The plot speed begins to quicken. I liked the Ratchet narrative running through the book. His internal monologue is done up all film noir/old school Batman style. Lots of more car fightin' goodness, and it looks like next issue, we'll finally be inside the Ark, or whatever is going to serve as the arc in this continuity.

Okay, SPOILERS.......

Ratchet's holographic self hands over a fake version of the PDA R&R are looking for. But when Runabout actually grabs it, the holographic projection has been boobytrapped and electricity shocks Runabout, knocking him down. Runamuck draws his gun, but not as fast as Ratchet draws and fires what appears to be an exhaust gun, clouding 'Muck's vision, and allowing Ratchet and the kids to saddle up and drive off.
MEANWHILE...in Arizona, we see cops discovering a dead body. The coronoer remarks it's as if his entire body went into trauma and spasm. He's got no id, and we see a cop radioing what looks like a big, evil looking corporate board, with a MM logo and a CEO w/ a cowboy hate, all in shadow, all wearing sunglasses. He tells them that they've found the guy they've been looking for here on the reservation, and he's dead.
Back to Ratchet, he's flyin down the highway and decides to do a little plot exposition on the side. He says that the PDA was indeed what they're after and why they're after them. He says that the "his group" intercepted a coded Decep pulsewave that targets a human male for deletion. Thanks to the info on the PDA, he understand why, and that whoever the human was, he managed to do what his entire detachment couldn't. But before he can say more, Thundercracker comes swooping over their heads and R&R are on their tail. R&R have this kind of battle mode thing goin' on in their Alt modes where their car bodies kind of spread out and open, revealing weapons, battering rams, and other goodness. They look kinda like the new Batmobile. This makes Ratchet even more nervious, as the fact that the Deceps are willing to brazenly break cover means that the PDA must be more important than he had originally thought.
MEANWHILE...in Oregon, Starscream is holdin a pink globe pulsing with electricity. Blitzwing is there, and tells him the ore is pure, that they can begin. Starscream says good, and that since protocol has been broken, they can expect a response, and should be ready. Then he holds the globe up in the air and says "Destiny, Blitzwing, is within my grasp." Apparently in THIS continuity, Starscream has some sort of weird ego/power thing going on. Huh.
Back to Ratchet...dude's getting shot at from the sky, he's got missles coming from R&R, and now he's driving the wrong way into traffic with a giant red semi truck (?!) coming straight into him. He veers past it, and it smashes into R&R, knocking them off the road with a satisfying "kreaboush". Now that they've got some time and distance, Verity starts freaking out as the reality of the situation sinks in. She bolts out, and the mechanic guy Jimmy? tells Hunter he'll go talk to her. He goes and jokes around with her about how his garage is gone, alien robots are shooting him, blah blah blah. Point is, he makes her smile by making a fool of himself and showing some feeling. Cut back to Hunter. He asks Ratchet his name, and then has some witty banter with him. All of a sudden Jimmy and Verity bust in and say they gotta go NOW. Thundercracker has spotted them, and has launched a missle. Ratchet, much to the chagrin of the human cargo, waits until the last second, and then thunders away quickly, using boosters on the top of the back of the van while the missles slam into the ground.
They come upon three cars in the distance moving towards them. It's Ironhide, Prowl, and Sunstreaker! Sweet! They've all got cool gun that pop out and as Thundercracker comes closer, they open fire. He evetually gets wounded by one of Sunstreaker's missles, and flies off. Ratchet tells the humans that they're comrades of his who he summone belatedly at Jimmy's garage. However, the three Autobots transform, draw weaopns, and Prowl informs Ratchet that he's facing seven counts of misconduct, gross dereliction of duty, disobeying a order from a senior officer, and sundry violations of 4 sections of the Autobot code of interplanetary conflict. He asks if Ratchet has anything to say for himself. Ratchet says "Two words. Seige mode." (Shouldn't it be siege?) Prowl looks shocked, and we cut to what appears to be a Decepticon power plant/fortress sticking out of the side of a mountain. They've even got a nice big purple Decep symbol stuck into the mountain next to it, so the pizza guy knows where he's going. Ratchet intones "an image..redolent of bitter failure and nightmarish consequences, of bodycounts and worlds aflame. Things....fall apart.

 

You forgot about the 7 different covers. 4 regular, 2 Retailer Incentive and 1 you have to sell your kidney to get. A touch rediculous, no?

 

Especially since you were forced at gunpoint to buy them all. Chris Ryall, you bastard! :rollseyes

 

I picked up the Runabout cover since I realized it's the next 'part' of the #1 Ratchet cover (which I also bought since I didn't get that one originally). Judging by the white arm on the right side, it's safe to say there's a #3 Runamuck cover that extends the picture even more. Much better than wraparound nonsense. I can display these side by side at some point.

Admit it though, you want that Guidi Starscream retailer incentive cover with the very toyesque Starscream.

 

None of the covers impressed me terrible but I did go with Guido cover.

Definitely thought that the Runabout and Runamuck battle vehicle mode was cool. Did anybody else think that during the chase where Rachet is driving along side a black and purple semi ... that that truck looked a heck of a lot like Motormaster.

I didn't like what Rachet was implying when Hunter was asking him about his association/group ... Rachet kept on hesitating. And when Ironhide, Prowl and Sunstreaker arrived ... didn't seem like there was much commeraderie especially since Rachet mentioned that their response was slow and belated. Some comrades. I get the feeling that the Decepticons are a much more cohesive group than the Autobots from this issue.

 

Pretty good issue, at least better than the previous one. Runabout and Runamuck's "brute" vehicle modes were cool. Does anyone know when the Beast Wars series comes out?

 

next week. TF #3 is apparently finished, so it should be out in 30 days barring another problem with the printer.

 

Loved it as well since it was a long time seeing the alt modes in action.  And yes, that Motormaster thought did cross my mind also.
Overall, very solid issue, though I'm intrigued by the last page...

 

I'd say IDW is off to a strong start. I like their take on Transformers with the emphasis on disguise, with the fun bonus of vehicular carnage. And the story's going in an interesting direction since Ratchet's interaction with the humans has gotten him in trouble with his comrades.

And I'm probably not going to be very popular, but I like the humans. They bring something new to the table that previous main humans haven't. Namely the fact that Verity's a criminal, and Hunter's a geek/nerd/conspiracy theorist. Hell, I can identify with him more than all of his predecessors combined. And for the record, they're part of the reason I chose the Raiz cover.

On a related note, remember a few months ago when people were dissing Andrew Wildman's cover because it looked like a comic panel, minus the dialogue bubbles?  

 

Pretty decent issue. The action is well-done and I liked Ratchet's monologues. "Not in front of the humans!" was classic. The book still hits a brick wall when the humans open their mouths, but thankfully they weren't in this issue too terribly much. EJ's art is good, too (love all the little mechanical details), though did anyone notice that they covered up the legs in the preview of the next issue? Guess they caught wind of all stink over them.

Beast Wars looks like some form of chocolate-covered crack. It cannot come out soon enough.

 

Hence I have two covers for this issue on order...  

http://www.idwpublishing.com/transformers/tf02cl.jpg

Focusing in on the image, combined with raising Prowl above the lettering, a speech balloon and the 'Infilitration' tag really add character, IMO. Kudos to IDW for giving those of us who fondly remember Marvel UK something very neat indeed.

Yeah, I like the humans too, and am going for a set of Raiz covers on the first story arc.

 

Someone walked into my shop and DID, apparently. 2 copies each of 4 covers ... which is apparently all they had in stock.

Yeah ... real solid investment there, bub.

So I didn't get my copy this week.

On the plus side, I snagged Nextwave #1. Holy crap. Funniest thing I've read this week. Warren Ellis turned in some seriously random one-liners.

-XCN-

 

The story is definetly off the a good start, but dang it if I don't miss Sarracini's writing (Not a joke)

 

I enjoy this series. Not bad overall..

I saw the Prowl and others angry with Ratchet as being the following:

Prime or Prowl ordered a strict No interaction with the humans. Ratchet violated this rule along with many others, thus he has become a bit of a criminal. Perhaps Ratchet went AWOL and Prowl and CO are just MPs..

 

It feels like we've gone backward in time to the Marvel days. When they put word bubbles on the front cover. Not really my favorite style, but so far I'm still buying it. Though I do think it's pretty stupid that they've become even worse than Dreamwave about all the stupid covers.
Meanwhile, when is Beast Wars due out on shelves? I am super excited about that one. I'm a die-hard G1 fan, but i think I'm far more interested in IDW's Beast comic than I am Infiltration.

 

I enjoyed it-- and Runamuck and Runabout have Hyper Modes, EEEE!!! I'm also almost 100% sure those two trucks are Optimus Prime and Motormaster...

I also like that the Autobots seem to be much more rigid and unyielding when it comes to rules than their previous incarnations. It's about time the good guys knew when to lay down the law with their own kind.

 

That's why comic shops have pull accounts for it's customers, so that they don't miss their favorite comics.

Comics as investments went out with the 90s. I just bought the Botcon #0 for $1 and the 4 covers to #1 for $4 on eBay this week. Virtually every comic printed after 1980 is worthless outside of sentimental value. There are rare, rare exceptions.

 

next week and glad to hear you're anticipating it so much  

 

I wouldn't miss Sarracini's writing if he was the last person on Earth who knew what letters did.