TF Views

This issue focuses on the Autobot's efforts to identify members of the Rise, and realizing how big the Rise actually is. (Technojabber aside, the Rise has been building their own infrastructure at a scale that implies they have many members.)

This issue focuses more on moving characters and other plot stuff around. But, it is done well.

The reveal about

Spoiler

Barricade

stands out for being well-handled despite being predictable for anyone with even a passing interest in "Transformers" over the last decade or so. And, it may

Spoiler

be an indictment of Soundwave (and by extension Megatron) by virtue of Barricade being

able to join the Rise so quickly

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"right out of security" when Bumblebee was unable to.

Time to take a break from counting numbers for the HasbroPulse Unicron.

Issue 10:

This issue clarifies Megatron's motivations and goals. And, it is pretty damned good.

Megatron (and the Ascenticons) have legitimate complaints about Cybertron (rationing, a planned economy and general over-regulation). Megatron covertly supported the (more militant) Rise to destabilize Cybertron enough to make the Ascenticons more appealing to more voters.

However, the Rise has become more violent than Megatron intended. (Megatron is shown to be unhappy about the murders committed by the Rise. But, there is little enough he can do about it.) I suspect that Megatron will become more of a bad guy as he attempts to take more control of the Rise.

Interesting side note: Megatron's alternate mode is drawn without the turret, consistent with his robot mode lacking a cannon.

I"m behind on reading this series. I just need to sit down and read all ten issues in a row to refresh my memory about the ongoing storyline.

I have not cared this much about TF comics since before IDW split the series (between "More than Meets the Eye" and "Robots in Disguise").

And, Ruckley's run nicely fits with "Fall of Cybertron" by showing the start of the war. Stuff like this is why I love TF comics.

No surprise Megatron is secretly connected to The Rise. But, it is good to see he's not happy with the murders they've committed. As I'd said at the beginning of the series, Megatron doesn't really support the level of violence the Rise has taken things to, which is good to see. While having the Rise making the Ascenticons out to be the victims to gain support isn't exactly on the up and up, it does show Megatron is sympathetic, and legitimately wants to change things for the better.

It's good to finally see Shockwave appear. Since he's usually pretty high up on the Decepticon chain of command in pretty much every continuity, it makes sense he's running the Rise in Megatron's place. Apparently he'd been exiled at some point, so Megatron secretly brought him back, making him the perfect leader for it. But, there are some indications he's got his own agenda.

Yeah, it was a good "plots within plots" type of issue, where a number of characters are running their own agendas. It's no surprise that Megatron is doing that, and it's good to see Shockwave. A society that is splintering into a number of factions as a prelude to civil war is very realistic, and I like the way things are going here.

This is shaping up to be my favorite TF run.

From issue 11: even Orion Pax thinks the attack on Megatron was "improbably inept", so I may well have been on the right track wondering if he'd staged it. His dialogue with Soundwave this issue indicates that he's orchestrating everything, though it looks like things could easily spiral out of his control.

And on the last panel.... the first Decepticon insignia, created by Megatron himself (though still calling his group Ascenticons). Nice.

Issue 11 is more of what I have been enjoying for the last 6 months.

I am not sure that Megatron orchestrated the attack during his rally. He appears genuinely angered that Shockwave has let things go as far as they have. Sixshot mentions having specific orders not to kill anybody while extracting Barricade. And, Flytread (or whatever his name is) makes an attempt to get Bumblebee out of the room (presumably because he knew that Sixshot was coming). This indicates that Megatron is calling for restraint.

Either way, things are likely to spiral out of control in the next issue or two.

I sat down last night and read all 11 issues in one sitting. The book works better as a longer story than as individual issues (though that's no complaint about individual issues, which have all been good), and it helps that I just read some relevant event ten minutes ago rather than two months ago. It doesn't always feel well paced to me on a monthly basis, but overall the story is moving nicely and reveals are being made at a good clip. The different art styles are kept consistent enough to work together by the colors. Characters are being introduced slowly and we already have a large cast without it feeling overwhelming, probably because the focus is kept on just a few main characters. So far almost all the main characters are either senators (Orion, Megatron, Soundwave), or security/ex-security (Bumblebee, Prowl, Chromia, Windblade), The characters that fall outside those categories are broadly drawn enough that something makes them memorable. Cyclonus is an war vet who talks to the dead, Quake is a psycho killer, Shockwave is an exile who "causes trouble", etc. We're being fed a bit at a time, and I appreciate how this is all Megatron's attempt to achieve his goals by use of pressure groups, but things are seemingly spiraling out of his control, which will no doubt lead to the war we all know is coming. This is a well-written Transformers book, and miles ahead of what IDW was publishing in the post-war books, which I had long since given up on.