AHM #6 Review (SPOILERS)

Vangelus · Jan 22, 2009

ZacWilliam said: ↑

Not that many will still be reading this thread this many pages in, nor am I likely to change anyone's attitude towards the book, I think opinions of a lot of folks are set in stone by now... Yet still I feel compelled to say. I thought this was a VERY GOOD issue.

Listen, I HATED the first few issues of AHM as much as anyone. They were boring, filled with action movie reject humans, felt like the weekest of the DW stuff, nothing happened, they were filled with contridictions to the already established continuity, and worst of all we were getting it INSTEAD of the Furman stories I'd been loving. I REALLY hated the first few issues immensely. I'm not surprised they turned a lot of folks off perminently... but I think that's a huge shame because....

Then something happened. Once the Autobots finally showed up in recent issues and their storyline replaced the sad and boring human stuff, the books seemed to click a lot stronger than before. There was finally enough TF action and with them taking center stage came some actually very strong characerization. McCarthy, say what you want, clearly knowns these characters and gives them the individual unique voices they need. The change over to a winning formula wasn't quick or complete and issue 4 left me greatly conflicted. Objectively it was actually pretty GOOD but I couldn't seperate it from all the continuity issues it still had with the Furman stuff that came before. Then we got issue 5 whih continuied on the same level and actually explained away some of the continuity disconnects! I finally has an issue I could say I completely enjoyed.

And this issue was even better. The Autobots continue to get some nice moments and character focus and now the Decepticons finally get some real quality interaction too. I LOVE Furman's stuff but he tends to have "Focus" characters who get characterization at a given time where the rest fall into the background, especially among the Cons. It's great to see Cons of all "levels" dug into here: The interplay between Megatron and Starcream, with Screamer needleing him continuously was a nice low-key take on their interaction that I'd like to see more. The face-off between Skywarp and Bombshell was also well done, showcaseing both the dim beligerence of the former and the psychological malevolence of the latter. This is something we don't see enough Decepticons interacting personally with other Cons and the personalities clashing.

The real joy of this issue for me though is the Thundercracker/Skywarp stuff. FINALLY! Thundercracker is one of the most criminally neglected characters in the TF universe. He shows up all the time, sure, but as background, as fodder. He has a fascinating bio/personality that noone EVER deals with... Until now. IMHO the whole 5 issues of AHM thus far could be entirely justified by this Cracker/Warp interaction. Thundercracker likes the feeling of superiority the Seekers give him but he's not sold on the Decepticon cause, deep down he doesn't enjoy destuction and murder, he doesn't like what they're doing to Earth and the humans. Seeing that play off Skywarp, his usual compatriot in crime, who very much does like this sort of carnage was great and felt very psychologically true to what happens when good "friends" have this sort of profound difference. I'd really like to see where this goes.

Sure Drift is a bit of an unneccessary plant so far (but frankly isn't a big enough part of the series yet to deserve the attention haters have been giving him since it became "cool" to bash him), and yes I still miss Furman, and YES the over-plot is still moving very slowly I won't argue that, and no it's not by any means "perfect"... but still, all that granted: AHM has really blossomed in the last few issues. If it 1) keeps the focus on the Transformers this strongly, leaving the humas to their reletively short subplots, and 2) Keeps up the characterization of everyone including Cons and second-stringers at this level then I'll be very happy to buy the next 6 issues and will expect it to end as a series much stronger than it (regretably) began.
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Well I read your post!

I do agree that AHM was worse off at the start than it is now. While I wouldn't outright call the entire issues good myself, I do think there were nice moments in the last couple. My main problem is that I keep seeing somewhat isolated cool moments amidst a ton of the stuff I keep picking on.

I'd also agree that the hate for Drift has gotten overrated (...dunno if that actually makes sense). The point I keep stressing is that yes, he's doofy and well worth picking on, but he's also by far the least of the book's problems. If Drift were wonderful and excellent or even not there at all, the pacing issues would still exist. And if the pacing rocked while the snappier parts of the dialogue continued, I don't think I'd really notice Drift either way.

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AHM #6 Review (SPOILERS)

Vangelus Long Live the New Flesh Moderator Content Contributor

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AHM #6 Review (SPOILERS)

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