The Energon Pub

[Quint]

"Imply", Nautica, not infer.

The speaker implies, the listener infers.

Pedantry always comes back to bite ya'

[Shuttershock]

That's kind of interesting about Ravage. Really, he and his kind feel like some of the last ambiguous mysteries of IDW Cybertron. Like, what function do they fall into? Are they forged that way or constructed cold? Are they remnants of Onyx Prime's people, and how did they avoid the implied purge during Nova's reign?

[datguy86]

That's kind of interesting about Ravage. Really, he and his kind feel like some of the last ambiguous mysteries of IDW Cybertron. Like, what function do they fall into? Are they forged that way or constructed cold? Are they remnants of Onyx Prime's people, and how did they avoid the implied purge during Nova's reign?

If Ravage is one of Onyx Prime's people, I would imagine survival was due to hundreds of nanoscopic attention deflectors.

[Shuttershock]

That's kind of interesting about Ravage. Really, he and his kind feel like some of the last ambiguous mysteries of IDW Cybertron. Like, what function do they fall into? Are they forged that way or constructed cold? Are they remnants of Onyx Prime's people, and how did they avoid the implied purge during Nova's reign?

If Ravage is one of Onyx Prime's people, I would imagine survival was due to hundreds of nanoscopic attention deflectors.

Clever!

I guess that would explain Laserbeak and Buzzsaw as well.

[Henry921]

That's kind of interesting about Ravage. Really, he and his kind feel like some of the last ambiguous mysteries of IDW Cybertron. Like, what function do they fall into? Are they forged that way or constructed cold? Are they remnants of Onyx Prime's people, and how did they avoid the implied purge during Nova's reign?

If Ravage is one of Onyx Prime's people, I would imagine survival was due to hundreds of nanoscopic attention deflectors.

Clever!

I guess that would explain Laserbeak and Buzzsaw as well.

Impossible. Ravage was constructed cold.

[Shuttershock]

That's kind of interesting about Ravage. Really, he and his kind feel like some of the last ambiguous mysteries of IDW Cybertron. Like, what function do they fall into? Are they forged that way or constructed cold? Are they remnants of Onyx Prime's people, and how did they avoid the implied purge during Nova's reign?

If Ravage is one of Onyx Prime's people, I would imagine survival was due to hundreds of nanoscopic attention deflectors.

Clever!

I guess that would explain Laserbeak and Buzzsaw as well.

Impossible. Ravage was constructed cold.

But then there's the question: Who would build a Cybertronian like that, and for what puropse? Espionage maybe, but seems bizarre for the era they existed in.

[prjkt]

That's kind of interesting about Ravage. Really, he and his kind feel like some of the last ambiguous mysteries of IDW Cybertron. Like, what function do they fall into? Are they forged that way or constructed cold? Are they remnants of Onyx Prime's people, and how did they avoid the implied purge during Nova's reign?

Ravage was affected by Tyrest's kill switch though, so he's a post Nova Prime ascendancy CC, I think Onyx' tribe will come to play in Windblade's comic, according to the August solicitations.

It'll be interesting to find out why a Ravage was made in the form he is... Maybe some senator wanted a pet? Or a tracker for hunting?

[Henry921]

Based on Soundwave's flashback chapters in the Dark Cybertron prelude, Ravage was discussing why he left his previous job about trying to find a scrap of energon in a particularly perilous dark corner. It's not explicit, but if I could guess, I'd say smaller animalistic bots were created to perform menial tasks or reach areas larger Cybertronian underclass laborers couldn't.

I think the "master of stealth" aspect came later. When in doubt, the answer is probably: "Decepticon engineering."

[Va'al]

Killer Moves
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
“Dear RODIMUS and crew… It’s my funeral tomorrow and I’d love it if you could all be there. Refreshments will be provided. Please R.S.V.P.—THUNDERCLASH”

The situation is ..tense

Story

Switching away from Combiner Wars, and dipping a couple of weeks behind in the general timeline of the IDWverse, let us return to the Lost Light after Ratchet has left to go annoy/save/be annoyed by Drift. As they receive news that the Greatest Autobot That Ever Will Have Lived Alpha Bravo Thunderclash is currently at his final stretch, even with the Vis Vitalis life support.

Alas, poor Thunders

The issue does some really clever things, in James Robert's script set-up to the pre-wake for Thunderclash aboard his ship - we are allowed another slice of life aboard the Lost Light, with its crew interacting, clashing, bumping into each other, just ..being there and letting their voices come to the fore and speak for themselves, and Nautica, Nightbeat and Getaway getting a little more of the spotlight.

Where's Wall-E?

And, similarly, we get a round-up of the new characters aboard the Vis Vitalis, with new arrivals - though seemingly well established in the universe - Firestar and Velocity, plus some additional Camiens as revealed by Milne recently, playing into the wider universe of the Transformers at this stage. And how does characters clash and blend with our cast of misfitting egos.

Not much of a spark, really

All of the dancing, all of the jealousies, all of the distractions and the emotions are not what the issue is all about, however. Two more threads run under the surface, showing the closer converging parallels of Rodimus and Megatron, and their personal issues with pretty much anything. And a deeper, darker stream still..

Art

It's always nice to see the return of a regular artist on a series, and Alex Milne does not disappoint with this issue, at all. We get new designs, multiple crowd scenes, new cast members some serious delving into body language and dynamic dance moves (willing or not) and - of course - some magnificent facial expressions for the people who *really* don't want anything to do with the whole wake do.

Such joy

The addition of Joana Lafuente's colours, the element of continuity between the various artists we've had in the recent past, makes sure the party is going on both on the dancefloor and in the readers' eyes, with some great effects being played for the multiple characters and their emotional discordances or possible re-ignitions - depending on how whose side you might want to take.

Floored

Tom B. Long is joined for the issue by fellow master letterer Chris Mowry, and with their powers combined, we can actually feel the voices and hear the music from Thudnerclash's pre-wake, along with the corridors, bars, cells and some of the emotions running high among the casts. Which are easily also found in the covers, with Milne and Josh Perez' Nautica and Camien victorious main piece, the thumbnailed Kotteri retail incentive (not depicting scenes in the issue, but rather Empire of Stone), and the triumphant Thunderclash memorial by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham.


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

This is not an issue to take as lightly as everything suggests we might want to. Yes, there are several lighthearted scenes, with a character focus and setting, playing on the multiple clashing egos of the cast and the new encounters (for the readers at least), and ensuring all characters are ..well, characters. They just are. With their quirks, personalities and voices.

In space, no one can etc

At the same time, though, there's a deeper, creepier story coming out of the issue, and played on the sidelines of the general merriment of the Vis and Light - and one that brings us back to where MTMTE all started, again. Space horror, dark ships, and things lurking just beyond the happiness of the circle of casts shown in the light. Genre is genre is genre.

. out of

[Randomhero]

Not a huge fan of this issue to be honest. It just did nothing for me. Ive always enjoyed MTMTEs character development but never liked its pacing. With elegant chaos feeling like it tied up close to 75-80% of Roberts loose threads, I finally felt like "hey! We're gonna start actually working on the quest now!" And we are but it's gonna be slow and I'm really hoping it doesn't get bogged down by more drawn out subplots and this story is quest orientated I suppose. It just didn't wow me or catch my attention.

I will give Roberts this, he knows how to write girls as girls. Not to be critical to John or Margarite but Windblade, Chromia, and Arcee are women in name and appearance only. The female characters in this comic feel like female characters. They talk like girls and I give total props to that.

[Jeen0808]

This issue was well and all, as a setup. But it kind of reminded me of something Ultra Magnus once said.

[Randomhero]

This issue was well and all, as a setup. But it kind of reminded me of something Ultra Magnus once said.

Sure...except evenyone who is on a cover for this issue is featured in the comic.

[pie-man]

Its certainly an interesting issue, but seemed to me that it ended kinda abruptly. I know there have been some cliffhanger-esque endings recently (Brainstorm holding a gun at a half-built Megatron comes to mind), but this this issue seemed like a few pages short.

Great character interactions and all.... but also feel that all that dialogue slows pace of the issue. Interesting to see Ravage out and about and hanging out (sort of) with the rest of the crew.

[Randomhero]

Its certainly an interesting issue, but seemed to me that it ended kinda abruptly. I know there have been some cliffhanger-esque endings recently (Brainstorm holding a gun at a half-built Megatron comes to mind), but this this issue seemed like a few pages short.

Great character interactions and all.... but also feel that all that dialogue slows pace of the issue. Interesting to see Ravage out and about and hanging out (sort of) with the rest of the crew.

I totally agree. It feels like nothing happened but a lot did. It's hard to follow up elegant chaos and the last two because of how emotional the past 5 months of MTMTE has been.

Personally I think it has to do with this is all centered around thunderclash, a character that literally had done nothing in IDW expect for being told how amazing he is. I have no attachment to him and if people do that's fine I guess. Maybe if I read what fun pub has done because that's the only history he has.

[ScottyP]

This is one of those "won't notice it was a whole issue in the trade" but "too slow to be super enjoyable as a stand alone" to me. Loved the character development but not much of anything else really seemed to go anywhere, and the cliffhanger feels repetitive. Haven't we done robo-zombies/mini-scraplets/etc/etc a couple times now?

Disclaimer: these are still nit-picks, and probably only coming out due to how phenomenally good 39 and 40 were.

[Randomhero]

Its certainly an interesting issue, but seemed to me that it ended kinda abruptly. I know there have been some cliffhanger-esque endings recently (Brainstorm holding a gun at a half-built Megatron comes to mind), but this this issue seemed like a few pages short.

Great character interactions and all.... but also feel that all that dialogue slows pace of the issue. Interesting to see Ravage out and about and hanging out (sort of) with the rest of the crew.

[ctrlFrequency]

Thought it was a good issue for a set up issue sure it didn’t get suspenseful or have a lot of action but it looks like Roberts is setting up for a proper mystery (which is inevitable when you bring in Nightbeat ) and laying foundations.

Also, loved the way he wrote for the ladies. On a personality level I think Roberts really understands the female mindset. Never makes them too girly but makes them real. Even if he does put them in the wrong places sometimes *cougj*DJD*cough*

He's telling a story, and unfortunately in the limited pages of a comic that makes for slow issues.

[Randomhero]

Sorry for the double post. Phone is acting up

[pie-man]

Its funny.... because of the timeline in MTMTE being behind the rest of the IDW-verse, every time I see First Aid, I pretend to be a fortune teller and tell him, "Soon, you will leave the Lost Light and return to Cybertron, where you will become the left leg of a combiner, and you will discover new worlds....."

[Downbeat]

There sure are a few posts in here acting like women have alien mindsets that are incredibly different from men.

[Noideaforaname]

This is one of those "won't notice it was a whole issue in the trade" but "too slow to be super enjoyable as a stand alone" to me. Loved the character development but not much of anything else really seemed to go anywhere, and the cliffhanger feels repetitive. Haven't we done robo-zombies/mini-scraplets/etc/etc a couple times now?

Disclaimer: these are still nit-picks, and probably only coming out due to how phenomenally good 39 and 40 were.

Definitely this, but I'm more annoyed that all the new female bots got hyped yet only Firestar really made an appearance.

Also wish we got more info about Thunderclash. He's just sorta... artificial. We're forced to agree with Rodimus not because of what TC's done, but because TC's done nothing.

[Randomhero]

There sure are a few posts in here acting like women have alien mindsets that are incredibly different from men.

Not alien, different. As I said Chromia and Windblade are pretty much female in gender only. James and Alex have given Natica female characteristics in body language and personality. She actually feels like a female character and not just a typical "hey look a girl because she looks like a girl and were being told she's a girl!"

[worldsgreatest]

There sure are a few posts in here acting like women have alien mindsets that are incredibly different from men.

Not alien, different. As I said Chromia and Windblade are pretty much female in gender only. James and Alex have given Natica female characteristics in body language and personality. She actually feels like a female character and not just a typical "hey look a girl because she looks like a girl and were being told she's a girl!"

I still have no idea what this means.

What does 'a girl' sound like? What does 'female' SOUND like as character trait to you?

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I liked the issue. It feels like the 9-11 issues, and those were brilliantly executed. I think this will be a cool 2-parter, and can't wait for the next issue! Thunders better live, and they cannot kill Nightbeat or Getaway, or anyone for that matter.

[Wolfguard]

There sure are a few posts in here acting like women have alien mindsets that are incredibly different from men.

When you start dating, you'll understand.