Review for IDW Transformers Beast Wars 3
Only spoilers in this review
This is the issue where Dinobot turns and I think it sucks. There, that's the review in a nutshell. Of course, I will dive more into it but that's all this issue will be about because for the most part, that's all that happens. I don't mind that this is all that happens, but if the idea of a longer format retelling of a familiar story is to get more from the characters, this issue really fails at that. The golden rule for visual mediums is to show and not tell. And here we get both show and tell, with Dinobot giving a ridiculously long speech that is essentially the same line over and over again said slightly different as he battles his way through his Predacon brethren. And it becomes pretty one note fast. Which is a major insult to Dinobot, a character that I always felt was the opposite of one note. What is awesome about Dinobot is that in the show, it always felt like the Maximals still had a Predacon amongst them. Here he is reduced to basically already being a maximal, a warrior with the heart of gold spouting some quotes of honour. One of the most layered characters in all of Transformers history now reduced to a trope, it's sad.
It also makes no sense in the story. He's been with Megatron's crew for a while, he knows how deviant Tarantulus is and how bloodthirsty Terrorsaur is and he stayed around. But now I guess he has to join the Maximals for it to be like the show, so let's quickly make that happen now that they have crash landed. I realize now how smart the original show was to have him be rejected from the Predacons rather than leave of his own accord. Because or else, it just doesn't make as much sense. And I really thought he wouldn't "turn" so early, and we'd have time to see him interacting as a Predacon with the other Predacons but that's not the case.
There's a trick to knowing if the characters feel true to me, it's having them speak as the voice actor while I read it. It works for Rhinox, most of the Predacons (especially Megatron, yesss) and Rattrap. But not with Dinobot, nor Cheetor and not Optimus Primal. I said in the last review that we are seeing how his changes to his character have repercussions and how it could be interesting but now it's getting annoying. I don't mind him being more adventurous than before but here he sounds like an idiot and by no means a leader of any sort.
And the art hasn't changed, so if you didn't like it, nothing here will change your mind. I personally do not like it and I find the changes to Dinobot's look with the extra spikes really odd. Those spikes aren't even thematic to his beast mode, so what gives? There are a few other shortcomings in the storytelling. During the fight between Dinobot vs his 6 fellow Predacons, there is a lack of fluidity in action shots where a lot happens in the gutter (between the panels). So in one panel you'll see him facing the team at more than arm length away, and in the one right after you have Terrorsaur landing on Scorponok after being thrown. John Burcham is great at dynamic scenes, like the fights in last issue, but he feels shortchanged here. Instead of better fluidity in the fighting, we get a page dedicated to doors being shut. Yay.
I was ok with the series so far but this is the worst issue yet and I have yet to see a reason for this series to exist. But hey, that retail incentive cover by Josh Perez is pretty kick ass!
2 out of 5 Dinobot spikes for this issue.