The Energon Pub

Double whammy this week! IDW Publishing have been kind enough to send us a preview for the ongoing series Robots in Disguise - and this issue features a different artist and Waspinator! Check out the preview below, and come back for reviews and discussions from Tuesday.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #19
John Barber (w) • Dheeraj Verma (a) • Verma, Casey Coller (c)
THE DEATH OF A WORLD! Gorlam Prime—the entrance to the so-called DEAD UNIVERSE—holds many secrets… and now ORION PAX—the ’bot who was once OPTIMUS PRIME—pries it’s secrets loose. But will it be too late for CYBERTRON?

Finally gonna learn the truth about Golarm Prime...

Jhiaxus experimenting on humans as well? Hm...

I'm really curious as to where this is heading. Barber's hit onto something good, I think.

Not crazy about the art here. Waspinator looks fantastic, but the other people just look...

I don't know. It's not Unbearable. I don't like how Hardhead looks though. Too generic for my taste.

Synopsis

THE DEATH OF A WORLD! Gorlam Prime—the entrance to the so-called DEAD UNIVERSE—holds many secrets… and now ORION PAX—the ’bot who was once OPTIMUS PRIME—pries its secrets loose. But will it be too late for CYBERTRON?



Story

We're back to looking at Orion Pax' quest after Jhiaxus and Bludgeon, as started in Syndromica. And we actually get a little more agency from the gruesome truesome, not not to mention a good look at what their plans are actually about. Sort of. But the issue features a small but good cast of old faces, bringing everything together so far.



In the light of recent BotCon Beast Wars toy announcements, the presence of Waspinator is an interesting addition, and Barber manages quite successfully to give him his own idiosyncratic speech pattern without badly damaging the intelligibility or pace of the dialogue - not a small feat!



I felt like we finally get a connection with the 'Prelude' Spotlights and Annuals, too, linking the Metrotitan plot (and the first appearance of Waspinator and Bludgeon in the series) to the main storylines - though not taking it back to Cybertron, yet.



The use of Waspinator is a good one, as he's not just tragicomic relief, Orion Pax seems to have a vague idea of what is going on, there's a fairly nice battle scene, and we get to find out what might happen next. But the ending really bugs me. Not saying what it is, but I found it disappointing.

Art

The artwork for this issue, deviating from the so far established Ramondelli-Orion Pax combo, is done by Dheeraj Verma, who also worked on the Fall of Cybertron comic. And I have to say, despite a lot of people being quite vocal against it, I really enjoyed it. Yes some characters look different, but that's the whole point of having different artists!



The artwork really shines, though, thanks to the colouring work of Joana Lafuente. The whole issue has a great feel about it, keeping the familiar smokey tones and hues we've come to associate to the Orion Pax issues so far in Ramondelli's own colours - just clearer this time, and working perfectly with the linework.



The lettering by Chris Mowry is good as usual, and some of the soundwords are really excellently executed. One character in particular has a really good speechbubble, but I will not spoil it here. All in all, I really liked the artwork: it's new, it's different, it works. We'll see if Verma comes back later in the series, but I hope so, personally.


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

Overall, the story holds together pretty well, as we get back to Orion Pax' personal mission chasing Jhiaxus/Bludgeon, and catching up with Wheelie, Garnak and Hardhead (and others). The addition of Waspinator is a nice touch, and the artwork is great, with some gorgeous backgrounds and colours.



My problem with this issue? The ending. Again, I'm not going to spoil it for anyone, but I felt that the conclusion was disappointing after an otherwise enjoyable read, finally moving away from the usual status quo conflict. Do pick it up though, as it ties up nicely some loose ends, and it just looks beautiful - and it sets up the next step really well.

My response to Waspinator's appearance:

Beast Wars episode 'Other Victories' wrote:"Wazzzpinator down with that."

They seriously need to consider making a Classics Bludgeon. No, not even repurposing Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon isn't enough for me. And I like repurposing stuff into my Classics shelf (just not those God-awful Movie molds...).

I love the fact that both RID and MTMTE have greatly diversified what a cybertronian can look like in this continuity, so that characters like Rung or Waspinator can fit in. Rung would have looked SO out of place during, say, Dreamwave's G1 run.

Also, I'd like to have some sort of explanation about both Waspinator and RatTrap's appearance, like they were the result of some experiment, or they traveled to (why not) Nebulos where they adopted altforms of animals similar to those on Earth, or whatever.

Now that I think of it, Waspinator and the "deluxe" Insecticons were with Bludgeon WAY before the cons "created" the Insecticons in AHM... not that I usually take AHM any seriously, though...

The art is starting to grow on me. I still don't like how Hardhead looks, but that shot of Bludgeon is pretty epic.

You know, I likethe art style, in general, but I cannot stand Hardhead's noggin as Hardhead. Juggernaut maybe, bt not HH. Also, Wheelie looks like an overweight retired bodybuilder in at least one panel...

synapse wrote:I love the fact that both RID and MTMTE have greatly diversified what a cybertronian can look like in this continuity, so that characters like Rung or Waspinator can fit in. Rung would have looked SO out of place during, say, Dreamwave's G1 run.

Also, I'd like to have some sort of explanation about both Waspinator and RatTrap's appearance, like they were the result of some experiment, or they traveled to (why not) Nebulos where they adopted altforms of animals similar to those on Earth, or whatever.

Now that I think of it, Waspinator and the "deluxe" Insecticons were with Bludgeon WAY before the cons "created" the Insecticons in AHM... not that I usually take AHM any seriously, though...

You don't have to think about it too hard, Waspy showed up more recently in the Bumblebee spotlight and Trailcutter's too with the Hunters I think bt could be wrong. Sad to say, but IDW has retro'd him as an Insecticon.

If you need an explanation, here's one to try: An evolutionary stage between Predacons a la the Prime line, and/or piston-leg style alt modes versus wheeled ones.

So, is it just a happy coincidence that a new deluxe sized Waspinator was revealed for the Generations line this past weekend (not to mention another recent toy appearance as legend class Starscream's Targetmaster partner)? Will we see Rhinox in the IDW G1 books next? How a out a new Rattrap figure in Generations?

Wolfman Jake wrote:So, is it just a happy coincidence that a new deluxe sized Waspinator was revealed for the Generations line this past weekend.

Well, Waspinator's been in the IDW continuity for a while now.

Whoops, double post.

Every time I read through the issue, I find more pretty pictures.
Well pleased with art and colour.