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Prelude to Dark Energon- Review of Transformers Robots in Disguise #17-Shockwave

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Prelude to Dark Energon- Review of Transformers Robots in Disguise #17-Shockwave

Postby Tigertrack » Tue May 21, 2013 7:54 pm

Motto: "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."
Weapon: Sniper Rifle
The last we saw ‘ol Shockwave had become noticeably absent during the whole of the end of the events that had been ROCKING the pages of ROBOTS IN DISGUISE.

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Where had he gone, and for what purpose might he have gone there? This issue reveals ‘some’ as we learn more of the frightening history of one of the baddest cons to bear the pointy-eared badge. The prelude to DARK CYBERTRON is here!

I’m going to make this short. Succinct. I believe that each of you who are loyal readers of RID and probably the sister series, MTMTE deserve to read this without having much, if anything, given away.

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And for those who gave RID a chance, and based on the wrap up of recent events last issue, decided that you may just be giving it up because it’s not ‘your cup of tea’, well, if you don’t get this issue, you’ve picked the wrong place to stop. Do yourself a favor, and continue at least through this issue.

This story connects to many events and people that have been a piece of IDW G1 all the way back to INFILTRATION and up until the most recent issues of MTMTE and RID. It continues to explain events that happened to Shockwave as ‘Shadowplay’ concluded, and builds more of his history prior to this huge event, and after, and what you find out about the big, purple, cannon-armed robot is sure to surprise, and I believe, not disappoint you. Jhiaxus, Crystal City, combination, empurata, Dai Atlas, synthetic energons, and a corrupt Senate, all get a cycloptic soliloquy (with some totally unnecessary dialogue from others) and it’s pretty amazing all that one robot sees when his vision becomes ‘impaired’ and his prior tendencies get deleted and replaced.

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The art is by Livio Ramondelli, infamous for his very recognizable style, and would be in my opinion, the biggest drawback of the issue. While it serves the purpose for storytelling, the difficulties that Livio’s Transformer critics have pointed out are once again on display here. A very beautiful 1/2 page panel can be followed by a very muddled, unclear smaller panel. Livio seems to have earned himself a solid position on the IDW Transformers starting team, and as such, I think he is gaining more and more fans, as they appreciate his take on Transformers, much in the way that these fans appreciated the work of Don Figueroa, Pat Lee, Guido Guidi, Andrew Wildman, Dan Khanna, and Jae Lee as they all took a turn at interpreting the Autobot and Decepticon war. Livio really does a fantastic job at times as referenced on the panel below, where once again current creators pay homage to those that paved the way. But at other times, well, perhaps you feel a little visually challenged like I do.

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Still the art supports the story well enough though that you will certainly find enjoyment in reading about how scissor-like digits became a laser cannon of destruction.

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Don't miss one of the most fascinating character transformations in Transformers history. This book is a necessary purchase for a story that has been a long time coming and only barely begun!

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Re: Prelude to Dark Energon- Review of Transformers Robots in Disguise #17-Shockwave

Postby sabrigami » Tue May 21, 2013 8:52 pm

Weapon: Semi-Automatic Rifle
Well, I wasn't going to pick this up to be honest. This review has given me a little hope. I hope it proves to be worth the price of admission. I am losing faith that this series can hold itself together much longer. there are a lot of holes that I fear can't be patched. I look forward to hopefully being proven wrong. You certainly can't go wrong with Shockwave :x
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Re: Prelude to Dark Energon- Review of Transformers Robots in Disguise #17-Shockwave

Postby zephon » Tue May 21, 2013 11:56 pm

I agree -- thanks to this review, I think I'm going to pick up a copy of RiD after some time. With the way the story sounds, I'm hoping this would live up to be a sequel or conclusion of sorts to the Shadowplay arc.
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Re: Prelude to Dark Energon- Review of Transformers Robots in Disguise #17-Shockwave

Postby TheForgottenTaxi » Wed May 22, 2013 5:28 am

Man, I love RID, but I'm just dreading this issue. All the issues following the Optimus/off-Cybertron subplot have felt so muddled and hard to follow, probably in part because of Ramondelli's art. That dude's images look cool, but his storytelling needs work. Still, the glowing review does give me some tiny modicum of hope.
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Re: Prelude to Dark Energon- Review of Transformers Robots in Disguise #17-Shockwave

Postby 1984forever » Wed May 22, 2013 6:21 am

I hope this issue is as good as Tigertracks says it is. It has Shockwave in it, so that's a plus. One of my biggest problems with IDW is their overuse of lesser known Transformers from from the later days of G1. I don't recognize many of these characters and as a result, I don't feel anything for them. Several had poorly designed toys that don't translate well into the comics. IDW should have consulted with Floro Dery about redesigning these characters before deciding to use them.

The second problem has been the lack of overall action in these books. The characters spend most of their time talking about being Transformers rather than fighting. It's boring.
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Re: Prelude to Dark Energon- Review of Transformers Robots in Disguise #17-Shockwave

Postby CaptainMagic » Wed May 22, 2013 9:09 am

Honestly, the story in this issue is every bit as good as the review claims, but the art is just about enough to ruin it. The colors are the only part of this guy's style that really look good anyway, since all of the line work is just all over the place in terms of perspective and scale. Plus, everybody looks flat. They just look like a big stack of boxes walking around and I hate it.

But, oh man, the story. Redo this issue with a different artist or even just give me a prose version because that was fantastic.
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Re: Prelude to Dark Energon- Review of Transformers Robots in Disguise #17-Shockwave

Postby sabrigami » Wed May 22, 2013 3:07 pm

Weapon: Semi-Automatic Rifle
I enjoyed this. It was a large improvement over previous issues in the series. I wasn't blown away though. I still think it suffers from the all talk no action problem. It was a great insight into SW's past but nothing happened otherwise. I also didn't really find any of the revelations that shocking. those issues aside it was pretty good. I hope it continues to get better.
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Re: Prelude to Dark Energon- Review of Transformers Robots in Disguise #17-Shockwave

Postby budmaloney » Wed May 22, 2013 7:55 pm

Weapon: Sub-Machine Gun
I'm impressed with the new RID direction, looks like the war is back full scale. I'm so glad they're bringing stuff back from previous issues, makes me feel I'm in the IDW universe.
Not a fan of the art though, sometimes it was hard to follow, with the high zoom panels.
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Re: Prelude to Dark Energon- Review of Transformers Robots in Disguise #17-Shockwave

Postby Va'al » Tue Jun 04, 2013 12:30 pm

Motto: "Till All Are Pun!"
Good short and sweet review, Tigertracks! Thanks for covering for me. ;)

I enjoyed this issue, though I do think there are problems with Dai Atlas' demise and some continuity overall. The story was well told, Barber played some nice self-patching cards, and the art was clear (compared to previous stuff, like Chaos).

Glad that people are coming back to the series, too, it deserves to be followed more, even if not always as good as MTMTE for some aspects.

EDIT: Re-reading it, I have another point to make. While it is nice to expand on the story after Shadowplay, I think the latter was so powerful when it came out that it almost stole this one's thunder. Anyone else feel that?

EDIT AGAIN - Dai Atlas not dead. Ok.
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