More world building. Something is moving... but it's too slow for my tastes. Too slow, whenever bumblebee shows up I want to read something else.
Megs said the energon rations have robbed everyone of their full vigor, and yeah it sure feels like it. Hot damn.
Super disappointed by issue 2. Everything is moving really slowly. Megatron is a pale imitation as an orator compared to how he was shown in the last continuity and the ending of this issue was incredibly anticlimactic. Everything with Bumblebee and Rubble is really boring. Probably not going to continue buying issues unless #3 gets glowing reviews.
Yeah what’s up with every character being so lifeless? I was excited to see this era, but now I wish they would’ve jumped straight into the war.
Really enjoying it, I appreciated the contemporary reflection of modern conflict in Megatron’s speech. A nice shift away from the tried, true, but safe reflection of historical conflict pieces of previous iterations (like the ancient world reflected in the G1 cartoon or the elements of the Russian revolution in the IDW 1.0 universe). I am also enjoying the slow burn and the universe exploration through Rubble.
I love that Megatron isn’t yet radicalized. It’s an interesting change, as he’s almost always the extremist by the time he’s having his rallies. As the question now is “why will he go that way?” Also I’m suspecting Brainstorm learned something which was why he had to die. Wouldn’t be surprised if say there’s a reveal that the ruling classes have been siphoning/stockpiling energon for their own gain (with the low yield being a cover), and that the rationing is completely unnecessary. As that would definitely add fuel to the fire. The fact Brainstorm knew about the actual process of how the refinery works is one huge red flag to me.
The Prowl/Chromia bad cop duo should have been so much more fun than it actually was. Like, their dynamic already writes itself and they did... nothing with it.
Okay so I need to start this by saying I absolutely do not mind the pacing. If we're getting to see the days before the war, why not luxuriate in it? We don't get a lot of chances to see Cybertron as anything other than a war-torn hellhole, and I'm honestly loving the chance to see Cybertron before something like the Simanzi Massacre could happen to it just yet. Ruckley's sci-fi touches are also pretty great. I never really need my science fiction (or fiction in general) to try and explain how stuff works or lean towards more 'hard' sci-fi, but I do like his attempts to spruce things up by explaining things like Energon harvest, Transformer age/lifespans, and how they get their alt-modes. Maybe I'm just too patient or forgiving with things, but I like it. Even the fact that Megatron's gripes are sort of vague so far (are only the Ascenticons being deprived of resources or is this a Cybertron-wide thing that he's taking to heart?) help add to it - by the time we see him in most continuities, he's already pretty much a terrorist. The thing with this Megatron, and I'm still deciding how I feel about it, is that he already seems sort of pre-disposed to violence. The previous IDW Megatron seemed to get something of a journey to that path, particularly during his days as a miner and writer before things really went south. This Megatron talks and acts like he already knows he's going to have to get violent with the Autobots, and he's just biding his time until he has enough people on his side to prevent it from being a total shitshow when he decides to act. The last Megatron waited to close his fist until he truly couldn't take it anymore; this Megatron is already a closed fist trying to judge how strong his arm is. (Or, to put it less flowery, if Rung accidentally started a bar fight in this continuity, the new Megatron wouldn't dream of hiding under a table )
I digged this one. I'm actually starting to appreciate much more that Rubble was used as the perspective from the reader because he brings a certain innocense that makes it easier to empathize with him and be amazed by Cybertron. Speaking of which, the details about the new world are starting to be revealed and prove to be interesting enough. The plot also progresses decently. The characters still don't show much personality but I kinda like that there are little hints here and there about their roles in this society. Unfortunately, I think James Roberts' work had a bad influence in the fandom to make them think that "if a character doesn't have an over-the-top personality then that means they don't have a personality at all" (and we all know how that worked against Roberts towards the end because most of his characters started to sound the same) so in comparison the cast here might seem a little lacking but I still find them acceptable and a breath of fresh air quite frankly.
I like this continuity. I like the slowness. However, I think immediately following MTMtE/LL is going to be held against this book. Lots of people loved JR and his work and this isn’t that, so they are going to say nothing positive about this book.
Uh, you know RiD/OP was a thing too, right? Anyway, I think people are bit too harsh on this. Yeah the pacing's slow, but remember, this is a 12 issue series, there's still ten more issues to go. Unicron was five issues long and even then it felt like it was dragging on for a bit.
Yeah, I remember RiD/OP, and WB/TAAO too, and Unicron and all the other offshoots (which I really enjoyed) but those got entirely overshadowed by MTMtE, to the point I felt like everything else was ancillary to JR’s stuff even though that was actually the offshoot. Personally, I thought the other series were better, but I am of the opinion people won’t remember the first IDW iteration for anything other than the (haphazard) journey of Lost Light, despite the amazing work of Furman, Costa, and the rest.
I really can't understand all the media reportage of "Cybertron being a prosperous trade nexus of the Universe" before the relaunch. From what I saw in #1 and #2, it's a spooky wasteland at its best with all those color-scheme for horrible scenes. Why do we need security officer and investigator if not a single murder had even happened for as long as people care to remember? Why do people regroup into factions when life is full of joy? What economy does this planet run if energon has to be rationed?
Well it's stated that the rise had resorted to criminal activity. So there's that. Also the crowds required security in the past. I'm liking everything thus far. Love the toy accurate designs. That sort of thing has been long absent.
I’m guessing we will get a Toy of that Wheel a Jack? I bet it goes south eventually for Rubble or something happens and he becomes a Decepticon.....
I won't lie, the last few pages when they switched artists almost had me thinking of the Machinima series given how CLEAN the lines were. It almost looked like celshaded CG renders.
