We’ve got a lot more context now, regarding what happened to the Constructicons before they left: Spoiler As Devastator, they lost control momentarily, but Termagax convinces them to disengage Wheeljack is worried for the safety of the civilians, and decides to go to the council to try and prevent the Constructicons from combining again, but Termagax makes her argument that they can achieve a lot. Nominus Prime makes a proposal; allow them to repair the damage, but find a way for them to pay for the Energon debt. Iacon is rebuilt, and the Constructicons are rewarded, but are hiding information regarding how they let the rage control themself whenever they combined Many cycles later, the Constructicons are sent to Mayalx, to get Energon; this is where they are currently situated. We got a lot of nice artwork here, including: Nominus Prime: The new Iacon: The Constructicons looking back at Cybertron: It’s a great issue, that fills in the gap, while also making us more aware how combiners work, and seeing Nominus Prime for the first time in IDW 2. Plus the art is pretty good.
Livio Raimondelli has taken a major level up in terms of the clarity of his layouts and the consistency of his character models. There's really nothing to NOT enjoy about his art in this series. Props to him! (He was ALWAYS better than the initial artist for the main ongoing series though)
I thought it was pretty good. Interesting that they chose this structure and to use the penultimate issue to flash back. Just a couple of specific thoughts: Spoiler The reference to others not leaving Cybertron for “noble reasons” is ominous and surely foreshadows Galaxies stories to come. This was probably our best insight yet into Termagax and her dynamic with Nominus. As an aside, I like the Nominus design quite a lot and would appreciate a toy. Wheeljack has been somewhat of a star of this miniseries and it’ll be interesting to see if he gets a bigger role in the main comic. I’m definitely excited for this to wrap up and move onto the next character (which I believe is Cliffjumper).
Alright! So I really enjoyed this issue. We got to see what it's like to be in a combiners head and how they function which, not surprisingly, turned out to be more or less identical to how combiners functioned in IDW1- this is a good thing. More information about the colony worlds! God, this is probably one of my favorite things about IDW2. The colony worlds are basically these anarchic, barren, hellholes full of exiles, people who were tricked into going there (The Constructicons), or people who want to engage in criminal activity because, again, anarchy. Whos gonna stop you from killing someone? I mean, Hook accidentally murdered some dude and faced no repercussions, in fact, that guys body was probably just left there instead of being taken to a hospital or buried because the Insecticons were eating his fresh corpse in issue #2. NOMINUS PRIME. Love his design. But I'm also pleased to see that he isn't completely, irrationally evil like his IDW1 counterpart who establishes Functionalism. This guy is a politician through and through, offering these kids energon champagne and celebrating their victory with nice things only to send them off a few cycles later to construct an energon silo knowing. He knows it's a one way trip so it's a win-win for him. More energon+ no more plausible threat to Cybertronian society. Termagax is confirmed to be Megatrons mentor. We already figured this but it's set in stone in this issue. Basically this is his grandma. With all that said in done, rest in peace Wheeljack. When the Constructicons finally return to Cybertron, I feel the first person on their list is going to be Wheeljack for telling the senate about their blunder in the first place. It was a one time accident and his paranoia caused them to be banished for god knows how long.
I just can't get past Livio's art. I know a few of you have met him and think he's a nice man, but that doesn't excuse the fact that his art is downright terrible. Yes, yes, I know, that's a subjective opinion. I don't need anymore pitchforks thrown my way.
Yo this issue was ass. And this is coming from someone who has been completely respectable of both the pros and cons of this continuity. This issue was completely worthless in content. Everything we’ve seen in this has already been shown or stated, be it directly, or indirectly. It felt like this was planned to be only 3 issues and all this shit was packed in to fill in a gap. This is actually total ass. I genuinely liked the last issue. Bombshell was great, and the focus on the bios has been rewarding. But to be honest the only thing in this issue that was remotely good was the structies getting a badge for their accomplishment, and Scrapper realising everyone got this badge anyway. Which is still only good in the context of the scene and probably should have been a huge tip off that their government is shit and they should start having some agency. Sorry about the rant, I just paid for this issue.
Have to say I agree - in that this was the best bit, and the rest of the issue was one extended reiteration of everything that was previously implied. I mean, I was enjoying it ... but then it ended, having gone nowhere. Also, while the Constructicons personalities over the first two issues were fairly well drawn, nothing new was added to any of them here. They're still one-noting it all the way through. Hook's an arrogant perfectionist! Bonecrusher likes to pummel things! Scavenger is a bit timid! It's great to have them clearly defined from the get-go, but you've really got to then do something with these archetypes. Also, this: I'm sorry, but it's the same for me. He's done some decent black and white pin-ups, but most of this is only just about functional - as in, it tells the story. Pretty to look at it ain't. I wish I had more positive things to say, but this issue was very disappointing.
Once again i loved the art work in this issue. I was surprised how much i enjoyed the story this time. Not only did it give an insight into how it feels to be a combiner, i actually found myself feeling sorry for the constructicons. Looking forward to the conclusion now.
