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

[Dominic]

It doesn't fit with his existing goals, it's not really the leadership role he wants. Also, this book was the end of THIS arc, it was stated as its finale.

Modern comic arcs tend to flow together until "big events" (such as Marvel's "Siege") reset them. Starscream's reign is likely to be short (as we know that IDW's TF comics are heading for an event soon). The next arc will likely be "Starscream as Leader". The likely result is probably going to be something along the lines of "Starscream learns some hard lessons about the differences between hard power and relying on popular opinion".

Starscream's goal is to be in charge. And, he knows what to say to get there. But, he probably cannot deliver it.

the next few issues have Cybertron turning into a police state ensuring Starscream's dictatorship, I'll be very disappointed, more status quo-type writing, the Nails aren't going to fall for that kind of crap.

My gut feeling is that Barber is doing to show Starscream *trying* to set up a police state, and having it fail.

Megatron started off that way. He gained power by being a 'bot of the people. But, he maintained and expanded it by attracting and rewarding those who were willing to do violence. Megatron rewarded and promoted monsters, driving moderate elements out of his army. Starscream has been shown alienating most/all of the guys who would be willing to join a faction against their fellow Cybertronians.

The guys who stay in the city (NAILS and likely a few former Autobots and Decepticons) are staying because Starscream is promising an end to factions. Any sort of executive branch beyond basic peace-keeping is not going to go over well in this scenario. Barber is likely going to show that Starscream has to learn to lead without having monsters like Skywarp or Shockwave at his command.


Dom
-would point out that MtMtE heavily implies a high suicide rate among Decepticons early in the war.

[JediTricks]

Starscream's goal is to be in charge. And, he knows what to say to get there. But, he probably cannot deliver it.

In charge how? Why? To what ends? "I want to be in charge" is a simplistic thing, there has to be more to it driving a character who is not a toddler.

My gut feeling is that Barber is doing to show Starscream *trying* to set up a police state, and having it fail.

Megatron started off that way. He gained power by being a 'bot of the people. But, he maintained and expanded it by attracting and rewarding those who were willing to do violence. Megatron rewarded and promoted monsters, driving moderate elements out of his army. Starscream has been shown alienating most/all of the guys who would be willing to join a faction against their fellow Cybertronians.

The guys who stay in the city (NAILS and likely a few former Autobots and Decepticons) are staying because Starscream is promising an end to factions. Any sort of executive branch beyond basic peace-keeping is not going to go over well in this scenario. Barber is likely going to show that Starscream has to learn to lead without having monsters like Skywarp or Shockwave at his command.

The difference is that Cybertron no longer has an ancient government that is mired in traditions and corruption, this is an all-new Cybertron and an all-new approach to governing. The Nails outnumber Starscream considerably, and there are more folks who aren't familiar with Starscream enough to support his leadership coming in all the time. Starscream cannot run game the way Megatron did, they aren't remotely parallel situations.

I'd be very interested to see Starscream succeed instead of being evil, to actually become forced to be a real governor and be adept at it for a while, then eventually try to keep too many balls juggling in the air and reach too far and have it crash down around him.

I mean, we've had decades of stories about how old Cybertron and its factions couldn't govern, another one is going to be stale.

[Dominic]

Starscream's original profile describes him as cultivating the image of sophistication despite being little more than a blood-drunk thug. That might be what Barber is going for here.

It is probably a case of "Starscream wants to be in charge but cannot fathom what that means beyond giving orders". And, given that a recurring theme in IDW's G1 comics has been "Cybertronians are intellectually stunted", Starscream having childish motivations is not that much of a stretch. The problem is going to be that most of the NAILs have travelled and seen things "outside the box", which is where Starscream (lacking in hard power) is going to have problems.

[JediTricks]

Starscream's original profile describes him as cultivating the image of sophistication despite being little more than a blood-drunk thug. That might be what Barber is going for here.

It is probably a case of "Starscream wants to be in charge but cannot fathom what that means beyond giving orders". And, given that a recurring theme in IDW's G1 comics has been "Cybertronians are intellectually stunted", Starscream having childish motivations is not that much of a stretch. The problem is going to be that most of the NAILs have travelled and seen things "outside the box", which is where Starscream (lacking in hard power) is going to have problems.

Anybody who can pull of a coup on the cusp of losing it all has to either have some level of understanding of what it means to rule, or the intelligence enough to recognize that they don't know what to expect. Hopefully they don't keep him a aspirational thug the way you're suggesting, that'd be "lesser than" in my book.

[Dominic]

Robots in Disguise #17:

I grabbed the Coller cover without checking the internal artist, and am kind of wishing that I grabbed the Ramondelli cover instead. In any case, this issue largely rehashes Shockwave's origin, and it touches on a point that I made (that even the pre-Shadow Play Shockwave had the potential to become a monster). There is some explication about the various energon ores that were hinted at earlier in IDW's run, and a few planets from earlier issues were revealed to have been part of Shockwave's ReGenesis project. Not a bad issue, but definitely set-up for the next big thing.

Grade: C


Dom
-not specifically anticipating any exceptional good or bad result from the upcoming arc.....

[andersonh1]

This issue was almost a clip show, wasn't it? Almost... there were a few new revelations, but by and large rather than telling an entirely new story it pulls together all the bits and pieces we've learned about Shockwave and ties them together, and adds in some new information about how he was recruited and what his long term plans have been. I'll give Barber this: it's consistent with IDW's characterization of Shockwave going all the way back to his first appearance in his Spotlight issue. He was sowing Energon back then, and I like the way this issue makes his concern over energy something that goes back to his pre-Empurata days. Even as he changed, that goal remained. And giving Shockwave a master plan behind the scenes is a lot more believable since part of the story does go all the way back to his earliest appearance rather than just hitting us out of nowhere. I did find it odd that he was allowed to remain in the Senate after Empurata though.

The thing I enjoyed the most was Shockwave's utter disregard for Megatron. "He will fail, as he always does." It's nice to get inside the character's head.

It's a good issue, don't get me wrong, but it barely qualifies as a new story. It's review and expansion in preparation for upcoming plotlines, as Dom said.

[Shockwave]

How Shockwave got his groove back. Or got it to begin with I guess. There's not much that I can say about this that others haven't already covered except that I do find it interesting that he considers himself to have been liberated by the Empurata, as if the emotions were holding him back somehow.

[Tigermegatron]

The thing I enjoyed the most was Shockwave's utter disregard for Megatron. "He will fail, as he always does." It's nice to get inside the character's head.

In defense of IDW Megatron,at least he tries. It's far better to fail via multiple attempts,Instead of doing the IDW Shockwave Method,where one sits around doing nothing for his whole life,barely getting noticed,being a yes man,follower,etc...

This IDW Shockwave statement would of had meaning & some weight had it come from someone else like Marvel G-1 Shockwave or Marvel G-1/Regeneration Scorponok,MF Overlord,TFV Deathsauras,Unicron,etc...

[andersonh1]

In defense of IDW Megatron,at least he tries. It's far better to fail via multiple attempts,Instead of doing the IDW Shockwave Method,where one sits around doing nothing for his whole life,barely getting noticed,being a yes man,follower,etc...

This IDW Shockwave statement would of had meaning & some weight had it come from someone else like Marvel G-1 Shockwave or Marvel G-1/Regeneration Scorponok,MF Overlord,TFV Deathsauras,Unicron,etc...

Have you actually read the issue? Shockwave hasn't been sitting around doing nothing. That's the whole point of the story. He set his plans in motion a long time ago, and if not for the fact that he was put into stasis along with Grimlock and the Dinobots, he'd have acted on them long ago. As it is he's following up on his efforts and getting ready for whatever plan he has in mind. We'll see how effective it is once the story is told.

[Shockwave]

In defense of IDW Megatron,at least he tries. It's far better to fail via multiple attempts,Instead of doing the IDW Shockwave Method,where one sits around doing nothing for his whole life,barely getting noticed,being a yes man,follower,etc...

This IDW Shockwave statement would of had meaning & some weight had it come from someone else like Marvel G-1 Shockwave or Marvel G-1/Regeneration Scorponok,MF Overlord,TFV Deathsauras,Unicron,etc...

Have you actually read the issue? Shockwave hasn't been sitting around doing nothing. That's the whole point of the story. He set his plans in motion a long time ago, and if not for the fact that he was put into stasis along with Grimlock and the Dinobots, he'd have acted on them long ago. As it is he's following up on his efforts and getting ready for whatever plan he has in mind. We'll see how effective it is once the story is told.

In addition to that, this story also shows that Shockwave hasn't been a yes man to Megatron, instead using Megatron and the resources of the Decepticons for his own ends. And, his plan has, at least from what we've seen so far, worked (the idea being to "seed" other worlds with Energon).