The Transformers (IDW, formerly "Robots in Disguise")

[Onslaught Six]

Solicits are most likely going to try and steer people towards thinking Things Are Going To Change, or that Autobots And Decepticons Fight A Lot.

We'll see.

[Dominic]

I agree, to a point. I can read the book and really dislike what Prowl has become while at the same time I can agree that it's interesting to watch his moral descent occur. But, while I don't want all Autobots to be simplistic, cardboard-cutout "good guys", I do prefer to see them hold the moral high ground. Prowl isn't doing that. He's having Decepticons assassinated whenever he feels like it, and he's perfectly willing to provoke Decepticons into action and then kill them for doing what he goaded them into doing. Sorry, I just can't approve of his actions.

I would argue that the "make or break" factor here is what (if anything) Prowl had to do with Omega Supreme being attacked. A false flag attack is much more serious than a quiet pillow smothering for a known trouble-maker. Prowl's confirmed kills include Bombshell (an active and known threat), the Constructicons (also known threats) and Ratbat (by proxy). Ratbat was a not a direct physical threat. But, he was a player who put himself in a position to be a fair target.

So far, Prowl has not gone over the line.


Dom
-expecting a twist regarding Omega Supreme.

[BWprowl]

Robots In Disguise #13:
Shit, meet fan. As much as I liked the covert political shiftings of the previous issues, seeing the powder keg that situation had become finally ignite in this issue does provide a grim feeling of satisfaction. The Decepticons are finally through with how they’ve been treated as the losers of the war, and a whole mess of ‘em are marching on anything and anyone in town, leaving the few level-headed characters left in the streets to try to diffuse the situation as best they can. Prowl saves Wheeljack and claims to be preparing to tell him everything, as well as expressing a desire, or even a need, to go back to the Autobot/Decepticon status quo (though more on that in a minute), Bumblebee and Metalhawk want to hold out peacefully for one more night since they still think democracy can work in this situation, Blurr and the guys at his bar just try to survive until Arcee shows up with a trump card, and Starscream cowers behind the guys guarding the prison until he can decide whether his ambition trumps his cowardice. Every character is trying to further their goals and survive at the same time, and it’ll be interesting to see who’s left standing, and who’s in charge when it’s all over. And then there’s that last two-page-spread right before the end, and it’s a big one. I kind of worry that it looks to be setting up to switch things back to the ol’ Autobot/Decepticon status quo, but Barber has shown that he’s capable of more, and all that’s going on now was clearly in his plan from the beginning, so I’ll wait to see what he has planned with this.

…Okay, no I won’t. Theorizing time!

Spoiler

I’m almost wondering if Prowl isn’t going full Ozymandias or Lelouch on this one, setting himself (and the other Decepticons) up as an antagonistic force that the Autobots and NAILs can rally together against and have motivation for a united, functioning government. It would explain why Arcee (presumably under his orders) suddenly wants Dirge to go public with his statement. Remember, this is Prowl, he doesn’t care what he has to do or what happens to himself, so long as the Autobots remain the ‘good guys’ and the ‘good guys’ stay in charge. If what I’m hypothesizing turns out to be true, and it works, it could end up painting a lot of Prowl’s actions in a much more heroic light than the rest of the book has led us to believe. Not that I want to get my hopes up if it turns out Barber was doing something completely different. I’m sure it’ll be interesting either way.

Also, can I just say how impressed I am with IDW and their writers in general for sticking with their changes? Remember way back in like the third issue of the ongoing, where none of us thought stuff like the war being over or Bumblebee being the leader would stick? Well look where we are now! Not only has that stuff lasted, they’ve really managed to get good stories out of the setting they’ve created with them! Bumblebee’s been the Autobot leader for over two years now! I never would have expected them to go this many miles with this!

This comic rules.

[Onslaught Six]

Prowl, are you forgetting that time period when Prime came back and was totally the leader again, or what?

[BWprowl]

Prowl, are you forgetting that time period when Prime came back and was totally the leader again, or what?

Well, there was the Return of the Decepticons where Bumblebee was incapacitated, and Prime took command on Cybertron during Chaos, but even those were handled more as "Bumblebee's the leader, but he's out of commission/not around, so we'll defer to Prime", they still acknowledged the Bumblebee-as-leader thing. My point is, here we are, two years later, and they're still pushing forward with Bumblebee: Autobot Leader, when I don't think any of us expected them to stick with it this long.

[Dominic]

I think that it is more a question of Bumblebee having two rounds as leader, and now he is not only more prepared for the job, but he is less willing to give up the job.

And, yes, this book is amazing.

I do not think that Prowl is trying to set up a unifying enemy for the Autobots and NAILS so much as he is trying to end the war. Ending the war has *always* been IDW Prowl's goal since his first substantive appearance in the the "Coda" story with Kup. It is even hinted at in the "-ation". Prowl has *always* been a system guy. In a sense, he is the most morally *clean* of the characters. Prowl is not personally ambitious. Prowl is not in it for glory. He just wants to keep things running relatively smoothly.

Prowl is siding with Megatron because he sees Megatron as the most able to make sure that the war stays over. "Peace through tyranny."

The irony of course is that during Metalhawk's speech about rising above factions, Blurr is escorting Dirge and Swindle to Bumblebee while Prowl and Megatron are working together to undermine Bumblebee. The lines between the old factions may be fast breaking down. But, there are new divisions among the TFs.

Prowl saves Wheeljack and claims to be preparing to tell him everything, as well as expressing a desire, or even a need, to go back to the Autobot/Decepticon status quo (though more on that in a minute), Bumblebee and Metalhawk want to hold out peacefully for one more night since they still think democracy can work in this situation,

Prowl does not want a return to the bad old days. He is just accepting it as inevitable...unless he does something about it.

This issue is loaded with great moments. Starscream telling Megatron to "no ruin everything" is possibly my favourite exchange between those two characters. Metalhawk's speech paired with the ironic new divisions worked nicely. And, that last double page spread was stunning. (I get the feeling that it will end badly for Wheeljack though.)


Aside: Warpath and Jetfire getting killed kind of annoyed me. With them dead in IDW, the only other substantive appearances they have in their modern TFU style bodies are in books by Fun Publications. In a way, I think that diminishes the toys by association.


Dom
-they do not make letter grades for comics this good.

[BWprowl]

I do not think that Prowl is trying to set up a unifying enemy for the Autobots and NAILS so much as he is trying to end the war. Ending the war has *always* been IDW Prowl's goal since his first substantive appearance in the the "Coda" story with Kup. It is even hinted at in the "-ation". Prowl has *always* been a system guy. In a sense, he is the most morally *clean* of the characters. Prowl is not personally ambitious. Prowl is not in it for glory. He just wants to keep things running relatively smoothly.

Prowl is siding with Megatron because he sees Megatron as the most able to make sure that the war stays over. "Peace through tyranny."

I’m gonna bet against you on this one! While ending the war is important, winning the war as the Autobots the ‘right’ way without losing sight of their ‘ideals’ and the like has always been a big thing for Prowl, see LSotW and the AHM Coda story. He’s very specifically said he wants them to stay unique from the Decepticons, and legitimately siding with Megatron wouldn’t just undermine that, it would bury it completely. Admittedly, Prowl’s even more jaded now than he was back then, but still.

There’s also the question of Arcee, why did she turn Dirge loose to give up his story? It’s possible she had a change of heart about what she was doing for Prowl (not bloody likely), but it seems more likely that Prowl had her do it purposefully, as part of a larger play by him.

I guess we’ll find out in a month. And what a long month it’s going to be!

The irony of course is that during Metalhawk's speech about rising above factions, Blurr is escorting Dirge and Swindle to Bumblebee while Prowl and Megatron are working together to undermine Bumblebee. The lines between the old factions may be fast breaking down. But, there are new divisions among the TFs.

The constantly-shifting alliances are something I’ve been loving about this book. They haven’t always broken where I expected them to (I was really expecting a clean break between the Autobots of Prowl and Bumblebee, with Decepticons shoring up on either side with some in between) but that arguably makes it even better.

Prowl does not want a return to the bad old days. He is just accepting it as inevitable...unless he does something about it.

Yeah, your way of putting it is better. It’s good to see the lessons of the ongoing are still fresh in Prowl’s mind.

This issue is loaded with great moments. Starscream telling Megatron to "not ruin everything" is possibly my favourite exchange between those two characters.

Oh god, and when Megatron just *smiles*? That scene knocked it out of the park. I can’t find a Generations Starscream in stores soon enough.

And, that last double page spread was stunning.

My jaw dropped. But you already knew that, I had to text you about the thing as soon as I read it, I was so blown away.

Aside: Warpath and Jetfire getting killed kind of annoyed me. With them dead in IDW, the only other substantive appearances they have in their modern TFU style bodies are in books by Fun Publications. In a way, I think that diminishes the toys by association.

Ignore FunPub and just remember those toys’ defining moments in one of the best TF comics in a while! (Also recall that Classics Jetfire made his first appearance in Stormbringer. That mold just can’t catch a break.)

[andersonh1]

Hmmm... Prowl rescues Wheeljack from the marauding Decepticon crowd, only to haul him in front of yet another dangerous Decepticon crowd. I'm not quite getting that one.

I still hate the way Barber writes him, and hope he goes down at the earliest opportunity. Despite his protestations to Wheeljack, he's not the same person he was before. As Wheeljack's reactions to him demonstrate. I do wonder what his game is. I presume he's trying to get the Decepticons wiped out. Encourage them to rebel and have them killed while putting down the rebellion.

[BWprowl]

I still hate the way Barber writes him, and hope he goes down at the earliest opportunity.

This is so weird to me! I can’t understand ‘hating’ a character and wanting them killed off just because they’re unsavory or antagonistic. Putting aside whether Prowl’s actions are ‘bad’ or not (considering we don’t yet know where they’re even going), his actions are the driving force of this story, as the antagonist to the actions of other main characters like Starscream and Bumblebee, and the story wouldn’t be as remotely interesting without him doing what he’s done, the way he’s done it. I can’t imagine wanting it any other way. Every story *needs* a good antagonist to help drive it forward, and that’s clearly Prowl’s role here.

Do you get this way about all antagonistic characters in stuff, Anderson? Like, do you ‘hate’ the way Megatron, or Lex Luthor, or Emperor Palpatine are written, and want them offed too? I guess I’m just not getting it, it’s a new point of view for me.

The ‘bad guys’ are often the most interesting characters in a story, and the type you want to see kept around to keep perpetuating that interest.

[andersonh1]

This is so weird to me! I can’t understand ‘hating’ a character and wanting them killed off just because they’re unsavory or antagonistic.

That's not why, and I didn't say I wanted Prowl killed off. I simply prefer Autobots to act with a greater sense of morality than Decepticons. And yes, IDW has always had more shades of gray, no matter who was writing, but regardless... I expect better behavior from Prowl than we're getting. He's crossed the line as far as I'm concerned. It's not that he's an antagonist, it's that an Autobot shouldn't be acting the way Prowl is acting.