but I wonder if there is more to Deathsaurus' development. I am honestly surprised a bit because they seemed to build up to a bigger arc for him. Was it cancelled because of the license stuff? Unlikely since this must have been drawn months ago, unless adjustments were made or Griffith and Ruckley knew about it for months. Or maybe it isn't over for Deathsaurus. Are they planning to make him react strangely when the exarchoned DS casually sees Cliffjumper at some later point? Or are all possessed bots 100% brain dead the moment Ex is hijacking them? Another possibility would be that DS is now trapped in that virtual world. An insekai for Transformers. Dai Atlas said that he was basically two people now, with one of them being still immersed and another person or incomplete version that is in his body now. Swindle I think called DS "immersed" in this issue, so it might work similarly. Anyway, I would be surprised if they never planned a longer lasting DS arc, considering everything we have seen so far, and considering the importance and image DS has. They are halliucinations imo, otherwise Provoke's ghost would have never left since the spirit in her body was "Exarchon", never her. After Cyclonus confirmed this and calmed down after the fight she was back.
I already put it well above Costa's. Though if it can stick a landing, it will be unusual in being a small self-contained continuity that ends, rather than just stops, which is a rarity.
I can get behind the somewhat clunky make smoke. He's smokescreen, he's laying down cover fire. Yeah, okay it can work. But I just didn't get the sting threat at all. He's a cat, not Scorpulator? He doesn't carry a stinger? He's the cat Bumblebee manhandled earlier, so why not threaten with plain revenge instead? Such weird threats. Took me right out of the battle. Scientists in 37 said they were pretty certain that once taken you were likely gone as well. Codexa also implies to Prime that the taken rejoin the matrix. So it's likely we're looking at an aborted arc, but maybe the way he was taken will come into play when he sees Cliffjumper.
One thing I don’t like about this issue is how it jumps around erratically. If Bumblebee’s group fighting with Sixshot’s group was contained without jumping to another scene, it would have improved the flow of the issue IMO. Although an extra page would have to be added to show the fight starting, before Smokescreen was thrown.
Shockwave never seems happy to see anybody especially people from his past and he probably knows Exarchon wants to eventually steal his body.
