IDW Transformers: Combiner Wars - Windblade #2 Review

I feel Prowlestator went down too easy. I'm not fond of the "magic make you combine" laser. I guess it all just feels too rushed. I have a feeling Hasbro is pulling strings, and the story is suffering for it.

Yes, the art could be better... but this is hands down the BEST Transformers IDW has ever produced! It actually deserves 4 and a half symbols, not 3.

Ironhidensh wrote:I feel Prowlestator went down too easy. I'm not fond of the "magic make you combine" laser. I guess it all just feels too rushed. I have a feeling Hasbro is pulling strings, and the story is suffering for it.

Starscream: "Hey, you guys are a team, right?"
Protectobots: "Not really...."
Starscream: "Are you of one mind?"
Protectobots: "Maybe, We guess...."
Starscream: "GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!"
*combining happens*

I found that humorous, although I agree I don't want to see it happen too often. Develop the guys as a team and have some combiner growing pains.

So let's see, the combiner wars so far has Devastator, Menasor, Superion, and Defensor. Think Monstructor will show up to cause trouble? Will we see Ultra Prime or anybody else, do you think? Or is this it?

I think it is a little weird we hardly ever see the Aerialbots, just Superion. It kinda makes the whole Alpha Bravo issue seem even more silly than it already was since we don't see the individual members. Hopefully that will be changed soon.

I must say that I don't really like that they are just having Starscream just using the Enigma willie-nillie. I would have liked a little more build-up to the Protectobots becoming Defensor. Hopefully the Combaticons will get something a little better than that.

I do like that Superion is demonstrating skills that the toy can actually do, such as transforming a leg into an arm to augment attacks. I bet the combiners all will make superb grapplers as a result of this.

Flashwave wrote:Also, I really have no idea what's going on. We have a cool bit of world building within the council. And I like that bit with Optimus, reminds me of the scene from the HBO John Adams series where Adams, as Vice President, was to hold the tiebraker in Congress, only to discover that unless or until there was a tie to break, he had NOTHING to do and NO power. Then what, we have a ouching scene with Ironhide and Chromia, and then I get confused by the Combier Battle, which to me kinda sorta feels like It was thrust into this issue for Hasbro to sell toys, whereas if it were being done at IDW's pacing, which admittedly would not have worked so well with toy releases. I don't get Prowl's reasoning. It's Prowl, no one is supposed to get it. But this feels like Prowl just showed up to punch ReallyBigPeople(tm). And I don't see any strategy, let alone endgame.

So far it goes something like this.
Prowl finds out that Starscream is using Superion as a chess piece in the recontact with Caminus. Due to his intense distrust of anything Starscream does, Prowl he KNOWS Starscream will use Superion to try to conquer the colonies, and since Prime isn't doing anything to stop him, Prowl takes matters into his own hands. In his mind, Cybertron allying with the lost colonies will only end in mutually assured destruction, and he'd rather keep the colonies separate than drag them down with a Cybertron that is sure to crumble under Starscream's rule. As Devastator he goes to Caminus and tries to clear out all Cybertronians, and when that doesn't work he goes to Cybertron and starts destroying the space bridge to keep the two worlds from interacting again. That's his angle: he doesn't want Starscream in control of a combiner while in charge of Cybertron because he will use his combiner to conquer the universe and destroy Cybertron.

Wait, Rook was in this issue?

I'm not sure if that's a legitimate question or a joke about how miniscule his appearances were.

This may have been the weakest issue of the main Transformers series since the launch of MTMTE and RID. Errors abound, and the entire issue felt rushed. The Protectobots and Defensor felt shoe-horned in. I think Livio Ramondelli gets a bad rap at times, and his artwork has improved immensely over the past couple of years, but the combiner fights in this issue were nigh incomprehensible. The whole issue came off as a muddled mess.

It's clear that this issue was rushed. There were plenty of simple errors that should have been caught by an editor, and it's obvious that Rook (or rather, Rook's head) was drawn in at the last minute on a few pages. Groove completely disappears when the Protectobots combine. It's a shame, because this story has raised some very interesting issues regarding religion and leadership on Cybertron, and has, up to this issue, been a far better series than I expected.

Here's hoping that Barber and Scott have more time to polish things up before the next issues drop.

Well, I've just caught up on this. I liked CW: Part 2, but Part 3 felt a little rushed.

I'd have liked more character development within the combiner teams, to be honest. As I said, it was all too rushed. Also, I just feel it's being dragged out a little and is starting to feel a bit like filler.

I really enjoyed the first season of RiD, and I also liked it at the beginning of the 2nd when it shifted back to Earth a little to focus on characters like Thundercracker and Galvatron, and further develop Prowl. I liked that the rest of the old RiD cast like Starscream were still getting some love through the Windblade series.

This Combiner Wars gimmick isn't doing much for me, and my interest is only being held by the political game that has been much the focus of Barber's storytelling. I'm hoping once CW is done it'll go back to the way it felt before. I'd also be happy for them to stretch it to 3 ongoings as I've enjoyed the work of Scott, Barber and Roberts, and that way they can give time to what is such a huge cast right now.

I have to say the art makes it heavy reading too. I really appreciate Ramondelli's talent, but his art style is suited to a much darker series. He suits Autocracy/Monstrosity/Primacy a lot more, as it's heavier/darker storytelling. In the same way I thought he suited the pre-CW issue which had a flashback to Galvatron meeting Nova. He's best used sparingly, IMO, and I reckon once CW has come to a close it'll go back to Griffith being the main artist. Griffith does a lot better a job of portraying emotion, particularly through facial expressions, and that's such an important aid to the way Barber tells his story. Sarah Stone would've been a better choice for this CW series too, her work on Part 1 was brilliant.

Regardless, it is enjoyable, but I'm honestly hoping we soon get back to the proper Barber/Griffith storytelling/art that has made Rid/Transformers ongoing such an enjoyable read. Also, it's nice to see Waspinator back, but it still needs more Sky-Byte!

This issue is looking good! never mind the enigma of combination. I wanna figure out the enigma that is Prowl Livio seems to be getting far more expressive with his faces too. It's nice his work is getting a little more curvy.

This looks much better than last issue. More polished. And Livio's really hitting his stride so far.

Having read the issue, I agree with pretty much all the comments so far.