The Energon Pub

Aaaaaaaaaand there goes my love of the direction Prowl's character devyhas taken up till now. Hopefully he is still scheming, but I'm so SO so sad that he now combines with Optimus, a leader he has struggled to agree with and can never seem to see optic to optic.

I do kinda like what Starscream did to Scoop, though. It just makes sense.

For what it's worth, he didn't combine by choice.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Aaaaaaaaaand there goes my love of the direction Prowl's character devyhas taken up till now. Hopefully he is still scheming, but I'm so SO so sad that he now combines with Optimus, a leader he has struggled to agree with and can never seem to see optic to optic.

I do kinda like what Starscream did to Scoop, though. It just makes sense.

Given how the gestalt mind seems to "bleed" between the different members, I wonder how unified in purpose Ultra Prime will be. Mirage, Ironhide, and Sunstreaker are loyal to Optimus, but Prowl is his own bot. He won't be able to "guide" Ultra Prime the same way he tried to "guide" Devastator either. Optimus is too strong a personality, and the rest of the gestalt will follow his lead rather than Prowl's.

On the other hand, if we do see a true merging of personalities, we may just end up seeing a more ruthless than usual version of Optimus.

Or perhaps due to the mind melding that occurs during combination, Prowl might see things Prime's way and develop a more respectful understanding.

BATTLEMASTER IIC wrote:Or perhaps due to the mind melding that occurs during combination, Prowl might see things Prime's way and develop a more respectful understanding.

That's what I'm afraid of. Prowl losing the character development and becoming a straight up good guy.

Alex update: Review will be up by Saturday morning. Sorry about the delay, it's been manic this side of the screen.

Hey uh, has windblade #3(?) been delayed till next month?

Apparently so.

Synopsis
DESPERATE ACTIONS! As the SPACEBRIDGE reaches across the stars, will anyone stand against STARSCREAM? The answer is yes—but the cure might prove worse than the disease.



Story

The IDW Transformers Combiner Wars Mairghread Scott/John Barber crossover arc switches back for its fourth chapter to The Transformers ongoing, and its writer Barber, with the current playing field riddled by ruins, frustrated Cybertronians, understandably scared Camiens, ambiguous pretty much everyone else, and several schemers on the loose, of course.



If Starscream is made to be the most explicit in his intentions for the future of Cybertron (and its problematic status of 'homeland' or 'centre of the universe') - and he does get to play a lot with all his little, and not so little, secrets - the real focus in this issue is undoubtedly Prowl, and the enormous quantity of turmoil he carries with him.



Baggage that he has carried for a very very long time, admittedly, and always bubbling just beneath the surface. The long conversation, the effective backbone of this book, between Prowl and Optimus Prime, is a very good example of the type of emotional level that Barber can tap into in more serious storylines, and reveals a Prowl with actual feelings, disguised under a veneer of cold calculation.



A possibly slower issue in its first acts, with some expected combiner fights as it progresses, an entirely expected twist at the very end (though one I am very curious as to how it will play out, and well executed nonetheless) and some well staged tension between the various characters used at the centre of the story, and a very good addition to the event so far.

Art

As Livio Ramondelli keeps to interior art duties, we see a massive difference from the previous, supposedly rushed, issue - the lines and colours for the characters, especially in their expressivity (both in body language and facial), are stunningly executed, and work really effectively for the serious tones and rising tides of the story and their interactions.



I will have a little moment here, as there is a wonderful chromatic game being played out in the issue, with the big opposition of darkened reds (cells and optics) and blues (Spacebridge and shadows) - with some almost unexpected yellows. And they serve as backdrop for the different scenes, ultimately exploding in a much brighter, much open landscape in the finale, under the aegis of the Spacebridge.



Tom B. Long provides the usual masterful font and lettering work, grounding the dialogue and the locations in where the reader needs them to be, and gets some fun moments in transitions, too. As for the covers, we get the magnificent Emperor Starscream by Casey Coller/Joana Lafuente, a first half of Ramondelli's Optimus Prime poster cover, and the thumbnailed (perhaps another Marcelo Matere piece? Hasbro - credits please) Optimus Maximus.


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

As I've said above, the issue plays a very interesting, if initially slower, game of revealing tensions and starting to prod at them without exploding until the very very end. And it was a strategy that, for me, really paid off - it shows Prowl's inner workings in a lot of ways, without removing the build-up he has received so far, and shows just how much of Optimus' influence can sway the game (and the franchise, really).



We get even more on how combiner technology may not just be a technology of combination, but something a little deeper, and the beginnings of some serious power plays on all sides involved in this sudden, strange, large-scale war. And it all plays out across some closed spaces that quickly become uncomfortable for readers and characters alike - though in a good, captivating way. Next, the sort of conclusion!

I was wondering when this post would show up.

I quite enjoyed this issue, and even Livio's art wasn't distracting until all the combiners started fighting. It was hard to figure out what was happening to which combiner in the last few pages.

I have been silly busy. And sleep deprived.
Finally had time to finish the review.

Va'al wrote:I have been silly busy. And sleep deprived.
Finally had time to finish the review.

Sleep is for Pansies!

Sincerely,
A Pansy.

the ending confirms combiner wars ironhide, prowel, mirage, and sunstreaker but that combined mode in the fomics my gosh that is what we should of gotten

Some good thoughts, Va'al. They help me to appreciate Prowl suddenly becoming a limb for optimus better. I look forward to the conclusion in the hopes that they don't abandon his plot threads.

Something that's really been bothering me for a while is how Scoop is back on Team Starscream. I thought after Dark Cybertron he realized the prophecy had Starscream as a destroyer, not a savior. Yet here he is stealing the Enigma of Combination and now joining Devastator on Starscream's orders. All the while it's obvious that Scoop doesn't even like Starscream anymore since he had him locked up. Just makes no sense to me, so I wonder if I missed something...

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Some good thoughts, Va'al. They help me to appreciate Prowl suddenly becoming a limb for optimus better. I look forward to the conclusion in the hopes that they don't abandon his plot threads.

If you look at the Enigma scene, Prowl is the one to initiate the whole thing.
He knows people will follow Prime. He doesn't trust Prime.
He knows what he can do as a Combiner, and he's admitted that it's almost addicting.

And he wants to terminate Cybertron's interference with the universe.


All of this is making me wonder who is actually in control.

TGS1985 wrote:Something that's really been bothering me for a while is how Scoop is back on Team Starscream. I thought after Dark Cybertron he realized the prophecy had Starscream as a destroyer, not a savior. Yet here he is stealing the Enigma of Combination and now joining Devastator on Starscream's orders. All the while it's obvious that Scoop doesn't even like Starscream anymore since he had him locked up. Just makes no sense to me, so I wonder if I missed something...

I've been reading it is he still views Starscream as the chosen "Conqueror" whose control/victory is preordained - sort of a halfway between blind(ish, since prophecies have a way of happening in Transformers) faith and wanting to be on the winning team.

Va'al wrote:If you look at the Enigma scene, Prowl is the one to initiate the whole thing.
He knows people will follow Prime. He doesn't trust Prime.
He knows what he can do as a Combiner, and he's admitted that it's almost addicting.

And he wants to terminate Cybertron's interference with the universe.

All of this is making me wonder who is actually in control.

Yeah, we're seeing Prowl trying to get his worldviews behind Optimus's marketable face. The Constructicons influenced Prowl's behavior when he lead Prowlestator, Blackjack's anger issues are messing with Menasor and Scoop's belief in the Chosen One controls Devastator. If deeply held beliefs of a single component can so heavily influence the combiner, it seems likely that Combiner Prime will carry a Cybertronian Isolationist view.

RevTibe wrote:I've been reading it is he still views Starscream as the chosen "Conqueror" whose control/victory is preordained - sort of a halfway between blind(ish, since prophecies have a way of happening in Transformers) faith and wanting to be on the winning team.

Ah so his personality has taken a hit due to current events, as he used to be the goody-two-shoes super charitable type. Okay, just seem like such a drastic change for the character.

TGS1985 wrote:

RevTibe wrote:I've been reading it is he still views Starscream as the chosen "Conqueror" whose control/victory is preordained - sort of a halfway between blind(ish, since prophecies have a way of happening in Transformers) faith and wanting to be on the winning team.

Ah so his personality has taken a hit due to current events, as he used to be the goody-two-shoes super charitable type. Okay, just seem like such a drastic change for the character.

Yeah, he's bit grumpier/more cynical. In the beginning of this issue we see a handful of Decepticons volunteering with repairs on Caminus while Scoop stands alongside Starscream, watching - he's not the same guy who founded the Construction Patrol to help people out of the goodness of his spark, now.

I suppose this could be a 'Your Mileage May Vary' thing, his development isn't given as much attention as the big names get. Personally, I feel like there are enough indicators of his arc to tell the story without being on the nose.

RevTibe wrote:I suppose this could be a 'Your Mileage May Vary' thing, his development isn't given as much attention as the big names get. Personally, I feel like there are enough indicators of his arc to tell the story without being on the nose.

Oh I wasn't complaining. A lot of bigger things going on with this series both, figuratively and literally, so makes sense those would get all the focus. I agree with most that this was a much better issue than the last, although not quite at the MTMTE level yet.

Hell, I'm just glad to learn that my favorite TF character, Rattrap, turned out to actually be a deep cover agent for Prowl instead of the...um...what's an appropriate TF word for "@$$hole?" "Exhaust pipe" doesn't have the right impact...that IDW had seemed to be portraying him as.

Heckfire wrote:Hell, I'm just glad to learn that my favorite TF character, Rattrap, turned out to actually be a deep cover agent for Prowl instead of the...um...what's an appropriate TF word for "@$$hole?" "Exhaust pipe" doesn't have the right impact...that IDW had seemed to be portraying him as.

I'd say maybe "Aft-hole," or "borehole" for LSotW fans.

Heckfire wrote:Hell, I'm just glad to learn that my favorite TF character, Rattrap, turned out to actually be a deep cover agent for Prowl instead of the...um...what's an appropriate TF word for "@$$hole?" "Exhaust pipe" doesn't have the right impact...that IDW had seemed to be portraying him as.

I'm with the Twincast Podcast in that it's almost a beautiful thing that Starscream is finally getting what he always wanted. That said I'm with you in that I don't like how cocky he's become about it. It's not that it's out of character for Starscream, heck far from it, it's just he was more compelling when he pretending to be all good and humble, well to others faces at least.

Heckfire wrote:Hell, I'm just glad to learn that my favorite TF character, Rattrap, turned out to actually be a deep cover agent for Prowl instead of the...um...what's an appropriate TF word for "@$$hole?" "Exhaust pipe" doesn't have the right impact...that IDW had seemed to be portraying him as.

Actuator
Afterburner
Boron Compressor
Exhaust Port
Hard Drive
Magna Fuse
Reactor Linkage
Skidplate
Solenoid
Tailgate
Tailpipe
Rear Thruster
Waste-disposal unit

Transformers fiction has been rather creative with its anatomic euphemisms.

That Bot wrote:

Heckfire wrote:Hell, I'm just glad to learn that my favorite TF character, Rattrap, turned out to actually be a deep cover agent for Prowl instead of the...um...what's an appropriate TF word for "@$$hole?" "Exhaust pipe" doesn't have the right impact...that IDW had seemed to be portraying him as.

Actuator
Afterburner
Boron Compressor
Exhaust Port
Hard Drive
Magna Fuse
Reactor Linkage
Skidplate
Solenoid
Tailgate
Tailpipe
Rear Thruster
Waste-disposal unit

Transformers fiction has been rather creative with its anatomic euphemisms.

"Skidplate" works for me in this instance, even if it also works as a name, too.