The Energon Pub

[D-Maximal_Primal]

iTunes has uploaded their latest 3-page preview, this time for the upcoming Transformers #56 Titans Return crossover! The story is written by John Barber and illustrated by Livio Ramondelli and features Sentinel Prime. Also included is the main cover by Ramondelli as well as Casey Coller's Subscription cover. Check out the preview below, and stay tuned for the full preview as well as the review here at Seibertron.com

TITANS RETURN! Following the literally-Earth-shattering events of last issue… OPTIMUS PRIME establishes a new base of operations—AUTOBOT CITY! Its first visitor: a newly-revived SENTINEL PRIME, who sees a potential ally in OPTIMUS.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Ramondelli's art looks fantastic here. And it looks like we may find out how Blitzwing ended up with Miles Mayhem in Revolution between these 2 stories

[SeventhSage]

Can't wait for the next issue!

[Kurona]

I really need this issue rn because MTMTE 56 was so confusing to read without it.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Newsarama has updated with the newest Transformers preview, that of next week's Transformers 56! Check out the full preview below, as Infinitus and Sentinel Prime make life hard on Alpha Trion and Kup teaches them turbo-revvin' young punks a lesson.

A former Cybertron ruler returns in Optimus Prime's darkest hour in a preview of next week's Transformers #56.
Transformers #56
John Barber (w) • Livio Ramondelli (a & c)
TITANS RETURN! Following the literally-Earth-shattering events of last issue… OPTIMUS PRIME establishes a new base of operations—AUTOBOT CITY! Its first visitor: a newly-revived SENTINEL PRIME, who sees a potential ally in OPTIMUS.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
· You’ve never seen a TRANSFORMERS crossover like this before!
· Ties directly in to this month’s MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!
· Leads into next month’s REVOLUTION!
· Variant cover by Ken Christiansen!

[Deadput]

It's pretty funny to think Sentinel still has his enormous ego when he goes into his small titan master mode.


Also pretty funny how Alpha Trion doesn't appear to take him too seriously I love that.

[Kurona]

I wonder why Sentinel calls himself Infinitus like this.
I mean, okay, yeah; obviously - to sell toys, but in-universe reason.

[Henry921]

I hereby re-dub thee Douchimus Prime.

Seriously, Sentinel wasn't anywhere close to this much of a jerk in Megatron Origin. I get he's been recast as a sort of crazy nationalist villain, but you'd think his hatred of the disposable class would've popped up when a bunch of them attended a state funeral he hosted, or he'd have been less inclined to take prisoners in his pursuit of the illegal gladiators instead of explicitly ordering his troops to be merciful to surrendering enemies.

There's character development, and then there's wide, sweeping character derailment. I have faith in Barber to gradually make this work, but this character work has really put me off so far.

[That_Guy]

Anyone else notice a screw head on Sentinal's stomach? Just need a giant screwdriver.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I hereby re-dub thee Douchimus Prime.

Seriously, Sentinel wasn't anywhere close to this much of a jerk in Megatron Origin. I get he's been recast as a sort of crazy nationalist villain, but you'd think his hatred of the disposable class would've popped up when a bunch of them attended a state funeral he hosted, or he'd have been less inclined to take prisoners in his pursuit of the illegal gladiators instead of explicitly ordering his troops to be merciful to surrendering enemies.

There's character development, and then there's wide, sweeping character derailment. I have faith in Barber to gradually make this work, but this character work has really put me off so far.

This is all stemming from the fact that when he died, the Decepticons were terrorists that killed him. When he awoke, he saw that said terrorists, whom he would have killed every last one of, are free and walking alongside the Autobots that he thought would crush them, he got angry. He was even angrier when he saw others like the colonists who were not the pure Autobot Cybertronians he knew. So to him, his society is lost, destroyed by terrorists being allowed to roam free and new colonists that are diluting his "pure" race.

So it makes sense for the character, and since the titan gave him the pulsewave that filled him in on all the things he missed, he knows all that has happened too. All that time, plus being killed, can do this to a character, so I don't think it can be called derailment of the character

[fenrir72]

This is going to be interesting what with A3 gonna be tforming into a beast mode and all. Prime , maybe TM Optimus vs Sentinel Prime? Will good Megs merge with Galvatron's corpse to become TM Mega Galvatron with Nucleon as the TM?

[D-Maximal_Primal]

This is going to be interesting what with A3 gonna be tforming into a beast mode and all. Prime , maybe TM Optimus vs Sentinel Prime? Will good Megs merge with Galvatron's corpse to become TM Mega Galvatron with Nucleon as the TM?

I can all but confirm that last part will not happen. At this point in the story, Megatron along with some of the Lost Lighters like Rodimus have been assumed dead, and even then Megatron is an Autobot now, and he does not like Galvatron, so that part at least cannot happen.

I'm hoping they explain the titan master concept well. And it will be interesting seeing as how so far A3 has only been shown to turn into a car, no sign of a beast mode

[Kurona]

Also, just because it's a Titans Return tie-in doesn't mean it'll be exactly accurate to the toyline. Hence Fort Max likely isn't going to become a titan and Alpha Trion isn't required to take up a beast mode.
And Sentinel Prime's in his bizarre black armour get-up.

[Windsweeper]

I know it won't happen but I'd love to see him kill Alpha Trion.

Wish they'd get rid of Barber.

[Shuttershock]

I hereby re-dub thee Douchimus Prime.

Seriously, Sentinel wasn't anywhere close to this much of a jerk in Megatron Origin. I get he's been recast as a sort of crazy nationalist villain, but you'd think his hatred of the disposable class would've popped up when a bunch of them attended a state funeral he hosted, or he'd have been less inclined to take prisoners in his pursuit of the illegal gladiators instead of explicitly ordering his troops to be merciful to surrendering enemies.

There's character development, and then there's wide, sweeping character derailment. I have faith in Barber to gradually make this work, but this character work has really put me off so far.

I agree somewhat. Granted, I missed Megatron Origins, but it does kind of feel like they slapped some of the racial impurity from Nova and Galvatron on him.

Sure, Sentinel was in power near the apex of Functionism, but it feels like an overemphasized trait, hating on the colonists and whatnot. Feel like they could have stuck with the "I've been gone for four million years and you made PEACE with my MURDERERS!?" angle.

[Va'al]

I hereby re-dub thee Douchimus Prime.

Seriously, Sentinel wasn't anywhere close to this much of a jerk in Megatron Origin. I get he's been recast as a sort of crazy nationalist villain, but you'd think his hatred of the disposable class would've popped up when a bunch of them attended a state funeral he hosted, or he'd have been less inclined to take prisoners in his pursuit of the illegal gladiators instead of explicitly ordering his troops to be merciful to surrendering enemies.

There's character development, and then there's wide, sweeping character derailment. I have faith in Barber to gradually make this work, but this character work has really put me off so far.

I agree somewhat. Granted, I missed Megatron Origins, but it does kind of feel like they slapped some of the racial impurity from Nova and Galvatron on him.

Sure, Sentinel was in power near the apex of Functionism, but it feels like an overemphasized trait, hating on the colonists and whatnot. Feel like they could have stuck with the "I've been gone for four million years and you made PEACE with my MURDERERS!?" angle.

He... enforced empurata on Shockwave, took over the senate, conquered worlds because reasons, claimed that only military action could lead to results. Those all seem like legitimate background character points to lead him to this point.

but this character work has really put me off so far.

He's not supposed to be nice.


The issue does a little more to explain how and why, but that can be discussed once it's out of course.

[MrBlack]

It's not as if Sentinel was exactly a nice guy in Origins. He took a pretty hardline stance against the Decepticons, and was dismissive of the Senate's wishes. Add to that his support of the hardline aspects of the Senate (Empurata, Shadowplay) and his attitude here makes sense.

In other words, he's always been a jerk in IDW continuity.

[Kurona]

Admittedly all the Primes before Optimus being dicks is probably one of my least favourite aspects of IDW. Not because I think the Primes should be pure and peaceful or whatever... but because in terms of character they're all the exact same arsehole.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I will admit that it is a bit strange to have all the Prime's have a similar attitude, but it matches fairly well. Like Zeta: he started off good but then went bad as power went to his head. who knows about the others (well, Nova was always an imperialist) but at least it fits

[Va'al]

MAKE CYBERTRON GREAT AGAIN
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
TITANS RETURN! Following the literally-Earth-shattering events of last issue… OPTIMUS PRIME establishes a new base of operations—AUTOBOT CITY! Its first visitor: a newly-revived SENTINEL PRIME, who sees a potential ally in OPTIMUS.

Gotta four cheeses pizza fer 'im

Story

Despite the distribution and release mix-up, meaning that this issue - which directly follows the Titans Return one-shot - is coming out after More than Meets the Eye #56, and the unclarity with which the whole Titans Return event is supposed to be ordered (apparently it's both TF then MTMTE, but also TF-MTMTE-TF-MTMTE; I know, I don't get it either): we're here! New issue! Backstory! Saltinel Prime!

Alpha Trion doing bad impressions of Rorschach!

We have been introduced to the newly resurfaced, orange-clad, extremist view-holding, weapon-toting, supremacist, belligerent candida-- ex-ruler of Cybertron, and we get to see more of the joy he brings to the galaxy in this issue - but with actual plot and plan and details. And violence. I am not rooting for him, in any way, but there is a perverse enjoyment in seeing how ruthless John Barber is playing him, and wondering how the story will develop - even with the knowledge of MTMTE 56.

Er.. there are a number of ruthless characters, yes

That does come to the detriment of pretty much everyone else involved, with Optimus Prime and Soundwave forced to have a tete-à-tete with the orange (but also black) tyrannical egomaniac, Arcee facing him head-on, and Alpha Trion ultimately headed elsewhere. While we're at it, we also make sure continuity and characters are kept and established, with (arguably) secondary characters such as Kup, the Victorion team, Jetfire and others, used fairly well in the mix, all considered.

o hai Sideswipe

The book also quite loudly sets the stage for the upcoming Revolution event, though how successfully it does that is yet to be seen. The story does make sense, yes, but it takes a lot of suspension of belief and some 'let's see'-ing efforts, with the introduction of some of the characters and plot points that will play a major part later, apparently, such as Blitzwing (as we saw in the Revolution prelude) and *other things*.

Art

We have Livio Ramondelli on art duties again, after the Titans Return introduction, and still rocking the new visual direction he's had in these later books. There is clarity in line purpose, good layout on the page and within the panels, and one particularly amusing detail on the body of Ego-Lord Infinitus: the giant screw in his chest. (There's a particularly dynamic panel too, but it's a fairly big spoiler for this review. Screw it is.)

Anyone else loving this?

He also takes the colour control on the art side, as is customary, and there's a really intriguing palette at work here, with a lot of orange (mainly down to Sentinel and his ego, but not entirely), reds, blues, but also some ominous and significant purple, paired with nice light/dark effects and alternate light-sources, too.

Good lighting, here

Tom B. Long is tirelessly still taking care of the lettering for the book, and playing with some good fonting as Ramondelli's style allows for it, plus giving some distinctive voices to the ever-growing cast and communication devices - helpful, really, in this sort of situation! As for the covers, the main Ramondelli one shows a bit of Prime-on-Prime action, and a potential consequence found in the Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente wonderfully scaled variant, but I chose Kei Zama and Josh Burcham's (arguably) MVP art for the thumbnail, for a taste of the post-revolution style too.


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

Barber is somehow able to bring together the last strands of the storylines happening in The Tranformers, and the beginning of the new line starting with Revolution, while at the same time creating two separate paths that can be used at will - an impressive feat, that borrows heavily from the work he has established in the TFverse since his first involvement (writerly and editorial), and a sign of skill, undoubtedly.

Been there, man

The resulting effect, in my opinion at least and with the help of the visual work from Ramondelli and Long, is a highly enjoyable issue: good pacing, good continuity, good character use, good referencing to previous stories and hinting at new ones/their continuation, good interactions in a very big cast, and one that does not seem to be decreasing any time soon. Good read.

. out of

[Carnivius_Prime]

I don't like IDW's TF comics much (I even gave them another chance with Sins of the Wreckers which I didn't enjoy and more recently Titans Return ..which.. I haven't made it passt halfway yet cos I just didn't like it at all and bought cos I've been buying some of the TR figs). However that Soundwave and Prime cover is fantastic.

[Va'al]

...that Soundwave and Prime cover is fantastic.

And that will be the art for the Optimus ongoing!

[1984forever]

It's taken me a very long time, but now I finally get what Idw is doing.

They ended the war and sidelined or killed almost everyone so they can have just a few Transformers running around like the X-Men handling little threats that pop up. The current line up consists of Optimus, Soundwave, Arcee, Kup, Jazz and Jetfire vs Sentinel Prime who is the villain of the arc. I was about to say the "Magneto" of the arc, but that distinction belongs to Megatron over in MTMTE. We've seen it before. The big bad joins the heroes, which in this case is the Autobots, and takes over the Lost Light just like Magneto took over Xavier's school back in Uncanny X-Men #200. The writers at Idw don't want to write about Transformers, they want to write Superhero books.

That being said, TF #56 is horrible. I keep seeing Scarlett and Roadblock, so I'm going to assume that the same thing that happened to the TF titles happened to GI Joe and the team has been boiled down to just a few Joes. And those Joes were ineffectual against Transformers as many readers have already predicted.

If you haven't already bought this issue, don't. Borrow a copy or read it off of a friends account. The best part of the book has already been shown in the previews.

[Kurona]

They ended the war and sidelined or killed almost everyone so they can have just a few Transformers running around like the X-Men handling little threats that pop up.

Did... I miss something major? Because unless I'm forgetting something off the top of my head, the only main deaths in IDW's current run (aside from MTMTE) are Shockwave, Bumblebee and Galvatron. And there were a few years between the former two and the latter. Certainly doesn't strike me as 'almost everyone'.

[ScottyP]

Outside of GI Joe being, essentially, a pointless Job Squad, I really liked this issue.

[Jest and sarcasm follows]Actually, has GI Joe ever been anything besides a pointless Job Squad? We should give Michael Bay that franchise so it can be great again.