TF Views

Sparky Prime wrote:

Onslaught Six wrote:Megatron's leadership style was already well-defined within All Hail Megs. That was the entire *point* of that book.

Yeah, there is that as well. Which is another reason I really don't see that issue 7 is supposed to be looking at his leadership as Dom suggests.

I think the meta-theme so far of Costa's series is how the lack of a strong leader and unifying cause, for either Autobot or Decepticon, is a nearly debilitating problem for both factions. The Autobots have fared better since Bumblebee stepped up to the plate and is actually showing a degree of competence, even if all the Autobots are still deferential to Prime. The Decepticons have fragmented far worse, with some even going so far as to ally themselves with human 'leaders' in order to survive. And while the Autobots don't turn on each other in the same homicidal way that the Decepticons do, we certainly saw some animosity and parting of the ways.

What we're seeing here is a society in its death throes, where only the most hardy have survived as long as they have. And they've done that by jettisoning everything except the drive to fight and win the war. The culture and government that they once had is gone, their home planet is gone, and without the war that has dominated their history for centuries, they lack direction and purpose. Even during "peacetime", in the absence of open war, what are the Autobots doing? They've allied themselves with Skywatch, and are out there looking for Decepticons to restrain. They're still going through the motions, just as they have for a long time. Thundercracker, of all people, seems to be the only one who has generally managed to break out of the cycle, and even he is tempted back into it easily by Bumblebee.

Prime has it figured out, which is why he removed himself from the leadership post. He wanted to force the Autobots to change. The Decepticons don't have either a leader with the same concern for his followers, nor do most of them have the capacity to settle down and live a "normal", non-fighting life, as AHM showed us.

I did like this issue, and I'm interested on where Costa's going with this, but I'm a little lost on Razorclaw's and the Predacons' appearance here. It was awesome, they look awesome and everything, but... weren't we lead to believe that Razorclaw was running the Decepticon show back on Cybertron? They mentioned him a few times, specifically that Starscream would have to contend leadership with him when they got back. But then he was starving on the asteroid with the other Decepticons back in issue 7. And now he's on Earth, working with China. Huh? I'm really hoping that Costa has some sort of explanation planned for this.

BWprowl wrote:but I'm a little lost on Razorclaw's and the Predacons' appearance here.

I think you're mistaking Rampage for Razorclaw there. Only four Predacons are on Earth. As you said, Razorclaw is on that asteroid with the rest of the Decepticons shown in issue 7.

Sparky Prime wrote:

BWprowl wrote:but I'm a little lost on Razorclaw's and the Predacons' appearance here.

I think you're mistaking Rampage for Razorclaw there. Only four Predacons are on Earth. As you said, Razorclaw is on that asteroid with the rest of the Decepticons shown in issue 7.

Goddammit you're right, it is Rampage. He has these extraneous bits flanking his beast head in robot mode, looks like a mane, made me think it was Razorclaw. My bad.

Read it. Review coming soon-ish.

Transformers #12:
Part of me likes this book for the fact that the old guard fans complain so mightily about it. Rather than writing a "Transformers" comic, Costa is actually writing comics, and some people are not happy about that. There are more world altering/shattering events this issue as Russia nukes the China/Korea border. Part of me wonders if Costa is not playing too fast and loose with the new status quo. The last year has done a great deal to establish the post-AHM status quo on Earth. But, there has been less focus on what the changes since then mean for the characters and setting. Costa may be setting up to show that humanity is not as united as early issues and AHM may have made it appear. Hopefully, IDW will allow Costa to play out the scenarios this series is setting up, and those scenarios will be allowed to stick.
Grade: B


Dom
-damn near a week late and still the first one to post anything here.

Dominic wrote:-damn near a week late and still the first one to post anything here.

Yeah, I usually get a review up pretty quick, but I just haven't taken the time to do that with this issue. Which is odd, considering that I did enjoy it quite a bit. To me, the biggest selling point of the current storyline is that Transformers are allying themselves with various nations, meaning it's not as simple as the Autobots going in, all guns blazing to take them out. There are severe geo-political consequences to their actions. It adds a nice layer of complexity to the situation that I appreciate.

Yeah, it definitely beats the regular "Autobots work with America while the Decepticons are bad guys" schtick.

I wonder if there are any Autobots working with other countries, such as Russia. Or, for that matter, how many Decepticons are "not that bad" in this new status quo. Objectively, the Predacons were the most rational guys this issue. Rampage made a fair request when he said "Go home. Do not come back."


Do you think this book is going to go a complete futurist route? I am hoping so.


Dom
-TF 2099?

Dominic wrote:Yeah, it definitely beats the regular "Autobots work with America while the Decepticons are bad guys" schtick.

I wonder if there are any Autobots working with other countries, such as Russia. Or, for that matter, how many Decepticons are "not that bad" in this new status quo. Objectively, the Predacons were the most rational guys this issue. Rampage made a fair request when he said "Go home. Do not come back."

Objectively, Rampage had every right to do that too. Having entered into a working security relationship with the government of China, he was justified in attempting to repel "invaders" to his employers country. He and the others were paid security guards, for all intents and purposes.

Do you think this book is going to go a complete futurist route? I am hoping so.

I don't know. I don't think we're going to see something like the third season of the original series, with space travel commonplace on Earth, etc. Really, if the global political situation and technology is fairly similar to real life, Skywatch technology aside, that might be the most relatable and most interesting approach.

I still want to know where that man in the crowd got a human-sized pistol that could take down Bumblebee though. Every time we saw Spike carrying one of those weapons, it was pretty hefty. Is there a black market in Transformers-related firepower?

I am guessing the gun is black market tech, or that the guy was working for somebody with legitimate access and sneaky motives.